The increase in employment in the first three months of 2018 is unlikely to be sustained, mainly because of damped business confidence. The key driver of the job creation was the community and construction sectors, Statistics SA said on Tuesday. However, after a weak performance by the manufacturing and construction sectors in the first quarter, which weighed on economic growth, this is unlikely to be sustained. “Given just how poorly the manufacturing and construction sectors have performed, we are sceptical that the job gains in these two industries can be sustained,” said FNB senior economic analyst Jason Muscat. Overall 56,000 jobs were created, but the trade and mining sectors had huge job losses. The release of the data came on the same day credit rating agency Moody’s released a research report that found that the excitement created by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s election had not filtered down to the ground. It had not translated into investment largely because of uncertainti...
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