There were 74, 000 more South Africans employed in the quarter ended March 2018 when compared to the same period last year, according to data from Statistics South Africa. An increase of 0.8%.

The gain in employment was largely due to increases in the following industries: community services, which was up 3.0% compared to the previous year, trade (1.1%), and business services (0.7%). Meanwhile, the electricity industry remained unchanged.

On a quarterly basis, there were 56,000 more South Africans employed in the quarter ended March 2018 when compared to the previous quarter

Statistics South Africa also published data on gross earnings and average monthly earnings showing that gross earnings paid to employees decreased by 3.9%

Meanwhile, gross earnings increased by 1.1% for the quarter ended March 2018 when compared to the previous year.