Employment in South Africa increased from 14.2-million to 15.7-million between 2009 and 2015, according to the Labour Market Dynamics South Africa 2015 report released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday.

“The rise did not, however, keep pace with the increase in the working age population and, as such, the absorption rate, at 43.7%, was still 2.2 percentage points below the 2008 prerecessionary high,” Statistician General Pali Lehohla said at a media briefing in Pretoria, Gauteng, adding that, “the signals show an ailing, job-losing country”.

The report, which provides information on labour market trends from 2009 to 2015, highlighted the performance of the country’s labour market, including measures such as unemployment, labour absorption and the labour force participation rate.

According to the report, the rise in employment levels was supported by increases in community and social services, the finance sector and the construction industry.

In addition, strong employment growth in occupations including elementary occupations, sales and managerial positions supported the robust employment growth over the period.

Employment levels in the formal sector increased by 968 000 to 10.9-million between 2009 and 2015, while informal sector employment increased from 2.2-million in 2009 to 2.6-million in 2015.

The report noted that men, adults and those with experience were more likely to find work, while female youth with no experience were the least likely to find employment.

Between 2010 and 2015, employees in the mining and utilities industries continued to be top earners, with the largest increases in earnings recorded in these industries, followed by the agriculture industry.

Between 2013 and 2015, the not in education, employment or training (NEET) rate for youth aged between 15 and 24 years increased by 5.9 percentage points among Indian and Asian youth, but remained highest among black African and coloured youth at 37.1% and 32% respectively.

In 2015, the NEET rate was highest in the Northern Cape and lowest in Limpopo.

The largest decline over the period was in the North West, at 5.1 percentage points.