In Kansas, the unemployment rate has declined for the past seven years, reaching a low of 3.7 percent in 2017 after peaking at 7.1 percent in 2010. Throughout this expansion, Kansas has consistently had a lower unemployment rate than the national average. However, there has been substantial regional variation within both Kansas and the U.S. in the change in their unemployment rates.
In late 2017, the unemployment rates for Kansas rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan areas all converged, with all three unemployment rates approximately 3.5 percent. These low and converging unemployment rates across the state could be an indication that the state is approaching its natural rate of unemployment, which would be the lowest level an unemployment rate can remain at for any long length of time.