Take-home pay tracked in the BankservAfrica Take-home Index (BTPI) showed a slight recovery in February 2023. The latest data on the number of salaries paid during the month also suggests that the local labor market is stabilizing.
“Average nominal take-home pay rose to R15,186 in February, reaching the highest level since October 2022. However, it remains 1.8% below the R15,469 measured a year ago,” said Shergeran Naidoo, Head of Stakeholder Engagements at BankservAfrica. .
In real terms, however, South Africans’ incomes fell, with inflation having a significant impact.
Independent economist Elize Kruger said that, while not much, any stability in the labor market is welcome in a challenging economic environment.
“The labor market is still recovering from the heavy losses caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
According to the December 2022 Quarterly Employment Statistics report, employment in the nonfarm business sector was 9.968 million at the end of 2022, compared to the pre-Covid level of 10.3 million in the first quarter of 2020.