Quarterly

Labour Force
Survey (QLFS)
Q2:2020

Risenga Maluleke
Statistician-General
#StatsSA
COVID-19 Impact on Data
Collection

Restrictions necessary to combat COVID-19 created an

obstacle to normal data collection approaches and
operations, exactly when there was a massive increase in
demand for information.

Stats SA changed the mode of collection for collecting

QLFS data to Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing (CATI). To facilitate CATI, the sample that
was used for QLFS Q1:2020 was also used in Q2:2020.

Not all dwelling units on the sample had contact

numbers resulting in data being collected from part of the
sample where contact numbers were available for QLFS
Q2:2020.

This introduced bias in the estimates. Details on how the

bias adjustment was done is contained in the report.

2
There were 2,2 million less people Employed in Q2:2020

39,0 million
People of working age in South Africa (15 – 64 - year olds)

Labour force Not Economically Active

18,4 20,6 million
million

Other NEA
Employed Unemployed
2,5 M
14,1 M 4,3M

work seekers
Discouraged
18,1 M

SA’s official
unemployme
nt rate
stands at
ILO hierarchy – Employed first then unemployed
23,3% and the remainder is NEA (including discouraged
job-seekers). 3 mutually exclusive groups.
Declined by 6,8 percentage points Cannot be in two groups at the same time.
between Q1:2020 and Q2:2020

3
 Not Economically Active (NEA)

Employed Unemployed 2,9 Other NEA

M
Q1:2020

work seekers
Discouraged
16,4 M 7,1 M 12,5 M

Large movements in all

categories between
Q1:2020 and Q2:2020. Not Economically Active (NEA) 20,6M
2,5
M
Q2:2020
work seekers
M M Discouraged M
14,1
Employed 4,3 18,1
Other NEA
Unemployed

4
 ILO hierarchy – Employed first then unemployed
Large movements in all categories between and the remainder is NEA (including discouraged
job-seekers). 3 mutually exclusive groups.
Q1:2020 and Q2:2020. Cannot be in two groups at the same time.

13,6% Fewer 39,2% Fewer 33,4% More Not

Employed Unemployed Economically Active

14,1 Million 4,3 Million 20,6 Million Not

Employed Unemployed Economically Active

2,2 Million Fewer 2,8 Million Fewer 5,2 Million More Not
Employed between Q1 Unemployed between Economically Active
and Q2 2020 Q1 and Q2 2020 between Q1 and Q2 2020

5
20,6 million people aged 15 – 64 years were not economically active in
Q2:2020. This is an increase of 5,2 million q/q
Characteristics of the not economically active, Q1 vs Q2

Q1 Q2

Other 6,0% 29,4%

(Up by 23,4% points)

Student 31,6% 39,4%

(Down by 7,8% points)

Home-maker 12,0% 15,9% Q1:2020 to Q2:2020

(Down by 3,9% points) Change in levels
Quarter-on-quarter changes

Thousand
Illness/disability 7,3% 9,7%
Student 423
(Down by 2,4% points)
Homemaker 20
Illness/disability 0

Too old/young to work 7,7% 10,0% Too young/too old to work 49

(Down by 2,3% points) Discouraged work seekers -447

Other 5 112

Discouraged work seekers 12,0% 18,9%

(Down by 6,9% points)
Other reasons: National lockdown / COVID-19

6
Increases in the not economically active population is a global phenomenon
as seen in SA in Q2:2020.

According to the ILO monitor:

COVID-19 and the world of
work. Sixth edition:

“….. the decline in employment

in the second quarter of 2020
has been accompanied by a
larger increase in inactivity in all
countries, apart from Canada
and the United States. In other
words, the decline in
employment in most countries
has led to a substantial increase
in inactivity, while changes in
unemployment are smaller”
Source: ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Sixth edition Updated estimates and
analysis

7
The Labour force participation rate decreased by 8,8 percentage points
from 56,1% in Q2:2010 to 47,3% in Q2:2020

Labour force participation and absorption rate, 2010-2020

Labour force participation rate is the proportion of the

working-age population that is either employed or
unemployed.
60,3%

56,1%
11,0% Points
14,1% Points difference
difference

47,3%

42,1%

42,0% Absorption rate is the proportion of the working-

age population that is employed. 36,3%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

8
South Africa’s unemployment rate declined by 6,8 percentage
points to 23,3% in Q2:2020 compared to Q1:2020.
Unemployment rate from Q1:2008 to Q2:2020

40%

35%

30,1%
30%

25%

20% 23,3%
15%

10%

5%

0%
Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q2
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

9
 The Expanded definition which includes those discouraged and
those having other reasons for not searching (e.g. Lockdown)
showed a 2,3 percentage points increase to 42,0%.

