Unemployment numbers released by the Kansas department of labor show a slight decrease compared to last month. The Manhattan metro area, which is made up of the city of Manhattan, as well as Geary, Pottawatomie, and Riley counties is the lowest in the state and shows a 4.8 percent rate, which is down from 5.8 percent last month and is only slightly higher than the 4.5 percent for April of last year.
Clay county shows a rate of 4.3%, which is down from 4.9% last month, but significantly higher than 3.7% for this time last year.
Geary County has the highest rate of 6.2% which is down from the 6.8% last month, but higher than April 2012 when it was 6.1%
Pottawatomie County is a little lower than last months 5.1% coming in at 4.9% compared to 4.2% from this time last year.
Riley county is also looking good with a 4.2% rate compared to 4.8% last month, but not as good at the 4% posted in April of 2012
Finally, the city of Manhattan shows improvement from last months 4.7% showing a 4% rate for this month, and only slightly higher than the 3.9% that was posted during April of last year.