TOPEKA – Preliminary estimates reported Friday by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.9% in May. This is unchanged from 2.9% in April and an increase from 2.5% in May 2022.

In Barton County, out of a civilian workforce of 12,774 people, 12,419 were employed and 355 were jobless. The jobless rate in May was 2.8%, 2.8% in April and 2.4% in May of 2022.

Seasonally adjusted job estimates for Kansas indicate total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 1,500 from April. Total nonfarm includes private sector and government employers. Private sector jobs decreased by 2,200 over the month, while government increased by 700.

“Kansas estimates for both monthly labor market surveys indicate little change in May,” said Emilie Doerksen, KDOL economist. “The survey of employers shows no significant change in job estimates over the month. While the survey of households indicates a small increase in employment, there was no change in the unemployment rate at 2.9%.”

Since May 2022, Kansas’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs have increased by 31,800. This change is due to an increase of 26,600 private sector jobs and an increase of 5,200 government jobs.

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point over the month to 3.7 percent but was little changed from May 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Unemployment rates were lower in May in 11 states and stable in 39 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S., according to the BLS. Seventeen states had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier, eight states and the District had increases, and 25 states had little change.

The unemployment rate in Kansas is based on data collected through the Current Population Survey and estimates produced by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program. The LAUS data is produced in cooperation with the BLS, which means that the same methodology is used for all states. 

In Kansas, data for the number of individuals receiving unemployment insurance benefits is based on administrative data from claimants filing unemployment insurance claims with KDOL. These two measures offer distinct but related measures of trends in joblessness.

The June 2023 Labor Report will be released on Friday, July 21.