Kansas Department of Labor
The Ellis County unemployment rate dropped by .3% to 3.4% in August, compared to July's 3.7% and remains almost a half point below the statewide average 3.8%.
Trego and Lane counties both posted numbers above 5%, and Graham, Gove, Russell, Decatur, Phillips, Wallace and Rush counties all had rates of 4% or more in August.
Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.8% in August statewide.
This is unchanged from 3.8% in July and an increase from 3.7% in August 2024. The labor force participation rate for Kansas increased to 67% in August.
Seasonally adjusted job estimates for Kansas indicate total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 4,700 from July. Total nonfarm includes private sector and government employers. Private sector jobs decreased by 1,300 over the month, while government decreased by 3,400. The largest job gains in the private sector were in leisure and hospitality (+600 jobs). The largest decrease was in trade, transportation, and utilities (-2,100 jobs).
Since August 2024, Kansas’ seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs have decreased by 10,000. This change is due to a decrease of 200 private sector jobs and a decrease of 9,800 government jobs.
Technical Note: This release includes nonfarm jobs and labor force estimates for August 2025, which are produced using data from two monthly surveys. Data for nonfarm job estimates is collected through a survey of employers, while the main input for labor force estimates is a survey of households. Data collected for this report references the week, including Aug. 12.