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The Nairobian

2.2 million Kenyans are jobless - Census

Obituaries

By The Standard Business | Sep 01, 2010

By Lucianne Limo

The national census indicates that more Kenyans have fallen into the unemployment bracket compared to ten years ago.

The Kenya Population and Housing census released by Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya shows that the proportion of employed declined to 88 percent in 2009 compared to 92 percent in 1999.

The report revealed that the population aged five years and above are 32.7 million out of an overall total of 38.610,097. Males were 19,192,458 while females were 19,417,639.

"Out of these, the economically active population are 18 million of which 15.8 million are employed while 2.2 million are job seeking," said the report.

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The inactive population stands at 12.8 million of which 7.2 million are females.

The report indicates that the status of 1.9 million could not be determined because for some reason they never reported what they do for a living.

According to the census report, the active population declined to 58 percent in 2009 compared to 66 percent in 1999.

Similarly, the proportion of the inactive population within the same period has risen from 34 percent to 42 percent with the largest population being full time students.

Female’s account for 56 percent of the inactive population.

The census further revealed that the living conditions of Kenyans have improved over the years.

The report indicated that generally there was an improvement in housing conditions with regard to the wall, roofing and floor finish materials.

According to the statistics, 73 percent of Kenyans are using iron sheets for their roofs compared to 63 percent in 1999.

The census results also revealed a drop of households with grass roofing from 23 percent in 1999 to 14 percent last year.

There is also a significant reduction in households with mud or wood wall and an increase in the usage of stone and brick/block walls.

The proportion with cement floor increased by six percent between 1999 and 2009 while those with earth as their floor finish decreased by six percent the same period.