Jobs not growing fast enough

Tough times are denting job creation opportunities in SA.

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Pretoria - Difficult trading conditions and low business confidence has negatively affected job creation in SA.

As a result, persistently high unemployement is one of SA's most pressing chalenges, with the official unemployment rate at 25 percent, and the broader rate - which includes discouraged job seekers - at 33 percent.

According to Statistics SA, most of the 338 000 jobs created in the first half of the year were in the informal sector.

The formal sector lost 76 000 jobs, with share declines from under-pressure sectors manufacturing and construction.

National Treasury says employement is not expanding rapidly enough to absorb the 659 000 people who entered the job market in the first half of the year. By the end of June, there were an estimated 2.43 million discouraged job seekers.

However, National Treasury notes labour relations improved in 2015, with 176 000 workdays lost in the first half of the year, compared with 7.5 million duirng the same period a year ago.

Over the next three years, government will allocate R37 billion to public employment programmes.

These resources will allow the Expanded Public Works Programme to create about 6 million short-term jobs. By 2017, the Community Work Programme is expected to be present in every municipality, notes National Treasury.

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