10,3 million
50%
42,0%
40%
Expanded

30%

20% Official
23,3%
10%

0%
4,3 million
Q2:2010 Q2:2020

Expanded Definition includes the following

- Official unemployment (searched and available) 4,3 M

- Available to work but are/or

• Discouraged work-seekers 2,5 M
• Have other reasons for not searching 3,5 M

10
 EC recorded the highest official and expanded unemployment rates. MP,
KZN, NW and LP provinces have more than 20,0 percentage points difference between
their expanded and official unemployment rates

Provincial unemployment rate: Official vs Expanded Q2:2020

Official Expanded
EC 36,9% 52,8%

GP 26,4% 38,7%

FS 25,3% 41,2%

NC 25,1% 20,0% points difference 45,1%

RSA 23,3% 42,0%

LP 21,9% 24,5% points difference 46,5%

NW 21,6% 24,8% points difference 46,3%

KZN 18,9% 27,3% points difference 46,2%

WC 16,6% 27,3%

MP 13,3% 32,1% points difference 45,4%

11
11
 The formal sector in South Africa accounts for 71,1%
of total employment.
Employment share by sector, Q1:2008 to Q2:2020
18

16

14 Formal sector employment 10,1M

9,9M
12 71,1%
10
Millions

FORMAL SECTOR
8

4
Informal sector employment 2,3M
2,4M 16,1%
2
1,2M Private Household 1M 7,1%
0,8M Agriculture 0,79M 5,6%
0
Q1:2008 Q2:2020

12
The number of persons employed decreased by 2,2 million in
Q2:2020 to 14,1 million q/q.
Employment changes by sector, (qQuarter-on-quarter)

Decreased by Decreased by Decreased by Decreased by

1,2M 640 000 66 000 311 000

q 10,8% q 7,6%
q 21,9% q 23,6%

Formal sector (non- Informal sector (non- Agriculture Private households

agricultural) agricultural)
(10,1 million jobs) (2,3 million jobs) (799 thousand jobs) (1,0 million jobs)

13
Employment losses were observed across all industries.

Employment changes by industry

Quarter-on-quarter change (‘000) Percentage

change

-515 Community and social services

-13,7%
-373 Trade
-11,2%
-311 Private households
-23,6%
-283 Finance
-11,2%
-278 Construction
-20,7%
-250 Manufacturing
-14,7%
-110 Transport
-11,0%
-66 Agriculture
-7,6%
-63 Mining Lowest declines were
observed in Utilities, -14,4%
-3 Utilities Mining and Agriculture.
-2,3%

14
Trade, construction and agriculture have higher
employment shares relative to their GDP contribution.
Share of
Employment and GDP share per industry Nominal
GDP
Employment shares, Q2: 2020 (Q2:2020)

Community and
22,9%
social services 27,7%
Trade 20,8%
12,8%
Finance 15,8%
21,1%
Manufacturing 10,3%
10,8%
Construction 7,5%
3,3%
Private households 7,1%

Transport 6,3%
8,2%
Agriculture 5,6%
4,0%
Mining 2,6%
7,2%
Utilities 0,8%

5,0%

15
The unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 (52,3%) declined by 6,7
percentage points.

Labour market rates by age group, Q2:2020 Change: Percentage points

15-64 yrs 23,3% 47,3%
Q1:2020 to Q2:2020
36,3%

Unemployment rate Absorption rate Participation rate

55-64 yrs 9,3% -0,7 38,4% -6,3

34,8% -5,4

45-54 yrs 14,2% -3,3 55,5% -6,7

64,7% -10,7

35-44 yrs 19,3% -4,7 53,3% -7,9

66,1% -14,4

25-34 yrs 28,9% -8,4 40,2% -6,5 56,5% -18,0

15-24 yrs 52,3% -6,7 7,5% -3,6 15,7% -11,5

16
 Unemployment amongst the Black African population group remains
higher than the national average and other population groups.

