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News Release Information

18-24-KAN
Thursday, January 04, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Kansas City Area Employment – November 2017

Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,094,800 in November 2017, up 13,000, or 1.2 percent, from November 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.4 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that for the fifth consecutive month, annual job gains in the Kansas City metropolitan area were below 20,000. (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 side, which had 56 percent of the area’s workforce, added 6,400 jobs (+1.1 percent) from November 2016 to November 2017, and the Kansas side added 6,600 jobs (+1.4 percent). This marked the smallest gain for the Missouri side since February 2014 and the first time since December 2014 that the Missouri side did not add more jobs than the Kansas side.

Professional and business services had the largest employment increase in the metropolitan area, adding 9,700 jobs since November 2016, as the Missouri side gained 5,200 jobs and the Kansas side added 4,500. This supersector’s 5.0-percent rate of local job growth outpaced the national gain of 2.7 percent.

Employment in trade, transportation, and utilities rose by 4,500 over the year. Both portions of the MSA contributed to the expansion, as the Kansas portion added 3,200 jobs and the Missouri portion gained 1,300 jobs. The 2.1-percent rate of local job growth was triple the national rate of 0.7 percent.

Three other supersectors added more than 1,000 jobs each since November 2016. The education and health services supersector added 1,400 jobs, all in the Kansas portion of the metropolitan area. Locally, employment in this supersector increased 0.9 percent compared to the national rate of 2.0 percent. Financial activities jobs rose by 1,200 over the year, also within the Kansas portion of the MSA. The 1.5-percent rate of local job growth in this supersector was similar to the national rate of 1.8 percent. Government employment increased by 1,100, entirely due to growth in the area’s Missouri portion. The local increase for this industry was 0.7 percent while the nationwide increase was 0.1 percent.

Three supersectors had employment declines of 1,000 or more from November 2016 to November 2017. The manufacturing industry shed 2,000 jobs, a 2.6-percent decline locally compared to a nationwide gain of 1.5 percent. Mining, logging, and construction employment was also down by 2,000 jobs (-4.1 percent) over the year. Employment in information declined by 1,000, a 5.3-percent decline locally, compared to a decrease of 2.2 percent for the nation.

Metropolitan area employment data for December 2017 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).


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. 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 sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

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 the total private employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/benchmark2017.pdf.

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 July 15, 2015. 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 BLS website 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

 
Nov
2016
Sep
2017
Oct
2017
Nov
2017(p)
Nov 2016 to
Nov 2017(p)
Net changePercent change

United States

 

Total nonfarm

146,393146,954147,975148,5072,1141.4

Mining and logging

673727731735629.2

Construction

6,8697,1227,1267,0601912.8

Manufacturing

12,32812,49812,49512,5091811.5

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,81927,29527,48928,0181990.7

Information

2,7802,7082,7082,718-62-2.2

Financial activities

8,3378,4818,4888,4841471.8

Professional and business services

20,56420,88121,07021,1155512.7

Education and health services

23,07423,13823,43223,5354612.0

Leisure and hospitality

15,46616,07915,95515,7382721.8

Other services

5,7055,7555,7885,790851.5

Government

22,77822,27022,69322,805270.1

Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., MSA

 

Total nonfarm

1,081.81,089.41,093.31,094.813.01.2

Mining, logging, and construction

49.246.646.547.2-2.0-4.1

Manufacturing

77.476.475.775.4-2.0-2.6

Trade, transportation, and utilities

212.6212.8214.2217.14.52.1

Information

19.018.017.918.0-1.0-5.3

Financial activities

79.980.780.781.11.21.5

Professional and business services

193.4198.4201.3203.19.75.0

Education and health services

152.2151.8153.4153.61.40.9

Leisure and hospitality

104.9110.3109.3104.7-0.2-0.2

Other services

42.843.143.343.10.30.7

Government

150.4151.3151.0151.51.10.7

Kansas City, Mo., portion

 

Total nonfarm

608.6614.7616.7615.06.41.1

Mining, logging, and construction

28.026.025.625.8-2.2-7.9

Manufacturing

45.845.345.245.0-0.8-1.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

111.6110.9111.8112.91.31.2

Information

11.210.710.610.6-0.6-5.4

Financial activities

43.443.043.243.3-0.1-0.2

Professional and business services

99.4102.9103.6104.65.25.2

Education and health services

85.284.286.085.20.00.0

Leisure and hospitality

65.671.371.167.62.03.0

Other services

25.725.925.925.80.10.4

Government

92.794.593.794.21.51.6

Kansas City, Kan., portion

 

Total nonfarm

473.2474.7476.6479.86.61.4

Mining, logging, and construction

21.220.620.921.40.20.9

Manufacturing

31.631.130.530.4-1.2-3.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

101.0101.9102.4104.23.23.2

Information

7.87.37.37.4-0.4-5.1

Financial activities

36.537.737.537.81.33.6

Professional and business services

94.095.597.798.54.54.8

Education and health services

67.067.667.468.41.42.1

Leisure and hospitality

39.339.038.237.1-2.2-5.6

Other services

17.117.217.417.30.21.2

Government

57.756.857.357.3-0.4-0.7

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary
 

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, January 04, 2018