Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City’s employment growth shows gradual upward trend
The latest Economic Performance Indicators for Cape Town (EPIC) report has
revealed an encouraging upward trend in the employment growth rate for
the city. The number of individuals employed in Cape Town, in the second
quarter of 2015 (April to June), increased by 2 000 on a quarterly basis. Read
more below:
While the latest EPIC report shows an increasing employment growth rate for
Cape Town, the City is still doing all it can to make progress possible for
residents by creating opportunities.
The increase in employment resulted in Cape Town’s strict unemployment
rate decreasing by 0,9 percentage points to 22,6% from quarter one of 2015.
Year-on-year, this rate has decreased by 2,3 percentage points. Our strict
unemployment rate is now 2,4 percentage points lower than the national
average (strict unemployment refers to unemployed individuals in the 15 to
64-year age group who are actively looking for work).
The city’s broad unemployment rate is only 1,3% higher than our strict rate
and a noteworthy 11% lower than South Africa’s expanded rate of
unemployment (broad or expanded unemployment includes individuals who
are classified as discouraged or non-searching).
We are pleased with this positive trend, which shows that Cape Town has far
fewer discouraged work seekers than the rest of the country. However, this
does not mean that we can become complacent as we firmly believe that
our unemployment rate is still too high. We need to do all we can within our
power to stimulate further employment opportunities, bearing in mind the
national economic constraints we face.
This positive upward employment trend shows that Cape Town is living up to
its commitment to be an opportunity city. It is also interesting to note that, in
comparison with the other metros, our expanded unemployment rate is the
lowest at 23,9%.
There are almost 2,73 million people in the 15 to 64-year age group that form
the working-age population. Of the 1,4 million Capetonians
employed, 80,89% are employed in the formal sector, 11,27% are employed
in the informal sector, 6,17% work in private households and 1,65% work in the
agricultural sector.
While we have many successes to be proud of, there is still a lot of work to be
done. And although we have managed to increase our employment and
reduce unemployment in the second quarter, job creation will remain one of
our top priorities. One of the ways to stimulate the job market is attract more
investment into the city. To this end, we will continue to work closely with our
partners to bring in the much-needed investment. The two new investment
projects and two expansion projects that were facilitated by Wesgro,
between April and June this year, helped to create 172 jobs.
Below is a snapshot of the other key economic indicators for Cape Town and
the Western Cape for quarter two of 2015:
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The Western Cape contributed 13,72% (R417 billion) of the country’s
gross domestic product. Cape Town’s contribution to the national gross
geographic product was 9,7% in 2014, making this the second highest
contribution countrywide.
The finance, real-estate and business services sector is the largest
economic sector, contributing 32,4% to the city’s gross value added
(GVA). Cape Town’s GVA for this sector far outweighs its national
contribution of 20,5%.
The trade sector’s contribution (17,7%) to the city’s GVA is also higher
than its national contribution of 14,8%.
With regard to foreign direct investment, the city attracted six projects
to the value of R622,1 million between January and March 2015. The
largest investment of R179,3 million was in the software and information
technology services sector. The second largest investment was in the
solar energy field and brought in an investment of R126,5 million.
Cape Town’s exports have shown strong and consistent growth over
the past 10 years, reaching R55 billion in 2014 and growing by 16,1%
from 2013. Encouragingly, import growth slowed to 3,7% in the same
period. The sharp growth in exports compared with moderate import
growth has resulted in a decrease in Cape Town’s trade deficit in 2014.
Despite concerns over the impact of new visa regulations, international
arrivals to Cape Town International Airport increased by 7,3% in the
second quarter.