Geary County Unemployment Rate Drops But Remains Above State Average
Junction City area sees improvement from August as local job market shows modest gains
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. — Geary County's unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent in September, down from 5.4 percent in August, according to new data released by the Kansas Department of Labor. Despite the improvement, the county's jobless rate remains higher than both the state and national benchmarks.
The county's rate of 4.5 percent sits above Kansas' overall unemployment rate of 3.6 percent and exceeds the Manhattan metro area's rate of 3.5 percent. In September, Geary County had 13,654 people in its workforce, with 13,042 employed and 612 unemployed. The figures show improvement compared to September 2024, when the county's unemployment rate stood at 4.0 percent. Junction City, the county's largest city, reported an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in September, with 10,369 people in its labor force. Within the broader Manhattan metropolitan area, which includes Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie counties, Riley County posted the lowest unemployment rate at 3.3 percent, while Pottawatomie County came in at 3.1 percent.
Due to the lapse in federal funding during the federal government shutdown, all Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) operations were suspended from Oct. 1, 2025, through Nov. 12, 2025. As a result, KDOL will not publish a separate report for the October 2025 Kansas Labor Report. Establishment survey data from the Current Employment Statistics program for October 2025 will be published with the November 2025 data. Household survey data from the Current Population Survey, which serve as the primary input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics models, were not collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations and will not be collected retroactively.
The November 2025 Kansas Labor Report will be released January 7, 2026. The release schedule for December 2025 has not yet been finalized. We will communicate the date when it becomes available.
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