Stats SA staff generally collect QES survey data by email and telephone. During the collection period, Stats SA offices were partially closed and data had to be collected remotely (data collectors worked from home). The inability to reach some respondents during the lockdown period resulted in the response rate for the survey being 82,9 percent, which was about 3 percentage points lower than average. Although the response rate was adversely affected by pandemic-related issues, QES was still able to obtain estimates that met our standards for accuracy and reliability. In anticipation of issues due to COVID-19, QES carefully reviewed estimation and methodological procedures, which included the review of collected data and estimation processes.

Job losses were reported by all industries in the second quarter of 2020 compared to Q1:2020. Losses were mainly due to decreases in employment in the trade industry of 192?000, followed by the business services industry with 147?000 employees and community services with 103?000 employees.

Further employment losses were reported in the manufacturing, construction and transport industries with 85?000, 74?000 and 38?000 jobs respectively. Moderate job losses were observed in the mining industry with 6?000 and electricity industry with 3?000.

Year-on year, job losses were seen in all industries, showing a decrease of 671 000 employees (-6,6%) in June 2020 compared with June 2019.

The trade industry reported annual job losses of 180 000 employees in June 2020 compared with June 2019, followed by the business services industry with 140?000, construction industry with 111?000 and manufacturing industry with 100 000. Further losses in employment were reported by the community services industry with 90?000 jobs. Moderate job losses were reported in the transport industry, with 35?000 jobs, mining industry with 12?000 and electricity industry with 3?000.

Full-time jobs decreased by 541?000 quarter-on-quarter, whilst 568?000 jobs were lost compared to the same period last year. For those who held part-time jobs during the June 2020 quarter, 107?000 part-time jobs were lost, whilst 103?000 jobs were lost year-on-year.
Gross earnings paid for the quarter ended June 2020 decreased by R82 billion (-11,3%) when compared to the previous quarter. The total amount of gross earnings estimated for the quarter was R647 billion. This is down from R729 billion in the previous quarter.

There was a year-on-year decrease of 9,0% in earnings in the current quarter compared with June 2019, amounting to R64 billion.

The year-on-year decrease in earnings was driven by the trade industry, with a decrease of R16 billion. This was followed by decreases in the business services industry, down by R13,8 billion; the construction industry, down by R11,6 billion; the manufacturing industry, down by R11,2 billion; the transport industry, down by R5,2 billion; the community services industry, down by R3,9 billion; the mining industry, down by R2,0 billion; and the electricity industry, down by R95 million.

Average monthly earnings were measured at R21 455 in the formal non-agricultural sector of the economy in May 2020. This is a 4,2% decrease when compared to February 2020, and an annual decrease of 1,6%.

If you missed the link in the article, download the full report here.

Download Stats Biz – September 2020

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The concern over declining infrastructure investment is further confirmed by Stats SA’s most recent release of its Financial statistics of provincial government report. Delays and interruptions hampered infrastructure spending by provincial government during the 2018/19 fiscal year. This mainly affected the construction of schools, as well as the rehabilitation and maintenance of road infrastructure.

South Africa’s 123 provincial government departments recorded a decrease in infrastructure spending (referred to as capital expenditure) of R1,88?billion in 2018/19. This represents a fall of 5,4% compared with 2017/18.

Capital expenditure is money that institutions spend to buy, upgrade and maintain fixed assets such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, and land.

North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Gauteng recorded the biggest decreases.

North West provincial government recorded a fall of R486?million in capital expenditure. The North West Department of Education was the most significant contributor to this decrease, recording a cut of R398?million on the construction of school buildings and other fixed structures.

The slow implementation of projects in North West was the reason behind the fall in spending, according to the department’s annual report.²

KwaZulu-Natal’s decline was mainly due to underspending on road infrastructure. The provincial Department of Transport was the main contributor to the R458?million fall, decreasing its own capital spending by R387?million.

