TOPEKA – Traditional seasonal hiring has taken place, but this has happened more slowly than predicted, the Kansas Department of Labor is reporting.

The November seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent. This was down from 4.4 percent in October and up from 4.0 percent in November 2015.

In Barton County, the jobless rate was 4.1 in November. It was 4.4 percent in October and 3.7 in November 2015.

The preliminary seasonally adjusted job estimates from the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 2,800 from October. Since last month, Kansas private sector jobs decreased by 3,200. The largest private sector over the month job decrease was in Trade, Transportation and Utilities.

Over the year, Kansas lost 3,900 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs. Kansas lost 4,500 private sector jobs since November 2015.

“Employers in the Retail Trade industry continued to add jobs in November, but at a slower rate than expected,” said Emilie Doerksen, Labor Economist, Kansas Department of Labor. “This contributed to a seasonally adjusted decrease in private sector jobs over the month.”

Kansas not seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs decreased by 3,900, a 0.3 percent decrease since November 2015. Kansas lost 4,500 private sector jobs since last year, or 0.4 percent. The state lost 600 total not seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs over the month. Since October, private sector jobs decreased by 2,100, or 0.2 percent.

The BLS revised the seasonally adjusted preliminary total nonfarm job estimates for October upwards by 900. Seasonally adjusted private sector jobs were revised upward by 1,300 jobs, from 1,140,200 to 1,141,500.

Seasonally adjusted estimates for November show that the state’s labor force increased by 853 to 1,484,165. Of those in the labor force, 1,420,158 Kansans were employed and 64,007 were unemployed. This month’s net change in the labor force was attributable to 2,193 more Kansans counted as employed and 1,340 fewer unemployed.

Over the year, the labor force decreased by 21,805 persons, with a decrease of 25,221 in employment and an increase of 3,416 in unemployment.

In November in Barton County, the labor force totalled 14,019 of which 13,439 were employe and 580 were out of work. A year ago,the workforce stood at 14,857 with 14,300 employed and 557 unemployed.

The labor force participation rate state wide was 66.7 percent, unchanged from October and down from 68.1 percent last November.

Nationally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported New Hampshire and South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rates in November, 2.7 percent each. Alaska and New Mexico had the highest jobless rates, 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. In total, 16 states had unemployment rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 4.6 percent, 11 states and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 23 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation. 

Unemployment rates were significantly lower in November in 18 states and stable in 32 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Nine states had notable jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, two states had increases, and 39 states and the District had no significant change. The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in November, down from 4.9 percent in October, and 0.4 percentage point lower than in November 2015. The December 2016 Labor Report will be released on Friday, Jan. 20.