Where are the Jobs? Kenyans Ask after KNBS Say that 897K New Jobs were created in 2017

Kenyans have taken issues with the report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicate that more than 800,000 new jobs were created in 2017.

In an economic survey released by the state data body, a total of 897.8 thousand new jobs were created in 2017 with 787.8 thousand new jobs created in the informal sector.

According to the survey, employment in the informal sector accounted for 83.4 percent of total employment in the period under review.

The number of persons engaged, excluding those in rural small-scale agriculture and pastoralist activities, rose by 5.6 percent from 16.0 million persons in 2016 to 16.9 million persons in 2017.

Wage employment in the modern sector increased from 2,553.5 thousand persons in 2016 to 2,656.6 thousand persons in 2017.

The total number of self-employed and unpaid family workers within the modern sector rose from 132.5 thousand persons in 2016 to 139.4 thousand persons in 2017.

Annual nominal average earnings per person in the modern sector increased from 645,035.2 shillings in 2016 to 684,097.0 shillings in 2017.

However, annual real average earnings per person decreased from 379,968.9 shillings to 369,004.3 shillings over the same period. Inflation, as measured by Consumer Price Index, increased from 6.3 percent in 2016 to 8.0 percent in 2017.

“Where are the jobs created? As far as am concerned, the unemployment is still a major issue in this country especially among the youth,” said Jane Mrumba, a teacher.

Despite the fact that most jobs, according to the KNBS were created by the informal sector, the sector continues to face a wide range of challenges including inadequate access to funds.