TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas gained 4,600 private sector jobs last month, and its unemployment rate dropped to the lowest it's been since November 2000. A preliminary report released yesterday (FRI) by the Kansas Department of Labor says the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in March from 4 percent in February. The state gained 3,600 nonfarm jobs over the year. It picked up 4,600 private-sector jobs and lost 1,000 government jobs. The national unemployment rate also dropped last month. A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it dropped to 4.5 percent in March from 4.7 in February. Kansas is one of 19 states with unemployment rates below the national one. The report comes a day after officials and university economists forecasted improved tax collections, shrinking the state's budget shortfalls.
