Job Vacancy Highlights 2nd Quarter 2007 Local Area IV
Job Vacancy Rate	3.8%
Number of Vacancies	11,142
Average Wage Offer	$11.70 - $13.61
Median Wage Offer	$9.62 - $11.00
Offer $12.00 an Hour or More	30%
Require Bachelor's or Advanced Degree	15%
Positions Open Less Than 30 Days	26%
Positions Always Open	38%

Kansas employers in Local Area IV reported approximately 11,142 job vacancies during the second quarter of 2007. The average number of individuals unemployed in this area during this time was 13,830. This translates to an average of 1.24 unemployed people for every job vacancy, indicating a labor market with high demand for workers.

Seventy-two percent of these openings were full-time permanent positions. Furthermore, the results indicate a job vacancy rate of 3.8 percent or almost four vacancies for every 100 filled positions.

• Job Vacancies by Industry
  • 
    The Education & Health Services industry reported the largest number of job vacancies in Local Area IV with 1,989 openings.
    
    Openings in the Financial Activities industry offered the highest minimum wage of $15.77 an hour.
  
  
  
• Job Vacancies by Employer Size
  • 
    As in most of the local areas, employers with 5 to 49 employees reported the largest number of job vacancies with 4,519 openings or 41 percent of all job openings in the area.
  
  
  
• Job Vacancies by Occupation
  • 
    Demand for workers was spread across most of the major occupational groups. The Production occupational group reported the largest number of job openings with 1,073 openings, closely followed by the Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance group with 1,037 openings.
    
    In terms of occupations, Landscaping and Groundskeeping reported the largest number of job vacancies with 719 openings. Due to the timing of this survey some of the vacancies may have been seasonal.
  
  
  
• Starting Wage Offer
  • 
    Nearly 31 percent of the job vacancies reported in this area paid at least $12.00 per hour. Only five percent of all openings in the area paid a starting wage of $21.00 or more. Twenty-eight percent of the vacancies offered wages between $6.00 and $8.99. The distribution of vacancies across the wage intervals in this area was similar to other Local Areas.
    
    The median wage offer represents the value in the middle when all wage offers are arranged from highest to lowest. Overall, the area´s median minimum wage offer was $9.62 per hour and the median maximum wage offer was $11.00 per hour.
  
  
  
• Duration of Job Vacancies
  • 
    The survey showed that a majority of all job vacancies in this area had been open for less than 30 days or were jobs that were "always open." The largest portion of its vacancies (those listed as "always open") had an average wage of $10.36 - $11.80 per hour. This could be due to a higher demand for workers in occupations with a high turnover rate, which are typically reported as "always open."
    
    Registered Nurses and Nursing Aides, Orderlies and Attendants were on the list of occupations that were open more than 60 days or were "always open," indicating a strong demand for these occupations.
  
  
  
• Education
  • 
    Slightly more than 60 percent of the job vacancies in this area required no education or only a high school diploma or GED. Wages offered were generally the second highest among the other Local Areas, slightly lower than Local Area III.
    
    The average wage offered with an associate´s degree was lower than with vocational training, which does not follow the established pattern in other local areas. This might have been due to few employers with a large number of openings biasing the data or could reflect higher demand for individuals with vocational training as compared to an associate´s degree.
    
    Approximately 15 percent of job openings required a bachelor´s or advanced degree. The occupation, Registered Nurses, was one of the top 10 occupations with the most vacancies that required a bachelor´s degree in this area.
  
  
  
• Local Area IV Tables
  • Job Vacancies by Occupation
    Table 1.4 - Vacancies by Occupational Group
    Table 2.4 - Top 25 Occupations with the Most Job Vacancies
    
    Job Vacancies by Industry Super Sector and Size
    Table 3.4 - Vacancies by Industry Super Sector
    Table 4.4 - Vacancies by Size of Establishment
    
    Starting Wage Offer
    Figure 1.4 - Vacancies by Minimum Hourly Wage Offer
    Figure 2.4 - Vacancies by Type of Position
    
    Employee Benefits
    Figure 3.4 - Vacancies by Type of Benefits Offered and Employment Size
    
    Duration of Job
    Figure 4.4 - Vacancies by Length of Vacancy
    Table 5.4 - Top 10 Occupations Open more than 60 days
    Table 6.4 - Top 10 Occupations Always Open
    
    Education and Experience
    Figure 5.4 - Vacancies by Education Requirement
    
    Local Area Comparison
    Figure 8 – Vacancies by Area
    Figure 9 – Vacancy Rate and Average Wage Offer by Area
    Figure 10 – Four-year Trend by Area