Lawrence’s labor market improving

Reports show Douglas County jobless rate on decline

Lawrence’s employment market continues to improve, according to two reports released Friday.

The Kansas Department of Labor said the Lawrence area’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent in August, an improvement from the 4.5 percent rate recorded a year earlier. The department’s report showed that 50,600 people were working during the month, up 500 from August 2004.

A second report, from Kansas University’s Policy Research Institute, showed that Douglas County had an unemployment rate of 3.93 percent for the second quarter – the lowest for the quarter since 2002.

The Lawrence area’s unemployment rate for the quarter came in lower than those for other metropolitan statistical areas in the state, the institute said.

Heather Ackerly, director of business retention and attraction programs for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said the numbers confirmed what had been evident since the beginning of the year.

“Existing businesses have been expanding at an increased rate compared to 2004,” said Ackerly, noting that manufacturers and other core businesses had added 395 employees so far this year, compared with 476 for all of 2004. “Businesses of all sizes have been expanding, from adding two or three employees to adding 35. It’s been across the board, as far as company size and industry type.”

The statewide unemployment rate for August was 5.1 percent, according to the Labor Department. Rates for major metro areas:

¢ 5.9 percent for Wichita (Butler, Harvey, Sedgwick and Sumner counties).

¢ 5.3 percent for Kansas City (Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte counties) and Topeka (Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties).