Shrinking surplus, jobless are on the rise

Favourable trade balance R4bn

THE TRADE balance in September recorded a surplus of R4 billion, R3bn under market expectations, while the unemployment rate remained stubbornly at a 14-year high in the quarter.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) yesterday said that the narrowing of the surplus was due to a decline in exports, which dropped 1.6 percent to R101.7bn on a monthon-month basis against a 0.4 percent up-tick in imports to R97.7bn.

The surplus was a deterioration year-on-year from R7bn recorded in September 2016.

Subdued trading

It gave space to SA companies to deprive the country of much-needed capital.

The trade data was a second set of statistics that reflected subdued trading conditions this week.

Early this week Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) said that private sector credit has risen by 5.59 percent from a year earlier in September of 2017, following a 5.98 percent growth in the previous month.

Yesterday StatsSA said the unemployment rate remained at 27.7 percent.

This was as in the previous two quarters, thereby maintaining the highest rate in 14 years.

It said joblessness in the country rose by 33 000 people to reach 6.21 million, while those with jobs increased by 92 000 to reach a total of 16.19 million.

Macroeconomics statistics website Trading Economics said the unemployment in South Africa averaged 25.50 percent from 2000 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 31.20 percent in the first quarter of 2003 and a record low of 21.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

A year earlier, the jobless rate in the country was lower at 27.1 percent.

The expanded definition of unemployment, including people who have stopped looking for work, rose to 36.8 percent in the third quarter from 36.6 percent in the previous period.

Job losses occurred in the informal sector, which shed 71 000 jobs and in agriculture which let go of 25 000 jobs.

However, the formal sector added 187 000 jobs in the quarter.

Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said that jobs unemployment rose because of changes in the structure of the economy, with available labour possessing neither the skills nor education to occupy existing posts.

“One of the major policy failures was to allow free movement of capital, which entailed allowing SA companies to take profits produced by South African labour from the republic to other countries and taking away the government’s power to regulate the export of capital and to limit imports.

“This gave space to South African companies to deprive the country of the much-needed capital,” Pamla said.