The Q4 data covers the final quarter of 2024, ending December. The QES represents data for South Africa’s formal non-agricultural job market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the period, gross earnings paid to employees increased by R59.1 billion or 6.1% from R969.4 billion in September 2024 to R1.03 trillion in December 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was due to increases in trade, manufacturing, community services, business services, construction, transport and electricity, Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, mining reported a decrease over the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Year-on-year gross earnings increased by R35.5 billion or 3.6% between December 2023 and December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boost in earnings over the period was largely driven by bonuses, reflecting the end-of-year period where these rewards are paid out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basic salaries and wages paid to employees increased by only 1.1% or R9.5 billion over the period, though in line with inflation year-on-year, up 4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bonuses, meanwhile, were up by R51.8 billion or 85.4% from the prior quarter\u2014up 3.2% year on year from December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also reflecting the seasonality of the end-of-year period, overtime paid was down 7.7% from the previous quarter as most workers would have taken leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stats SA said a closer analysis of sector-specific earnings highlights notable industry disparities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The electricity sector stands out with the highest average monthly earnings, significantly surpassing the overall average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Substantial wages are reported in the mining and community services industries, followed by competitive salaries in the transport and business services sectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, on the other side, the manufacturing, construction, and trade industries fall below the total average, reflecting lower wage levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These differences highlight the varying economic roles and challenges faced by each industry,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“While overall earnings are rising, the latest figures highlight a labour market experiencing both growth and disparities, with some sectors thriving while others struggle to keep pace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stats SA said that 2024 was a challenged year of job losses for the country, but the final quarter ended with a showing of some recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall employment rose by a modest 12,000 jobs, reaching 10.64 million by December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This reflected a small 0.1% increase over the quarter, despite a notable year-on-year decline of 91,000 jobs since December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trade industry led the increase, adding 42,000 jobs, with business services following with 22,000 new jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all sectors shared in the gains, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The community services industry experienced the largest decline, shedding 26,000 jobs, while construction and manufacturing each saw losses of 13,000 positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Full-time employment in the country saw an increase of 10,000 jobs in the final quarter of 2024, rising from 9.477 million to 9.487 million in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part-time employment also experienced a slight uptick over the quarter, increasing by 2,000 jobs from 1.151 million in September 2024 to 1.153 million in December 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the year-on-year picture for part-time work was bleak, with South Africa experiencing a sharp decline year over year, with 650,000 fewer jobs compared to the same period in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “While the latest figures indicate short-term gains in both full-time and part-time employment, the overall labour market continues to face challenges, particularly when compared to the previous year\u2019s performance,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The latest Quarterly Employment Survey shows that the average salary earner in South Africa is doing much better than a year ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":682061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9880],"tags":[21270,22112,22113,1809],"class_list":["post-818052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wealth","tag-average-salary","tag-qes","tag-quarterly-employment-survey","tag-stats-sa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818052"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":818059,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818052\/revisions\/818059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Final-Gross-earnings-at-current-prices-by-industry-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA tough picture for job numbers in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n