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 Friday 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 Friday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it dropped to 4.5 percent in March from 4.7 in February.
The report comes a day after officials and university economists forecasted improved tax collections , shrinking the state's budget shortfalls.