In Kansas for August 2022, the labor force fell slightly, the number of people working fell, and the unemployment rate rose slightly, all compared to the previous month. Over the year, only Mississippi had slower job growth.
Data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, shows a deteriorating employment picture in Kansas for August 2022 when compared to the previous month.
Of special note this month: Considering year-over-year nonfarm job growth, Kansas no longer has the lowest value in the nation, as it had in recent months.
(Click charts and tables for larger versions.)
Using seasonally adjusted data, from July 2022 to August 2022, nonfarm employment in Kansas fell by 3,400 jobs (0.2 percent). Over the year, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs for August 2022 was higher by 15,100 (1.1 percent) over the same month last year. This is using seasonally adjusted data.
Over the year (August 2021 to August 2022), the Kansas labor force rose by 3,399 people (0.2 percent) using seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, with a decline of 4,206 (0.3 percent) over the last month.
There are now 126,600 (10.0 percent) more jobs in Kansas than in April 2020, which is the low point since the pandemic’s start. There are 30,800 (2.2 percent) fewer jobs than in February 2020, just before the pandemic. These are counts of jobs with employers in Kansas. Considering employed people from the household survey, there are now 158,658 (12.2 percent) more working people in Kansas than in April 2020, and 10,123 (0.7 percent) more than in February 2020. These are counts of Kansas residents with jobs, without regard to the location of the job.
The number of unemployed persons rose from July 2022 to August 2022 by 1,462 persons (4.0 percent). The unemployment rate was 2.5 percent in August 2022, down from 3.2 percent last August and up from 2.4 last month.
Comparing Kansas to the nation: Using seasonal data, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs is 1.09 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 3.98 percent higher. Non-seasonal data shows the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs is 1.05 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 3.83 percent higher.
To learn more about this data and what the employer and household surveys measure, see Visualization: Employment measures. Also, see Counting jobs in Kansas.
Click charts and tables for larger versions.
Chart 3 shows job changes for Kansas and the nation from the previous month, and we can see both positive and negative changes for Kansas over the past year. The change for the nation was always positive.
Chart 4a shows job changes for Kansas and the nation from the same month one year ago. Note that the rate for Kansas is always positive, and usually significantly below the rate for the nation.
In Chart 5, showing unemployment rates for Kansas and the nation, we see that the rate in Kansas is lower than the national rate during the pandemic, as it had been before the pandemic. Generally, the unemployment rate in Kansas has been slowly declining, although it has risen in some months and is little changed over the last five months. The difference between the Kansas unemployment rate and the national rate is becoming smaller.
Chart 6 shows monthly changes in the labor force for Kansas and the nation. The Kansas labor force has both expanded and contracted since the pandemic, as has the national labor force. The monthly changes for both are mostly small over the year except for a large increase for the nation in January and August.
For industry groups, the following charts (7a and 7c) show the number of employees in various industries in June 2021 and June 2022.
Chart 7b uses the same data but shows the percent change from June 2021 to June 2022. These industry groups have significant gains:
- Information
- Manufacturing
- Mining and Logging
These groups declined in employment:
- Government
- Financial Activities
As mentioned earlier, the rate of job growth in Kansas over the year has been lowest in the nation in recent months. Now, Mississippi is in that position. The following chart shows the monthly and annual change in the number of jobs in the states, along with the rank of the state. The annual change in Kansas ranked fiftieth among the states and District of Columbia. For the monthly change, Kansas did better, ranking forty-eighth.
The report for this month from the Kansas Department of Labor is here. The report from BLS may be found here. Although the governor issued four press releases on September 16, the date of the release of this employment, there was no news release from Governor Kelly on this topic.
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