OFFICIAL unemployment rate by population group

SA

White Indian/Asian Coloured Black African

Unemployment Rate 6,1% 14,4% 19,0% 23,3% 26,3%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

17
 Black African women are the most vulnerable with an Black women are the most vulnerable
unemployment rate above 28,0%. with unemployment rate of over 30%.

OFFICIAL unemployment rate by population group and sex

Unemployment Rate Male Unemployment Rate Female Unemployment Rate by

by Population Group By Population Group Population Group

23,3% 22,1% 24,8%

Both sexes
30,1% 28,3% 32,4%

Black 26,3% 24,8% 28,2%

African 33,8% 31,6% 36,5%

19,0% 20,5% 17,4%

Coloured
24,0% 24,7% 23,2%

14,4% 11,3% 20,3%

Indian/Asian
13,0% 11,7% 15,3%

6,1% 6,5% 5,6%

White
8,1% 8,0% 8,2%

Q2:2020 Q1:2020 Q2:2020 Q1:2020 Q2:2020 Q1:2020

18
 Irrespective of gender, the black African and coloured population
groups remain vulnerable in the labour market.

EXPANDED unemployment rate by population group and sex

Expanded unemployment Male expanded Female expanded

rate by population group unemployment rate unemployment rate
42,0% 38,9% 45,7%
Both sexes
39,7% 36,5% 43,4%

Black 46,3% 42,9% 50,2%

African 44,1% 40,4% 48,2%

33,1% 33,3% 33,0%

Coloured
31,0% 31,8% 30,0%

26,2% 19,7% 36,6%

Indian/Asian
18,7% 15,3% 24,2%

14,3% 14,0% 14,6%

White
10,1% 9,8% 10,5%

Q2:2020 Q1:2020 Q2:2020 Q1:2020

Q2:2020 Q1:2020

19
Additional analysis on employment in
relation to COVID-19

This section of the presentation focuses on

indicators derived from the additional
questions that were only asked of those who
were employed.

20
Of the 14,2 million persons who were employed in Q2: 2020, more
than half (58,1%) were expected to work during the national lockdown
by the companies/organisations they work for.
Place of work for persons who did any work by occupation, Q2: 2020

Work during the

national lockdown

58,1% were
expected to
work

21
Professionals and Managers were more likely than all
other occupations to be working from home.
Place of work for persons who did any work by occupation, Q2: 2020
Worked from home Worked at place of work
Professional 44,7% 55,3%

Manager 40,6% 59,4%

Skilled agriculture 32,2% 67,8%

Technician 26,5% 73,4%

Other 23,3% 76,7%

Clerk 21,7% 78,3%

Total 17,0% 83,0%

Craft and related trade 12,6% 87,4%

Elementary 9,5% 90,5%

Sales and services 7,0% 93,0%

Plant and machine operator 1,5% 98,5%

Domestic worker 0,6% 99,4%

22
81,3% of the employed Of those who received pay
continued to receive pay during lockdown, for about
during lockdown 21,1% it was a reduced pay
Q2:2020

Did not receive Don't know; 1,1% Reduced

pay salary
17,6% 21,1%

Received pay Full salary

81,3% 78,9%

23
At 24,8%, those with less than matric were more likely to
have a reduced salary.
Full or reduced salary by level of education, Q2: 2020

100%
10,3%
16,8%
80% 24,8% 22,4% 89,7%
83,2%
75,2% 77,6%
60%

40%

20%

0%
Less than Matric Matric Other Tertiary Graduates
Full Salary Reduced Salary

24
 Recap QLFS Q2:2020

Unemployment Employment Not economically

rate losses active

Unemployment rate All industries recorded The number of those

(23,3%) decreased by 6,8 employment losses not economically
percentage points. with the largest decline active increased by
Absorption rate decreased Community and 5,3 million in Q2:
by 5,8 percentage points
social services (515 2020 compared to
and Labour force
000), Trade (373 000) Q1:2020
participation rate
decreased by 13 and Private
percentage points households (311
000).

25
 QLFS
Q2:2020

Ndzi hela kwala!

26