Education and agriculture remain the top industries by employment in Kenya, despite growth in sectors such as ICT and finance.
Data from Economic Survey 2022 show education employed a total of 609,200 people in 2021, being the leading sector holding the highest number of jobs, representing 20.95 percent the in the Kenyan labour market.
Agriculture sector which before 2021 represented a third of the economy is the second sector holding jobs at 337, 200, followed by manufacturing and trade sectors with 336, 800 and 258, 500 respectively.
The agriculture sector contributed 20 percent to gross domestic product (GDP) in the year, a drop from an average of 32 percent after a rebasing was done to capture new sectors whose output had grown in recent years.
ICT, construction and finance sectors however created jobs at the highest rate over the years.
Data show new jobs added under ICT rose by 7.92 percent to 132,100 from 122, 400 in 2020.
The growth of jobs in construction and finance was 6.05 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.
The growth in jobs in these sectors toppled others such as manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, trade, transport, and repair of motor vehicles that had accounted for the largest contribution in 2019 before a hit by the pandemic in 2020.
In 2021, the formal sector created a total of 172, 300 jobs, a recovery from 192,400 shed jobs in 2020 following a partial resumption of international travel, and recovery in the manufacturing sector.
Companies have however cut hiring for three consecutive months in July, according to Stanbic Bank Kenya’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), amid runaway inflation that has resulted in a sharp uptick in prices of goods and services, hurting consumer spending.
