At least 333,502 new jobs were created in the first 100 days of President William Ruto’s administration, latest government data shows.
The data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of people in employment increased to 18,438,164 in the three months between September and December 2022.
The Quarterly Labour Force Report shows that the number of people in employment in the previous quarter – that is between July and September 2022, stood at 18,104,662.
Young people commanded the hugest chunk of the new jobs compared with those aged above 35 years whose share has dwindled drastically in the thousands.
The new data reveals that the number of young people aged between 15-19 years in jobs increased from 498,958 in the previous quarter to 835,263 in the period to December 2022.
Those aged between 50-54 years lost more jobs with their number dropping to 1,278,520 from 1,291,105 the previous quarter.
The number of people aged between 60-64 years in jobs also dropped to 767,159 from 790,203 three months before the review period.
Experts, however, hold that much as there is an increase on the face of it, the losses by persons above 35 years present a worrying trend.
Federation of Kenya Employers CEO Jacqueline Mugo said that on analysing the data, there is a drop of 2.2 per cent if you exclude those aged 20-24 years.
"The drop means this group [over 35 years] have given up on looking for jobs yet they are the most productive and the biggest contributors to social security," she said.
Mugo added that the population growth is higher compared with the rate at which the labour force is growing.
"Older people are struggling to get jobs. At the macro level, it looks like a good story but it looks bleak in the long term," she said.
Ruto took office on September 13 last year and has been hiring people in his new administration – jobs which have mostly been handed to young people.
The report neither details the specific sectors that provided the job opportunities nor whether they were linked to the current or President Uhuru Kenyatta administration.
The Hustler Fund, a brainchild of the new administration, was initiated in December, hence cannot be linked to the new jobs surge.
The KNBS further shows that the number of unemployed people stood at 2.9 million from the 2.7 million reported in the same period in 2021.
Should unemployment be defined in strict terms, KNBS says only 960,001 are out of jobs, a drop from 1,008,839 of the three months to September 2022.
Among the jobless are 6,881 persons aged between 60-64 years, 5,788 of 55-59 years and 16,496 aged 50-54 years.
KNBS details that young people aged below 30 years command a huge share of the jobless population at 102,650 for those between 15 and 19 years.
Young people of 20-24 years are the majority at 424,474 followed by those between 25 and 29 whose jobless population was 186,560 as of December 2022.
The data shows that the country’s labour force grew to at least 19.3 million in the quarter under review from 18.7 million the previous year.
The labour force participation rate was 66.7 per cent during the fourth quarter of the year compared to 66.0 per cent registered in the previous quarter.
“This was a 0.6 per cent increase relative to 66.1 per cent registered in the same quarter of 2021,” the statistics agency said.
The latest figures further reveal that at least 63.4 per cent of the working-age population - that is between 15 to 64 years, had jobs, down from 62.4 per cent recorded in the same quarter in 2021.
KNBS reported that the unemployment rate - measured based on the strict definition of not working, seeking work in the last four weeks and available to work - was 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The numbers also improved compared to 5.3 per cent registered in the previous quarter and 5.6 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Kenya Kwanza, according to the 2023 Budget Policy Statement, is looking at creating jobs through agriculture, micro-small and medium enterprises, housing and settlement, healthcare, blue economy, digital superhighway and creative economy.
The number of people in employment has risen steadily since the time of Covid-19 when about 1.72 million workers lost their jobs.
At that time, three months to June 2020, the numbers dropped to 15.8 million from 17.5 in March that year.
In the third quarter of 2020, the numbers went high to 17.67 million, and later leaped to 18.05 million in the preceding quarter.
However, the number of people in jobs later dropped to 17.8 million in the first quarter of 2021 and later to 17.84 million in quarter two.
The drop followed massive restructuring by various companies that were hard hit by the devastating effects of the pandemic.
The downward trend continued in the referenced year which saw the job numbers dip to 17.69 million in the period to September 2021, and later to 17.66 million in December 2021.
The year 2022 began on an optimistic note which saw the jobs grow to about 17.86 million, to 17.90 in the period to June 2022 and later to 18.10 in the three months to September 2022.
