Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, MO-KS, metropolitan area increased by 29,400 over the year in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the local rate of job gain, 2.8 percent, compared to the 4.9-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

Kansas City, MO-KS, is made up of two separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area—the Missouri portion and the Kansas portion. Employment rose over the year in both portions of the metropolitan area. Employment in Kansas City, MO, which accounted for 56 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment, stood at 595,700 in February. Employment in Kansas City, KS, with 44 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment, stood at 473,900, up 14,000 jobs over the year.

Industry employment

In Kansas City, MO-KS, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+13,700) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors, with both portions of the metropolitan area recording increases. (See chart 2.) Within the supersector, the accommodation and food services sector added 11,200 jobs in the metropolitan area. The 15.6-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 17.4-percent gain on a national level.

 

Mining, logging, and construction gained 7,600 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. The Kansas portion gained 3,500 jobs, or 46 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment gain in this industry. The metropolitan area had a 16.2-percent gain compared to the 10.7-percent increase for the nation.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for March 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. 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 estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to decrease volatility in estimation.

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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at the CES State and Area benchmark article.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys, 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 also are 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 specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Measures of sampling error for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018.

The Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri and 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.

• The Kansas City, KS, portion includes Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties.

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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	Feb 2021	Dec 2021	Jan 2022	Feb 2022(p)	Feb 2021 to Feb 2022(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	142,129	150,352	147,505	149,144	7,015	4.9
Mining and logging	531	589	580	588	57	10.7
Construction	6,970	7,449	7,192	7,284	314	4.5
Manufacturing	12,169	12,579	12,493	12,577	408	3.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,085	29,043	28,279	28,333	1,248	4.6
Information	2,749	2,925	2,876	2,899	150	5.5
Financial activities	8,674	8,893	8,804	8,848	174	2.0
Professional and business services	20,649	21,964	21,528	21,806	1,157	5.6
Education and health services	23,503	24,090	23,752	24,154	651	2.8
Leisure and hospitality	12,540	14,804	14,458	14,717	2,177	17.4
Other services	5,266	5,586	5,520	5,582	316	6.0
Government	21,993	22,430	22,023	22,356	363	1.7
Kansas City, MO-KS, MSA
Total nonfarm	1,040.2	1,080.6	1,068.1	1,069.6	29.4	2.8
Mining, logging, and construction	46.8	56.0	53.4	54.4	7.6	16.2
Manufacturing	77.9	79.0	79.6	77.2	-0.7	-0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	213.5	224.3	219.0	219.5	6.0	2.8
Information	15.5	16.2	16.2	16.3	0.8	5.2
Financial activities	79.0	78.0	76.9	77.0	-2.0	-2.5
Professional and business services	178.3	181.8	182.6	182.7	4.4	2.5
Education and health services	155.9	153.5	154.6	154.4	-1.5	-1.0
Leisure and hospitality	88.1	103.7	100.1	101.8	13.7	15.6
Other services	39.2	41.2	40.9	40.9	1.7	4.3
Government	146.0	146.9	144.8	145.4	-0.6	-0.4
Kansas City, MO, portion
Total nonfarm	580.3	601.1	595.6	595.7	15.4	2.7
Mining, logging, and construction	27.3	33.4	30.6	31.4	4.1	15.0
Manufacturing	45.4	44.7	45.6	42.6	-2.8	-6.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	108.6	114.4	112.7	113.1	4.5	4.1
Information	9.2	9.1	9.1	9.1	-0.1	-1.1
Financial activities	41.4	41.6	40.7	40.9	-0.5	-1.2
Professional and business services	96.9	96.4	99.6	98.9	2.0	2.1
Education and health services	86.1	83.9	84.3	84.8	-1.3	-1.5
Leisure and hospitality	53.3	64.2	61.1	63.1	9.8	18.4
Other services	23.0	24.2	24.0	24.1	1.1	4.8
Government	89.1	89.2	87.9	87.7	-1.4	-1.6
Kansas City, KS, portion
Total nonfarm	459.9	479.5	472.5	473.9	14.0	3.0
Mining, logging, and construction	19.5	22.6	22.8	23.0	3.5	17.9
Manufacturing	32.5	34.3	34.0	34.6	2.1	6.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	104.9	109.9	106.3	106.4	1.5	1.4
Information	6.3	7.1	7.1	7.2	0.9	14.3
Financial activities	37.6	36.4	36.2	36.1	-1.5	-4.0
Professional and business services	81.4	85.4	83.0	83.8	2.4	2.9
Education and health services	69.8	69.6	70.3	69.6	-0.2	-0.3
Leisure and hospitality	34.8	39.5	39.0	38.7	3.9	11.2
Other services	16.2	17.0	16.9	16.8	0.6	3.7
Government	56.9	57.7	56.9	57.7	0.8	1.4
(p) Preliminary