TOPEKA — The Franklin County unemployment rate shot up in January, as did most counties in eastern Kansas. The losses were expected and reflects usual seasonal job losses, said Sue Henke, Kansas Department of Labor spokesman. The report wasn’t good but it could be worse, said labor economist Tyler Tenbrink. “Although we continue to see job losses in Kansas, the drop in initial unemployment claim numbers from December to January indicates the rate at which people are losing jobs is slowing,” he said. “Further review of the unemployment data for the past five months suggests a stabilizing trend in the Kansas job market.” The Franklin County jobless rate jumped from 6.9 percent in December to 9.6 percent in January. In neighboring counties: Anderson County went from 7.1 percent in December to 8.6 percent in January; Miami County, from 6.9 percent to 8.9 percent; Osage County from 7.4 percent to 9.7 percent; Linn County from 9.1 percent to 13.1 percent; Douglas County went from 4.6 percent to 5.8 percent, still one of the lowest rates in the state.
