Education employees value their labour services more

PHILLEPUS UUSIKUDuring the third quarter of 2020, the Government Wage Index (GWI) stood at 130.4 basis points, posting a marginal increase of 0.9 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019.The Government Wage Index (GWI) measures the level of prices that government employees charge in exchange for their labour services.Year-on-year, the index increased by 0.7 percent in the third quarter of 2020, and was mainly reflected in the education sector, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).Growth in the public administration index recorded a moderate growth, recording a 0.2 percentage growth relative to a stronger growth of 1.3 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2019. During the quarter under review, the public administration index stood at 133.1 basis points relative to 132.9 basis points registered in third quarter of 2019. This represents an insufficient 0.2 percentage point increase as fewer workers joined the public administration sector thereby increasing the overall adjusted wage for those employed, NSA said.Contrary, the health index fell to 123.8 basis points from 125.8 basis points when compared to the third quarter of 2019. This represents a decline of 2.0 percentage points. Growth in the health index dropped by 1.6 percent relative to contraction of 0.1 percent registered in the corresponding quarter of 2019.In spite of the augmented number of employees observed in the health sector, these numbers are mainly reflected in employment in health workers in the lower scales that have minimal impact on the growth in the index.SECTOR PERFORMANCEThe domestic economy continued a downward trend, recording a contraction of 10.5 percent during the third quarter of 2020 compared to a decline of 2.1 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019.In real terms the poor performance of the economy during the third quarter of 2020 was observed across the major sectors of the economy with the hotels and restaurants registering the highest contraction of 54.9 percent.Followed by mining and quarrying (-30.7 percent), administrative and support services’ (-27.7 percent), manufacturing (-24.6 percent), transport and storage (-23.6 percent) and fishing sector (-15.6 percent), NSA pointed out.On the other hand, positive performance was observed in the information and communication sector as demand for data services and internet connectivity surged from educational institutions, businesses and households during the reporting period. The sector registered a strong growth of 13.8 percent.Similarly, the health sector registered a growth of 10.3 percent growth as a result of high demand for health workers. Further, the construction and electricity and water sectors posted positive performance of 7.5 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, during the period under review.The largest negative contributors to growth in GDP in the third quarter of 2020 were the manufacturing (-3.1 percentage point), mining and quarrying (-2.9 percentage point) and hotel and restaurants (-1.4 percentage point), NSA said. - phillep@nmh.com.na

Education employees value their labour services more

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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Education employees value their labour services more

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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