An updated forecast from Wichita State University says the Wichita area will be one of the strongest job growth areas for Kansas for the rest of this year into 2023.

The university’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research has issued an updated jobs forecast.  It said average employment in the Wichita metro area was up by 4,917 workers in 2021 for a growth of 1.7 percent.   The COVID-19 pandemic caused a loss of 39,700 jobs in 2020, but the region added back 36,300 workers the next year.  For 2022, the growth was over two percent for the first two quarters, but it’s expected to moderate the rest of the year and into 2023.

The report says although global and national market conditions are slowing down, the Wichita area economy is expected to add 3,185 jobs this year for an increase of 1.1 percent.

For the state of Kansas, the CEDBR report says after growth of 1.1 percent in 2021, adding over 14,700 jobs, job growth is expected to be 10,107 jobs for this year for growth of 0.7 percent.   The Center is expecting zero growth for Kansas in 2023 and 0.9 percent in 2024.    Slower growth is expected because of a tighter monetary policy and the labor market approaching full employment.

The report shows the highest economic growth in Kansas for 2023 will be in the production sectors, which will see an increase of one-point-four percent. That translates to around three-thousand-three-hundred-16 jobs. The majority of those jobs are expected to be added in the Wichita area. Both the Wichita and Kansas City metro area have mostly gained back all jobs lost during the pandemic. However, the Topeka metro area, which lost just under ten-thousand jobs during the pandemic, is still down about nine-hundred jobs.