Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,037,700 in February 2016, up 16,100 or 1.6 percent from February 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.9 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that over-the-year net job growth in the Kansas City metropolitan area has exceeded 10,000 each month since June 2013. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, analysis is based on over-the-year comparisons.)

The Kansas City metropolitan area is comprised of two separately identifiable employment centers—the Missouri portion and the Kansas portion of the MSA. The Missouri portion, which had 56 percent of the area’s workforce, added 13,900 jobs (2.4 percent) from February 2015 to February 2016. The Kansas portion, with 44 percent of the area’s workforce, gained 2,200 jobs (0.5 percent) over the year.

Professional and business services experienced the largest increase in employment, up 4,500 since February 2015, with all of the job gains on the Missouri side of the MSA (+5,100). This supersector’s rate of local job growth, at 2.5 percent, compared to the national gain of 3.1 percent.

Four additional supersectors added at least 2,000 jobs each since February 2015. Employment in mining, logging, and construction rose by 2,200 (5.2 percent) over the year, with all of the gains on the Missouri side of the MSA (+2,600). The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector also added 2,200 jobs in the metropolitan area, with the increase concentrated in the Kansas portion (+1,600). Locally, the rate of job growth in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector was 1.1 percent, while nationally job growth in this supersector was 1.8 percent. Local employment in the manufacturing and education and health services supersectors rose by 2,100 and 2,000, respectively, over the year. The Missouri side of the MSA was largely responsible for the expansion in each of these supersectors. Manufacturing added jobs at a faster rate in the MSA (2.9 percent) than it did nationally (0.1 percent). Employment in the education and health services supersector rose by 1.4 percent locally, less than half the nationwide increase of 3.2 percent.

Three more supersectors registered employment gains of over 1,000 jobs from February 2015. Financial activities added 1,900 jobs from February a year ago, led by growth on the Kansas side of the MSA (+1,600). The 2.6-percent rate of local job growth was above the national rate of 1.8 percent. Employment in the government and leisure and hospitality supersectors rose by 1,600 and 1,100, respectively, over the year. The Missouri portion of the MSA added 1,700 jobs in government and 1,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality. The 1.1-percent rate of local job growth in government exceeded the 0.4-percent national rate for this supersector. Leisure and hospitality employment increased at a 1.1-percent pace locally, slower than the national rate of 2.9 percent.

One supersector in the Kansas City metropolitan area experienced employment losses over the year. Information shed 1,700 jobs, with job losses concentrated in the Missouri portion of the MSA (-1,100). Locally, information employment declined 8.2 percent while nationally it was up 1.3 percent.

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2016 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 15, 2016.

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the 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 2012 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates.

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.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey, 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 are also 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 special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for state CES data at the supersector level are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri; 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 in Missouri.

The Kansas City, Kan., portion includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas.

Additional information

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, the United States and the Kansas City metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Feb. 2015	Dec. 2015	Jan. 2016	Feb. 2016 (p)	Feb. 2015 to Feb. 2016
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	139,343	144,116	141,150	141,987	2,644	1.9
Mining and logging	861	765	740	716	-145	-16.8
Construction	5,962	6,507	6,212	6,215	253	4.2
Manufacturing	12,219	12,323	12,245	12,236	17	0.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	26,344	27,867	26,997	26,830	486	1.8
Information	2,729	2,768	2,726	2,764	35	1.3
Financial activities	8,016	8,201	8,155	8,158	142	1.8
Professional and business services	19,137	20,079	19,643	19,723	586	3.1
Education and health services	21,887	22,559	22,261	22,590	703	3.2
Leisure and hospitality	14,374	15,000	14,661	14,792	418	2.9
Other services	5,555	5,641	5,589	5,621	66	1.2
Government	22,259	22,406	21,921	22,342	83	0.4
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
Total nonfarm	1,021.6	1,051.5	1,034.4	1,037.7	16.1	1.6
Mining, logging, and construction	42.3	46.2	44.1	44.5	2.2	5.2
Manufacturing	73.2	76.2	75.5	75.3	2.1	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	201.6	211.8	205.1	203.8	2.2	1.1
Information	20.8	19.5	19.3	19.1	-1.7	-8.2
Financial activities	74.4	74.9	75.8	76.3	1.9	2.6
Professional and business services	178.0	183.3	182.1	182.5	4.5	2.5
Education and health services	144.9	149.7	147.2	146.9	2.0	1.4
Leisure and hospitality	97.6	100.6	97.1	98.7	1.1	1.1
Other services	40.7	41.2	40.9	40.9	0.2	0.5
Government	148.1	148.1	147.3	149.7	1.6	1.1
Kansas City, Mo., portion
Total nonfarm	568.1	584.5	578.8	582.0	13.9	2.4
Mining, logging, and construction	24.2	27.0	26.2	26.8	2.6	10.7
Manufacturing	42.5	44.4	44.2	44.4	1.9	4.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	106.9	111.3	108.6	107.5	0.6	0.6
Information	12.3	11.4	11.3	11.2	-1.1	-8.9
Financial activities	39.8	39.9	40.0	40.1	0.3	0.8
Professional and business services	86.0	89.6	90.5	91.1	5.1	5.9
Education and health services	80.6	83.4	82.4	82.2	1.6	2.0
Leisure and hospitality	59.7	61.7	59.3	60.7	1.0	1.7
Other services	25.1	25.4	25.3	25.3	0.2	0.8
Government	91.0	90.4	91.0	92.7	1.7	1.9
Kansas City, Kan., portion
Total nonfarm	453.5	467.0	455.6	455.7	2.2	0.5
Mining, logging, and construction	18.1	19.2	17.9	17.7	-0.4	-2.2
Manufacturing	30.7	31.8	31.3	30.9	0.2	0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	94.7	100.5	96.5	96.3	1.6	1.7
Information	8.5	8.1	8.0	7.9	-0.6	-7.1
Financial activities	34.6	35.0	35.8	36.2	1.6	4.6
Professional and business services	92.0	93.7	91.6	91.4	-0.6	-0.7
Education and health services	64.3	66.3	64.8	64.7	0.4	0.6
Leisure and hospitality	37.9	38.9	37.8	38.0	0.1	0.3
Other services	15.6	15.8	15.6	15.6	0.0	0.0
Government	57.1	57.7	56.3	57.0	-0.1	-0.2
Footnotes: (p) Preliminary.