Kansas City area jobless rate declines to an estimated 4.1 percent

Despite relatively slow job creation by Kansas City area employers, the metropolitan area’s unemployment rate slipped lower in October from September.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated Wednesday that the area’s jobless rate was 4.1 percent last month, down from 4.4 percent a month earlier.

Although there was a monthly decline, the area’s unemployment rate was higher than the 4 percent recorded a year ago, in October 2015.

The labor department also reported that there were about 5,700 more payroll jobs in the Kansas City area in October than September this year.

On a year-to-year basis, the area’s job growth was recorded at a net gain of just 12,000 jobs, or an increase of 1.1 percent.

The monthly data, reported on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, indicated there were 1,065,800 employees on Kansas City area payrolls in October, and there were 46,500 people actively looking for work.

The unemployment rate percentage fell from September because about 2,620 fewer people were job hunting.

Nationally, area unemployment rates in October ranged from a low of 1.8 percent in the Fargo, N.D.-Minn., metro area up to 22 percent in El Centro, Calif. The national average was 4.7 percent in the month.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Kansas City area jobless rate declines to an estimated 4.1 percent."