Browsing: Africa’s unemployment rate

Kenya’s unemployment rate doubled between April and June as 1,716,604 Kenyans lost jobs in this period according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

According to the KNBS quarterly labour report, the number of those who have jobs (employed) shrunk to 15.9 million from a high of  17.8 million in Mach.

The unemployment rate in Kenya now stands at 10.4 per cent from 5.2 per cent in March with the employment to population ratio decreasing from 64.4 per cent to 57.7 per cent.

The number of people without jobs increased by 58.6 per cent to 1.8 million people from 961,666 in the first quarter.

The unemployment figure is however further aggravated by a rise in the number of the long-term unemployed(individuals with continuous periods of unemployment extending for one year or longer) and individuals outside the labour force which masks the unemployed statistics.

source: tradingeconomics.com

The long-term unemployed increased …

Africa’s road to recovery will require massive investments across countries, as well as financial support from the international community, a new analysis by the World Bank has said.

The study dubbed Africa’s Pulse: Charting the Road to Recovery has also recommended bold reform agenda that includes policies that create fiscal space, along with policies to speed up job creation.

The report noted that for non-resource-intensive countries, the decline in growth in 2020 is expected to be moderate, on average.

“In several non-resource-intensive countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Kenya, growth is expected to slow substantially, but remain positive, owing to their more diversified economies. This is happening even as the rate of unemployment is increasing globally. Meanwhile, the tourism-dependent economies, especially those of Cabo Verde, Mauritius and the Seychelles, experienced a sharp contraction as exceptionally weak international tourism severely impacted the service sector.” It states.

Also Read: World Bank …