Transport jobs down

The transport sector shed
66 000 jobs between the
last quarter of 2013 and
first quarter of 2014,
according to Stats SA.
Its Q1:2014 figures
show that the trade sector
employed 154 000 more
people compared to the first
quarter of 2013.
The two categories
reported the largest changes,
with the quarter-on-quarter
figures painting a less
rosy picture in the trade
sector: “The contraction
in employment between
Q4:2013 and Q1:2014 was
driven mainly by a decrease
in employment in transport,
storage and communication
(66 000), Community and
social services (42 000) and
Trade (38 000) industries,”
says the report.
According to Stats SA,
South Africa experienced
a quarterly decline in
employment by 122 000
due to mainly to a loss of
110 000 jobs in the informal
sector, bringing the official
unemployment rate to one in
four – or 25.2%.