Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, MO-KS, metropolitan area had little change over the year in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that local employment was relatively unchanged, compared to the 4.5-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 602,800 in May. Employment in Kansas City, KS, with 44 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment, stood at 482,300 in May.

Industry employment

In Kansas City, MO-KS, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+7,900) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. The increase was mostly due to an increase of 6,800 jobs in the Missouri portion. (See chart 2.) Within the supersector, the accommodation and food services sector added 7,100 jobs in the metropolitan area. The 7.9-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 12.7-percent gain on a national level.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for June 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 03, 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 www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.htm.

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 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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	May 2021	Mar 2022	Apr 2022	May 2022(p)	May 2021 to May 2022(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	145,304	149,905	150,964	151,773	6,469	4.5
Mining and logging	556	601	609	614	58	10.4
Construction	7,432	7,393	7,554	7,715	283	3.8
Manufacturing	12,232	12,651	12,702	12,747	515	4.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,335	28,361	28,357	28,420	1,085	4.0
Information	2,796	2,926	2,944	2,959	163	5.8
Financial activities	8,720	8,855	8,901	8,920	200	2.3
Professional and business services	20,993	21,911	22,100	22,154	1,161	5.5
Education and health services	23,645	24,231	24,314	24,290	645	2.7
Leisure and hospitality	14,006	14,942	15,332	15,782	1,776	12.7
Other services	5,396	5,607	5,650	5,692	296	5.5
Government	22,193	22,427	22,501	22,480	287	1.3
Kansas City, MO-KS, MSA
Total nonfarm	1,070.4	1,073.4	1,081.6	1,085.1	14.7	1.4
Mining, logging, and construction	55.5	55.3	58.6	59.7	4.2	7.6
Manufacturing	78.1	76.6	76.4	77.6	-0.5	-0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	214.2	218.7	218.6	217.5	3.3	1.5
Information	15.8	16.3	16.3	16.1	0.3	1.9
Financial activities	78.7	76.4	77.2	76.6	-2.1	-2.7
Professional and business services	182.7	184.5	186.2	187.1	4.4	2.4
Education and health services	157.1	156.5	156.7	157.1	0.0	0.0
Leisure and hospitality	99.6	102.7	105.9	107.5	7.9	7.9
Other services	40.5	41.0	41.3	40.8	0.3	0.7
Government	148.2	145.4	144.4	145.1	-3.1	-2.1
Kansas City, MO, portion
Total nonfarm	596.4	599.0	601.7	602.8	6.4	1.1
Mining, logging, and construction	32.6	32.1	33.5	34.4	1.8	5.5
Manufacturing	44.2	42.2	41.6	42.7	-1.5	-3.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	109.4	112.6	111.3	111.0	1.6	1.5
Information	9.1	9.1	9.1	9.0	-0.1	-1.1
Financial activities	41.4	40.7	41.7	42.2	0.8	1.9
Professional and business services	98.6	99.9	101.0	99.7	1.1	1.1
Education and health services	86.9	86.4	86.3	86.1	-0.8	-0.9
Leisure and hospitality	60.5	64.1	66.4	67.3	6.8	11.2
Other services	23.8	24.0	24.2	23.8	0.0	0.0
Government	89.9	87.9	86.6	86.6	-3.3	-3.7
Kansas City, KS, portion
Total nonfarm	474.0	474.4	479.9	482.3	8.3	1.8
Mining, logging, and construction	22.9	23.2	25.1	25.3	2.4	10.5
Manufacturing	33.9	34.4	34.8	34.9	1.0	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	104.8	106.1	107.3	106.5	1.7	1.6
Information	6.7	7.2	7.2	7.1	0.4	6.0
Financial activities	37.3	35.7	35.5	34.4	-2.9	-7.8
Professional and business services	84.1	84.6	85.2	87.4	3.3	3.9
Education and health services	70.2	70.1	70.4	71.0	0.8	1.1
Leisure and hospitality	39.1	38.6	39.5	40.2	1.1	2.8
Other services	16.7	17.0	17.1	17.0	0.3	1.8
Government	58.3	57.5	57.8	58.5	0.2	0.3
(p) Preliminary