Kansas City
at the margin.

## Labor Market Conditions — Kansas City

Kansas City's labor market is in equilibrium, with conditions holding steady heading into late 2025. Employment is essentially flat over the past year, down a marginal 0.31% — a rounding error in practical terms, not a contraction signal. The pace of change has not accelerated in either direction, suggesting the market is neither building momentum nor giving ground.

Unemployment has edged up roughly 6% compared to a year ago, which — while worth watching — reflects a modest drift rather than a sharp deterioration. Translated into real terms, that shift is consistent with normal labor force fluctuations: workers re-entering the market, modest layoffs in select sectors, or both. There is no evidence here of a structural break. Kansas City is not losing employers; it is simply not adding headcount at the pace seen during the post-pandemic rebound years.