The 7.8 percent figure is the same as it was this point last year, according to the State of Kansas.
Meanwhile, the state has the highest number of employed residents now than any point in the state's history. The unemployment rate for Kansas is 4.8 percent, down from 5.6 percent at this point last year.
“For the second straight month, the State has set a new record high for the number of people working. This, along with other growth indicators, signifies employers’ increasing demand for labor and Kansans’ confidence in the economy,” said Justin McFarland, Director, Labor Market Information Services.
More information from the state:
Not seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 12,400 private sector and 11,900 nonfarm jobs since May 2013, an increase of 1.1 and 0.9 percent respectively. Since last month, Kansas gained 6,100 private sector jobs, a 0.5 percent increase, and 5,800 nonfarm jobs, a 0.4 percent improvement.
The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, up from 4.4 percent in April and down from 5.5 percent in May 2013.
“The labor force participation rate has rebounded quite well in 2014,” said Tyler Tenbrink, Senior Labor Economist. “At the end of 2013, 67.5 percent of the civilian population (age 16 and over) participated in the labor force. In May, that number had increased to 68.3 percent. This is over 20,000 additional people working or looking for work in the State.”
There were 12,518 initial claims for unemployment benefits in May 2014, up from 10,186 initial claims in April 2014 and down from 15,348 last year. There were 76,255 continued claims in May 2014, down from 77,722 the previous month and down from 106,775 in May 2013. These numbers include all available programs.
Information on procedures for producing Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) estimates is available on the BLS website here and procedures for producing Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates is available on the BLS website here.
