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News Release Information

18-1622-KAN
Wednesday, October 03, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Kansas City Area Employment – August 2018

Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,101,900 in August 2018, up 20,000, or 1.8 percent, from August 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.7 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Kansas City area’s August increase was its 96th consecutive over-the-year employment gain. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, analysis is based on over-the-year comparisons.)

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 11,200 jobs (+1.8 percent) from August 2017 to August 2018, and the Kansas side added 8,800 jobs (+1.9 percent).

Mining, logging, and construction, one of the smallest supersectors in the local area, had the largest employment increase, adding 5,000 jobs (+9.8 percent) from August 2017 to August 2018. The growth was led by a gain of 3,900 jobs in the Missouri portion of the area.

Four additional supersectors added more than 2,500 jobs since August 2017 in the metropolitan area. Professional and business services employment rose by 3,600 over the year, followed closely by a gain of 3,500 jobs in government. Employment growth in these two supersectors was largely attributable to job gains in the Missouri portion of the area. The 1.9-percent rate of local job growth in professional and business services was less than the national rate of 2.6 percent. Government’s local rate of job growth, 2.5 percent, outpaced the national gain of 0.2 percent. Leisure and hospitality added 3,100 local jobs over the year, also led by growth in the Missouri side of the metropolitan area. The 2.7-percent rate of local job growth for this supersector compared to a national rate of 1.6 percent. Trade, transportation, and utilities, the metropolitan area’s largest supersector, added 2,800 jobs since August 2017, with all of the gain in the Kansas portion of the area. This supersector’s 1.3-percent rate of local job growth was similar to the national gain of 1.2 percent.

The information supersector lost 1,000 jobs in the Kansas City area over the year, with losses in both the Missouri and Kansas portions. The local job loss rate of 5.6 percent was seven times the 0.8 percent rate of loss for the nation.

Metropolitan area employment data for September 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, October 19, 2018, 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 July 15, 2015. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., 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.

The Kansas City, Mo., portion includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri. 

The Kansas City, Kan., 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

Aug
2017
Jun
2018
Jul
2018
Aug
2018(p)
Aug 2017 to
Aug 2018(p)
Net changePercent change

United States

Total nonfarm

146,801150,040148,892149,2262,4251.7

Mining and logging

698747750760628.9

Construction

7,2287,4427,4957,5152874.0

Manufacturing

12,55512,79712,80412,8082532.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,44927,80327,77327,7673181.2

Information

2,8052,7852,7852,782-23-0.8

Financial activities

8,5428,6388,6608,6541121.3

Professional and business services

20,67921,12921,13921,2155362.6

Education and health services

22,93823,42523,32223,4114732.1

Leisure and hospitality

16,80917,04017,14917,0822731.6

Other services

5,8255,9555,9365,918931.6

Government

21,27322,27921,07921,314410.2

Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., MSA

Total nonfarm

1,081.91,115.01,099.11,101.920.01.8

Mining, logging, and construction

51.054.555.856.05.09.8

Manufacturing

75.476.375.475.2-0.2-0.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

215.7219.0217.9218.52.81.3

Information

17.717.117.016.7-1.0-5.6

Financial activities

80.382.482.082.21.92.4

Professional and business services

193.7196.9197.7197.33.61.9

Education and health services

150.1151.6150.3151.11.00.7

Leisure and hospitality

113.3117.6115.0116.43.12.7

Other services

43.644.044.143.90.30.7

Government

141.1155.6143.9144.63.52.5

Kansas City, Mo., portion

Total nonfarm

606.4624.0612.6617.611.21.8

Mining, logging, and construction

29.732.433.433.63.913.1

Manufacturing

45.444.843.843.9-1.5-3.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

111.5111.6111.0110.6-0.9-0.8

Information

10.510.310.210.1-0.4-3.8

Financial activities

44.345.044.644.80.51.1

Professional and business services

98.998.799.5101.62.72.7

Education and health services

83.284.082.583.80.60.7

Leisure and hospitality

70.073.071.272.12.13.0

Other services

26.526.826.826.60.10.4

Government

86.497.489.690.54.14.7

Kansas City, Kan., portion

Total nonfarm

475.5491.0486.5484.38.81.9

Mining, logging, and construction

21.322.122.422.41.15.2

Manufacturing

30.031.531.631.31.34.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

104.2107.4106.9107.93.73.6

Information

7.26.86.86.6-0.6-8.3

Financial activities

36.037.437.437.41.43.9

Professional and business services

94.898.298.295.70.90.9

Education and health services

66.967.667.867.30.40.6

Leisure and hospitality

43.344.643.844.31.02.3

Other services

17.117.217.317.30.21.2

Government

54.758.254.354.1-0.6-1.1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, October 03, 2018