Kansas reaches lowest unemployment rate in the state’s recorded history

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly along with Kansans celebrated that Kansas hit the lowest unemployment rate in the state’s recorded history, at 2.3%. Unemployment continues to decline in the state, even as the unemployment rate nationally holds flat. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kansas has the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the country relative to other states.

“We have worked to ensure that every Kansan who wants a job, can have a job,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “I’m proud that we have achieved the lowest unemployment rate in our state’s history at 2.3%, over a full percentage point below the nation’s unemployment rate. We will continue breaking economic records by prioritizing job creation, business investment, and workforce development.”

Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.3% in May, a decrease from 2.4% in April and a decrease from 3.4% this time last year. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in the United States as a whole has remained at 3.6% for three consecutive months, a rate significantly higher than Kansas estimates.

Kansas began keeping records of monthly unemployment rates in January 1976.