Total nonfarm employment for Kansas City, MO-KS, increased by 34,200 over the year in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the local rate of job gain, 3.1 percent, compared to the 2.6-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Kansas City metropolitan area, May 2020–May 2023

Period	Net change (in thousands)
May 2020	-102.7
Jun 2020	-71.0
Jul 2020	-55.4
Aug 2020	-49.2
Sep 2020	-52.5
Oct 2020	-46.9
Nov 2020	-46.9
Dec 2020	-43.8
Jan 2021	-40.3
Feb 2021	-49.0
Mar 2021	-33.7
Apr 2021	98.8
May 2021	75.4
Jun 2021	43.2
Jul 2021	46.7
Aug 2021	35.8
Sep 2021	27.0
Oct 2021	34.0
Nov 2021	34.8
Dec 2021	28.9
Jan 2022	29.6
Feb 2022	46.1
Mar 2022	33.2
Apr 2022	36.2
May 2022	34.9
Jun 2022	34.2
Jul 2022	31.5
Aug 2022	33.2
Sep 2022	43.3
Oct 2022	35.0
Nov 2022	34.8
Dec 2022	34.5
Jan 2023	38.6
Feb 2023	29.4
Mar 2023	33.1
Apr 2023	31.9
May 2023	34.2

Kansas City, MO-KS, is made up of two separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area—the Missouri portion and the Kansas portion. Employment rose over the year in both portions of the metropolitan area. Kansas City, MO, which accounted for 56 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment, had an employment level of 646,100 jobs in May. Kansas City, KS, with 44 percent of the area’s employment, stood at 498,400.

In Kansas City, MO-KS, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+8,700) among the metropolitan area’s private industry supersectors, with the Missouri portion reporting most of the increase (+6,700). (See chart 2.) The 7.8-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 5.4-percent gain on a national level.

 

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Kansas City metropolitan area, May 2023

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Leisure and hospitality*	8.7
Professional and business services	8.1
Education and health services*	5.4
Mining, logging, and construction	4.0
Financial activities	3.0
Manufacturing	1.3
Other services	0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	0.1
Information	0.1
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Education and health services gained 5,400 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. Within this supersector, the health care and social assistance sector added 4,500 jobs in the metropolitan area, with the Kansas portion gaining 2,300 jobs. The 3.4-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s education and health care services supersector compared to the 4.5-percent gain on a national level.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for June 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. (CT).

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria. For some employment series, the estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to compensate for smaller sample sizes.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available in the CES State and Area benchmark article.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability—that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri and Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas.

• The Kansas City, MO, portion includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties.

• The Kansas City, KS, portion includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties. 

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.