Elsewhere in South Africa, grubby politicians gobble up the public loot — and the future
02 March 2023 - 05:00
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On the face of it, the unemployment numbers released this week were probably better than expected, given how rolling blackouts have ravaged the country.
The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 32.7%, from 32.9%, which should be relatively encouraging if you were to leave it at that.
But of the 169,000 net jobs created in the last quarter of 2022, most progress was in the Western Cape, according to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey.
At the top level, 224,000 jobs were created in that quarter, with 167,000 of them in the Western Cape, 23,000 in the mining-rich North West province, 20,000 in the Eastern Cape, and 12,000 in the Northern Cape. However, the overall gains were dragged down by the loss of 20,000 jobs in Limpopo, while Gauteng shed 18,000 jobs and Mpumalanga 13,000 jobs.
Now, it’s easy to attach too much significance to small changes in the quarterly survey. Besides the margin of error, there are also seasonal factors that can distort things — think, for example, of the number of tourists who hit the Cape beaches over that time, or the need during the summer months to hire extra workers on wine farms.
Still, on the face of it, these numbers would tend to corroborate the multiple reports of the economic implosion happening in Gauteng and the northern provinces, thanks to the grubby, self-interested politicians running those provinces into the ground. And it would underscore why the semigration trend towards the Western Cape is accelerating.
Sadly, economists don’t predict many gleaming lights at the end of the unemployment tunnel any time soon. As Nedbank’s economists put it, “most of the key indicators suggest that economic conditions worsened in the first quarter of 2023, with little improvement expected for the remainder of the year”.
These job numbers confirm that until there is a real solution to load-shedding — not just political hot air — our economy will not grow.
*This story was changed on March 6 to correct the reference to net job gains of 169,000, and insert the fact that the 167,000 gain in jobs in the Western Cape was from a total 224,000 quarterly gain in jobs created
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
EDITORIAL: Western Cape scores in job creation
Elsewhere in South Africa, grubby politicians gobble up the public loot — and the future
Image: Sibongile Ngalwa
On the face of it, the unemployment numbers released this week were probably better than expected, given how rolling blackouts have ravaged the country.
The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 32.7%, from 32.9%, which should be relatively encouraging if you were to leave it at that.
But of the 169,000 net jobs created in the last quarter of 2022, most progress was in the Western Cape, according to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey.
At the top level, 224,000 jobs were created in that quarter, with 167,000 of them in the Western Cape, 23,000 in the mining-rich North West province, 20,000 in the Eastern Cape, and 12,000 in the Northern Cape. However, the overall gains were dragged down by the loss of 20,000 jobs in Limpopo, while Gauteng shed 18,000 jobs and Mpumalanga 13,000 jobs.
Now, it’s easy to attach too much significance to small changes in the quarterly survey. Besides the margin of error, there are also seasonal factors that can distort things — think, for example, of the number of tourists who hit the Cape beaches over that time, or the need during the summer months to hire extra workers on wine farms.
Still, on the face of it, these numbers would tend to corroborate the multiple reports of the economic implosion happening in Gauteng and the northern provinces, thanks to the grubby, self-interested politicians running those provinces into the ground. And it would underscore why the semigration trend towards the Western Cape is accelerating.
Sadly, economists don’t predict many gleaming lights at the end of the unemployment tunnel any time soon. As Nedbank’s economists put it, “most of the key indicators suggest that economic conditions worsened in the first quarter of 2023, with little improvement expected for the remainder of the year”.
These job numbers confirm that until there is a real solution to load-shedding — not just political hot air — our economy will not grow.
*This story was changed on March 6 to correct the reference to net job gains of 169,000, and insert the fact that the 167,000 gain in jobs in the Western Cape was from a total 224,000 quarterly gain in jobs created
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