Kansas Department of Labor
The unemployment rate for Ellis County went up almost a point from 2.3% in January to 3.2% in February.
Russell's unemployment rate, which was 5.3% in January, was back down to 3.7% in February.
All northwest Kansas counties were at or below 4% unemployment in February, which was on par or below statewide numbers.
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 February statewide.
This is unchanged from 3.8% in January and an increase from 3.2% in February 2024. The labor force participation rate for Kansas decreased to 67.2% in February.
Seasonally adjusted job estimates for Kansas indicate total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 1,100 from January. Total nonfarm includes private sector and government employers. Private sector jobs decreased by 500 over the month, while government increased by 1,600. The largest job gains in the private sector were in construction (+700 jobs) and professional and business services (+500 jobs). The largest decrease was in trade, transportation and utilities (-800 jobs).
Since February 2024, Kansas’ seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs have increased by 3,800. This change is due to a decrease of 100 private sector jobs and an increase of 3,900 government jobs.
Technical Note: This release includes nonfarm jobs and labor force estimates for February 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 Feb. 12.