By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Free-market economist Michael Austin is concerned with the latest unemployment numbers from the Kansas Department of Labor and what they might mean for the state.
"The latest Kansas jobs report is almost like a canary in the coal mine, when it comes to unemployment policy," said economist Michael Austin. "Statewide, Kansas job openings are 46% higher than they were in January 2020, but the latest unemployment report says fewer Kansans are filling them."
It is important to remember how the unemployment rate is calculated.
The unemployment rate is the number of working age Kansans that are actively looking for work as a share of the labor force," Austin said. "While a low unemployment rate is generally a sign of economic health, it isn't always. If Kansans aren't actively, and that's the key word there, actively looking for work, they are no longer unemployed, but, it would then push the unemployment rate down."
Austin's concern is that some people aren't looking for work and on a statewide level, that's happening at least a little bit.
"In one month, 8,000 individuals left the labor force, meaning they aren't working and they aren't actively looking for work," Austin said. "Economists call them 'discouraged workers' and that's unfortunately, a rising trend."
The numbers in Reno County aren't necessarily reflecting that trend, as they haven't really haven't moved that much in recent months. According to non seasonally adjusted information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 29,372 Reno County residents were in the labor force in January and the numbers have stayed relatively steady since then, with 29,391 in February and 29,375 in March.