Department of Numbers

Kansas City, Missouri Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Kansas City fell 0.1 percentage points in November 2021 to 3.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.0 percentage points lower than the Missouri rate. The unemployment rate in Kansas City peaked in April 2020 at 13.4% and is now 9.9 percentage points lower. You can also compare Kansas City unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 4.2% -0.4 -2.5
Missouri 3.5% -0.2 -1.2
Kansas City 3.5% -0.1 -1.2
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2021 data as December metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Kansas City, Missouri, National

Kansas City, Missouri monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Kansas City, Missouri Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Kansas City peaked in April 2020 at 148,960. There are now 107,679 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Kansas City employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Kansas City, Missouri) is also available.

Unemployed Persons November 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Kansas City 41,281 -1,142 -12,437

Number of Unemployed Persons

Kansas City, Missouri Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Missouri
Unemployment Rate		 Kansas City
Unemployment Rate		 Kansas City
Unemployed
December
2021		 3.9% — — —
November
2021		 4.2% 3.5% 3.5% 41,281
October
2021		 4.6% 3.7% 3.6% 42,423
September
2021		 4.7% 3.8% 3.6% 42,498
August
2021		 5.2% 4.0% 3.6% 41,885
July
2021		 5.4% 4.2% 3.6% 42,066
June
2021		 5.9% 4.3% 5.2% 60,523
May
2021		 5.8% 4.2% 5.1% 60,158
April
2021		 6.0% 4.1% 4.2% 48,921
March
2021		 6.0% 4.2% 4.2% 48,840
February
2021		 6.2% 4.3% 4.3% 50,180
January
2021		 6.4% 4.3% 4.4% 50,625

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

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