Kenya’s private sector has recorded the highest rate of workforce expansion in two years.
The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) expanded at the highest point in ten months to 53.0 from 51.4.
The improvement and growth have been attributed to the lifting of the COVID-19 containment measures which projected an increase in domestic demand. This is majorly in the hotel and transport sectors which had been hit hard by the restriction measures.
Trade, services, and construction sectors reported the highest demand while firms in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors had a decline in their output.
“New orders rose steeply and at the fastest rate since May, which businesses often related to an increase in demand from the lifting of night-time curfew measures. This led to a solid upturn in an activity that was also the strongest seen for six months,” read part of the report.
The rise in workforce expansion has brought about stronger rises in output and new orders pushing workloads higher.
“Meanwhile, private-sector employment was reportedly boosted by higher sales, with latest data signaling the quickest rise in job numbers for exactly two years. The increase in staff capacity allowed firms to reduce their backlogs for the first time since May,” the report added.
The Fixed Income and Currency Strategist, Kuria Kamau noted that despite the improved business activity, output forecasts remained subdued in the wake of COVID-19 Omicron variant discovery which poses threat to economies globally.