Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Lawrence, KS MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Key Indicators
Kansas unemployment held steady at 3.8% in August 2026
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) — Kansas statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
Kansas private-sector average hourly earnings rose 4.6% year-over-year to $32.98
Kansas Action for Children — Analysis of private sector wage growth vs. Midwest inflation
This Month's Takeaways
Tenth District goods-producing sectors outperforming nationally per September Beige Book
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — September 2026 Beige Book, Tenth District economic conditions
Local Economic Conditions
Lawrence metro unemployment at 4.2% in August 2026, up from 4.1% in July
Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics) — Preliminary metro unemployment data extracted September 16, 2026
Douglas County job growth essentially flat, adding only 50 jobs year-over-year
South-Central Kansas Workforce Investment Board — County employment and unemployment trend analysis
Looking Ahead
Zero Kansas WARN notices filed in the 90 days before September 25, 2026
Kansas WARN Database — State layoff notification tracking
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison