By Gene Meyer
January 22, 2010 

(KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas' unemployment rate remained a steady 6.3 percent in December, up from a year earlier 4.9 percent, the state Department of Labor said Friday.

November's previously reported 6.2 percent state unemployment rate was revised upward 0.1 percent.

An estimated 6,700 Kansas workers lost jobs in December, bringing the full year total to 60,000, state labor department officials calculated.

Nationally, job losses increased in 39 states and decreased in 11, which held the U.S. unemployment rate for the month at 10 percent, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported separately.

Kansas enterprises that typically lay off workers in December, such as construction, laid off far more workers than normal, while those that usually hire, such as retailers gearing up for Christmas sales, hired far fewer, said Tyler Tenbrink, an economist with the Kansas labor department.

"This tells us the effects of the recession are still being felt across the state," Tenbrink said.

The numbers don’t yet tell how deeply the recession might still be depressing state tax revenues, “though it is a concern,” said Alan Conroy, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department.