Topeka — The state's unemployment rate dropped slightly in February and followed normal, seasonal trends, but signs are emerging that the Kansas economy is slowing.
The jobless rate in February was 4 percent, down from 4.1 percent in January, the state Department of Human Resources reported Tuesday.
The department attributed the decline to non-teaching personnel in schools who are considered government workers returning to their jobs after winter breaks. It said those gains offset seasonal post-holiday layoffs by retail stores.
But the department also noted that the unemployment figure for February 2000 was slightly lower, 3.9 percent. The jobless rates in 2000 were slightly higher than figures for 1999, when they hit lows that hadn't been seen in two decades.
"There are some signs that things are cooling a bit," said William Layes, the department's chief of labor market information.
The department said 1,380,208 Kansans held jobs in February almost identical to the number who were working in January. The number of people who were actively seeking jobs was 58,158, about 1,100 less than in January.
Both the work force, the number of people with jobs and the number of people seeking work were larger than they were in February 2000, when 1,332,990 people were employed and 53,479 were unemployed.
Government employment increased by 3,900 over the month, while jobs in wholesale and retail trade dropped by about 1,900.
"We expect this pattern," Layes said.
Trends in two of the state's four largest metropolitan areas Topeka and Lawrence bucked the state trend.
Unemployment in the Topeka area, defined as Shawnee County, increased to 4.2 percent in February from 4.1 percent in January. The increase in government jobs was smaller than the decrease in trade jobs.
In the Lawrence area, the two factors canceled each other out, and the unemployment rate increased to 4.1 percent in February from 4 percent in January. The Lawrence area is defined as Douglas County.
In the state's portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area declined to 3.7 percent in February to 3.8 percent in January. The area is defined as Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Wyandotte counties.
The Wichita area, defined as Butler, Harvey and Sedgwick counties, saw its unemployment rate drop to 3.8 percent in February from 4.1 percent in January.
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