800,000 Jobs Created in 2016, Was the Economic Survey Report Realistic?

The Economic Survey Report conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicated that more than 800,000 jobs were created during the year 2016.

On paper, these are very good and amazing figures given that according to the World Bank, more than 25.5 million Kenyans are without jobs but on the ground, the figures by KNBS seem to be unrealistic and imagined.

According to the report, in 2016, employment increased by 5.3 percent to 16.0 million persons. Informal sector employment increased by 5.9 percent to 13.3 million persons and accounted for 83.1 percent of total persons engaged during the review period. Employment in the modern sector grew by 3.3 percent from 2,601.2 thousand persons in 2015 to 2,686.8 thousand persons in 2016.

The report also said that the GDP of the country grew by 5.8 percent in 2016, again, giving a rather different perspective from what is really on the ground. Whatever KNBS used to come to the conclusion that more than 800,000 jobs were created in 2016 is something that the common man on the ground is not aware of.

With the ever-skyrocketing inflation, the price of basic commodities such as food now out through the window for most Kenyans, the cost of living is becoming a menace to most Kenyans. Millions of Kenyans, 80 percent of them being the youth are without jobs despite having the necessary skills and most of them have become dejected resolving to crime and terror-related activities.

It appears that with the unemployment reality on the ground, the figures being given by the elite are imagined. The truth is that the issue of unemployment remains a major menace in Kenya and relying on white collar jobs is only making the matters worse. Most Kenyan youths have devised their own top ways of earning a living other than waiting for employment to find them.

According to Emmanuel Soroba, the unemployment menace is real. Each year, institutions of higher learning in the country are emitting graduates into the job market with limited employment opportunities. Mr. Soroba suggests that Kenyans should take the opportunity of technology especial online platforms that are ready to help them channel out their skills to the job market.