Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,024,600 in February 2015, up 32,500 or 3.3 percent from February 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 2.4 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Kansas City metropolitan area has registered over-the-year job gains each month since September 2010.

 

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, accounted for over half of the MSA’s employment growth with the addition of 19,300 jobs (3.5 percent) from February 2014 to February 2015. The Kansas portion, with 44 percent of the area’s workforce, gained 13,200 jobs (3.0 percent) over the year. (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.)

Two supersectors in the Kansas City metropolitan area added more than 6,000 jobs from February 2014 to February 2015. Professional and business services experienced the largest increase in employment, up 7,700, as the Missouri portion of the MSA added 4,800 jobs and the Kansas portion gained 2,900 jobs. This supersector’s rate of local job growth, at 4.7 percent, outpaced the respective national gain of 3.6 percent. Employment in trade, transportation, and utilities rose by 6,100 with the addition of 3,500 jobs on the Kansas side and 2,600 jobs on the Missouri side of the metropolitan area. Locally, the rate of job growth in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector was 3.1 percent, compared to the national gain of 2.5 percent.

Mining, logging, and construction employment expanded by 4,400 from February 2014, with the Kansas portion of the MSA gaining 2,400 jobs and the Missouri portion adding 2,000 jobs. Employment in the  financial activities and education and health services supersectors rose by 4,200 and 4,100, respectively, over the year. Employment growth in each of these supersectors was concentrated in the Missouri portion of the MSA. Locally, financial activities registered a 5.8-percent gain in employment, far outpacing the national rate of 1.9 percent. Education and health services employment increased 3.0 percent locally compared to the national rate of 2.5 percent.

Three other supersectors registered employment gains of more than 1,000 jobs from February 2014. Employment in leisure and hospitality expanded by 2,700, led by the addition of 2,100 jobs in the Missouri portion of the MSA. The metropolitan area’s 2.9-percent rate of job growth was slower than the 3.6-percent national rate for this supersector. Government employment rose by 2,200 with gains equally distributed between the two portions of the metropolitan area. The 1.5-percent rate of local job growth exceeded the national rate of  0.4 percent. Manufacturing added 1,200 jobs from February 2014 with all of the growth occurring on the Missouri side of the MSA (1,300). The 1.7-percent rate of local job growth was similar to the national gain of 1.8 percent.

Changes to Current Employment Statistics Data

Effective with the release of January 2015 data, nonfarm payroll employment estimates for states, metropolitan areas, and metropolitan divisions were revised to reflect 2014 benchmark levels. For more information on benchmark procedures, see https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.

Revised metropolitan area and metropolitan division delineations were also implemented with the release of January 2015 data. The revised delineations were issued by the Office of Management and Budget for solely statistical purposes through Bulletin No. 13-01 on February 28, 2013, based on the application of updated statistical standards to U.S. Census Bureau population and journey-to-work data.

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	February 2014	December 2014	January 2015	February 2015 (p)	Change from Feb. 2014 to Feb. 2015
					Number	Percent
United States
Total nonfarm	136,257	141,484	138,663	139,566	3,309	2.4
Mining and logging	860	912	893	880	20	2.3
Construction	5,612	6,175	5,926	5,935	323	5.8
Manufacturing	12,019	12,302	12,214	12,235	216	1.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	25,743	27,402	26,540	26,384	641	2.5
Information	2,707	2,775	2,737	2,770	63	2.3
Financial activities	7,879	8,059	8,018	8,029	150	1.9
Professional and business services	18,562	19,519	19,112	19,228	666	3.6
Education and health services	21,374	21,893	21,634	21,916	542	2.5
Leisure and hospitality	13,908	14,597	14,274	14,415	507	3.6
Other services	5,483	5,589	5,550	5,573	90	1.6
Government	22,110	22,261	21,765	22,201	91	0.4
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
Total nonfarm	992.1	1,040.0	1,017.9	1,024.6	32.5	3.3
Mining, logging, and construction	38.4	44.6	42.8	42.8	4.4	11.5
Manufacturing	70.7	73.0	69.4	71.9	1.2	1.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	198.1	212.1	205.7	204.2	6.1	3.1
Information	30.1	29.6	29.7	29.8	-0.3	-1.0
Financial activities	72.2	74.4	75.2	76.4	4.2	5.8
Professional and business services	162.2	173.3	168.3	169.9	7.7	4.7
Education and health services	138.0	142.3	141.7	142.1	4.1	3.0
Leisure and hospitality	94.5	101.0	97.5	97.2	2.7	2.9
Other services	41.3	42.1	41.5	41.5	0.2	0.5
Government	146.6	147.6	146.1	148.8	2.2	1.5
Kansas City, Mo., portion
Total nonfarm	551.9	575.5	568.1	571.2	19.3	3.5
Mining, logging, and construction	22.3	25.6	24.7	24.3	2.0	9.0
Manufacturing	40.5	41.9	41.8	41.8	1.3	3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	105.1	112.4	108.4	107.7	2.6	2.5
Information	14.8	14.5	14.5	14.5	-0.3	-2.0
Financial activities	39.2	39.9	40.7	41.7	2.5	6.4
Professional and business services	78.9	83.7	83.2	83.7	4.8	6.1
Education and health services	77.5	79.0	79.6	80.5	3.0	3.9
Leisure and hospitality	57.9	63.1	60.0	60.0	2.1	3.6
Other services	25.7	26.1	25.9	25.9	0.2	0.8
Government	90.0	89.3	89.3	91.1	1.1	1.2
Kansas City, Kan., portion
Total nonfarm	440.2	464.5	449.8	453.4	13.2	3.0
Mining, logging, and construction	16.1	19.0	18.1	18.5	2.4	14.9
Manufacturing	30.2	31.1	27.6	30.1	-0.1	-0.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	93.0	99.7	97.3	96.5	3.5	3.8
Information	15.3	15.1	15.2	15.3	0.0	0.0
Financial activities	33.0	34.5	34.5	34.7	1.7	5.2
Professional and business services	83.3	89.6	85.1	86.2	2.9	3.5
Education and health services	60.5	63.3	62.1	61.6	1.1	1.8
Leisure and hospitality	36.6	37.9	37.5	37.2	0.6	1.6
Other services	15.6	16.0	15.6	15.6	0.0	0.0
Government	56.6	58.3	56.8	57.7	1.1	1.9
Footnotes: (p) Data are preliminary.