January 2020 (November 2019 data)
EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY
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The Workforce Indicators Newsletter is published monthly by the Mid-America Regional Council. MARC is the nonprofit association of local governments and metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region.
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Kansas City, MO 64105
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Data sources: Kansas Department of Labor, Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), The Conference Board and EMSI. Regional data includes Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri.
| LATEST DATA | EMPLOYMENT | JOB POSTINGS | UNEMPLOYMENT | EMP GROWTH |
| NOVEMBER 2019 | 1,119,100 | 75,423 | 2.8% | 1.3% |
| OCTOBER 2019 | 1,117,200 | 75,649 | 2.7% | 1.2% |
| Month-to-Month Change | +1,900 | -0.3% | +0.1 | +0.1 |
Kansas City labor market remains tight
The Kansas City MSA continues to add new jobs with employment reaching 1,119,000 in November. This figure is up 14,900, or 1.3%, from one year ago.
Relative to some of our peer metros, the 1.3% growth rate is modest. Several of them saw employment growth rates well over 2%. Dallas, Omaha and Austin were the fastest growing among our selected peer group.
Even though employment growth is relatively modest, the low unemployment rate (2.8%) indicates a tight labor market. This is good news for job seekers but it poses a problem for employers who can’t easily find workers at prices they are willing to pay.
Looking at employment growth by industry, education and health was the fastest growing sector followed by government, primarily local government. Construction also continues to show solid growth which is not surprising given the many major construction projects throughout the metro.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED EMPLOYMENT
[The current number of jobs in the Kansas City metro as determined by the monthly Current Employment Statistics survey.]
Metro employment in November rose to 1,119,100.
HIRING TRENDS
Transportation and materials moving — past 90 days
Top 10 Employers Advertising Openings
(By total number of ads)
| Company | Ads |
| Amazon Workforce Staffing | 310 |
| Hogan Transportation | 174 |
| Amazon | 155 |
| USA Truck | 147 |
| United Parcel Service | 120 |
| Mac Tools | 111 |
| USXpress | 110 |
| DoorDash | 103 |
| UPS | 97 |
| Roehl Transport | 94 |
Top 10 Occupations Sought
(By total number of ads)
| Occupation | Ads |
| Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers | 2,804 |
| Driver/sales workers | 1,675 |
| Laborers and freight, stock and material movers by hand | 1,497 |
| Light truck or delivery services drivers | 1,082 |
| Taxi drivers and chauffeurs | 393 |
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors | 323 |
| Industrial truck and tractor operators | 253 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment | 168 |
| First-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators | 166 |
| Parking lot attendants | 137 |
UNEMPLOYMENT
[The number of unemployed as a percent of the total labor force, not seasonally adjusted.]
Kansas City's unemployment rate is 2.8%.
PEER METRO RANK — EMPLOYMENT GROWTH RATE
[Percent change in employment year-over-year among 14 metropolitan areas.]
Kansas City saw employment grow 1.3% in the year ending in November.
