Janet Wilhelm
Economist queries job-loss statistics
Business Report - 18 may 2016
The jobs bloodbath that wasn’t: What happened to employment in the first quarter of 2016?
The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) reported that the country lost a total of 355 000 jobs from the last quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, for an astonishing 2,2% decline in a single quarter. But the figures seem unreliable, due at least in part to the shift to a new master sample. The data likely reflect an effective correction to overestimates of job creation in the previous four quarters, rather than a sharp contraction in the real world. Year on year, employment reportedly rose by 204 000 or 1,3%, which is essentially in line with previous years and with expected GDP growth.
A new policy brief by Neva Makgetla, TIPS Programme Manager: Trade and Industry, unpacks the figures. While it is likely that employment creation has been affected by the broader economic slowdown, the sharp job losses reported for the first quarter of 2016 seem highly unlikely.
The jobs bloodbath that wasn’t: What happened to employment in the first quarter of 2016?
Business Day - 09 May 2016
Engineering News - 09 May 2016
First Quarter Manufacturing Bulletin & Automotive Sector - Regional Perspective on Market Dynamics
TOPIC: PRESENTATION OF THE LATEST QUARTERLY MANUFACTURING BULLETIN
Understanding the trends and views of manufacturing firms contributes to improved implementation of sector strategies and industrial policy.
The Quarterly Manufacturing Bulletin is an initiative of the Manufacturing Circle that provides current views of manufacturing firms and an analysis of trends in the South African manufacturing sector. The focus of this development dialogue will be to present the findings of the survey covering the first quarter of 2016 and have a discussion around strategies to support the manufacturing sector in ways that support employment and equitable economic growth.
TIPS investigated the market dynamics within the African continent that determine the levels of manufacturing and trade of Motor Vehicles and parts thereof.
The presentation will focus on the top traded vehicles and components in Africa, the key multinational corporations and original equipment manufacturers meeting the current demand, as well as indicate which priority markets are under performing given their trade potential. It will also look at the impact of the factors that hinder intraregional trade flows of the automotive industry within the African continent.
PRESENTER: SITHEMBISO MTANGA
Assistant Programme Manager: Trade and Industry (TIPS)
Trade and Industry Monitor Volume 16
This edition of the Monitor focuses on the Employment Problem in South Africa
Maximising niche markets: South African abalone
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food producing sector in the world, and although abalone contributes a relatively small proportion to aquaculture, it is one of the most highly prized seafood delicacies and most sought-after invertebrate. With high returns, farmed, fished or ranched abalone is able to generate foreign currency earnings for the aquaculture industry. In addition, farming uplifts communities along the coastal lines through generating higher levels of employment relative to other aquaculture activities. This is particularly so, in areas where fishing has diminished or has been totally discontinued. This policy brief looks at some of the factors for the industry to remain sustainable and economically viable.
Revised IMF growth forecasts
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF revised downward its growth forecast for most countries and for the world as a whole. This note briefly reviews some of the key revisions.
Dr Faizel Ismail
Faizel Ismail has a PhD (Manchester, UK), MPhil (IDS, Sussex, UK), LLB (UKZN-Pietermaritzburg) and a BA (UKZN-Pietermaritzburg). His PhD for which he obtained an A grade pass is titled: An Empirical Analysis of Apartheid South Africa in the GATT: 1947 to 1994.
Faizel is currently an Adjunct Professor at the UCT School of Economics. He is also an advisor/consultant (part-time) to the Department of Trade and Industry on International Trade and a Special Envoy on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He was appointed as the Chairperson of the International Trade and Administration Commission (ITAC) for a three-year term (2015-2018).
He has served as the Ambassador Permanent Representative of South Africa to the WTO (2010-2014). Prior to this he was the Deputy Director General for International Trade and Economic Development (ITED) in the Department of Trade and Industry. As South Africa’s Chief Trade Negotiator, since 1994, he led the new democratic South Africa’s trade negotiations with the European Union (EU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and several other bilateral trading partners including the US, India, and Brazil. He has led South Africa’s negotiations in the WTO from 2002 to 2014.
He has served as the Chair of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development negotiating group (CTDSS) for two years (2004-2006), the Chair of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) for one year (2006/7) and the Chair of the WTO Committee on Trade, Debt and Finance (WGTDF) for two years (2012-2014). He has also served as Chair of the Annual Meeting of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva.
He is the author of two books on the WTO: Mainstreaming Development in the WTO. Developing Countries in the Doha Round (2007) and Reforming the World Trade Organization. Developing Countries in the Doha Round (2009). The latter book has been translated into Chinese (2011). He has published over 50 articles, chapters and working papers in international journals and books on economic development and trade and development issues.