WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ A Wichita State University economic forecast predicts Kansas will see its third straight year of job growth in 2007.

But the annual report from the university's Center for Economic Development and Business Research also notes that the state's economy has grown slowly in the past decade.

In the annual forecast, director Janet Harrah projected next year will mirror the slower rate of employment growth, with non-farm employment expected to grow less than one percent. She projected the state will gain 85-hundred jobs next year.

In terms of total jobs, the report says next year will mark the first time Kansas will return to the employment levels it enjoyed before the 2001 recession.