Apparently the state of Kansas doesn’t consider it a “job” to paint your face Crimson and Blue, write odes to Wayne Selden Jr., make an unfortunate decision about a “Dirty Dozen” tattoo, and all the other things that go along with celebrating a 12th straight Big 12 championship. If such activities were counted as a job, Lawrence undoubtedly would not have posted a job loss in the month of February.

State officials have released a report on job totals for Kansas metro areas, and Lawrence posted a 0.2 percent decline in jobs in February compared with February 2015 totals. To further prove my point, the metro area with the highest job growth for the month was Manhattan, where basketball and championships are more theoretical in nature.

Here’s a look at the job numbers for metro areas as compiled by the Kansas Department of Labor:

• Lawrence: down 0.2 percent or 100 jobs

• Manhattan: up 3.4 percent or 1,500 jobs

• Topeka: down 1 percent or 1,100 jobs

• Wichita: up 0.3 percent or 900 jobs

• Kansas City, Kan.: up 0.5 percent or 2,200 jobs

We’ll see what type of trend develops for Lawrence’s job market in 2016. Last year was a pretty good year for job growth, but that was preceded by a long period of stagnation or declines in the local job market.

In February, Lawrence would have seen even greater job losses, were it not for an influx of government jobs. The number of government employees in Lawrence grew by 800 people — or 4.7 percent — from February 2015 to February 2016. The number of private sector jobs during that time period dropped by 900 people, or 2.5 percent.

For what it is worth, job growth totals in the Manhattan metro — which includes not only Manhattan but also Junction City and Fort Riley — were greatly aided by government jobs. Government employment there grew by 11 percent, or 1,700 jobs.

Lawrence had two sectors that really were hit hard by job losses over the 12-month period. The goods producing sector — which includes manufacturing of all types — declined by 7.4 percent or 400 jobs. The category of professional and business services — which includes jobs such as business managers, researchers, and a variety of technical and scientific positions — dropped by 8.9 percent or 500 jobs. Lawrence had the largest percentage job losses of any metro area in the state in both the goods producing and professional and business services category.

Here’s a look at how other metro areas did in the goods producing sector:

• Lawrence: down 7.4 percent or 400 jobs

• Manhattan: down 5.8 percent or 300 jobs

• Topeka: no change

• Wichita: down 0.6 percent or 400 jobs

• Kansas City: down 0.4 percent or 200 jobs

Here’s a look at the professional and business services category.

• Lawrence: down 8.9 percent or 500 jobs

• Manhattan: information unavailable

• Topeka: down 3.1 percent or 400 jobs

• Wichita: up 2.8 percent or 900 jobs

• Kansas City: down 0.7 percent or 600 jobs

It has been awhile since I’ve written about job numbers in Lawrence, but I plan to do so more regularly in 2016. The topic of jobs is one that community leaders never seem to stop fretting over, but oftentimes the public doesn’t have a lot of information about how the job market is actually performing.

So, here are some numbers from the February report that show how different Lawrence’s job market is versus other Kansas metro areas. Plus, I just want to give all of you the chance to say at upcoming KU watch parties “I recently read some interesting numbers about Lawrence labor market composition.” If you say it near the bean dip, it is an excellent way to get the bean dip all to yourself.

One finding that shouldn’t be surprising is that government jobs — everything from KU employees to city of Lawrence workers — make up a large percentage of our workforce. In fact, in February, one out of every three employees in the Lawrence metro was a government employee. Here’s a look at the percentage of government employees in each metro area:

• Lawrence: 33 percent

• Manhattan: 37 percent

• Topeka: 24 percent

• Wichita: 14 percent

• Kansas City: 12 percent

One other category that I found interesting, though, was the leisure and hospitality sector. A big part of that sector is restaurant and bar employees. Here’s a look at how Lawrence stacks up:

• Lawrence: 12 percent

• Manhattan: Not available

• Topeka: 7 percent

• Wichita: 10 percent

• Kansas City: 8 percent

If you add the government sector and the leisure and hospitality industry together, those two comprise 45 percent of our entire workforce. Compare that to 20 percent in Kansas City. Retail jobs in Lawrence account for another 10 percent of the workforce, which was pretty consistent with the other metro areas. So, 55 percent of our workforce comes from government jobs, leisure and hospitality jobs and retail jobs. There are some important jobs in those categories, but they are not necessarily known to be the best paying jobs in an economy.

The other other category that I find interesting is the area of professional and business services category. This includes a lot of jobs that generally are well thought of in the community. Things like researchers and engineers and corporate headquarter positions. There is not much argument about bringing those types of jobs to town. With the research capabilities and brain power of KU, they also are the types of jobs Lawrence would seem to have some potential to attract. Thus far, Lawrence is a bit of a laggard in the category. Here’s a look at the percentage of jobs in the professional and business services category:

• Lawrence: 9 percent

• Manhattan: Not available

• Topeka: 11 percent

• Wichita: 11 percent

• Kansas City: 20 percent.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that Kansas City — led by Johnson County — generally has the highest incomes and also has the highest percentage of professional-level jobs.

It is important to be realistic here, though. Lawrence’s job market is always going to be significantly different from these other communities. KU’s presence, for example, will always makes us heavy on government jobs. Many of those jobs are good, too — as long as the Legislature keeps funding them. For years, Lawrence with its large number of government jobs has been more insulated from swings in the economy. It is no coincidence that Wichita is the most cyclical metro in the state and also has the largest percentage of workers in the goods-producing industry at 23 percent. (Lawrence was last in that category at 9.4 percent, in case you are wondering.)

It is tough to say what the right mix of jobs in Lawrence should be. I wonder, though, if there will be more conversation about that in coming months. I sense that Lawrence soon may enter a period where we do more strategic planning as a community. Certainly that has been something new City Manager Tom Markus has mentioned. It may be that figuring out what types of jobs we want to work hardest at attracting may be a topic worthy of discussion.

But, not until I finish this bean dip.