RILEY COUNTY — The unemployment rate in September dropped to 2.7 percent in Riley County— down from 3 percent in August, according to Kansas Department of Labor statistics.
Map courtesy KDOL -Click to Expand
The majority of the region posted jobless rates under 3 percent including Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Morris and Jackson County.
Geary County saw a decline from 5.3 in August to 4.9 percent in September. Clay County actually saw a jump from 3.2 – 3.6 percent.
Statewide, preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in September. This was unchanged from August and down from 3.6 percent in September 2017.
“For the fifth consecutive month, the number of unemployed Kansans remains below 50,000,” said Secretary Lana Gordon. “This is the smallest number of unemployed workers in the state since January 2000.”
Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 6,900 from August. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, decreased by 3,800 from the previous month.
“Employers reported fewer jobs in September compared to August. The losses were spread across government and private businesses,” said Senior Labor Economist, Tyler Tenbrink. “However, employers did increase the number of weekly hours for existing employees. Hourly earnings for workers went up as well. This resulted in robust growth in weekly earnings, 6.3 percent over the last 12 months.”
Since September 2017, Kansas gained 19,600 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 14,600 private sector jobs.