HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Free market economist Michael Austin said the labor numbers for Kansas in 2021 have been adjusted and fewer jobs were created than originally thought.
"These latest reports from the Kansas Department of Labor say that the job recovery under this current administration is actually worse than initially thought," Austin said. "The reality is that Kansas had 7,200 fewer private jobs than what the administration initially reported all throughout 2021."
Also, government jobs grew by 1,600 more than originally thought.
"More jobs than expected probably came from the local government level," Austin said. "Of course, it takes a little deeper dive into where exactly within local government that came from, whether it came from a county, city or maybe schools."
Governments in general have been collecting more taxes and schools have been allocated more dollars lately due to COVID-related learning loss legislation.
"Bloated government got us into this mess," Austin said. "Limiting that government, I think, is the only way out. Let's stop setting the record of having the largest state government budget in Kansas history."
Austin sees tax cuts as generally good policy, but only when funded by creating more efficiencies, not simply because of a surplus, because the cuts need to be sustainable and not just temporary while times are good.