Many Kansas industry clusters exhibit moderate to rapid employment growth. This indicates that Kansas' mixture of human and natural resources is highly attractive to these industries. Engineering and architectural services, motor vehicles, and information and communications have led growth in percentage terms. The biotech industry, which has been targeted for its global potential, is currently under-represented in the state. The industry has a concentration ratio of about 0.5, indicating that the industry is only half as big a share of the Kansas economy as it is of the U.S. economy.
Employment is currently small, and employment growth has been negative.
Information and communications technology cluster boosts Kansas employment by 6,000. The key sectors in Kansas have shown a variety of growth patterns over the period 1991-97. It is important to identify which sectors have grown the most in absolute terms, and which have grown fastest in percentage terms. Sectors that are both large and fast growing are the leaders of the Kansas economy.