Thousands of jobs were created in Kansas last month, but the new labor report wasn’t all good news.
The Department of Labor highlights the 4,000 new jobs in Kansas as a big increase for June. The largest growth areas were in service jobs and construction.
Even with job creation, the statewide unemployment rate went up slightly to 4.5 percent in June, from 4.4 percent in May. June is the third month in a row where the unemployment rate in Kansas climbed higher.
The Lawrence and Kansas City areas had an unemployment rate slightly below the state average at 4.3 percent. Topeka was just over the state average and the Wichita area was higher yet, with an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent.