Thursday, May 5, 2022

926,100 New Jobs Were Created In Kenya In 2021 - Report



By Kepha Muiruri For Citizen Digital

The Kenyan economy added 926,100 new jobs last year on its way to posting a record rate of growth.

New data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2022 Economic Survey shows total recorded employment from 17.4 million in 2020 to 18.3 million in 2021.

The 2021 tally of jobs beats the 2019 pre-pandemic total of 18.1 million.

The informal sector has once again birthed the most jobs recording 753,800 in new employment across the year to account for more than three quarters of all jobs created.

Modern establishments trailed job creation in the informal sector but added 172,300 new roles.

Of the 18.3 million total recorded employment, 15.3 million lie in the informal sector while the balance of 3.1 million represents jobs in modern establishments.

2.9 million jobs in the sub-sector cover wage employees with a further 163,700 jobs covering the self-employed and unpaid family workers.

In the private sector, the accommodation and food services activities recorded the largest increase in jobs at 23.9 per cent to 61,700 roles from 49,800 jobs in 2020 mirroring additions created by the reopening of hotels, bars and restaurants following the end of COVID-19 led closures in 2020.

Other sectors to record a higher wage employment count in the private sector includes administrative and support service activities, education and ICT.

In the public sector, wage employment rose by a high 5.9 per cent in public administration, defence and social security with other jobs additions being recorded in education, health & social work and water supply.

Waged employment in the public sector recovered from a slack of 2.2 per cent in 2020 to grow by 4.3 per cent while private sector waged jobs grew by 6.8 per cent to offset a 9.9 per cent decline in 2020.

“There was a general decline in unemployment and inactivity levels. Relaxation of various containment measures such as the night curfew, lockdowns and travel restrictions provided an environment which spurred economic recovery and growth in the year under review,” noted KNBS.


No comments :

Post a Comment