According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual unemployment rate in Kansas in 2009 was 6.8 percent (6.7 percent revised). This estimate includes all jobless persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past four weeks. In addition to the official unemployment rate (known as measure U-3), the BLS produces five alternative measures.
Annual average 2009 alternative measures of labor underutilization data for states were released in February. One of the alternative measures, titled U-6, includes the official unemployment rate plus workers who are marginally attached, including discouraged workers and those employed only part time for economic reasons. This alternative measure totaled 11.5 percent in Kansas in 2009. When comparing the official unemployment rate with this alternative measure, one can see that the measurement of unemployment increases 4.7 percent. Putting this into context, there were approximately 1.5 million individuals in the Kansas labor force in 2009; the alternative measure for unemployment, U-6, indicates there were more than 72,000 underemployed or discouraged/marginally attached individuals in Kansas not being counted in the official unemployment rate.
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