Christmas shopping online may be costing Kansas hundreds of jobs
The November jobs report in Kansas was full of dismaying news, but one piece of bad jobs news came with a twist: The state is missing some of the retail jobs that traditionally are created at Christmas.
The number of general retail jobs added in Kansas in November was down a couple hundred from November 2015, according to the Kansas Department of Labor, a surprise because the economy overall is slightly better and people are spending more.
“Employers in the retail trade industry continued to add jobs in November, but at a slower rate than expected,” said Emilie Doerksen, a labor economist at the Kansas Department of Labor.
Over the last 10 years, Kansas retailers added an average of 3,300 jobs between October and November. This year, it was less than half that, 1,400, she said.
One possibility is the rapid increase in online shopping.
Online retail sales in November nationally were up 15 percent year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation, while general merchandise, clothing and sporting goods stores were up just 1 to 2 percent year-over-year. Electronics store sales were down 2.5 percent from a year ago.
The number of retail jobs nationally also fell in November, although the number remains well up for the year.
The decline in retail jobs in Kansas could reflect the overall sluggish Kansas labor market. The total number of jobs in Kansas was down 2,800 from October and 3,900 from November 2015.
The two-year-old recession in the rural areas caused by low crop, livestock, oil and gas prices prices continues to spread beyond the producers to the rest of the economy.
In the Wichita metro area, the number of jobs in November also fell slightly from October, but was 2,200 higher than a year ago. The unemployment rate in the Wichita area was 4.2 percent, down from 4.5 percent in October, but up from 4.0 in November 2015.
Dan Voorhis: 316-268-6577, @danvoorhis
This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Christmas shopping online may be costing Kansas hundreds of jobs."