S.Africa Loses 395,000 Jobs in 2010

South Africa lost 395,000 jobs in 2010, the government said Wednesday, despite the expected windfall from hosting the football World Cup and the nation’s recovery from recession.

The poor showing last year followed the loss of 870,000 jobs in 2009, according to Statistics SA, meaning most of the job gains of the last six years have been wiped out.

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Among the South Africans who have jobs, 70 percent are black, against 15 percent for whites. But blacks make up 78 percent of the national population, against 10 percent for whites.

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The country has struggled to add jobs despite rebounding in 2009 from its first recession since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Unemployment currently stands at 25.7 percent, but that counts only those actively seeking work, does not capture the full extent of the jobless problem.