Preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in January. This was unchanged from 3.1 percent in December and a decrease from 3.3 percent in January 2019.
“The Kansas labor market showed improvement in 2019, with Kansas employers adding 7,300 jobs and the unemployment rate falling to 3.2 percent,” said Secretary Delía García. “This momentum has continued with the January 2020 job estimates increasing by 2,900 and the unemployment rate remaining low at 3.1 percent.”
The Ellis County jobless rate rose from 2 percent in December to 2.3 percent in January. While nearly all northwest Kansas counties have unemployment rates below 3 percent, several saw slight increases, as well. Trego County reported the most significant increase, from 2.6 percent to 3.3 percent.
Decatur, Rooks, Rush and Graham counties all had January jobless rates above 3 percent.
Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 2,900 from December. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, increased by 1,700 from the previous month, while government gained 1,200 jobs.
“The annual process of revising job estimates is now complete, showing Kansas gained 7,300 jobs in 2019, a growth rate of 0.5 percent,” said Senior Labor Economist, Tyler Tenbrink. “Healthcare and social assistance and manufacturing were the two industries that gained the most jobs last year.”
Since January 2019, Kansas gained 9,900 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs. This change is due to 7,200 additional private sector jobs and 2,700 additional government jobs.
