photo by: Journal-World File Photo

This file photo from July 2015 shows a westward look across Lawrence; at right, Ninth Street stretches toward downtown.

Unless you are browsing through my wardrobe, it usually is difficult to travel back in time. But a new set of federal jobs numbers will give you a chance. For example, they show those of us in Douglas County are living a bit like it was 2012.

That’s because the number of jobs that exist in Douglas County is only slightly higher than the number that existed in 2012, according to numbers released this past week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The numbers are through June of 2021, and they are preliminary. But they are the most recent numbers available from the federal agency, and they do a good job of showing how hard hit some job markets were by the pandemic, and how well they are bouncing back.

Lawrence certainly is not alone in losing years worth of job gains due to the pandemic. There are some Kansas communities that have been set back even further. Riley County — home to Manhattan — and Shawnee County — home to Topeka — both have job totals so low that they are equivalent to 2007 levels for Riley County and 2006 levels for Shawnee County.

Not surprisingly, Johnson County fared the best of the urban counties in the state, but it still took a hit. Its job totals are at about the 2017 level. Wyandotte County — home to Kansas City, Kan. — and Sedgwick County — home to Wichita — both are pretty much in the same boat as Douglas County. They had job losses knocking them back to 2013.

This isn’t the only way to look at the recently released job totals, but I think it is kind of an interesting way to do so. Looking at how many years of jobs gains were wiped out helps put into perspective how historic of an economic shock the pandemic created. Yes, I get it that you may not need a reminder. (It is still on my brain … or is that the Q-tip from the COVID test I’m feeling up there?)

But it probably is worth looking at some more traditional statistics from the job numbers too. For one, they show that most counties are beginning to add jobs again in 2021 compared to the low point of 2020. Douglas County is adding jobs, but the numbers also show it is doing so at a rate quite a bit slower than most of the other urban counties.

Here’s a look at three other statistics from the most recent batch of jobs data:

The low point

How bad was 2020 in terms of job losses? Pretty bad for every urban county in Kansas. But it certainly wasn’t equally bad. While every county had some version of business curtailment during the period — think closed bars, reduced restaurants, furloughed manufacturing plants — some counties only lost about 4% of their jobs, while other counties lost more than 10%.

Here’s a look at job totals for June 2019 — pre-pandemic — compared to June 2020 when businesses were still neck deep in the pandemic. And one other note about these job numbers. They measure jobs that are located in each county. If you live in Douglas County and work in Kansas City, your job is not included in the Douglas County total. But if you live in Ottawa and work in Douglas County, your job is counted in the Douglas County total. And the job totals include both private-sector jobs and public jobs, like those at KU.

• Douglas County: Job totals down 10.4% or 5,199 jobs

• Sedgwick County: Job totals down 11.5% or 29,858 jobs

• Riley County: Job totals down 10.8% or 3,206 jobs

• Johnson County: Job totals down 6.5% or 23,514 jobs

• Shawnee County: Job totals down 6.5% or 6,388 jobs

• Wyandotte County: Job totals down 4.4% or 4,008 jobs

The bounce back

For every urban county except one, 2020 was the low point when it came to jobs. The exception is Wyandotte County, which continues to lose jobs this year. The other five counties, though, are adding jobs in 2021, but at significantly different rates. While Douglas County is adding jobs, it is doing so at one of the slowest rates, based on the preliminary numbers. Here’s a look at job total numbers from June 2020 to June 2021.

• Douglas County: Job totals up 2% or 930 jobs

• Sedgwick County: Job totals up 7.2% or 16,535 jobs

• Riley County: Job totals up 4.9% or 1,317 jobs

• Johnson County: Job totals up 4% or 13,426 jobs

• Shawnee County: Job totals up 3.8% or 3,473 jobs

• Wyandotte County: Job totals down 0.5% or 449 jobs

The big picture

The job climate of a community usually becomes clearer when you look at the job totals over a longer period of time. With the federal numbers, you easily can look back 10 years. When you compare 2011 job totals to 2021 job totals, a few trends become evident. In what is probably a surprise to some, Manhattan and Riley County have struggled this decade. Douglas County is on the correct side of the growth line, but probably not as comfortably as it would like. And, finally, Johnson County continues to be in a league of its own when it comes to jobs and economic prosperity. Here’s a look at how much job totals have changed in the last 10 years.

• Douglas County: Job totals up 1.8% or 807 jobs

• Johnson County: Job totals up 14.2% or 43,225 jobs

• Wyandotte County: Job totals up 4.4% or 3,666 jobs

• Sedgwick County: Job totals up 2.8% or 6,722 jobs

• Shawnee County: Job totals virtually steady or down 75 jobs

• Riley County: Job totals down 1.8% or 515 jobs.

Of all the statistics in this most recent report, the difference between Johnson County and everyone else in Kansas may be the most interesting. Consider this: Every man, woman and child in the city of Hutchinson could have moved to Johnson County over the last 10 years and received a job and there would still be 3,000 jobs left over.

Of course, all of Hutchinson hasn’t taken a job in Johnson County, but lots of your Douglas County neighbors have.