The Kansas City metro area ended 2012 with an unemployment rate of 6.4 percent.

That compared to 7.3 percent for the metro area a year earlier.

It also compared favorably to the national December 2012 rate of 7.6 percent, when both the local and national numbers were figured on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that total nonfarm payroll employment in the Kansas City area was 1.4 percent higher in December 2012 than December 2011.

The government estimated that there were 997,500 employees in the Kansas City metropolitan statistical area at yearend. That was a net gain of 9,300 jobs over the year.

The Missouri side of the metro area accounted for 56 percent of the workforce. It showed a net gain of 2,700 jobs over the year.

The Kansas side of the metro area, with 44 percent of the workforce, showed a net gain of 7,000 jobs in 2012.

Four job categories showed the best growth records over the year — business and professional services; leisure and hospitality; education and health services; and financial activities.

The largest employment declines were in the information sector and in the mining, logging and construction category.

According to the statistics bureau, unemployment rates fell in 2012 in 290 of the 372 major metro area it tracks. Also, 283 of the metro areas had net employment gains over the year.