TOPEKA – Showing a continued strong jobs market, Kansas’ December seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, unchanged from the November revised unemployment rate and down from 4.9 percent in December 2013, the Kansas Department of Labor reported.
The December number for Barton County stood at 3 percent, virtually unchanged since November when it was 2.9. The rate was 3.3 in December 2013.
 Seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 12,800 private sector jobs since last year, or 1.1 percent. Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 12,800 jobs, a 0.9 percent increase since December 2013. Since last month, Kansas added 2,300 seasonally adjusted private sector jobs, or 0.2 percent. The state gained 1,700 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs, a 0.1 percent increase since last month.
 “2014 marked a strong year of low unemployment rates of under 5 percent, with December representing the lowest rate of the year at 4.2 percent,” said Lana Gordon, Kansas secretary of labor.
Not seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 12,700 private sector jobs since last year, or 1.1 percent. Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 12,600 jobs, a 0.9 percent increase since December 2013. Since November, private sector jobs decreased by 2,200, or 0.2 percent. The state declined by 4,800 total nonfarm jobs over the month, a 0.3 percent decline.
 “December’s cold weather did not seem to bother the construction industry as it posted a seasonally adjusted gain of 1,100 jobs over the month while employers also increased workers’ average weekly earnings, continuing substantial over-the-year improvement for this sector,” said Justin McFarland, director, Labor Market Information Services.
The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December was 4 percent, up from 3.9 percent in November and down from 4.6 percent one year ago.
 There were 18,577 initial claims for unemployment benefits in December 2014, up from 12,003 in November and down from 19,749 in December 2013. There were 97,398 continued claims in December, up from 68,018 the previous month and down from 124,370 in December 2013. These numbers include all available programs.
 Information on procedures for producing Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) estimates is available on the BLS website here and procedures for producing Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates is available on the BLS website here.
 The January 2015 Labor Report will be released on Friday, March 6.