In unveiling the new state economic report, Kansas Secretary of Labor Jim Garner may have been gratified that most of the state's press reported his contention that while Kansas had an impressive employment growth rate last year, the nation’s economy is dampening the state's hiring growth.

Although the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly high rate of 3.3 during the second quarter of 2008, Garner blamed Washington for Kansas’ jobs woes. "We are starting to feel the impact of the national economic situation," Garner said.

But the real news in the economic report may not have been in disputed employment numbers. The big story may be in what appears at first to be the dramatic reversal of Kansas’ poverty figures.

Only a year ago, the 2007 state economic report found poverty rising rapidly throughout Sebelius’ years on office.

According to last year’s report, “From 2000 to 2004, Kansas poverty increased 26.6 percent while poverty in the U.S. went up 17.3 percent.  From 2000 to 2004, the number of people in Kansas living below the poverty level increased more rapidly than the state’s population as a whole, with a 26.6 percent increase in poverty and a 1.7 percent increase in population. Since a low in 2000, the number of people under the age of 18 in poverty in Kansas has increased by nearly 20.0 percent, reaching more than 98,000 people in 2004. This rate was higher than the national rate which increased at 12.5 percent.  Additionally, the number of people under age five in poverty in Kansas has increased 27.5 percent in the past five years compared to 15.1 percent for the nation."

During Sebelius’ attempt to capture the Democratic vice-presidential nomination, the poverty figures were reported in the press. (KansasLiberty.com’s “Monday” column drew attention to Kansas’ rising poverty rate last May.)

Perhaps wary that using 2007's methods of showing poverty data might have caused embarrassment for Sebelius had she been successful in becoming Barack Obama's running mate, the new figures released Friday by Garner attempt to tell a different story altogether.

According to the 2008 economic report, “the number of Kansans estimated to be living below the poverty threshold in 2005 totaled 310,666, or 11.7 percent of the total Kansas population.  Nationwide the total number of individuals living under the poverty threshold was more than 38 million, or 13.3 percent of the total U.S. population. There were 30 states that reported a higher percentage of individuals living under poverty than Kansas. In 2005, the poverty threshold for a family of four (2 adults and 2 children under 18) was $19,806.”

The labor department also found a more palatable way of reporting poverty among the state’s young. “Poverty among children ages five and younger was higher than other age groups.  In 2005, approximately 20 percent of this age group in Kansas were living under the poverty threshold. Nationwide the number was 21.3 percent.”

The new report does not indicate whether poverty is still increasing in Kansas, as the 2007 report predicted it would. The new report also offers no way to compare the new data with last year's information. Garner offered no explanation for the changes.

The new economic report also claims that by using one of many indicators used to analyze data in the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), there is slightly less inequality of wealth distribution in Kansas compared to the rest of the country.

The Week in Review