Wichita area gains 3,200 jobs in 2015 as construction hiring surges

The Wichita metro area unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in December, up slightly from the 3.9 percent rate in November, but down from 4.4 percent in December 2014, according to the Kansas Department of Labor.

The number of people working increased by 300 from the month before, to about 301,300, but the number of people seeking work also increased slightly, pushing up the rate.

Over the course of 2015 the Wichita metro areas gained 3,200 jobs, with 1,500 of those coming in the construction sector.

The metro area includes Butler, Harvey, Kingman, Sedgwick and Sumner counties.

In Kansas, the not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in December.

The state has gained 6,800 jobs in 2015: gaining 9,300 private sector jobs and losing 2,500 public sector jobs.

The job gains are well short of the 25,000 private sector jobs per year promised by Gov. Sam Brownback during his re-election campaign.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Wichita area gains 3,200 jobs in 2015 as construction hiring surges."