Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,080,700 in February 2018, up 16,700, or 1.6 percent, from February 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide also rose 1.6 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that annual job gains in the Kansas City metropolitan area have not exceeded 20,000 since December 2016. (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 7,700 jobs (+1.3 percent) from February 2017 to February 2018, and the Kansas side added 9,000 jobs (+1.9 percent). This marked the smallest gain for the Missouri side since September 2014 and the first time since December 2014 that the Missouri side added fewer jobs than the Kansas side.

Professional and business services had the largest employment increase in the metropolitan area, adding 7,100 jobs since February 2017, as the Kansas side added 3,600 jobs and the Missouri side gained 3,500. This supersector’s 3.8-percent rate of local job growth outpaced the national gain of 2.4 percent.

Government employment increased by 4,600 led by the addition of 4,100 jobs in the Missouri portion. The local rate of job increase for this industry was 3.0 percent while the nationwide increase was 0.2 percent.

Employment in trade, transportation, and utilities rose by 4,000 over the year. The Kansas portion of the area gained 5,100 jobs, but the Missouri portion lost 1,100. The 1.9-percent rate of local job growth compared to a national rate of 0.9 percent.

Education and health services was the only other supersector to add 1,000 or more jobs in the metropolitan area since February 2017. Employment in this industry grew by 1,000 in the local area, with the addition of 1,500 jobs in the Kansas portion accounting for the gain. The 0.7-percent rate of local job growth in this supersector was lower than the national rate of 1.9 percent.

 

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 20, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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/web/laus/benchmark.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.