Topeka ? The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in April, and some business and government officials saw reasons to hope that the economy will improve.

The rate was 4.6 percent in March, and the Department of Human Resources said Tuesday that the decline in April could be attributed to normal seasonal hiring.

	The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce will have its annual Employment Expo job fair from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive.The chamber’s Cathy Lewis estimates 28 area employers will be accepting applications at the fair. She is expecting the event to draw between 400 and 500 job-seekers.

Joblessness still remained higher than it was in 2001, when the April rate was 4 percent. However, the department noted that last month saw the fourth-consecutive decline in unemployment.

In Douglas County, unemployment declined to 3.9 percent in April from 4.2 percent in March. One year ago the rate was 4.1 percent.

The news comes on the heals of a recent report indicating that 29 percent of Kansas firms plan to increase employment from July through September. The figure compares to 28 percent for the entire Midwest, according to Manpower Inc., the nation’s largest staffing firm.

According to Kristin Boyd of Manpower’s Topeka office, the report suggests that signs of improvement in the economy will continue in the second quarter of 2002.

The department said construction companies added about 4,000 jobs in April, service companies hired another 1,900 workers, and trade employment was up about 1,700. The department said all of those trends were normal, given expanded hiring as weather warms in recreation, by lawn services and for lawn and garden stores.

Budget Director Duane Goossen agrees with Boyd’s assessment that a recovery is in the offing. He said signs of recovery in recent months have been steady or slightly increasing withholding taxes from workers.

The unemployment rates in most of the state’s major metropolitan areas followed the state trend.

The exception was the Wichita area, where unemployment remained at 5.6 percent. The area has been hit hardest by aviation layoffs.