State unemployment numbers for September held almost identical to those in August and those from a year ago.
The 2.8 percent jobless rate in September was up a fraction from the 2.7 percent logged in August, but it was down from 2.9 percent last year.
Total nonfarm payroll employment was up over 4,000 people from August, and Kansas Department of Labor economist Nathan Kessler says there has been gradual movement in that category for the past year.
Jobless rates for the city of Emporia and Lyon County as a whole both declined from 3.1 percent in August to 2.7 percent in September.
All area counties saw declines. Chase County has the area low at 2.6 percent. Coffey County has the area high at 3.2 percent, but it also had the largest percentage decline at a full percentage point from August to September.
