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‘We need more humans’: Kansas reports economic growth amid workforce challenges

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‘We need more humans’: Kansas reports economic growth amid workforce challenges

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Armed with a new economic report, Kansas officials touted jobs data while warning that the workforce continues to face a challenge of not enough laborers.

“It’s simple: we need more humans in Kansas to keep up with the phenomenal economic growth our state is experiencing,” said Lt. Gov. David Toland, who is also the Commerce secretary.

The 2024 Kansas Economic Report, released last Thursday by the Kansas Department of Labor’s labor market information services division, showed improvements in several measures of the state economy in 2023. The labor force grew, the private sector led job growth, exports hit a record and the unemployment rate remained low despite a modest increase.

“The growth we are seeing is encouraging and shows the progress made in revitalizing our state’s economy,” said Gov. Laura Kelly.

Kansas Department of Labor Secretary Amber Shultz touted “rising employment numbers,” “strong job growth in key sectors,” “low unemployment” and “resilient export activity.” But the report is not all good news, as an aging population and fewer younger workers may affect future workforce sustainability.

“The state faces significant challenges in sustaining future labor force growth due to demographic trends, particularly among younger populations,” Shultz said.

Toland said that getting more people in the state starts with bringing back those who left, pointing to the state’s “Love, Kansas” marketing campaign.

More: Former Kansans wanted: Kansas launches $2M marketing campaign inviting you back home

Kansas GDP grew faster than region, country

Real gross domestic product measures economic output and is adjusted for inflation.

The Kansas real GDP grew 4.3%, compared to 2.5% in the plains region and 2.5% in the U.S.

In the past 10 years, the real GDP grew 21% in Kansas, 17.2% in the region and 25.6% in the U.S.

Personal income growth reverses trend

Personal income is a measure of wealth that includes earnings, investment income and transfers, such as government payments.

Total personal income grew 5.6% in Kansas, outpacing the 5.2% growth in both the plains region and the U.S.

But per capita, Kansas trails the region and the country. The Kansas per capital personal income was $63,732, compared to $65,977 in the plains region and $68,531 in the U.S.

That was not always the case. Kansas per capital personal income exceed that of the U.S. in 2013, but growth was slower in Kansas than the rest of the country for the next several years. The gap between Kansas and the rest of the U.S. continued to widen until the trend reversed in 2022, but the gap has not closed.

More: Topeka business leaders optimistic about their own companies, but not economy

Jobs and workforce

The labor force grew by 8,385 people. Shultz described it as a “modest” increase of 0.6%. The total labor force is now over 1.51 million, which is the second-high labor force on record since 1976, when the state began tracking such data.

Labor force participation had a slight uptick of 0.1% to 66.6%, which remains above the national rate of 62.6%.

Unemployment remained “exceptionally low,” Shultz said, but increased to 2.7% from the record low of 2.6%. That’s below the national unemployment rate of 3.6%.

The number of jobs increased 1.9% to 1.44 million nonfarm jobs. Shultz said that “private sector employment led this growth with an increase of 23,800 jobs, complemented by 3,700 government sector jobs.” The median wage across all occupations was $45,250.

The report has long-term projections for occupations that will be in high demand. Officials said that such information is of interest to people making career choices based in-part on future job security.

“Looking ahead, health care and transportation occupations are projected to add the most jobs by 2032,” Shultz said. “Computer and mathematical occupations are also expected to see a high rate of growth, with the fastest growth for data scientists, information security analysts, and software developers.”

Shultz said that the population under 25 years old decreased 1.7% between 2010 and 2020, “suggesting potential issues with labor force replenishment in the years ahead.”

Exports grew, but not in top markets

The report noted export declines from 2013 through 2016, then growth in exports until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, and renewed growth since then. The export sales of $14.1 billion in 2023 was a record high.

The top exporting industries are transportation equipment, processed foods, computer and electronic products, and agricultural products.

The top export markets were Mexico, which imported primarily agricultural products and processed foods, and Canada, which imported primarily transportation equipment, processed foods and non-electrical machinery. However, the top trading partners imported less than in the previous year.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

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