The National Bureau of Statistics released its quarterly job creation survey for the second (Q2) and third quarter (Q3) of 2016 highlighting a constant decline in public sector jobs on offer.
With 155,444 new (net) jobs recorded in Q2, there was an identified trend highlighting that the bulk of jobs emanate from the informal sector, 105,543 (67.9%). Comparatively, jobs in Q2 increased 95.6% against the preceding quarter and 10% against Q2 in 2015.
Still on Q2, the formal sector accounted for the second most with 55,124 jobs (35.5%) while the public sector for the third consecutive quarter recorded a negative growth, declining by 5,223 jobs.
With a 20% quarterly increase in Q3, 187,226 new jobs were created. As was the case in the previous quarter, the bulk of jobs came from the informal sector, 77.3% (144,651) while 26.5% of the jobs were credited to the formal sector.
In Q3, the public sector once again reported a negative growth (-7,012) reflecting the impact of falling oil prices last year on the government, stunting job creation and in some instances making it impossible.
With unemployment on the rise (13.3% in Q2 and 13.9% in Q3, 2016) and a growing labor market, the report also highlighted a negative economic growth rate running against positive net job creation. The meaning of this is that more jobs are being created despite job losses, particularly from the informal sector.
The reality is that the labour force, using a five year average is rising at 2.6 million annually with 3.7million people having entered the labour force between Q1 and Q3 of 2016. Net jobs created within this period stand at 422,135 leaving a staggering 3.2 million gap.
It also explains the resultant rise in combined unemployment and underemployment from 29.2% at the start of 2016 to 33.6% at the end of Q3. In order to keep a hold on the current unemployment rate (13.9%), the economy needs to generate the same level of jobs annually.
