Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,116,500 in May 2019, up 19,700, or 1.8 percent, from May 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.5 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Kansas City area has recorded over-the-year employment gains each month since September 2010. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

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 12,800 jobs (+2.1 percent) from May 2018 to May 2019, and the Kansas side added 6,900 jobs (+1.4 percent).

Government had the largest employment increase, adding 7,100 jobs since May 2018. The advance was largely attributable to a gain of 5,700 jobs in the Missouri portion of the metropolitan area. The 4.6-percent local rate of job growth exceeded the national increase of 0.4 percent over the year. Education and health services had the next largest employment increase, adding 6,500 jobs (+4.2 percent) from May 2018 to May 2019. The Missouri portion of the metropolitan area added 4,100 jobs while the Kansas portion gained 2,400.

Two additional supersectors added more than 4,500 jobs in the Kansas City area since May 2018. Manufacturing added 5,300 local jobs led by an increase of 4,100 jobs on the Missouri side of the area. The 7.2-percent rate of local employment growth for this supersector outpaced the national rate of 1.5 percent. Professional and business services, the area’s second largest supersector, added 4,700 jobs over the year. The increase was almost evenly split between the Kansas and Missouri portions, with gains of 2,500 and 2,200, respectively. The local area’s 2.4-percent rate of growth in this supersector was similar to the national gain of 2.3 percent.

Three Kansas City area supersectors lost jobs over the year:  financial activities (-3,300); trade, transportation, and utilities (-1,300); and information (-1,300). In the financial activities and information supersectors, almost all of the losses occurred in the Missouri portion (-3,200 and -1,000 jobs, respectively). The local job loss rate of 4.1 percent in financial activities was counter to the 1.1-percent increase for the nation. In the information sector, the 7.5-percent local rate of job loss compared to the 1.6-percent loss for the nation.

Metropolitan area employment data for June 2019 are scheduled to be released on Thursday, August 1, 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 April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Kansas City, MO-KS, 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.\he Kansas City, MO, portion includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri.

The Kansas City, KS, 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	May 2018	Mar 2019	Apr 2019	May 2019(p)	May 2018 to May 2019(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	149,360	149,864	150,938	151,600	2,240	1.5
Mining and logging	725	746	747	754	29	4.0
Construction	7,336	7,174	7,380	7,543	207	2.8
Manufacturing	12,636	12,778	12,778	12,815	179	1.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,541	27,491	27,558	27,692	151	0.5
Information	2,826	2,803	2,796	2,794	-32	-1.1
Financial activities	8,541	8,590	8,607	8,635	94	1.1
Professional and business services	20,941	21,067	21,333	21,393	452	2.2
Education and health services	23,646	24,208	24,308	24,213	567	2.4
Leisure and hospitality	16,552	16,260	16,575	16,965	413	2.5
Other services	5,866	5,877	5,925	5,955	89	1.5
Government	22,750	22,870	22,931	22,841	91	0.4
Kansas City, MO-KS, MSA
Total nonfarm	1,096.8	1,092.2	1,107.7	1,116.5	19.7	1.8
Mining, logging, and construction	50.3	45.9	50.5	51.0	0.7	1.4
Manufacturing	73.6	78.5	78.4	78.9	5.3	7.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	215.6	212.3	213.5	214.3	-1.3	-0.6
Information	17.4	16.1	16.2	16.1	-1.3	-7.5
Financial activities	80.4	77.2	76.5	77.1	-3.3	-4.1
Professional and business services	193.8	192.8	196.8	198.5	4.7	2.4
Education and health services	154.9	160.8	161.4	161.4	6.5	4.2
Leisure and hospitality	112.9	105.9	110.3	114.1	1.2	1.1
Other services	42.7	42.4	42.7	42.8	0.1	0.2
Government	155.2	160.3	161.4	162.3	7.1	4.6
Kansas City, MO, portion
Total nonfarm	612.9	614.0	621.8	625.7	12.8	2.1
Mining, logging, and construction	29.2	27.6	29.7	29.6	0.4	1.4
Manufacturing	42.8	46.9	46.8	46.9	4.1	9.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	110.2	109.5	109.8	110.3	0.1	0.1
Information	10.1	9.2	9.2	9.1	-1.0	-9.9
Financial activities	42.8	39.7	39.4	39.6	-3.2	-7.5
Professional and business services	99.7	99.7	101.4	101.9	2.2	2.2
Education and health services	86.6	89.3	90.4	90.7	4.1	4.7
Leisure and hospitality	69.2	65.2	67.6	69.6	0.4	0.6
Other services	25.8	25.6	25.8	25.8	0.0	0.0
Government	96.5	101.3	101.7	102.2	5.7	5.9
Kansas City, KS, portion
Total nonfarm	483.9	478.2	485.9	490.8	6.9	1.4
Mining, logging, and construction	21.1	18.3	20.8	21.4	0.3	1.4
Manufacturing	30.8	31.6	31.6	32.0	1.2	3.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	105.4	102.8	103.7	104.0	-1.4	-1.3
Information	7.3	6.9	7.0	7.0	-0.3	-4.1
Financial activities	37.6	37.5	37.1	37.5	-0.1	-0.3
Professional and business services	94.1	93.1	95.4	96.6	2.5	2.7
Education and health services	68.3	71.5	71.0	70.7	2.4	3.5
Leisure and hospitality	43.7	40.7	42.7	44.5	0.8	1.8
Other services	16.9	16.8	16.9	17.0	0.1	0.6
Government	58.7	59.0	59.7	60.1	1.4	2.4
Footnotes (p) Preliminary