Good news, Kansas City – the metro is almost back to pre-recession employment levels.
The latest job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the Kansas City area has added around 10,000 jobs since November 2013 and only lags April 2008 numbers by about 5,000 jobs.
"All signs are pointing to this being a pretty productive year, especially the second half of the year, in terms of employment in Kansas City," says Jeff Pinkerton, an economist with the Mid-America Regional Council.
Pinkerton says he expects good news for 2014 when December numbers come out next month.
Though the growth for the year so far is about average, Pinkerton says it's a very good sign in what's been a slow recovery for the metro area.
"For whatever reason, Kansas City has been a little sluggish in this recovery," says Pinkerton. "We're not keeping pace with the national economy in terms of employment growth since the recession. We've recovered very slowly here. We keep expecting to catch up, and it looks like we're just beginning to show signs of that."
Also encouraging, says Pinkerton, are the types of jobs Kansas City is adding.
"A lot of these jobs are coming from the professional and technical fields," he says. "Oftentimes, those are some of your higher paying jobs, a lot of engineering and legal of type jobs."
Unemployment in the metro was at 5 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. State unemployment was 5.1 percent in Missouri and 4 percent in Kansas.