The transport department stated in its annual report that this was due to a number of reasons, including a delay in finalising the department’s participation in a road contract based in eThekwini. There was also a setback in the awarding of a large road rehabilitation tender. The department was flooded with a high volume of bids for the tender, slowing down the evaluation process and resulting in payment delays.³

Limpopo provincial government recorded a decline of R447?million, largely the result of the provincial Department of Education spending less on infrastructure projects. There were delays in the construction and completion of new schools, according to the department’s annual report. Various projects were also reprioritised, causing delays in the allocation of new maintenance and service delivery work to contractors.⁴

The decline in capital expenditure in Gauteng was also driven largely by a fall in education spending. The province recorded a decline in the construction of new school buildings and renovations. The provincial Department of Education stated in its annual report that the underspending was caused by underperforming contractors, community disruptions, bad weather conditions and delays brought on by service providers.⁵

Provincial government is not the only sector that has cut back on capital expenditure. Data covering the entire public sector shows an 8,2% fall in infrastructure investment in 2018. This was on the back of a 4,0% decline in 2017. With these decreases, public-sector capital spending slipped to a level last seen in 2014.⁶

The general fall in infrastructure investment mirrors the long-term stagnation in the construction industry. Construction experienced its eighth consecutive quarter of economic decline in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures.⁷

Infrastructure development is important. Economic infrastructure (e.g. electricity and water supply, transport, communications) and social infrastructure (e.g. schools, universities, hospitals) provide a foundation for economic and social activity. Infrastructure development is one of many dimensions to achieving sustainable growth in GDP and, accordingly, expanding the labour market; provided that it’s directed towards areas of greatest need. The statistics on infrastructure investment will continue to attract much interest and attention.

For more information, download the Financial statistics of provincial government 2018/2019 report here. Stats SA publishes detailed reports on the financial status of all spheres of government, including national government, provincial government, local government, extra-budgetary accounts and higher education institutions. A consolidated report, containing financial data for all spheres for the 2018/19 fiscal year, is scheduled to be published before the end of the year.

¹ Infrastructure Development Act – Strategic Integrated Projects (available here).

² North West Department of Education and Sport Development, Annual Report 2018/19 (available here).

³ KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Annual Report 2018/19 (available here).

⁴ Limpopo Department of Education, Annual Report 2018/19 (available here).

⁵ Gauteng Department of Education, Annual Report 2018/19 (available here).

⁶ Stats SA, Public-sector capital expenditure continues to fall (read here).

⁷ Stats SA, Steep slump in GDP as COVID-19 takes its toll on the economy (read here).

Similar articles are available on the Stats SA website and can be accessed here.

For a monthly overview of economic indicators and infographics, catch the latest edition of the Stats Biz newsletter here.

The monthly increase in prices was 0,2%. This is slightly lower than the average monthly change of 0,3% over the past year and lower than the 3-month average of 0,4%.

Transport was the most significant contributor to the 0,2% monthly increase in August, following a 1,0% rise in fuel prices.

Annual food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation hit a seven-month low in August, at 3,9%. This is down from 4,3% in July.

Bread and cereal inflation remains at relatively low levels, recording an annual increase of 2,8% in August. The rate has remained at approximately this level since May, and is significantly lower than the 8,6% recorded in August last year.

Maize prices dropped by 1,2% in the month and have declined by 8,7% over the past year. However, prices for white bread and rice increased between July and August, up by 0,4% and 3,4% respectively.

Meat was 0,4% cheaper in August compared with July, dragged lower by softer beef and chicken prices.

Annual milk, cheese and eggs inflation was 5,4%. This is lower than the recent high of 7,1% recorded in May. Oils and fats inflation registered an annual rise of 7,6%, down from July’s reading of 9,0%.

Prices for hot beverages, such as tea and coffee, decreased by 1,2% between July and August. Prices were 2,2% higher in August than they were a year ago.

Big monthly increases in whiskey and wine prices pushed annual inflation for alcoholic beverages to a lockdown high of 2,9%.

For more information, download the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release here.

Similar articles are available on the Stats SA website and can be accessed here.

For a monthly overview of economic indicators and infographics, catch the latest edition of the Stats Biz newsletter here.

These changes resulted in a significant decrease of 6,8 percentage points in the official unemployment rate from 30,1% in quarter 1 2020 to 23,3% in quarter 2 2020. This is the lowest rate recorded since Quarter 3 2009. This sharp fall in the unemployment rate in quarter 2 is not a reflection of an improvement in the labour market but rather an effect of the national lockdown, since the official definition of unemployment requires that people look for work and are available for work. In essence, the national lockdown hindered people from looking for work, so this significant decline in unemployment while employment is declining is inherent in the official definition of unemployment. The unemployment? rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment increased by 2,3 percentage points to 42,0% in quarter 2 2020 compared to quarter 1 2020, reflective of the fact that people were available for work but did not actively look for work. Almost all of the 5,2 million people who did not look for work for reasons other than discouragement indicated “national lockdown” as the main reason for not looking for work.

