GREAT BEND TRIBUNE More By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. Jobless numbers tick back up amid pandemic Barton County, area rates below state average This map provided by the Kansas Department of Labor shows the unemployment figures across the state for November. The months-long decline in unemployment in Kansas reversed course in November, inching back up a tick as state and federal assistance programs expire, the Kansas Bureau of Labor reported Friday. Preliminary estimates reported by the KDOL’s Labor Market Information Services division and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in November. This was an increase from 5.0 percent in October and an increase from 3.1 percent in November 2019.