Employment (status, sector, and hours), conditions of work (wages, compensation costs, working poverty) and characteristics of job seekers (education, labour productivity) form some of the key indicators of labour market. Kenya’s bulging youth unemployment rate is more than 20%, primarily due to reduced education opportunities. This is also reflected in the general population where unemployment and under-employment are extremely high (about 40% of the population) with a higher rate of unemployment among women (2.9%) compared to men (2.6%) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2019; International Labour Organization (ILO), 2016). A third of those employed (with 83% of all employment opportunities provided by the informal sector) in Kenya work for more than 48 hours per week.

References:

Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). The World Factbook: Africa – Kenya. . https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kenya/

International Labour Organization (ILO). (2016). Country profile. https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:11110:0::NO:11110:P11110_COUNTRY_ID:103315