Every month, the Kansas Department of Labor shares unemployment rates across the state with a variety of entities. One of those agencies that receives the information is the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce.

As part of the Chamber’s monthly report to the Great Bend City Council, CEO Jan Peters presented the latest unemployment numbers from November 2018 that showed Barton County at three percent.

Jan Peters Audio

The surrounding counties’ unemployment rates included 2.9 percent in Pawnee, 2.7 in Rush, Ellis at 2.1, Russell with 2.4, Ellsworth at 2.4, Rice with 2.6, and Stafford’s rate was 2.4 percent.

The total number of people reported to be unemployed in Barton County as of November 2018 was 402. The number was marked as a 0.1 percent decrease from the previous year.