Kansas unemployment rate inches up
Kansas Labor Department officials say they're seeing positive economic trends even though the state's jobless rate moved higher last month.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in July from 6.1 percent in June. Unemployment in July of last year was 6.7 percent.
The agency also says Kansas had about 22,000 more private-sector jobs in July than it did a year earlier, an increase of about 2 percent. The state had about 1.1 million private-sector jobs last month.
Employment by business and professional services companies had the biggest year-to-year increase at roughly 8 percent. Manufacturing employment also grew, while the number of government jobs declined.
The unemployment rate for Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and Sumner Counties increased from 7.3 percent in June to 7.8 percent. The jobless rate for these four counties in 2011 was 8.3 percent.
In the four-county area 286,333 are working. The Labor Dept. reports 24,221 people are looking for jobs.
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