The Kansas Department of Labor has released the January Labor report, delayed from its usual release time due to last fall’s federal shutdown. Statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment for January came in at 3.8 percent, up a tenth of a point from December and from January 2025.
Total non-farm payroll in Kansas increased by 1,100 of that in the government sector. Largest job gains for the month were in professional and business services and the largest declines were in construction and financial activities.
Over the past year seasonally adjusted job numbers are up by 6,900, 5,200 in the private sector and 1,700 in government jobs.
Southeast Kansas continues to see the highest unemployment rates in the state, with Woodson County having the highest rate in Kansas at 6.2 percent followed by Wilson County at six percent and Bourbon County at 5.9 percent
Allen County’s unemployment rate came in at 4.8 percent for January, with Anderson County at 4.4 percent, Coffey County at five percent, Linn County at 5.5 percent. and Neosho County at 4.1 percent. Elsewhere Greenwood, Elk and Montgomery counties came in at five percent, Labette County at 4.3 percent, Chautauqua County at 5.3 percent Cherokee County at 4.1 percent and Crawford County at 4.6 percent.
