The Hutchinson unemployment rate saw a slight decrease in August according to the latest numbers released by the Kansas Department of Labor.

The rate is 6.8% for the month of August down from 7.2% in July. That means that 1-thousand 423-citizen’s are looking for work in the city. The number is still better then where we were a year ago when the rate for August was 7.6%.

The Reno County number also fell slightly, going from 5.9% in July to 5.6% in August. Over 19-thousand are out of work in the county, but as always, most of those individuals are in the city of Hutchinson.

Other county numbers show also show slight decreases. Harvey County’s rate is now at 5.7%, down from 6.2% in July. Kingman County is at 4.9%, down from 5.1% in July. McPherson County’s rate is at 4.5% in August, down from 4.8%. Pratt County is at 4.5%, down from 4.7.
And, Stafford County’s rate is at 5.3%, down from 5.5.

Even Sedgwick County with its much larger population and ups and downs with the aircraft industry saw a slight drop. The rate in that county for the month of August is at 7.4%, still a high number but an improvement over July when the rate was at 8%.

The August Labor Report shows a decline in the unemployment rate overall across the state, improvements in unemployment insurance claims and continued increases in jobs numbers since 2011.

The August 2012 unemployment rate was 6.2 %, down from 6.7 % in July 2012 and from 6.9 percent one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted rate ticked down to 6.2 % in August from 6.7 % in August 2011 and 6.3 % in July 2012.