The construction industry was one of the sectors that hired more people in April 2024, a report by Stanbic Bank shows.
According to the latest Stanbic Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the sector has yielded the most employment opportunities in the past few months.
According to PMI, the construction sector has the highest percentage of growth even as the rate of job creation across all economic sectors picked up slightly since March.
“Kenyan businesses increased their workforces for the fourth consecutive month in April. Recruitment was linked to both current workloads and efforts to boost sales,” the PMI read.
According to the PMI, Kenyan firms increased their levels of outstanding work in April.
“April and March marked the first back-to-back growth in eight months, although the rate of expansion remained weak. Outstanding contracts increased most in the construction sector,” read the PMI.
Kenya’s PMI increased from 49.7 in March to 50.1 in April, signaling broad stabilization in operating conditions in the country.
Reports from data that was shared by the World Bank indicate that 7% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was contributed by the construction sector in 2022. The sector is poised to cross the Ksh1 trillion mark in 2024.
The construction sector had the most outstanding contracts which led to a backlog that resulted to the need for more qualified workers.
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“With confidence in the outlook returning, companies raised their employment numbers for the fourth month running during April. The rate of job creation picked up slightly since March but remained below the survey trend,” read part of the PMI report.
However, the construction sector was not the only sector that recorded an increase in input cost within the review period. The agricultural sector also had an increase in input cost.
Despite the increase in job creation and recruitment, there was a lower staff number in the construction sector compared to other sectors.
The high staff cost in other sectors was signaled by the seasonally adjusted Staff Cost Index rising above the 50.0 neutral threshold.
Christopher Legilisho, an economist at the bank, said that there will be a slow growth rate in quarter two of the year due to the heavy rains being experienced in most parts of the country.
Legilisho added that the private sector was optimistic about growth in the next 12 months adding that the growth will be mostly evident in the service sector.
