431,000 jobs generated in first quarter 2013, says NBS

By The Citizen

No fewer than 431,021 jobs were generated in the first quarter of this year while the economy generated 385, 913 jobs in the last quarter of last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said yesterday.

The development shows an 11.69 per cent increase between the two quarters.

According to the result of the survey issued by the NBS, in the 4th Quarter of 2012, 152,018 jobs were created in the formal sector, 208,920 jobs in the Informal sector and 24,975 in the public sector.

The formal sector it said, contributed 174,326 jobs to the total jobs generated in the 1st Quarter of 2013, while the Informal and public sectors generated 232,327 and 24,368 jobs.

The survey report sent by the NBS reads: 'The informal sector generated1/3 more jobs than the formal sector in the same first quarter 2013. However, the formal sector shows the greatest increase between the two quarters of 14.68% more jobs created than in the fourth quarter of 2012. Job creation in the Public sector is the only area to exhibit a decline from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first of 2013.

'Analysis of the formal jobs created shows the Education sector provided the most jobs in both quarters, making up 50.35% of new jobs in the fourth quarter 2012 and 39.49% in the first quarter 2013. Financial Intermediation contributed the second largest portion of 15.9% of jobs created in the fourth quarter of 2012, increasing by a further 6.60% points to 22.51% in the first quarter of 2013. Mining and quarrying generated the least employment in the industrial sector, constituting just 0.14% and 0.11% of all jobs created in the last quarter 2012 and the first of 2013 respectively. The fastest growth in job creation comes from the Wholesale and Retail Trade Sector, with 100.9% increase in job creation between the two quarters. Substantial increases in the number of formal jobs created also can be found in Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities, with 66.6% increase,

'Manufacturing with a 63.2% increase and Financial Intermediation, with a 62.3% increase in jobs created. Only two sectors witnessed a decline in job creation between the two quarters. Firstly, mining and quarrying which created 10.9% fewer jobs than in the previous quarter. Secondly in the Education sector, which was not able to sustain its high rate of job creation, witnessing a 15.86% point decline in the number of jobs created relative to the fourth quarter of 2012.

'The most cited reason for new employment is 'Other' which has a share of 11.36 and 11.46 in Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 respectively. However, reasons for employment are fairly equally distributed over the two periods, with each category retaining a 10-11% share of responses; there is a less than 1% point change in between categories across the two periods even when looking at individual sectors. However, although small, some changes are notable. For instance, the greatest increase of 0.80% comes from the promotion of the occupant of the position, which eludes towards an expansion of managerial positions and an upward mobility within the workplace. Secondly there is a 0.54% increase in job creation due to a new skill being required in the office, showing an increase in the technical requirements of businesses.

'In Q4 of 2012, 119,905 full time formal jobs created compared to 145,032 jobs in Q1 of 2013 indicating an increaseof20.96% infill time employment between the two quarters. On the other hand, part time employment 29,293 jobs, which are a 9.62% decline on the Q4 2012 number of 32,112.The top three sectors that produced the highest numbers of fulltime jobs in Q4 2012, were Education, followed by Financial Intermediation and then Health and Social Work. In Q1 of 2013, the same sectors maintained the top three positions for generating fulltime jobs. This is indicative of the huge investment of resources in these sectors, particularly in the Education and Health sectors,'.