Wichita area’s unemployment rate rises to 5.2 percent

Wichita’s labor force continued to shrink in 2014, while the number of jobs grew slightly, according to data released Friday by the state Labor Department.

The civilian labor force in the metro area has dropped by about 2,000 people over the past year, from 311,326 to 309,415, according to data on the labor department’s website. Over the same time frame, the number of employed has grown from 293,215 to 293,292.

With the most recent release of figures, the labor department also noted some changes in how the state’s metropolitan areas are defined.

Based on information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Wichita metro area now includes Kingman County, as well as Butler, Harvey, Sedgwick and Sumner counties.

The state said Kansas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 4.2 percent, unchanged from December and down from 4.7 percent in January 2014.

The seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 17,100 private sector jobs since last January, or 1.5 percent. However, the data show Kansas lost about 1,500 seasonally adjusted private sector jobs between December and January.

“New data show additional improvement over 2014’s preliminary labor market estimates,” Justin McFarland, director of Labor Market Information Services, said in a news release. “Key indicators such as the State’s unemployment rate, the number of Kansans working, and private sector job growth all showed substantial progress over the year.”

For the year, statewide, nonfarm jobs grew 1.3 percent.

The metro area unemployment rate grew to 5.2 percent, from 4.4 percent in December. But the rate is lower than the 5.8 percent posted in January 2014.

The labor department’s data showed the metro area’s nonfarm job growth was 0.9 percent for the 12-month period.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Wichita area’s unemployment rate rises to 5.2 percent."