South Africa's job market crisis: 95,000 jobs lost

March 2025 was not a good month for South Africans as another 95 000 jobs were lost between this year and last year, with many of those who are now without gainful employment having worked in the construction, mining, community services, and trade.

A surprise in the figures was a net gain of 2 000 in jobs in the manufacturing sector, which has been a declining sector for several year. Employment in the transport industry remain unchanged.

Casey Sprake, economist at Anchor, noted that formal sector employment, stripping out excluding agriculture, declined by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2025, shedding 74,000 jobs. This, she says, is “a stark indicator of an economy still struggling to gain traction”.

Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released on Tuesday, also showed that total wage earnings dropped by R47.3 billion (4.6% down), which Sprake said underlines “both subdued business activity and constrained household purchasing power”.

Dr Elna Moolman, Standard Bank Group head of South Africa Macroeconomic Research added that there was “such severe pressure on bonus payments that total income didn't even keep pace with low inflation”

Sprake said that six out of eight industries recording job losses, with the largest of these being on trade, and indication of seasonal hiring.

Moolman said there was a decline in government employment and also relatively broad-based declines in the private sector.

Sprake added “this labour market softness mirrors broader economic stagnation - GDP growth was just 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter - amid persistently weak business confidence, policy uncertainty, and low fixed investment.”

Structural reforms, especially those under the newly launched Operation Vulindlela II, “must urgently gain traction if South Africa is to shift from stagnation to inclusive, job-rich growth,” said Sprake.

Lara Hodes, Investec economist, concurred the outcome of Statistics South Africa’s was “indicative of a lacklustre economy”. She noted that “the economy continues to face a number of challenges, with business confidence weak, weighing on investment potential”.

“Part of the weakness in the economy in the first quarter of the year is of course attributable to severe political and policy uncertainty both globally and domestically, and this unfortunately hardly improved in the second quarter of the year. We are looking for some improvement in the economy in the second half of the year, and that should be followed by a recovery in the labour market in due course,” said Moolman.

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