Stats SA reveals closure of 370 businesses across the country

THE chance of the average South African being employed is getting lower. Stats SA has revealed that more than 370 businesses across the country have shut their doors.

According to Stats SA, the reasons for their closure were due to their concerns that the business environment continued to be challenging.

Stats SA released these latest figures for liquidations on Wednesday.

It said that the number of liquidations decreased by more than 4% in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same time a year ago.

Although some businesses were spared, the tally remains high.

The closure of these businesses does little to boost South Africa’s dim job prospects.

The latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) from Stats SA showed that total employment decreased by 67 000 or -0.6% quarter-on-quarter, from 10 731 000 in December last year to 10 664 000 in March this year.

It is said that this was due to decreases in the following industries:

* trade (-57,000 or -2.4%),

* community services (-18,000 or -0.6%),

* business services (-4,000 or -0.2%), and

* mining (-3,000 or -0.6%).

However, there were increases in the manufacturing (12,000 or 0.9%), transport (2,000 or 0.4%), and construction (1,000 or 0.2%) industries.

Total employment decreased by 74,000 or -0.7% between March last year and March this year.

Full-time and part-time employment decreased by 16,000 or -0.2% and 38,000 or -3.1% a quarter year-on-year, respectively.

The QES data broadly aligns with the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), in which South Africa’s unemployment rate increased by up to 32.9%.

While QES data specifically reflects the number of people receiving formal salaries, the QLFS follows more comprehensive employment and unemployment trends.

In December last year, the QLFS showed that the unemployment rate decreased to its lowest level in a year in the third quarter, falling to 31.9% from 32.6% in the previous quarter. This meant that a total of 979 000 jobs were created.

South Africa still has huge unemployment figures. The country has the world's second highest unemployment rate, with roughly eight million individuals of working age unemployed, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Star