[South Africa] Marginal downturn for take-home pay

New pay index figures show that upward momentum seen in average salaries for South African workers over recent months slowed marginally in October 2024, IT-Online reports.

The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index (BTPI), which tracks average nominal take-home pay among around 4-million wage earners in South Africa announced the change.

Shergeran Naidoo - BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements - said, “The BTPI declined slightly to R16 895 in October, 1.7 per cent lower than the R17 193 shown in the previous month.”

This moderation reportedly masks an uptick in the number of salaries paid in October; a positive sign in an economy with a high unemployment rate and an early indication that better job figures for Q3 could continue into the final quarter of the year.

The stats could also indicate that jobs were created in the economy’s informal sector. According to StatsSA’s latest Labour Force Survey, informal sector employment increased by 165 000 in Q3 2024 vs only 122 000 in the formal sector, while the unemployment rate declined to 32.1 per cent.

In real terms, take-home pay also tracked slightly lower at R14 622 in October 2024, the BTPI said, continuing to represent a significant increase on the year-ago levels.

Headline CPI moderated to 2.8 per cent in October, the lowest annual rate in three and a half years, while real take-home pay has risen by 2.5 per cent in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the full-year average in 2023. 

In nominal terms, take-home pay has increased by 6.9 per cent year-to-date compared to the full year in 2023.

The subsequent improvement in purchasing power will ease the pressure on cash-strapped households and, together with the fuel price relief and lower interest rates, support consumer spending in the final part of the year. Black Friday sales are also expected to benefit from an anticipated improvement in household finances.

Source: IT-Online

(Quotes via original reporting)

New pay index figures show that upward momentum seen in average salaries for South African workers over recent months slowed marginally in October 2024, IT-Online reports.

The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index (BTPI), which tracks average nominal take-home pay among around 4-million wage earners in South Africa announced the change.

Shergeran Naidoo - BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements - said, “The BTPI declined slightly to R16 895 in October, 1.7 per cent lower than the R17 193 shown in the previous month.”

This moderation reportedly masks an uptick in the number of salaries paid in October; a positive sign in an economy with a high unemployment rate and an early indication that better job figures for Q3 could continue into the final quarter of the year.

The stats could also indicate that jobs were created in the economy’s informal sector. According to StatsSA’s latest Labour Force Survey, informal sector employment increased by 165 000 in Q3 2024 vs only 122 000 in the formal sector, while the unemployment rate declined to 32.1 per cent.

In real terms, take-home pay also tracked slightly lower at R14 622 in October 2024, the BTPI said, continuing to represent a significant increase on the year-ago levels.

Headline CPI moderated to 2.8 per cent in October, the lowest annual rate in three and a half years, while real take-home pay has risen by 2.5 per cent in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the full-year average in 2023. 

In nominal terms, take-home pay has increased by 6.9 per cent year-to-date compared to the full year in 2023.

The subsequent improvement in purchasing power will ease the pressure on cash-strapped households and, together with the fuel price relief and lower interest rates, support consumer spending in the final part of the year. Black Friday sales are also expected to benefit from an anticipated improvement in household finances.

Source: IT-Online

(Quotes via original reporting)