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BusinessTech reports that Statistics SA (Stats SA) on Thursday published its Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2020, showing the extent to which the country’s employment market has begun to recover after the peak of coronavirus lockdown.
Unemployment increased substantially by 2.2 million (52.1%) to 6.5 million, compared to the second quarter of 2020. One of the job groups hit hardest by the lockdown has been domestic workers, with 259,000 losing their jobs in the second quarter of 2020 – a year-on-year decrease of 25.1%. However, Stats SA’s latest data shows that the sector has seen a relatively strong rebound, with 119,000 domestic worker jobs added in the third quarter of 2020. This meant that the total number of employed domestic workers increased to 864,000 by the end of September. Despite this improvement, the data showed that a net total of 163,000 domestic workers lost their jobs since the start of the year. Domestic work is one of the lowest paid occupations in the country with a minimum wage of R15.57 an hour. However, many households still rely on this income for basic survival. Data published by digital-booking cleaning service SweepSouth in September showed a dramatic drop in the earnings of domestic workers due to the pandemic.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessTech
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