Highlights

• According to May 2008 estimates, Kansas businesses added 6,800 jobs in the last year, a 0.5 percent increase. Two of the three metropolitan areas added jobs during the year and 6 of the 11 major industries added jobs in the last year.
  
  
• Government, specifically local government, added 4,800 jobs in the last year a 1.8 percent increase.
  
  
• The professional and business services sector reported gains of 3,400 jobs over the year. The majority of these new jobs were in the administrative support services sector which includes employment placement services.
  
  
• The Wichita MSA saw an increase in jobs by one percent over the year. A major portion of these job gains come from the transportation equipment manufacturing industry, which includes aerospace production.
  
  
• The May unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, up from 3.6 percent last month and 3.9 percent last year. Kansas’ unemployment rate continues to remain below the national average which was 5.2 percent in May.
  
  

Labor Report Data Bank

Overview        PDF

Unemployment in Kansas and MSAs    PDF       Excel      Historical Data

Nonfarm Jobs in Kansas and MSAs    PDF       Excel      Historical Data

County Unemployment Map    HTML

County Unemployment Rates    PDF       Excel

Quotes

Labor Economist Inayat Noormohmad (In-eye-at Nor-mah-med)
"The Kansas economy is now seeing some of the slowdown in employment growth that has been experienced at a national level for the past several months.  Although we have seen slowdown across many industries, Aerospace production continues to post robust growth numbers."

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Audio clip for radio stations by Sue Henke, KDOL spokesperson
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