Defining the Available Labor Pool: The Kansas Labor Force Survey

One of the key questions for employers seeking to locate or expand their operations is whether a prospective community has an available and affordable labor force with the prerequisite skills. This study outlines an applied theoretical perspective and a set of survey methods to move beyond the inherent limitations of unemployment rates and other census data used to infer availability and prevailing wage rates of a community's workforce. Applying these methods to Kansas in 2001, the authors found more than 7% of Kansans of working age, or about 110,000 potential workers, were unemployed in some manner but were available for job opportunities. Another 12.6% of the Kansas labor force, or just more than 159,000 people, were employed (full- and part-time) and were actively seeking new employment opportunities. A total of 43.7% of the Kansas labor force, or about 651,000 people, would consider a new employment opportunity given the right circumstances.