Officials See Good Trends in Kansas Economy

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas officials say they’re seeing positive

economic trends even though the state’s jobless rate moved higher

last month.

In a report Friday, the Kansas labor department says the

seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in July

from 6.1 percent in June. Unemployment in July of last year was 6.7

percent.

The agency also says Kansas had about 22,000 more private-sector

jobs in July than it did a year earlier, an increase of about 2

percent. The state had about 1.1 million private-sector jobs last

month.

Employment by business and professional services companies had

the biggest year-to-year increase at roughly 8 percent.

Manufacturing employment also grew, while the number of government

jobs declined.