Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, MO-KS, metropolitan area increased by 42,900 over the year in November, 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, 4.0 percent, compared to the 4.1-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Kansas City metropolitan area, November 2018–November 2021

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Nov 2018	3.5
Dec 2018	3.8
Jan 2019	10.5
Feb 2019	3.8
Mar 2019	3.3
Apr 2019	10.5
May 2019	12.5
Jun 2019	7.4
Jul 2019	7.0
Aug 2019	9.3
Sep 2019	8.4
Oct 2019	10.4
Nov 2019	11.5
Dec 2019	13.7
Jan 2020	15.1
Feb 2020	15.3
Mar 2020	10.7
Apr 2020	-127.0
May 2020	-102.4
Jun 2020	-72.5
Jul 2020	-57.2
Aug 2020	-51.3
Sep 2020	-54.3
Oct 2020	-51.6
Nov 2020	-48.6
Dec 2020	-47.0
Jan 2021	-41.8
Feb 2021	-48.6
Mar 2021	-25.9
Apr 2021	100.8
May 2021	82.0
Jun 2021	57.4
Jul 2021	53.7
Aug 2021	48.0
Sep 2021	48.0
Oct 2021	47.0
Nov 2021	42.9

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 increased over the year in both portions of the metropolitan area. Kansas City, MO, which accounted for 56 percent of the area’s total nonfarm employment, gained 26,100 jobs over the year. Kansas City, KS, with 44 percent of area’s employment, gained 16,800 jobs.

Industry employment

In Kansas City, MO-KS, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+15,500) among 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. Gains in this sector numbered 6,900 in the Missouri portion and 4,300 in the Kansas portion. The 17.5-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to a 14.3-percent gain on the national level.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Kansas City metropolitan area, November 2021

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Leisure and hospitality*	15.5
Professional and business services*	12.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities*	12.7
Manufacturing	3.3
Mining, logging, and construction	1.9
Education and health services	1.1
Other services	0.1
Information	-0.7
Financial activities*	-4.0
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Professional and business services employment increased by 12,800 over the year in the metropolitan area, with the Missouri portion adding 10,400 jobs. The metropolitan area had a 6.9-percent increase, which compared to a national rate of 5.5 percent for this supersector.

The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector gained 12,700 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area, with the Kansas portion adding 7,700 jobs and the Missouri portion adding 5,000 jobs. Within the supersector, retail trade had the largest job gain (+6,500) in the metropolitan area with both the Missouri portion and Kansas portion having over-the-year job increases. The metropolitan area had a 5.9-percent increase, which compared to a national rate of 3.0 percent for this supersector. 

The financial activities supersector lost 4,000 jobs from November a year ago in the metropolitan area. The metropolitan area had a 5.0-percent decrease compared to a 1.7-percent increase for the nation.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for December 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Special technical note: This technical note describes the procedures regularly used on a monthly basis to develop estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the procedures described in this technical note have been modified. The modifications are briefly described in the box note of this news release. More information on the changes to the CES business birth-death model is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm.

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 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 at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/ces-20110307.pdf.

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 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 the totals shown in the same tables because of 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. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request.

Measures of sampling error for states at the supersector level and for the private service-providing, goods-producing, total private and total nonfarm levels are available on the BLS website at https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/bmrk_article.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; 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.