Mountain-Plains Information Office

KANSAS CITY AREA JOB COUNT RISES BY 1,900 OVER THE YEAR IN MAY 2008

Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, Mo.-Ks., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) rose by 1,900 over the year to 1,021,500 in May 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Kansas City MSA's 0.2-percent increase in employment was in line with the national increase of 0.1 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that this marked the 51st consecutive month of over-the-year job growth in the metropolitan area. The over-the-year increase in Kansas City's employment was the smallest recorded since December 2003.

Employment in Kansas City's two separately identifiable employment centers-the Missouri portion of the MSA and the Kansas portion of the MSA-moved in opposite directions for the first time since March 2004. From May 2007 to May 2008, the Missouri portion experienced a 0.9-percent increase in employment adding 5,000 jobs, while the Kansas portion registered a 0.7-percent decline with the loss of 3,100 jobs. (See chart A and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains metropolitan area definitions. Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, analysis is based on over-the-year comparisons.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year net change in total nonfarm employment in the Kansas City metropolitan area and its components, January 2005-May 2008

In the Kansas City, Mo.-Ks. MSA, three industry supersectors expanded by 2,000 or more jobs from May 2007 to May 2008. Over-the-year employment growth was led by the addition of 3,700 jobs in government, an increase of 2.4 percent. Nationally, this supersector grew more slowly at 1.0 percent. Professional and business services, which added 3,000 jobs, grew at a 2.0-percent pace, ten times the national rate of 0.2 percent. Locally, education and health services added 2,000 jobs. However, Kansas City's rate of job growth for education and health services was below that for the nation, 1.7 versus 3.1 percent.

Three supersectors in the Kansas City MSA lost more than 1,000 jobs from May 2007 to May 2008. Manufacturing recorded the largest over-the-year decline, down 3,900 (-4.7 percent). The rate of job loss in manufacturing outpaced the national decline of 2.5 percent. Natural resources, mining, and construction lost 1,700 jobs (-3.2 percent) and leisure and hospitality, 1,300 (-1.3 percent). Employment in the remaining four industry supersectors-trade, transportation, and utilities; information; financial activities; and other services-changed by less than 1,000 from May a year ago.

Employment in the Missouri portion of the MSA, which accounted for 56 percent of the Kansas City workforce in May 2008, added 5,000 jobs over the year. The government supersector added the largest number of jobs, 3,200, growing by 3.4 percent from May 2007. Employment in education and health services increased by 1,400 jobs, or 2.1 percent, and professional and business services gained 1,000 jobs over the year. The largest over-the-year decline in the Missouri portion occurred in manufacturing, which lost 1,300 jobs. Employment in the remaining six industry supersectors recorded little change from May a year ago.

The Kansas portion of the metropolitan area, which made up 44 percent of the Kansas City workforce, lost 3,100 jobs over the year. This is the first over-the-year job loss in total nonfarm employment in the Kansas portion since June 2003. Employment in three supersectors registered job declines of more than 1,000 over the most recent 12-month period. Manufacturing lost the greatest number of jobs, down 2,600, or 7.1 percent. Natural resources, mining, and construction shed 1,900 jobs (-8.3 percent) and leisure and hospitality, 1,600 (-4.2 percent). Still, one supersector, professional and business services, expanded 2.8 percent with the addition of 2,000 jobs from May 2007 to May 2008. Employment in the remaining six industry supersectors in the Kansas portion varied by less than 1,000 over the year.

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 in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by 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 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

     Method of estimation.   The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates.

     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 are available for state CES data at the total nonfarm and supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at http://www.bls.gov/sae/.

     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 November 20, 2007. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at http://whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy2008/b08-01.pdf.

The Kansas City, Mo.-Ks. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties in Missouri; Franklin, 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, Ks. portion includes Franklin, 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 by subscription from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone 202-512-1800).

Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the CES program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at (http://www.bls.gov/sae/).

Last Modified Date: July 23, 2008