South Africa · Governance
Where South Africa’s formal payrolls added and lost jobs in Q2 2026
South Africa’s formal non-agricultural employment fell by 14,000 jobs in Q2 2026. Manufacturing lost 20,000 and business services lost 13,000, while community services added 29,000.
Sources checked
Total employment change
Shared scale · -20,000 jobs to 32,000 jobs
Full-time change
Shared scale · -20,000 jobs to 32,000 jobs
Part-time change
Shared scale · -20,000 jobs to 32,000 jobs
Switch between total, full-time and part-time employment changes. Negative values indicate fewer jobs.
Full-time employment fell while part-time employment rose
Statistics South Africa estimated that full-time employment fell from 9.370 million in March to 9.330 million in June. Part-time employment rose from 1.069 million to 1.095 million. The combined change was a loss of 14,000 jobs. Source 1
Community services drove the increase in part-time jobs
Community services added 32,000 part-time jobs and recorded 3,000 fewer full-time jobs. Manufacturing recorded losses in both categories. Business services gained 4,000 part-time jobs alongside a loss of 17,000 full-time jobs. Source 1
The annual loss was larger than the quarterly loss
Total employment in the survey was 95,000 lower in June 2026 than in June 2025. Full-time employment was 96,000 lower and part-time employment 1,000 higher. Each comparison uses its own reference period. Source 1
The survey measures a defined part of the labour market
The quarterly employment survey covers formal non-agricultural employment. Employment in agriculture and informal work requires other sources. Payroll changes measure job counts in the survey and cannot by themselves establish how many people became unemployed. Source 1 Source 2