How has Wichita fared since the start of the pandemic compared to other metropolitan areas?
(These examples are taken from my interactive visualization which holds data on all metropolitan areas in the nation. See Metro area employment and unemployment. It is updated through October 2021.)
The nearby chart shows Wichita along with some nearby metropolitan areas. It displays three variables:
- The change in employment since the first date shown, which is January 2020.
- The change in labor force since the first date shown.
- The value of the unemployment rate (not the change, as for employment and labor force).
Some observations:
- In job creation, Wichita has done better than some areas, but not as well as others.
- For the labor force, Wichita has done well, with the labor force being nearly the same size as before the pandemic, although it has shrunk in recent months.
- For the unemployment rate, Wichita has not done as well as most. This may be because the Wichita labor force has recovered faster than the employment level.
As always, you may use the interactive visualization to create your own charts and tables. The link is above.
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