AEI July 2011 

Salient features

• Employment dropped sharply at an annual rate of 8.3% during June, the second consecutive monthly decline. This represents a loss of 127,100 permanent positions and 5,712 temporary positions. Even the agency work sector, which has contributed strongly to employment growth since 2000, was static
  during June. The only sector to grow was the unofficial sector, by 1,059 positions.
• Employment grew substantially in the high-skilled management and professional services categories (21.9%), whereas employment declined sharply in the unskilled and semi-skilled categories (20.3%).
• Based on our monitoring of trade union activities so far this year, we estimate that South Africa will lose 24.9 million days due to strikes and work stoppages in 2011 – an increase of 22% over 2010. Compared to recent years, where strike activity has been most aggressive in the government sector, the private sector is likely to account for 68% of all workdays lost this year.

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