Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,115,800 in November 2018, up 16,600, or 1.5 percent, from November 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.6 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Kansas City area’s November increase was its 99^th consecutive over-the-year employment gain. (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 8,200 jobs (+1.3 percent) from November 2017 to November 2018, and the Kansas side added 8,400 jobs (+1.7 percent).

Government had the largest employment increase, adding 4,200 jobs since November 2017. The Missouri portion of the metropolitan area added 3,000 jobs while the Kansas portion gained 1,200. The 2.7-percent local rate of job growth exceeded the national increase of 0.3 percent over the year. Mining, logging, and construction, one of the smallest supersectors in the local area, had the next largest employment increase, adding 3,900 jobs (+7.7 percent) from November 2017 to November 2018. The growth was attributable to a gain of 3,800 jobs in the Missouri portion of the area.

Three additional local supersectors added more than 2,000 jobs since November 2017. Leisure and hospitality added 3,100 local jobs led by the addition of 2,300 jobs on the Missouri side of the area. The 3.0-percent rate of local job growth for this supersector outpaced the national rate of 1.8 percent. Trade, transportation, and utilities, the metropolitan area’s largest supersector, added 3,000 jobs over the year, with all of the gain in the Kansas portion of the area. This supersector’s 1.4-percent rate of local job growth compared to a national gain of 1.1 percent. Professional and business services employment rose by 2,400 from November 2017 to November 2018, with the Missouri and Kansas portions each adding 1,200 jobs. The 1.2-percent rate of local job growth in professional and business services was less than half the national rate of 2.7 percent.

The information supersector lost 1,000 jobs in the Kansas City area over the year, with losses in both the Missouri and Kansas portions. The local job loss rate of 5.7 percent was more than seven times the 0.8-percent rate of loss for the nation.

Metropolitan area employment data for December 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, January 18, 2019, 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 2017 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.