Topeka ? Kansas gained 11,300 jobs in May but the unemployment rate remained unchanged from April at 6.3 percent.

Gov. Mark Parkinson saw good news in the monthly report, saying, “I’m encouraged by the continued job growth we’ve seen in the state over the past four months.

“While this growth has been slow, it has been steady and shows that Kansas is coming out of this economic recession. Clearly we are moving in the right direction and now must focus on accelerating our progress so that all Kansans can find a job.”

Kansas Department of Labor Secretary Jim Garner said the labor market is stabilizing but the department is still paying $10 million each week in unemployment benefits. He urged Congress to act soon on extending “the lifeline of unemployed benefits available to those who are out of work.”

Of the 11,300 jobs gained since April, 3,900 were in the private sector, and 7,900 were in the government sector, and included Census jobs and local government summer jobs, the Labor Department reported.

The May unemployment rate of 6.3 percent was the same in April and down from 7 percent in May 2009.

In Douglas County, the jobless rate in May was 5.8 percent, up from 5.3 percent in April and up from 5.6 percent in May 2009.

Statewide there were 20,200 initial claims for unemployment benefits in May, up from 18,779 initial claims in April and down from 23,589 in May 2009.

There were 264,799 continued unemployment benefit claims in May, down from 271,270 in April and up from 234,778 in May 2009.