NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenya's economy created 840,000 new jobs in 2018. The informal sector, which accounted for 83.6 per cent of the total employment created 762,000 new jobs in the period under review.
The number of persons engaged, excluding those in rural small-scale agriculture and pastoralist activities rose by 5.0 per cent to 17.8 million persons in 2018. Employment in the public sector went up from 833,000 persons in 2017 to 842,000 persons in 2018.
The private sector, which accounted for 69.5 per cent of the total employment, grew by 3.0 per cent in 2018.
Manufacturing Sector
Formal employment in the manufacturing sector increased by 1.4 per cent to 307,592 persons in 2018 accounting for 11.1 per cent of the total formal employment.
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The number of local employees working in Export Processing Zone (EPZ) enterprises rose from 54,764 persons in 2017 to 56,945 persons in 2018.
Credit advanced to the Sector by commercial banks and industrial financial institutions rose from Sh 315.3 billion in 2017 to Sh335.7 billion in 2018.
Construction Sector
Wage employment in the sector grew by 2.2 per cent from 167,000 persons in 2017 to 171,000 persons in 2018.
The approved Government expenditure on housing in 2018/19 is expected to increase by 57.3 per cent to Sh29.0 billion to finance housing flagship projects.
