TOPEKA – There are fewer vacant jobs in Kansas this year than last year according to the 2011 Job Vacancy Survey released Wednesday by the Kansas Department of Labor. The survey, completed by employers during the second quarter of the year, found there were an estimated 30,697 job vacancies statewide, a 4.3 percent decrease from 2010.
“The 2011 Job Vacancy Survey is a valuable tool and is a great source for identifying job openings throughout the state,” said Kristen Rottinghaus, a research analyst in Labor Market Information Services. “It provides us with a depth of detail regarding recent job openings that is unsurpassed because it is based on information collected directly from our Kansas employers.”
However, labor officials said, the survey results can’t be compared to the state’s unemployment rate and numbers due to long-term unemployment and other issues.
The state seasonally adjusted jobless rate for August was 6.7 percent, up from 6.5 percent in July. That translates to 104,108 unemployed Kansans out of a civilian work force of 1.5 million.
The 2011 statewide job vacancy rate was 2.3 percent—meaning that for every 100 job positions, 2.3 were vacant while 97.7 remained filled. The highest job vacancy rate, 2.5 percent, was found in south central Kansas. The lowest job vacancy rate was 2.0 percent and was found in western Kansas.
Over three quarters of the openings were full-time. Just over half required at least a high school education and just a shade under half were with larger employers.
In the KDOL’s Local Area I, which covers Barton County and the western two thirds of the state, the number of Job Vacancies stood at 5,204 with a job vacancy rate of 2.0 percent. The average minimum wage was $13.14.
In this area, the largest number of openings was for nursing assistants with 467, followed by heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers with 366 and registered nurses with 291. The lowest was for retail sales supervisors with 50. These results were echoed in the statewide numbers as well.
The largest number of openings were found in Local Area III, which includes Kansas City and the three surrounding counties. The number of vacancies was 10,096 with a rate of 2.4 percent and an average minimum wage of $15.16. Area III and Area IV (which includes Wichita and a swatch of south central Kansas) with 7,280 openings accounted for 56.6 percent of all vacancies in the state of Kansas.
The lowest number of open positions was found in Local Area V in southeast Kansas. The number of vacancies was 2,484 with a vacancy rate of 2.3 percent and an average wage of $12.33.
The report did not break the information down on a county-by-county basis.
At the time the survey was taken, Kansas averaged 96,512 unemployed workers, resulting in an average of 3.1 unemployed persons for every job vacancy reported—a slight increase from the 2010 rate of 3.0 unemployed persons for every job vacancy.
“Though there are fewer vacant positions and unemployment remains high, this is another tool unemployed workers can use in their search for employment,” said Kansas Secretary of Labor Karin Brownlee. “The 2011 Job Vacancy Survey also provides a clear target for focused workforce development programs emphasizing training for education and health services occupations.”
The 2011 Job Vacancy Survey also provides the educational requirements and the expected salary for vacant jobs. Some of the findings of the survey include:
• The education and health services and the trade, transportation and utilities industries reported the most job vacancies for the fifth consecutive year, accounting for more than 46 percent of all vacancies in 2011.
• Retail Salespersons and Nursing Assistants were the two most frequently vacant occupations in Kansas.
• Statewide average minimum wages offered in Kansas ranged from $10.19 for those occupations requiring no education, to $31.75 for occupations requiring an advanced degree. Additionally, occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree paid an average minimum wage that was more than twice as high as those requiring a high school diploma or GED.
• Occupations requiring a bachelor’s or advanced degree accounted for approximately 19.7 percent of the vacancies.
The entire survey can be viewed at klic.dol.ks.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=403.