TOPEKA – Although a modest change, the Kansas unemployment rate ticked downward in January, the Kansas Department of Labor reported this week. The KDOL update also noted that the state should start to see some job growth.
The January seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, down from 4.9 percent in December and down from 5.6 percent in January 2013.
Kansas gained 20,500 seasonally adjusted private sector jobs, an increase of 1.9 percent since last January, and 19,200 nonfarm jobs, a 1.4 percent increase. Since last month, Kansas gained 2,500 private sector jobs, an increase of 0.2 percent, and 600 nonfarm jobs, with no percentage change.
In Barton County, the January rate came in at 3.8 percent. That compares to 3.3 in December 2013 and 4.3 in January 2013.
 “Seasonally adjusted job numbers in the state improved in January, along with another monthly decline in the unemployment rate,” said Lana Gordon, Secretary of Labor. “For 2014, the state is poised to add additional jobs to the 45,400 jobs gained since January 2011.”
Annually, the monthly statistics are revised according to standards set by the U.S. Department of Labor. Information regarding annual job number revisions is available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website here.
“Preliminary estimates of seasonally adjusted jobs in 2013 have now been revised showing the state gained more jobs than earlier estimates reported. The revised 2013 job numbers show an average gain of 1,700 jobs per month compared to the previously reported estimates of an average monthly gain of 800 jobs,” said Tyler Tenbrink, Senior Labor Economist.
Not seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 20,700 private sector and 19,000 nonfarm jobs since January 2013, or 1.9 and 1.4 percent respectively. Since last month, Kansas lost 21,800 private sector jobs, a 1.9 percent decrease, and 31,300 nonfarm jobs, a reduction of 2.2 percent.
The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, up from 4.6 percent in December and down from 6.3 percent in January 2013.
There were 15,709 initial claims for unemployment benefits in January 2014, down from 19,749 in December 2013 and down from 17,413 one year ago. There were 108,341 continued claims in January 2014, down from 124,370 the previous month and down from 149,090 in January 2013. These numbers include all available programs.
Information on procedures for producing Local Area Unemployment Statistics estimates is available on the BLS website here and procedures for producing Current Employment Statistics estimates is available on the BLS website here.
The February Labor Report will be released on Thursday, March 27.