Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa, 2015

Statistics South Africa has released the Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa, 2015 report "which shows that between 2009 and 2015 employment increased from 14,2 million to 15,7 million. This rise, however, did not keep pace with the increase in the working age population and as such the absorption rate, at 43,7% in 2015 was still 2,2 percentage points below the 2008 pre-recessionary high.

The rise in employment levels was supported by increases in eight of the ten industries, the largest of which were recorded in Community and Social Services (737 000), Finance (336 000) and Construction (216 000). In addition, strong employment growth in occupations such as Elementary occupations (663 000), Sales (540 000) and Manager (178 000) supported the robust employment growth over the period 2009 to 2015. Between 2009 and 2015, employment levels in the formal sector increased by 968 000 to 10,9 million, while informal sector employment increased from 2,2 million in 2009 to 2,6 million in 2015."