# Statistics South Africa says the formal non-agricultural sector lost 80-thousand jobs in the first three months of this year, reducing total employment to 10.5-million. The biggest job losses were in community services and trade, while manufacturing, mining and business services recorded small gains. Compared with a year ago, 121-thousand formal jobs were lost. Stats SA’s Matlapane Masupye says despite the decline in employment, average monthly earnings increased slightly to about 30-thousand-rand:
Stats SA reports 80,000 formal sector job losses in the first quarter of 2026 [SOUND]
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