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Kansas unemployment hikes up, displays first rise in months

The Kansas jobless rate rose from October to November, jumping from 5.0 percent to 5.6 percent. The recent rise was the first spike since April and is partially attributed to the end of Kansas’ Extended Benefits program.

Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information Services (LMIS) division of the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in November.

This was an increase from 5.0 percent in October and an increase from 3.1 percent in November 2019.

“Following months of decline, the unemployment rate in Kansas increased to 5.6 percent in November with over 86,000 unemployed,” Acting Secretary Ryan Wright said. “The Extended Benefits (EB) program ended on December 12th in Kansas.

In addition, two federally funded CARES Act programs, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, are currently scheduled to end on December 26th, unless Congress acts to extend them.”

Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs decreased by 2,900 from October. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, decreased by 2,600 from the previous month, while government decreased by 300.