Preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.8 percent in September. This was down from 3.9 percent in August and down from 4.3 percent in September 2016.

“Kansas maintained a healthy labor market in September with the unemployment rate falling to 3.8% and employers adding a significant number of private sector jobs.” said Kansas Secretary of Labor, Lana Gordon.

Unemployment rates in northwest Kansas remain negligible, with only a handful of counties exceeding the 3 percent mark. Ellis County posted a 2.3 percent jobless rate, while Russell, Rush, Rooks and Graham exceeded 3 percent.

Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 5,000 from August. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, increased by 5,500 from the previous month.

“Kansas City and Wichita gained a significant number of jobs over the month, and Kansas posted an overall significant gain in private sector jobs from August to September by adding 5,500 jobs statewide,” said Senior Labor Economist, Tyler Tenbrink. “While this represents a notable improvement from the pace of job growth experienced so far this year, approximately 5,000 additional jobs will be needed to get back to positive growth over the year.”

Since September 2016, Kansas lost 5,100 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 5,000 private sector jobs.