Non-agricultural jobs have declined in South Africa for the first time in over three years, new research has indicated.

According to Bloomberg, data from Statistics South Africa (SSA) showed that the number of jobs outside of the farming sector fell by 2.1 per cent (179,000) in the first quarter of the year.

The figure represents the first quarterly drop since June 2006, when the records began. The country now has 8.33 million non-farm jobs.

SSA revealed that manufacturing jobs fell 2.3 per cent (29,000 jobs) during the first three months of 2009, with the majority of the losses experienced in industries such as textiles, clothing and furniture.

Commenting on the findings, Mike Schussler, a Johannesburg-based independent economist, told Bloomberg: "It's a very big concern that we lost almost 180,000 jobs in just one quarter.

"The slowdown in construction will continue and mining and manufacturing are also feeling the heat. We are probably going to see big job losses in the second and third quarters as well."