In Kansas in January 2024, the labor force fell, the number of jobs fell, and the unemployment rate was unchanged compared to the previous month. Over the year, Kansas is near the bottom of states in job growth.
Data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, shows a declining employment picture in Kansas for January 2024 when compared to the previous month.
(Click charts and tables for larger versions.)
Using seasonally adjusted data, from December 2023 to January 2024, nonfarm employment in Kansas fell by 1,200 jobs (0.1 percent). Over the year, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs for January 2024 was higher by 8,500 (0.6 percent) over the same month last year. This is using seasonally adjusted data.
Over the year (January 2023 to January 2024), the Kansas labor force fell by 3,060 people (0.2 percent) using seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, with a decline of 1,172 (0.1 percent) over the last month.
When ChatGPT looked at this table, it concluded:
Let’s break down the data from Table 1 about Kansas employment for January in simple terms:
- Labor Force: This is the total number of people who are either working or actively looking for work. In January 2024, there were 1,506,780 people in the labor force in Kansas. Compared to January 2023, the labor force slightly decreased by 3,060 people, which is a small drop of 0.2%. This indicates a slight shrinkage in the number of people working or looking for work over the year.
Unemployed Persons: These are the people who are actively looking for a job but can’t find one. The number of unemployed persons went down from 42,445 in January 2023 to 39,093 in January 2024, which is a decrease of 3,352 people or 7.9%. This shows a significant improvement, meaning fewer people were without jobs in January 2024 compared to January 2023.
Unemployment Rate: This percentage tells us what portion of the labor force is not working. It was 2.8% in January 2023 and slightly improved to 2.6% in January 2024. The decrease of 0.2% suggests a small improvement in employment conditions over the year, indicating a stable job market.
Nonfarm Employment: This counts the number of jobs in the state, excluding farm workers, self-employed people, and a few other job categories. There was a modest increase of 8,500 jobs from January 2023 to January 2024, making it 1,448,400 jobs in total. This 0.6% rise suggests that businesses were slightly more active or expanding, offering more jobs compared to the previous year.
In summary, over the course of a year, Kansas saw a slight decrease in the number of people in the labor force and unemployed persons, along with a small improvement in the unemployment rate and a modest increase in nonfarm jobs. Overall, these changes suggest a relatively stable job market with a slight improvement in employment conditions.
There are now 178,000 (14.0 percent) more jobs in Kansas than in April 2020, which is the low point since the pandemic’s start. There are 19,200 (1.3 percent) more jobs than in February 2020, just before the pandemic. These are counts of nonfarm jobs with employers in Kansas, without regard to the residence of the employee.
Considering employed people from the household survey, there are now 159,976 (12.2 percent) more working people in Kansas than in April 2020, and 8,096 (0.6 percent) more than in February 2020. The household survey counts Kansas residents with nonfarm jobs, without regard to the location of the job.
Comparing Kansas to the nation: Using seasonal data, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs is 0.59 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 1.78 percent higher. Non-seasonal data shows the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs is 0.51 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 1.79 percent higher.
When ChatGPT examined this table of not seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, it concluded:
In January 2024, the labor force in Kansas, which is the total number of people either employed or actively looking for work, was 1,497,591, slightly less than the previous year, with a decrease of 4,960 people or 0.3%. This suggests that slightly fewer people were working or looking for work in January 2024 compared to January 2023.
The number of unemployed people, those who are actively looking for work but can’t find it, was 41,287 in January 2024. This is a decrease from the previous year by 2,076 people or 4.8%, indicating that fewer people were out of work and searching for jobs.
The unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed, was 2.8% in January 2024. It’s slightly lower than the year before, decreasing by 0.1 percentage points or 3.4%. This implies that a smaller proportion of the labor force was without work in January 2024 compared to January 2023.
Nonfarm employment, which counts the number of jobs in the economy except for farm work, stood at 1,431,600 in January 2024. This figure shows an increase of 7,300 jobs or 0.5% compared to January 2023, meaning there were more jobs available in the nonfarm sector.
Overall, the data for January 2024 suggests a slightly shrinking labor force and unemployment, with a modest increase in nonfarm jobs in Kansas compared to the year before.
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 1a shows job changes for Kansas and the nation from the previous month, and we can see both positive and changes for Kansas over the past year. The trend in recent months is down.
Chart 1b shows job changes for Kansas and the nation from the same month one year ago. Growth in Kansas has been similar to the nation except for the last seven months, when the growth rate for Kansas has been less than the nation.
In Chart 3, showing unemployment rates for Kansas and the nation, we see that the rate in Kansas is lower than the national rate, as it had been before the pandemic. The unemployment rate in Kansas is little changed over the last year.
Chart 2a 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.
For industry groups, chart 6b shows the number of employees in various industries in January 2023 and January 2024.
Chart 6a uses the same data but shows the percent change for the same period. When I asked ChatGPT about this data, it provided this analysis:
- Total Nonfarm: Grew by approximately 0.59%
- Total Private: Grew by approximately 0.59%
- Government: Declined by approximately 0.58%
- Manufacturing: Declined by approximately 0.35%
- Construction: Grew by approximately 0.45%
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities: No change (0.00%)
- Information: No change (0.00%)
- Financial Activities: Grew by approximately 0.92%
- Mining and Logging: Declined by 6.25%
- Professional and Business Services: Grew by approximately 2.10%
- Education and Health Services: Grew by approximately 4.27%
- Leisure and Hospitality: Grew by approximately 1.21%
- Other Services: Declined by approximately 1.69%
The industries with the most significant growth were Education and Health Services, Professional and Business Services, and Leisure and Hospitality. The most substantial decline was in Mining and Logging. Other industries like Government, Manufacturing, and Other Services experienced smaller declines. The Trade, Transportation, and Utilities and Information sectors remained stable with no changes in employment levels.
The rate of job growth in Kansas over the year had been good compared to other states, but now Kansas ranks forty-fourth among the states and the District of Columbia. The following chart shows the monthly and annual change in the number of jobs in the states and DC, along with the rank.
The report for this month from the Kansas Department of Labor is here. The report from BLS may be found here. It appears there are no news releases or social media posts from Governor Kelly on this topic.
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