This phenomenon of a greater increase in inactivity than in unemployment is not unique to South Africa. It has been observed in most countries across the world, with the exception of Canada and the United States, as highlighted in the recent ILO monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work report.1 So, the picture observed in South Africa is in line with the rest of the world. Employment decreased in all sectors in quarter 2 2020. Formal sector employment decreased by 1,2 million (10,8%); the Informal sector shed 640 000 (21,9%) jobs; Private households shed 311 000 (23,6%) jobs, and employment in? Agriculture declined by 66 000 (7,6%). All industries experienced job losses in quarter 2 2020 compared to quarter 1 2020. The industries which recorded the highest job losses were Community and social services (515 000), Trade (373 000), Private households (311 000), Finance (283 000), Construction (278 000) and Manufacturing (250 000). Employment also contracted in all industries year-on-year. The highest job losses were ?observed ?in Trade ?(482 ?000), ?Community ?and ?social ?services ?(379 ?000), Manufacturing (334,000) and Construction (297 000). To capture changes brought about by the national lockdown, some additional questions were included in the quarter 2:2020 questionnaire. Respondents were asked if they were working from their usual place of work or working from home; whether they continued to receive salaries during lockdown; whether they received full or reduced salary; whether they would be returning to the same job/business after the lockdown; and whether they thought they might lose their jobs or their businesses would close in a foreseeable future due to COVID-19.

Of the 14,2 million persons who were employed in the second quarter of 2020, more than half (58,1%) were expected to work during the national lockdown by the companies/organisations they work for. Although most of those who worked during the national lockdown did so from their usual place of work, about 17,0% indicated that they worked from home. The proportion of those who worked from home was higher in Gauteng and Western Cape than in the other provinces. The share of those who worked from home was higher among professionals (44,7%) and Managers (40,6%) indicating access to tools of the trade to facilitate work from home for these workers.

The majority of employed persons continued to receive pay during the lockdown. However, about one in five of them had a reduction in their pay/salary. There seems to be some relationship between level of education and reduction in pay/salary. Almost

1 ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Sixth edition. Updated estimates and analysis. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_7559 10.pdf

9 in every 10 employed graduates (89,7%) continued to receive a full salary, compared to 75,2% of those with less than matric as their highest level of education Editor’s note: In the second quarter of 2020 the Quarterly Labour Force Survey data was collected using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), not the usual face-to-face interviews. This change was brought about by the national lockdown. As such, data could not be collected from full sample but only from households for which contact numbers were available. This introduced bias which was adjusted for and the details on how the adjustment was done are contained the statistical release.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For technical enquiries, contact:

Ms Gwen Lehloenya

Acting Deputy Director-General: Population and Social Statistics Tel: 012 310 8333

Cell: 082 888 2323

Email: GwenL@statssa.gov.za

Ms Malerato Mosiane

Acting Chief Director: Labour Statistics Tel: 012 310 8688

Cell: 082 888 2449

Email: MaleratoM@statssa.gov.za

For media enquires contact:

Ms Felicia Sithole Cell: ?076 430 0693

Email: FeliciaS@statssa.gov.za

It has come to the attention of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) that an old message about the recruitment drive that was opened in 2019 is now circulating in the public platforms. Please be advised that the Human Resource database for registration is not open currently.

Please contact the following people to validate authenticity of Stats SA recruitment drives and other HR related requests:

Lehlohonolo Dooka? ???????????? 012 310 0161

Sarah Khoza?????????????????????????? 012?310 8097

Issued by Stats SA

The results indicate that the number of employed persons decreased by 2,2 million to 14,1 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020 compared to the 1st quarter of 2020. This unprecedented change is the largest quarter 1 to quarter 2 decline since the survey began in 2008. Contrary to what one would expect in the face of such a large decline in employment, the number of unemployed persons declined substantially as well – by 2,8 million – to 4,3 million compared to Q1:?2020. In spite of this massive decline in employment, the number of discouraged work-seekers, like the number of unemployed, decreased by 447?000.? The majority of those who moved out of these three categories moved into the category of not economically active for reasons other than discouragement, which increased by 5,6 million between the two quarters.

The official unemployment rate is calculated using the number of persons who are employed and unemployed, and does not include discouraged work seekers. The significant changes in the number of persons in these two categories resulted in a significant decrease of 6,8 percentage points in the official unemployment rate from 30,1% in quarter 1:2020 to 23,3% in quarter 2:2020. This is lowest rate recorded since quarter 3:2009.

