KANSAS CITY METRO — If they weren’t already, the effects of Kansas’ stay-at-home orders became apparent in state job figures released Thursday, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.
The Kansas Department of Labor’s April labor market report shows that the statewide unemployment rate jumped by 8.4 percentage points to 11.2% in a single month, up 400% from the 2.8% rate in March.
With more than 53,000 of the state’s 168,000 unemployed individuals, the unemployment rate on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro, which includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte counties, jumped by 8.5 percentage points to 11.3%. That’s 404% higher than the 2.8% mark in March.
Here’s a look at the April unemployment rate in the seven largest cities on the Kansas side of the metro, including the percentage increase from the prior month:
- Kansas City, Kan. — 14.9% (up 392% from March)
- Leavenworth — 12.7% (up 353%)
- Shawnee — 11.6% (up 430%)
- Lenexa — 11.1% (up 427%)
- Overland Park — 10.7% (up 428%)
- Olathe — 10.2% (up 425%)
- Leawood — 7.6% (up 330%)
Many Kansans who have filed for unemployment have told FOX4 that they are fed up with a flawed state system, which has been badly backlogged by requests for benefits. Thousands are still yet to see a dime of that money hit their bank account, despite the state previously promising deposits would start hitting Monday.
READ: Kansans’ savings dwindle waiting for state unemployment help more than 2 months later
