"The South African economy created 80,000 jobs in January, representing annualised growth of five percent over the previous month," Adcorp said in a statement.
However, the economy was still 420,000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis.
All sectors of the economy reported gains in employment in January, Adcorp said. Temporary work grew at a rate of seven percent and agency work at eight percent.
"Temporary work now represents 3.87 million workers or 30.1 percent of the workforce," Adcorp said.
The wholesale and retail trade grew almost 14 percent, transport and logistics nine percent, and government three percent.
Employment in high-skilled categories -- management and professionals --grew almost five percent. This reflected the economy's ongoing reorientation toward high-skilled positions, Adcorp said.
The number of clerks, service workers and sales and marketing staff increased by eight percent. Adcorp said this showed the relative buoyancy of the consumer sectors of the economy.
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