Kansas' unemployment rate rises to 3.5 percent in March
Tim Carpenter TimVCarpenter
The Kansas jobless rate increased to 3.5 percent in March amid losses of private-sector jobs, officials said Friday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment figure documented by the Kansas Department of Labor and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an increase in March from the 3.4 percent unemployment figure in February.
In March 2018, Kansas had an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent.
The number of Kansas nonfarm jobs declined by 2,500 in March, the latest report said. Private-sector employment, a subset of the overall nonfarm statistic, fell during March by 1,700.
"Kansas employers reported fewer jobs in March when compared to February," said Tyler Tenbrink, an economist at the Kansas Department of Labor.
However, in the past year Kansas gained 5,900 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 5,300 private-sector jobs.
Industries that documented the most gains were manufacturing, education and health services, said Secretary of Labor Delia Garcia.