An economist with the Kansas Department of Labor says the state now has about the same number of private sector, non-farm jobs as it did before the recession.
Tyler Tenbrink told the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors today (WED) that a jump in job growth in October put the number of jobs in the state slightly above where it was before 2008.
But the nature of those jobs has changed. Tenbrink says the state lost more than 28,000 manufacturing jobs, but gained employment in areas like business and professional services.
“So there’s been a restructuring happening in the state. And that’s not unlike the U.S. level. The U.S. didn’t lose quite that many manufacturing jobs, but also in the recovery, they gained a lot of professional and business services jobs,” says Tenbrink.
Tenbrink says the professional jobs that replaced manufacturing jobs in Kansas pay similar wages.
He says in general, wages in the state have not reached pre-recession levels.
Tenbrink expects continued private sector job growth over the next six to 12 months.