AGRICULURAL EMPLOYMENT HAS BENEFITTED FROM SUSTAINED JOB NUMBERS AND HIGHER WAGES IN THE PAST DECADE BUT WILL COME UNDER THREAT AS LABOUR-INTENSIVE FRUIT FARM INCOMES DECLINE AND COSTS CONTINUE TO SPIRAL.
This quarterly brief contextualises Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) Quarterly Labour Force Survey results with specific emphasis on the agricultural sector. The latest iteration by StatsSA was published on the 23rd of August 2022, detailing job numbers for the second quarter of the year. In our previous Quarterly Employment Brief, we noted that unemployment had declined somewhat, and the QLFS statistics for the second quarter of 2022 suggest further improvements in South Africa’s labour market with the narrow unemployment rate extending its decline slightly from 34.5% to 33.9%.
