TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas says its unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in October, but the state continued to see a decline in the number of non-farm jobs over the previous year.

The state Department of Labor reports that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was lower than September's 3.8 percent and 4.3 percent for October 2016. Monthly unemployment rates have stayed below 4 percent since March.

But the number of private-sector, non-farm jobs was 4,700 lower in October than in October 2016, a drop of four-tenths of a percentage point.

It was the seventh straight month with lower private-sector job numbers than in 2016.

Kansas also lost 1,700 private-sector jobs from September to October, a decline of one-tenth of a point. Labor Department officials said Friday that retailers hired fewer seasonal workers than anticipated.