Job Opportunities and Unemployment - Department of Labour

Economic theory that states that employment lags changes in GDP. This phenomenon is evident in the SouthAfrican labour market. The 2010 FIFA World Cup as an example happened when the country was recovering froma global recession and even if the economy grew after a period of contraction, gains in employment will onlyoccur when an employer experiences an increase in consumer spending for the goods and services produced; ifthe employer is confident that the demand is sustainable and lastly if the current employees have reached theircapacity for output.In this report the supply and demand of labour for the financial year 2010/11 (April 2010 to March 2011) will beanalysed looking at both the survey and administrative data. The job vacancies data collected from various localnewspapers by the Labour Market Information Statistics (LMIS) directorate in the Department of Labour form partof the administrative data. On the supply side of labour, the report focuses on the employment and unemploymenttrends with a special emphasis on the characteristics of the labour force. In this regard, section one provides thesummary of the South African labour supply as published in the QLFS. Section two explores the trends in thenumber ordinary unemployment claims which are registered at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Onthe contrary, the demand side of labour gives special attention to the job vacancies advertised, the occupationalgroups, the industries that are creating employment as well as the requirements for these job vacancies. This isdiscussed in section three of the report. Then the report concludes with some policies recommendations.2