KDOL

Preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics show the April seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7 percent. This was down from 3.8 percent in March and down from 4.1 percent in April 2016.

In Ellis County, the jobless rate was 2.6 percent. All northwest Kansas counties has unemployment rates below 4 percent, with most posting rates below 3 percent.

Greeley County in far western Kansas posted the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 1.9 percent, while Rooks County had the highest jobless rate in northwest Kansas at 3.9 percent.

Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 4,800 from March. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, decreased by 5,000 from the previous month.

Over the year, Kansas lost 2,500 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs. Kansas lost 1,500 private sector jobs since April 2016.

“For the fifth consecutive month the unemployment rate in Kansas dropped and is now at 3.7 percent” said Kansas Secretary of Labor, Lana Gordon.

“Preliminary estimates from the payroll survey continue to indicate stagnant job growth in the state. Employers did however report scheduling more hours for existing employees compared to last April,” said Tyler Tenbrink, Senior Labor Economist, Kansas Department of Labor. “In the household survey, the unemployment rate fell one tenth of a percentage point due to a lower estimate of unemployed people and a small increase in the labor force.”