Total nonfarm employment for Kansas City, MO-KS, increased by 21,400 over the year in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the local rate of job gain, 1.9 percent, compared to the 1.8-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 greater metropolitan area—the Missouri portion and the Kansas portion. Kansas City, MO, which accounted for 56 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment, stood at 644,700 jobs in May. Kansas City, KS, with 44 percent of the area’s employment, stood at 514,600 jobs, a gain of 12,100 over the year.

Industry employment

In Kansas City, MO-KS, education and health services had the largest gain (+7,900) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors, with the Kansas portion reporting most of the increase (+6,100). (See chart 2.) Within this supersector, health care and social assistance added 7,400 jobs in the metropolitan area. The 4.8 percent increase in the metropolitan area’s education and health services supersector compared to the 4.2 percent gain on a national level.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for June 2024 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. (CT).

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. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary.

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 2022 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 compensate for smaller sample sizes.

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 in 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. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

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 2023	Mar 2024	Apr 2024	May 2024(p)	May 2023 to May 2024(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	156,132	157,210	158,001	158,918	2,786	1.8
Mining and logging	640	640	633	633	-7	-1.1
Construction	8,024	7,971	8,116	8,278	254	3.2
Manufacturing	12,910	12,904	12,907	12,940	30	0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	28,699	28,702	28,735	28,892	193	0.7
Information	3,039	3,003	2,996	2,995	-44	-1.4
Financial activities	9,164	9,170	9,174	9,200	36	0.4
Professional and business services	22,872	22,727	22,907	22,987	115	0.5
Education and health services	25,210	26,182	26,297	26,269	1,059	4.2
Leisure and hospitality	16,782	16,478	16,750	17,194	412	2.5
Other services	5,830	5,853	5,890	5,927	97	1.7
Government	22,962	23,580	23,596	23,603	641	2.8
Kansas City, MO-KS, MSA
Total nonfarm	1,137.9	1,133.6	1,148.8	1,159.3	21.4	1.9
Mining, logging, and construction	60.2	57.3	60.0	60.6	0.4	0.7
Manufacturing	88.6	88.4	89.1	89.6	1.0	1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	228.4	229.2	230.0	231.2	2.8	1.2
Information	17.7	17.0	17.0	16.9	-0.8	-4.5
Financial activities	76.7	76.6	77.2	77.7	1.0	1.3
Professional and business services	186.3	179.8	182.1	183.1	-3.2	-1.7
Education and health services	166.2	171.1	173.9	174.1	7.9	4.8
Leisure and hospitality	117.6	114.9	119.0	123.3	5.7	4.8
Other services	47.1	47.5	48.1	48.2	1.1	2.3
Government	149.1	151.8	152.4	154.6	5.5	3.7
Kansas City, MO, portion
Total nonfarm	635.4	629.6	639.3	644.7	9.3	1.5
Mining, logging, and construction	35.6	33.0	34.0	34.2	-1.4	-3.9
Manufacturing	53.0	52.6	53.4	53.7	0.7	1.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	119.4	120.3	120.6	121.0	1.6	1.3
Information	9.5	9.1	9.1	9.1	-0.4	-4.2
Financial activities	42.5	42.5	42.5	42.8	0.3	0.7
Professional and business services	95.4	90.8	92.8	93.3	-2.1	-2.2
Education and health services	90.7	91.4	92.9	92.5	1.8	2.0
Leisure and hospitality	71.5	69.4	72.7	76.0	4.5	6.3
Other services	28.1	28.3	28.7	28.7	0.6	2.1
Government	89.7	92.2	92.6	93.4	3.7	4.1
Kansas City, KS, portion
Total nonfarm	502.5	504.0	509.5	514.6	12.1	2.4
Mining, logging, and construction	24.6	24.3	26.0	26.4	1.8	7.3
Manufacturing	35.6	35.8	35.7	35.9	0.3	0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	109.0	108.9	109.4	110.2	1.2	1.1
Information	8.2	7.9	7.9	7.8	-0.4	-4.9
Financial activities	34.2	34.1	34.7	34.9	0.7	2.0
Professional and business services	90.9	89.0	89.3	89.8	-1.1	-1.2
Education and health services	75.5	79.7	81.0	81.6	6.1	8.1
Leisure and hospitality	46.1	45.5	46.3	47.3	1.2	2.6
Other services	19.0	19.2	19.4	19.5	0.5	2.6
Government	59.4	59.6	59.8	61.2	1.8	3.0
(p) Preliminary