Kansas payrolls added 1,900 jobs in August, but the state’s civilian labor force shrank by 2,600 people and the unemployment rate held at 3.8%. The mixed report shows employers expanding headcounts modestly while fewer residents were working or actively seeking work.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Kansas dashboard, updated Friday, put the seasonally adjusted labor force at 1,553,300, down from 1,555,900 in July. Household employment fell by 2,800 to 1,494,400, while the number of unemployed Kansans rose by about 200 to 58,900. The jobless rate remained at 3.8% for a fourth consecutive month.

The payroll survey, which counts jobs at workplaces rather than employed residents, moved in the opposite direction. BLS establishment data show total nonfarm employment rising from 1,470,400 in July to 1,472,300 in August. Payrolls were 7,300 higher than in August 2025, a 0.5% increase.

Several sectors posted monthly gains. Trade, transportation and utilities added 900 jobs; professional and business services added 700; and education and health services added 600. Construction gained 300, while information, government and other services also edged higher. Those increases were partly offset by a 1,000-job decline in leisure and hospitality and a 400-job decline in financial activities. Manufacturing employment was unchanged at 173,500.

The longer-term sector pattern is uneven. Construction payrolls were up 4,100 from a year earlier, education and health services added 3,100, and leisure and hospitality also remained 3,100 above its August 2025 level despite the monthly retreat. Government employment, however, was down 3,500 over the year. Financial activities, other services, and trade, transportation and utilities also had fewer jobs than a year ago.

Nationally, BLS reported that unemployment rates were stable in 42 states during August and that Kansas’ 3.8% rate was below the U.S. rate of 4.1%. The agency classified Kansas’ monthly payroll change as statistically unchanged. Only four states recorded statistically significant payroll gains, a reminder that the 1,900-job increase is an estimate subject to revision rather than evidence of a broad acceleration.

The Kansas Department of Labor’s Labor Market Information program publishes the state report using two separate federal-state surveys. The household survey estimates the labor force, employment and unemployment by where people live; the establishment survey estimates jobs by where workplaces are located. Because the surveys measure different things, payrolls can rise in the same month that resident employment falls.

For Kansas employers, the August figures suggest gradual job growth, concentrated outside leisure and finance. For state officials, the more difficult signal is the continuing decline in the labor force: it has fallen by 20,700 since March, according to the BLS series. If that trend persists, businesses could face tighter hiring conditions even without a decline in the unemployment rate.

The August estimates are preliminary and will be revised as additional employer records and survey responses become available. September state employment figures are scheduled for release Oct. 20.