South Africa loses 121,000 jobs in one year – Report

….loses mainly concentrated in the private sector 

 

South Africa has lost 121,000 jobs over the past 12 months, based on the latest Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) from Stats SA.

According to Stats SA, total employment decreased by 1.1 percent year-on-year between March 2025 and March 2026.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, employment fell by 0.8 percent (or 80,000 jobs), dropping from 10,548,000 in December 2025 to 10,468,000 in March 2026.

Read also:Another batch of 269 Nigerians repatriated from South Africa arrive Lagos

The survey shows a negative trend for workers and consumers alike.

This decline was largely driven by sharp contractions in several key sectors.

Sectors with the most losses

Community services saw the heaviest losses, falling by 53,000 or 1.9 percent, followed closely by the trade sector, which shed 40,000 jobs, representing a 1.7 percent decline.

The transport sector dropped by 3,000 positions, while the electricity sector fell by 1,000 jobs. Conversely, modest employment gains were reported in manufacturing and business services, which each added 7,000 jobs, as well as mining and construction, which grew by 2,000 and 1,000 jobs respectively.

Full-time and part-time employment trends

The economic downturn severely affected both full-time and part-time positions. Full-time employment fell by 24,000 quarter-on-quarter to 9,409,000 in March 2026, marking a total year-on-year decrease of 48,000 positions.

Part-time employment dropped even more sharply, contracting by 56,000 over the quarter to 1,059,000 in March 2026. This steep quarterly decline resulted in a total year-on-year loss of 73,000 part-time jobs.

Read also:Thousands march across South Africa in anti-migrant protests amid tight security

This QES data follows May’s dismal Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), which revealed that the country’s unemployment rate had spiked to 32.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, showing that 301,000 individuals had lost their jobs.

While the QES is an enterprise-based survey collecting data from private, non-agricultural businesses, the QLFS is a worker-based survey that samples the wider labour force, including the agricultural and informal sectors.

Growing financial pressure on consumers

Elna Moolman, PhD., group head of South Africa Macroeconomic Research, Standard Bank group noted that job losses in the private sector paints a “reasonably bleak picture” for South African consumers.

This is particularly evident as the losses were concentrated in wholesale, hotels, and accommodation, areas where consumer spending pressure is most visible.

“In the first quarter of this year, the credit bureau data that we track shows an increase in financial pressure on consumers,” Moolman said.

She highlighted that this pressure manifested as a broad-based rise in non-performing loans and an increase in the proportion of consumers with overdue debt.

“In the second quarter, we saw a significant spike in the cost of living, and the SARB increased rates by a quarter of a percentage point. We expect consumers to remain under pressure for the rest of this year,”  Moolman said.