Kenya

1.Series

Title:

Registered unemployment.

Starting year:

1988.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

National Employment Bureau.

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

In 41 selected districts.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

Assisting job-seekers to find jobs;

Assisting job-seekers to establish their own business;

Assisting employers to find workers;

Vocational guidance;

Job-related training;

Study of the impact of HIV/AIDS at the place of work.

Percentage of job-seekers seeking work through the agency:

Not known, but registration is low as many unemployed prefer to seek employment directly at the gates of establishments.

3.The following information is registered about a person:

Name;

Sex;

National identity card number (or similar identification number also used by other agencies);

Address of usual residence;

Date of birth;

Citizenship;

Nationality/ethnic group;

Educational/vocational attainment, with four categories distinguished. Links to ISCED have been established;

Current/past activity status;

Type of work (occupation) of past or present job with five categories distinguished. Links to ISCO-88 have been established (unit group level);

Type of work (occupation) of job sought, with nine categories distinguished. Links to ISCO-88 have been established (unit group level); Name and address of present or previous employer or work place;

Type of business (industry) of present/previous employer/workplace, with nine categories distinguished. Links to ISIC, rev.3 have been established (class level);

Previous registrations with the agency/service.

4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

Being without work (R) and (S);

Seeking work (R) and (S);

Availability for work (R) and (S);

Age (lower limit: 18 years; upper limit: 55 years) (R) and (S);

Citizenship (R) and (S);

Being resident in the country (R) and (S);

Previously employed (R) and (S).

5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

Death (R) and (S);

Taking up residency abroad (R) and (S);

Commencement of a (new) job (R) and (S);

Commencement of military service (R) and (S);

Studying or undergoing training (R) and (S);

Failure to contact the agency/service (R) and (S);

Receipt of a pension (R) and (S);

Inability to work (R) and (S).

6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

Persons who are not engaged in productive economic activities which could serve as a principal source of income, i.e. having zero income as a result of being without work for a certain period of time, and who are willing to work and actively looking for work or waiting to return to work.

7.Updating of the registers

The registers are updated monthly.

8.Unemployment rates

Statistics from the registers are used to obtain unemployment rates.

The sources of data on employed persons who are part of the denominator of the unemployment rates are the Labour Force Survey, Establishment Surveys, Social Security Register, Official Estimates, Population Census.

Definition of employed persons for this purpose:

Persons who are engaged in any productive activity which generates sufficient income to meet basic needs.

9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

Series 1:

Reference period:

Month.

Frequency of production:

Monthly.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);

Duration of unemployment.

Form of publication:

On paper, for general audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

Department of Resource Management, Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Departmental Monthly Report.

Series 2:

Reference period:

Quarter.

Frequency of production:

Quarterly.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);

Duration of unemployment.

Form of publication:

On paper, for general audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

Department of Human Resource Management, Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Departmental Quarterly Report.

Series 3:

Reference period:

Year.

Frequency of production:

Yearly.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);

Duration of unemployment.

Form of publication:

On paper, for general audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

Department of Human Resource Management, Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Departmental Annual Report.

10.Methodological information about the statistics

Form of release:

On paper, for general audience.

Agency responsible for the release:

Department of Human Resource Management, Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

Comparisons have been made with unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Survey, other types of household surveys, the Population Census and from private Employment Agencies.

Frequency of the comparisons:

Regularly, when the statistics are published (latest year: 2000).

Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

These have been published. This information will also be made available in the National Employment and Manpower Information System (NEMIS) which is currently being developed.

12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

There have been no major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures which had a significant influence on the statistics.

13. Additional remarks

It is recognized that the methodology used to obtain the data is rudimentary and that the figures obtained may thus not always be precise.