How has Kansas fared since the start of the pandemic compared to other states and the nation?
(These examples are taken from my interactive visualization which holds data on all states and the nation. See Employment and unemployment in the states. It is updated through April 2021.)
The first chart shows levels: The number of people in the labor force, the number of employed people, and the number of unemployed people. This data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey (CPS). This survey counts the number of people in each state for each category. In particular, a person who has two or more jobs is counted as one employed person. Also, people are counted in the state of their residence, even though their job may be in a different state.
Given this, the data shows that there are more people with jobs in Kansas in April 2021 than in March 2020, 0.5 percent more. This is better than neighboring states except for Colorado, and better than the nation. (Click charts for larger versions.)
The unemployment rate for Kansas is both lower and higher than neighboring states.
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