Formal sector employment in Botswana continued to move downwards in the first quarter of 2017. Overall formal sector employment decreased by 0.1% in the period between December 2016 and March 2017, from 342,426 to 341,974 in December and March respectively, resulting in 452 jobs being lost during the period. This compares with 2,061 job losses in December 2016. The decline in formal sector employment was driven by the Private and Government sectors which recorded negative formal employment growths of 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, offsetting the 1.6% employment growth in Parastatals.