By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The unemployment rate in Kansas jumped to 5.6% in November with more than 86,000 people jobless in the coronavirus-damaged economy and ahead of expiration of special compensation programs for people unable to work, officials said Friday.
Ryan Wright, secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor, said the monthly analysis showed the unemployment rate in Kansas increased from the revised rate of 5% in October to 5.6% in November. In November 2019, the percentage of Kansans on unemployment was 3.1%.
After COVID-19 began to influence the Kansas economy, the jobless rate surged to 11.9% in April. It gradually declined during the next six months with rates of 10% in May, 7.5% in June, 7.2% in July, 6.9% in August, 5.9% in September and 5% in October.
The Kansas increase in unemployment recorded in November occurred as three special benefit programs were set to expire in December. The Extended Benefits program, which offers aid to people who ran out of regular unemployment assistance, expired Dec. 12.
“In addition, two federally funded CARES Act programs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, are currently scheduled to end on December 26, unless Congress acts to extend them,” Wright said.
The preliminary report for November from the state Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs fell by 2,900. The report said the number of private-sector jobs in Kansas was reduced by 2,600 and government employment slipped 300 during the month.
“Nonfarm job growth has slowed,” said Emilie Doerksen, an economist at the state labor department. “In November, total nonfarm jobs declined by 2,900, with the majority of this decline in the leisure and hospitality and professional and business services industries.”
Since November 2019, a period influenced primarily by business and consumer activity during the pandemic, the number of total nonfarm jobs in Kansas has declined by 58,300. That employment change reflected a decrease of 45,800 private-sector jobs and 12,500 government jobs, officials said.
Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.