The Center for Economic Development and Business Research completed an economic impact study of health care and related industries in the Wichita metropolitan area. The study, prepared for and released by the Medical Society of Sedgwick County (MSSC), lists the healthcare and social assistance industry as second among the area’s top five industries.
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From February to March, the WSU Current Conditions Index increased by 0.5 percent. The Current Conditions Index increased year-to-year by 0.5 percent from March 2016 to March 2017. In addition, the Leading Index is forecasting a 0.45 percent increase in economic activity over the next six months.
The Consumer Price Index is used to calculate inflation, or the change in price of a basket of goods and services, as it impacts consumers; whereas, the Producer Price Index measures changes in selling prices, thereby expressing price changes from the perspective of the seller who produces a particular commodity.
A slide presentation updated with April 2017 data shows the Midwest inflation rate changed slightly from March to April. While the urban metropolitan areas noticed a -0.02% decrease, the non-metropolitan urban areas saw an increase of .03%.
The Producer Price Index data shows that prices in the United States have increased from April 2016 to April 2017 for aircraft (0.7 percent), crude petroleum (33.9 percent), and natural gas (62.7 percent). During that same time period, the index decreased slaughter livestock (-6.2 percent), sorghum (-4.4 percent) and wheat (-4.4 percent).
There was an average of 13,872 unemployed people in the Wichita metropolitan area in the first quarter of 2017, approximately 41 percent of whom collected unemployment insurance benefits. In the first quarter of 2017, there were approximately 5,692 people, age 16 and over, who collected unemployment insurance benefits. That is a decrease of approximately 16 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016.
In the first quarter of 2017, there were approximately 5,692 people, age 16 and over, who collected unemployment insurance benefits. That is a decrease of approximately 16 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016.
Read the full Wichita unemployment insurance beneficiaries report.
The lawn and garden store sector includes stores that primarily sell nursery or garden products that are grown elsewhere and stores that primarily sell outdoor lawn and garden power equipment.
The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile.
The three Kansas metropolitan areas included in the index, averaged 4.7 percent below the national average when weighted by population.
To subscribe to the Cost of Living Index report, or to learn more about The Council for Community and Economic Research, visit their website.
The unemployment rate for Kansas, as a whole, decreased from February 2017 to March 2017. The Wichita and Topeka MSAs noticed the largest decrease with 0.6 and 0.5 percentage points respectively, while the Lawrence and Manhattan MSAs both saw a drop of 0.3 percentage points.
A slide presentation is available with additional employment and unemployment data for Kansas and its four metro areas.
Industries in the Machinery Manufacturing subsector create end products that apply mechanical force. Establishments specializing in making machinery intended for particular applications define the industries within this subsector.
In Kansas, machinery manufacturing is a moderate wage industry with growing employment. Over the past decade, employment in this industry has averaged about 17,500 employees and grew at an average annual rate of 1.3 percent between 2005 and 2015.
The Council for Community and Economic Research released its annual Cost of Living Index for 273 urban areas. Wichita’s overall Index value was nearly 8.2 percent below the national average of 100. The most expensive urban area in which to live was New York (Manhattan), N.Y., with an Index value more than twice that of the national average. The least expensive urban area was McAllen, Texas, which was nearly 24 percent below the national average.
To subscribe to the Cost of Living Index report, or to learn more about The Council for Community and Economic Research, visit their website.
Between the third and fourth quarters of 2016, the general level of misery experienced by people in the United States decreased and remained below the 2015 level. This can be attributed to a decrease in the unemployment rate, that was partially offset by increases in inflation and a decrease in housing prices. The level of misery also decreased in Kansas in the fourth quarter but was above the 2015 level at the end of the year.
Within each of the metropolitan areas in Kansas, the level of misery is mixed.
The Misery Index, as calculated by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR), includes the following components:
Read the complete fourth quarter report.
The U.S. Census Bureau has published their population projections for the entire United States from 2015 to 2060 , and they project that the United States population will grow from 321.4 million to 416.8 million in that period. This represents 29.6 percent growth for the U.S. population, which is projected to expand more rapidly than the Kansas population.
Both the Kansas and the U.S. populations are projected to have positive growth rates throughout this period, with growth generally slowing over much of this period as well.
In both Kansas and the United States, both the employment-population ratio and labor force participation rate have declined sharply during the recession in 2008, and the ratio has remained well below pre-recession levels for both geographies.