The percentage of male and female employees in Nairobi County is almost at par, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) found in its Economic Report 2024.
- The unemployment rate is at 13.96 per cent with unemployment being slightly higher for the youth (18-34 years) at 9.96 per cent and those between 35-64 years at 3.80 percent.
- The percentage of persons 5–17 years old working is 0.90 per cent indicating that the county has low levels of child labour.
The services sector is the highest employer followed by industry sector.
Majority of those working in the service sector are in wholesale and retail trade with employment concentrated in in retail of other goods in specialized stores. In industry sector, manufacturing has the highest share of employment, which is concentrated in manufacture of textiles and wearing apparels and manufacture of food products. In agriculture, the majority practice mixed farming.
Information and communication controls 1.84 per cent share of employment in Nairobi which is the least followed by real estate (2.15 per cent), human health (2.20 per cent), financial and insurance services (2.76 per cent), public administration (3.79 per cent), accommodation and food services (4.68 per cent)
Majority of Nairobi workers in the manufacturing sector are found in low-technology sub-sector such as textiles and apparels (24.32 per cent), food products (19.90 per cent) and fabricated metal products (15.22 per cent).
According to KIPPRA, the percentage share of employment in the manufacturing sub-sector, repair and installation of machinery attracts 10.33 per cent of workers, manufacture of wood and its products (7.67 per cent), manufacture of non-metalic products (5.43 per cent), while manufacture of electrical equipment has the least per centage of workers (1.13 per cent).
As part of policy recommendation, KIPPRA says the county should market tourism sites in the city and encourage investment in conferencing facilities that attract international MICE besides supporting the growth of informal manufacturing firms and start-up through promoting innovation and digitization to increase competitiveness.
To attract activity in the agriculture, the county also needs to put in place measures to promote urban and peri-urban farming to support food security in the county and increase agriculture productivity.
