TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas policymakers say they sense that the state’s economy is on the mend.
They point to recent job reports, increasing state revenues and sentiment among residents and the business community that conditions are turning around.
But there is caution in the legislators’ sentiments, fueled by uncertainty regarding federal tax laws and how quickly consumer sentiment will be fully restored.
The state Department of Labor will report Tuesday on the January unemployment rate, which finished 2011 at 6.3 percent. A federal report released Friday showed the nation added 227,000 jobs.
One indicator of the rebound is state revenues. Senate President Steve Morris says it’s no small feat that Kansas went from looking at a $500 million deficit at this time last year to a $500 million surplus now.
