Hutchinson and Reno County showed just single-digit changes in employment numbers from last month, with no change in local unemployment rates.
But, while the unemployment rate continued to track better than this time last year, there also continues to be fewer people who are in jobs in both the city and county.
Data released on Friday by the Kansas Department of Labor estimated 29,056 people employed in the county in October. That was just five more people employed than in September.
Another 10 people dropped out of the available labor force. So together, the handful of new jobs and the dip in available labor resulted in the number listed as unemployed slipping by 15, to 1,042 people.
That kept the county’s unemployment rate at 3.5%.
When compared to October 2020, there are an estimated 872 fewer people in the available labor force right now, a 2.8% drop.
Looking at the number employed, there were an estimated 459 fewer people in jobs in the county during October than a year ago, a 1.5% decline.
The unemployment rate, however, improved by 1.2% over October 2020.
The report for the city of Hutchinson was similar.
The state estimated just one less person in the job market, with only three additional people employed from September to October, resulting in an estimated 702 people listed as unemployed, or a 3.7% unemployment rate.
However, compared to this time last year, there were 619 fewer people available to work, a 3.4% decline, with nearly 300 fewer jobs, or a drop of 1.59%.
The drop in the labor force did improve the city’s unemployment rate from last year by 1.5%.
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