However, the expanded unemployment rate increased by 2,3 percentage points in Q2:2020 compared to Q1:2020, reflective of the fact that people were available for work but did not actively look for work. The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition increased in all provinces except in the Free State, where it decreased by 3,3 percentage points. The largest increase was recorded in the Northern Cape (up by 5,1 percentage points), followed by the Eastern Cape (up by 3,9 percentage points). When asked why they did not look for work, most people cited the national lockdown / COVID-19 / coronavirus as the main reason for not actively looking for work.

This phenomena of a greater increase in inactivity than in unemployment is not unique to South Africa. It has been observed in most countries across the globe, with the exception of Canada and the United States, according to the ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work, sixth edition.

To capture changes brought about by the national lockdown, some additional questions were included in the quarter 2:2020 questionnaire. Respondents were asked if they were working from their usual place of work or working from home; whether they continued to receive salaries during lockdown; whether they received full or reduced salary; whether they would be returning to the same job/business after the lockdown; and whether they thought they might lose their jobs or their businesses would close in a foreseeable future due to COVID-19.

Of the 14,2 million persons who were employed in Q2: 2020, more than half (58,1%) were expected to work during the national lockdown by the companies/organisations they work for. There were 173?000 employed persons who were expected to work during the national lockdown but could not do any work during that period. About 76,3% cited the national lockdown as the main reason for not actually working while the rest indicated that they did not work due to health reasons (10,2%); family responsibility (3,5%); or shift work arrangements (10,0%).

Prior to the national lockdown, working from home was not a common practice in South Africa, although the proportion is not known. Although most of those who actually worked during the national lockdown did so from their usual place of work, about 17,6% indicated that they worked from home. The proportion of those who worked from home was higher in Gauteng and Western Cape than in the other provinces. The share of those who worked from home was higher among professionals (44,7%) and Managers (40,6%) indicating access to tools of trade to facilitate work from home for these workers.

There were 11,5 million employed persons who continued to receive pay during the lockdown. About one in five of the employed had a reduction in their pay/salary during the lockdown. There seems to be some relationship between the level of education and reduction in pay/salary. Those with higher levels of education had higher chances of receiving a full salary than those with lower levels of education. Almost 9 in every 10 employed graduates (89,7%) continued to receive a full salary, compared to 75,2% of those with less than matric as their highest level of education.

Those who were employed during the national lockdown were also asked if they will be returning to the same job after lockdown and 94,5% indicated that they will; 2,0% indicated that they will not return to the same job; and 3,5% were not sure. Those who were not returning to the same job or were not sure, were also asked if they thought they might lose their jobs or close their business in the four weeks succeeding the survey interview due to COVID-19. 25,9% indicated that they thought they would.

Due to the lockdown restrictions, data was collected telephonically, unlike the usual face-to-face interviews. As such, data could not be collected from the full sample but only from households for which contact numbers were available. This introduced bias to the sample. These were adjusted for and the details on how the adjustment was done are contained the report.

For more information, download the full report here.

ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work, sixth edition:

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/coronavirus/impacts-and-responses/WCMS_755910/lang–de/index.htm

?

Statistics South Africa to release the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), Quarter 2: 2020

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will release the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2020 at a media briefing to be held on Tuesday, 29 September 2020 in Pretoria.

Media briefing will be held as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Lock up: 11:00

Embargo: 11:30

Venue: Statistics South Africa building (ISIbalo House), 1 Koch Street, Salvokop, Pretoria

GPS coordinates: -25.761743, 28.186824

NB: All COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be adhered to.

?

RSVP:

Oteng Makgotlwe Tel: 012 406 3407 Cell: 066 481 2025 Email: otengma@statssa.gov.za

?

For media enquiries contact:

Felicia Sithole

Tel: (012) 337 2401

Cell: 076?430 0693

Email: felicias@statssa.gov.za

?

Issued by Statistics South Africa

Release date for QLFS Quarter 2: 2020 results

This serves to notify the members of the media that the QLFS Q2: 2020 results will be published on 29 September 2020. Stats SA sincerely apologises for any inconvenience this delay has caused to the QLFS data users.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For technical enquiries, contact:

Ms Malerato Mosiane

Acting Chief Director: Labour Statistics

Tel:? 012 310 8688

Cell: 082 888 2449

Email: MaleratoM@statssa.gov.

?

For media enquires contact:

Ms Felicia Sithole

Cell: 076?430 0693

Email: felicias@statssa.gov.za