Cosatu shocked at SA’s job loss stats

By Ofentse Mokae
22 June 2010

Congress of South African Trade Unions has expressed its shock at today’s report by Statistics South Africa indicating the country lost 79,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year.

The report reveals that from January to March, employment in the formal, non-agricultural economy fell by 1% - to 8.08 million.

Cosatu says this comes on top of the loss of 870,000 jobs last year.

“Then we were in the midst of a major recession which pushed the unemployment rate up to 25.2% - 32.5% if you include those who have given up seeking work,” says the union’s Patrick Craven.

The construction industry alone lost 7,000 jobs in the first quarter from the previous three months compared with the same period last year, mainly from the completion of the World Cup stadiums.

Craven says the figure confirms their view that the country is in the midst of a profound economic crisis.

“They will make the federation more determined than ever to campaign in the short term for a substantial cut in interest rates by the Reserve Bank on 22 July 2010, to give a boost to investment, and in the longer term for a new economic growth path,” added Craven.