South Africa's formal non-agricultural sector reduced its workforce by 14,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2026, with the largest decrease in employment recorded in the manufacturing sector.
According to data published by the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) agency on Tuesday, this reduction led to a decline in total formal sector employment from 10.439 million jobs in March to 10.425 million in June.
These latest figures worsen the difficult situation in the labor market, as the sector has lost 95,000 jobs between June 2025 and June 2026.
The agency reported that the manufacturing industry experienced the most significant drop in employment, losing 20,000 jobs in the quarter. Additional losses were noted in business services (13,000), trade (8,000), and transport (5,000). Meanwhile, public services demonstrated the strongest job growth (an increase of 29,000 jobs), while the electricity, mining, and construction sectors showed a modest increase of 1,000 jobs each.
Reduction in full employment
The number of full-time employees decreased by 40,000 between March and June, falling from 9.37 million to 9.33 million. The main reasons for this decline were the business services and manufacturing sectors, each losing 17,000 jobs. Trade reduced its staff by 7,000, and transport by 6,000.
Looking at the year-on-year dynamics, full employment decreased by 96,000 jobs. In contrast, part-time employment increased by 26,000 people, reaching 1.095 million in June. Public services contributed the most to this growth, adding 32,000 part-time jobs, as did business services, which added 4,000 such jobs.
Meanwhile, the total amount paid to employees decreased by 4.8 billion rand, representing a 0.5% drop compared to the previous quarter (from 1.03 trillion to 1.025 trillion rand). This overall decrease was caused by a sharp reduction in bonus payments amounting to 23.1 billion rand. The most significant drop was observed in the business services sector, followed by mining and transport, while public services, trade, construction, manufacturing, and electricity reported an increase in gross revenue.