BusinessLive reports that as mining and manufacturing kicked off the fourth quarter with stronger-than-expected growth, data from Statistics SA showed that both sectors bled jobs in the third quarter.
Economists warned that the rebound in growth was insufficient to create enough jobs to reduce unemployment and poverty. Statistics SA’s quarterly employment survey showed on Tuesday that the number of employed South Africans fell by 16,000 in the third quarter of 2018, with job losses of 7,000 in manufacturing and 2,000 in mining. While the production figures released on the same day were upbeat and exceeded expectations, signalling that the economy remained strong at the start of the fourth quarter, the future of both sectors remained uncertain according to economists. “The recession may technically have ended, but it does not feel that way for job seekers,” said NKC analyst Gerrit van Rooyen. “Given recent rate hikes and depressed sentiment, we doubt that the economy will be able to maintain this momentum over the quarter as a whole,” said Capital Economics economist John Ashbourne. This is still not a major boom and both sectors remain volatile, economist Mike Schüssler said. “The job losses will continue,” he warned. The mining sector in particular remains constrained by unprofitable mines and labour strikes
- Read the report in this regard by Sunita Menon and Karl Gernetzky in full at BusinessLive
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