By Trish Svoboda

The Kansas Department of Labor’s Labor Market Information Services division and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have released preliminary estimates. These show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 2.6%. This rate is the same as December’s and is a decrease from the 2.8% reported in January 2023.

“The average unemployment rate for Kansas was 2.7% in 2023,” said Secretary Amber Shultz. “January 2024 shows continually low unemployment, with an unemployment rate of 2.6%.”

According to seasonally adjusted job estimates for Kansas, there was a decrease of 1,200 in total nonfarm payroll employment from December. Both private sector and government employers are included in total nonfarm. Over the month, private sector jobs saw a decrease of 1,800, while there was an increase of 600 in government jobs.

From January 2023, Kansas has seen an increase of 8,500 in total nonfarm jobs, as per the seasonally adjusted data. This increase is attributed to a rise of 7,000 jobs in the private sector and an addition of 1,500 jobs in the government sector.

“Total nonfarm jobs showed little change over the month in January,” said labor economist, Nathan Kessler. “Since January 2023, Kansas has added 8,500 nonfarm jobs, with 7,000 of those in the private sector.”