BankservAfrica has released its latest Disposable Salaries Index (BDSI) for July 2017, showing that South African salaries are growing both nominally and in real terms – at the fastest rate since 2015.

The index showed that the average disposable salary recorded in July was at R14,154, up from R13,894 in June.

According to Mike Schüssler, Chief Economist at Economists dotcoza, this upward movement is also evident at nominal levels, where salaries increased at 7.6% – the same experienced as March 2017 and the highest since December 2014.

“The salary growth is reflected in increased consumer spending with the retail sector reaping the benefits. Additionally, car sales are no longer reflecting declines,” said Schüssler.

While the average was up 7.6% in nominal terms, it was also up 2.5% in real terms (taking inflation into account). More positive is that, for the fifth consecutive month in a row, average disposable salaries increased faster than the rate of inflation.

“The average salary can be deceiving as some may have had large increases while others may have had no increase at all. This, however, does not seem to be the case as seen in the median salary, which measures a person’s typical salary.”

The median disposable salary increased by 4.2%, indicating the majority of increases were in the middle and lower end of the salary distribution, BankservAfrica said. This increase is the highest since July 2013.

The median salary is now 75.9% of the average salary in disposable terms. This is up from 72.7% in July 2012.

The real median salary is at an all-time high at R10,680 per month while the average salary is still below the high in real terms of October 2015.

“The fact that the average disposable salary is still below the average take-home pay levels of the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016 is the biggest reason that people feel ‘poorer’. The average salaries have not yet caught up to the highs of 18 months ago. Therefore, many employees are feeling less well off,” the group said.

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