The unemployment rate in Ellis County remained relatively flat in October, increasing to 2.1 percent from 2 percent in September.

Just 355 people were officially “unemployed” in the county, according to the Kansas Department of Labor.

The jobless rate remains extremely low throughout northwest Kansas, with just Graham County posting an unemployment rate higher than 3 percent. Greeley County in far western Kansas had the lowest unemployment rate at 1.5 percent, while Linn County in far eastern Kansas post the state’s highest at 5.3 percent.

Statewide, preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in October. This was unchanged from September and down from 3.5 percent in October 2017.

Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 400 from September. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, increased by 1,700 from the previous month.

Since October 2017, Kansas gained 19,500 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 17,100 private sector jobs.