Unemployment Rates for Southeast Kansas May be Improving

Southeast Kansas Business Journal

Posted: 9/1/2010

Kansas unemployment rose to 6.9% in May of this year compared to 6.2% in April and only 4.1% last year, according to the Department of Labor.  That means approximately 104,000  people in the state are out of work, but conditions may be improving because the number of first-time unemployment claims have dropped from 20,300 in April to only 13,900 in May.

Southeast Kansas, which has had higher jobless rates than other parts of Kansas, continues to have the highest unemployment. However education, health services and the mining and logging industries have recently seen modest gains compared to the rest of the state.

The Kansas economy has eliminated 39,100 jobs during the last year, according to state estimates.  Coffeyville is tied with Kansas City for the state’s highest unemployment rate of 10.7%, mostly due to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the region. Greenwood County has the lowest unemployment rate of 6.2%, while Wilson County has 9.6%.

Kansas has been notified that it will receive $69 million in federal stimulus money which will be used to enhance its unemployment trust fund. This fund pays benefits to the unemployed, who will be able to receive 26 weeks of state benefits and then become eligible to receive another 33 weeks of benefits from the federal government.  Right now it is too early to know for sure what the full impact of the stimulus package will be, but the $35 million already received in benefits has boosted the economy as people buy food and pay their utility bills.  While some Kansans have run out of benefits and are applying for federal jobless programs, the new jobless claim numbers indicate that others are finding work.  The state has already received money for highway and other projects that will create jobs.

The Kansas Department of Labor reminds us that even though the numbers are improving, we still have a long way to go before we begin to really notice a recovery in the job market, which is still weak, especially in manufacturing.  Blake Benson, the Executive Director of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce thinks that the Southeast Kansas economy has “bottomed out” over the summer and that from now on we will be rebounding and steadily improving into 2011 and beyond.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its list of the 10 states with the highest unemployment figures.  Each of these states will receive 79 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits from the federal government.  They are: Michigan 15%; Rhode Island 12.7%; Nevada 12.5%; Oregon 11.9%; South Carolina 11.8%; Ohio 11.2%; North Carolina 11%; Kentucky 11%; Florida 10.7% and Tennessee 10.7%. Throughout the United States, 6.24 million people are currently receiving these benefits.

Compared to these statistics, Southeast Kansas is holding its own, and that is certainly cause for optimism.  Since August of 2009 over a thousand new jobs have been created and the Kansas Department of Labor is encouraged by these figures.