Kansas unemployment data shows women, food service and young workers affected the most
More than 22 million workers in the United States applied for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks — with more than 182,000 of those being in Kansas.
The Eagle mined through the most-recent unemployment data published by the Kansas Department of Labor, which included claims through the week ending April 11, to determine who in the state is being most affected by the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
Women’s unemployment has gone up 40 times in past month
Women filed 53% of the initial claims in the past month.
That’s significant because women accounted for 33% of the initial claims filed in the first 11 weeks of the year. In the past month, 77,388 women applied for benefits for the first time — a 40-fold increase over the 1,958 women who did so in the prior four weeks. By comparison, men saw a 22-fold increase in the same time span.
After producing a weekly average of 544 claims by women through the first 11 weeks of the year, Kansas has seen that weekly average surge to 19,347 in the past four weeks. There are now more women (83,369) who have filed for unemployment than men (81,914) for the year.
Entertainment and food service among most crippled industries
There are several industries that figured to take a hit from the stay-at-home order — manufacturing, food service, health care and retail — but the one that has actually been hammered the most has been the arts, entertainment and recreation industry.
With large gatherings banned, workers in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry have seen their unemployment numbers skyrocket. There were 26 workers in the category who applied for unemployment in the four weeks prior to the coronavirus pandemic. That number has since multiplied by nearly 210 times in the past month, with more than 5,000 workers in the industry filing for unemployment benefits.
In terms of raw numbers, the manufacturing industry leads the way with more than 34,000 workers — making up 23% of all unemployment in the last month.
Another one that isn’t a surprise is the hit the food service industry has taken, which ranks second to manufacturing, with more than 27,000 workers in Kansas filing for unemployment the past month. In the previous four weeks, the food service industry had 310 workers file an initial claim, meaning that number multiplied by nearly 88 times since most restaurants have shifted to take-out orders only in the past month.
With so many doctors’ offices and other health providers cutting back on nonessential procedures, the health care industry saw a significant spike, with more than 17,000 workers filing for unemployment in the past month. The same is true in the retail world, as it saw nearly 16,000 workers file in the past month. Both saw growth rates of more than 4,000% from the previous four weeks.
The education sector also saw a significant spike, with 3,431 workers applying for unemployment benefits in the past month — up more than 4,500% from the previous four-week span of 74.
16-to-24-year-olds hit hardest by stay-at-home order
After ranking second-lowest in the age bracket of unemployment for the first 11 weeks of the year, the 16-to-24-year-old age group now makes up 20% of all unemployment claims — second highest of the six age groups the Labor Department tracks.
There were 555 workers between the ages of 16 and 24 who filed for unemployment in the four weeks prior to the coronavirus pandemic. But in the four weeks since, that number multiplied 53 times as more than 29,000 workers in that age bracket applied for unemployment benefits.
The unemployment numbers have skewed younger in the past month, as workers under the age of 35 now make up 44% of all workers filing for unemployment; workers under the age of 45 make up 64% of the total.
The website has seen a 3,513% increase in activity
There have been nearly 109,000 claims filed on the Kansas Department of Labor’s website in the past four weeks, a 3,513% increase over the 1,914 internet claims filed during the same four-week span last year. The first 11 weeks of this year saw an average of 754 internet claims, while the past four weeks has produced an average of more than 27,000.
While not as dramatic, the phone lines have seen a 965% increase from last year’s numbers. In the past four weeks, there have been nearly 65,000 claims filed over the phone — compared to a little over 3,600 claims filed last year in the same period. The call center went from an average of 1,210 claims made in the first 11 weeks of the year to nearly 13,000 claims in the past four weeks.
Charts to show the dramatic increase in Kansas unemployment
There have been more than 160,000 Kansans who have applied for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks, a 1,943% increase over the 5,543 workers from the same four-week period last year. The claims peaked the week ending March 28, with more than 55,000 Kansans filing for unemployment.
After an average of 1,964 initial claims in the first 11 weeks of the year, Kansas has seen that weekly average jump to 40,121 initial claims in the past month.
With so many new claims, the number of individuals receiving payment has also skyrocketed. At this point a year ago, 5,838 people were receiving unemployment benefits. Now that number is nearly 50,000 more. with 58,818 people receiving unemployment benefits in Kansas through last week.
In terms of just Sedgwick County, it has seen a weekly average of 12,814 workers apply for unemployment benefits the past three weeks. Numbers were unavailable for the week ending on March 21, the first week affected by the shut-downs. Compare that to the 1,673 average from the first 11 weeks and there’s been an 87% growth rate for unemployment in Sedgwick County.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 4:43 AM.
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