TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas says its unemployment rate rose in August for the third consecutive month to 4.3 percent. The state Department of Labor reported Friday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was up from 4 percent in July and also higher than the 4.1 percent recorded in August 2015. The unemployment rate dropped during the first part of this year until it hit 3.7 percent in May, and it's been inching back up since. The department said that the state had 8,300 fewer people employed in nonfarm jobs in August than in August 2015, a decrease of 0.6 percent. About 4,200 of the jobs lost over the year were in the private sector. Construction employment in August was 7.7 percent lower in August 2015, with companies shedding 4,700 jobs.
