Sasol earnings are up, but SA's job figures are down

Less encouraging news is that - according to the Adcorp Employment Index - employment declined at an annual rate of 2.1% (representing a loss of 49306 workers) during August - the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

"Adcorp considers that one of the prime reasons for the nation's dismal employment picture is that government is crowding out private sector participation in the economy. Hence, while overall employment declined in August, employment by government continued to rise by a notable 6.2%", said Loane Sharp, Adcorp's labour market analyst. He added that the public sector now accounted for all the job creation in the economy for 2011 as a whole.

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