In Kansas in March 2024, the labor force fell slightly, the number of jobs rose, and the unemployment was unchanged compared to the previous month. Over the year, Kansas is at the midpoint of states in job growth.
Data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, shows a mixed employment picture in Kansas for February 2024 when compared to the previous month.
(Click charts and tables for larger versions.)
Using seasonally adjusted data, from February 2024 to March 2024, nonfarm employment in Kansas rose by 6,400 jobs (0.4 percent). Over the year, the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs for March 2024 was higher by 21,800 (1.5 percent) over the same month last year. This is using seasonally adjusted data.
Over the year (March 2023 to March 2024), the Kansas labor force fell by 8,569 people (0.6 percent) using seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, with a decline of 239 (0.0 percent) over the last month.
When ChatGPT looked at this table, it concluded:
- The Labor Force in Kansas, which is the number of people working or looking for work, decreased slightly by 239 from February to March, staying basically stable at just over 1.5 million people.
- Unemployed Persons, those who are actively seeking work but not employed, increased to 40,794 in March from February. This means there were 853 more people unemployed in March compared to February, suggesting a small rise in unemployment.
The Unemployment Rate, which measures the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed, remained the same at 2.7% from February to March, indicating no significant change in overall unemployment.
Nonfarm Employment, which is the number of jobs excluding farm workers, self-employed people, and a few other groups, rose by 6,400 jobs in March compared to February, which indicates that the job market is slightly growing.
Overall, the job situation in Kansas for March didn’t change much from February. While there was a small increase in unemployed people and a modest increase in jobs, the unemployment rate stayed the same. This suggests that while some people lost jobs, there were also new jobs created, keeping the overall unemployment rate steady.
There are now 191,100 (15.0 percent) more jobs in Kansas than in April 2020, which is the low point since the pandemic’s start. There are 32,300 (2.3 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 156,916 (12.0 percent) more working people in Kansas than in April 2020, and 5,036 (0.3 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 1.51 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 1.89 percent higher. Non-seasonal data shows the number of Kansas nonfarm jobs is 1.72 percent higher than 12 months ago, while nationally, the same statistic is 1.92 percent higher.
When ChatGPT examined this table of not seasonally adjusted data from the household survey, it concluded:
- The Labor Force shrank a bit, by 6,655 people, to 1,506,564. This is about a 0.4% decrease from the same time last year. So, slightly fewer people were working or looking for work.
- The number of Unemployed Persons went up by 2,227 compared to last year, reaching 45,394. This is a 5.2% increase, meaning more people were without jobs.
The Unemployment Rate also increased a little, from 2.9% last year to 3.0% this year. This small 0.1% bump shows a slight rise in unemployment relative to the labor force.
Nonfarm Employment, the count of jobs outside the agricultural sector, rose by 24,600 jobs, which is a 1.7% increase. This suggests that more jobs are available this year compared to last.
In simple terms, even though there are more jobs now than a year ago in Kansas, especially in the nonfarm sector, the number of people without jobs has also increased, leading to a small rise in the unemployment rate.
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 negative changes for Kansas over the past year. The trend in recent months is positive.
Chart 1b shows job changes for Kansas and the nation from the same month one year ago. Growth in Kansas has usually been lower 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 March 2023 and March 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:
Comparing the job changes by industry in Kansas from March 2023 to March 2024, here are the industries that grew and those that declined, based on percentage change:
Industries that grew:
– Education and Health Services: Increased by approximately 4.40%
– Construction: Increased by about 2.65%
– Government: Increased by approximately 2.14%
– Leisure and Hospitality: Increased by around 2.03%
– Total Nonfarm: Increased by approximately 1.51%
– Total Private: Increased by about 1.38%
– Other Services: Increased by roughly 1.32%
– Trade, Transportation, and Utilities: Increased by about 0.80%
– Financial Activities: Increased by roughly 0.79%
– Information: Increased by approximately 0.55%
– Manufacturing: Increased by a slight 0.06%Industries that declined:
– Professional and Business Services: Decreased by about 0.28%
– Mining and Logging: Decreased significantly by approximately 4.69%
Kansas ranks twenty-fifth among the states and the District of Columbia in job growth over the past year, and fourth for growth over the past month. The following chart shows the monthly and annual change in the number of jobs in the states and DC, along with the rank.
Chart 8 shows job change state ranks over time. In this example, Kansas is highlighted.
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.
Leave a Reply