SA’s shift in shopping habits

The official unemployment rate in South Africa has increased by 0.5 percentage points to 27.2% in comparison to the first quarter of 2018, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said yesterday.

Maluleke was releasing the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2018.

The report shows that the increase in the unemployment rate is a result of a decline of 90 000 in the number of people employed, and an increase of 102 000 in the number of people who became unemployed between the first and second quarters of 2018.

“The South African working-age population increased by 154 000 or 0.4% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2018,” Maluleke said.

“Employment gains of 22 000 were recorded in private households while the formal sector, the informal sector and agriculture recorded employment losses between the first and second quarters of 2018.”

The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 77 000 while the number of those not economically active increased by 65 000, resulting in an increase of 141 000 [up by 0.9%] in the number of people not in the labour force between the first and second quarters of 2018.

The industry that recorded the most job losses was manufacturing, which accounted for 105 000 job losses, followed by community, social and personal services and trade. – ANA

Chisom Jenniffer Okoye

South Africans have become more responsible shoppers after being hit by a flood of rising prices this year.

The Citizen took to the streets of Auckland Park to ask people about their shopping experiences following the increases in Value Added Tax (VAT), fuel levies, electricity and more.

Walking out of Campus Square with his friends, Brendon Mokalapa, a student from the University of Johannesburg, said since the increase in taxes, his grocery trips and transport have become much harder for him to afford.

“The money that we have monthly to buy groceries has decreased now because while things have become more expensive, our allowances remain the same,” he said.

“So we just have to be wiser when it comes to how we spend our money.”

Another shopper, Donald Shiko, said “the rate of inflation is not increasing in proportion to people’s salaries”.

“When things go up, people aren’t able to buy what they used to before.

“You shop less now, and you buy the more basic things.”

Just outside the shopping centre, carrying heavy bags of groceries, Katekani Chabalala said her buying experience had not changed drastically but that the price increase would have an impact on the poor who could not keep up with the increases.

According to the latest Nielsen Shoppergraphics Report, consumers have reduced their spending power by dropping three grocery categories from their shopping basket.