WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas could lose more than 40,000 jobs next year, most of them in the private sector, if no deal is reached to avert mandatory tax hikes and spending cuts to defense and other federal operations under the "fiscal cliff," according to an economic analysis.

Regional Economic Models, Inc., a provider of economic models used by federal and state agencies across the country, estimates that 35,000 of the up to 40,400 jobs it anticipates the state potentially losing would be from private workers.

If the tax cuts pushed by President George W. Bush are eliminated there could be less consumer spending, harming Kansas retailers, REMI projects. There also could be a big hit to health care because of lower Medicare reimbursement rates and budget cuts, and there could be other large-scale job losses for Kansas in professional service such as architecture and engineering that support capital investments and heavy manufacturing.