Topeka ? The state’s unemployment rate continued to decline in the past month, continuing a recent trend but still not providing officials with evidence needed to say Kansas has achieved a “true economic recovery.”

“More substantial job growth and creation of good paying jobs is needed in the coming months to keep pace with the growing Kansas labor force,” said Labor Secretary Jim Garner.

In August, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent, down from July’s revised figure of 4.7 percent. The rate declined despite fewer people appearing on the payroll, reflecting the seasonal departure of students who left the job market to begin returning to classes at the start of the school year.

Nonfarm employment declined by 3,000 jobs from July, with slightly more than 1.3 million people employed. Government jobs were the biggest losers, dropping by 1,100.

However, Garner said the economy had added 12,600 jobs since August 2003, primarily in the leisure-hospitality and educational-health services sectors. Manufacturing, which was hit hard by the loss of aviation jobs in Wichita following the 9-11 terror attacks, has added 800 jobs in the past year, standing at 172,000.

Unemployment rates in the state’s four metropolitan areas were mixed. The Topeka area increased to 5.6 percent, up from 5.4 percent in July; Wichita, unchanged at 5.5 percent; Lawrence improved to 4.7 percent from July’s 4.9 percent; and the Kansas portion of the Kansas City metro area was 4.9 percent, down from 5 percent in July.