KCRag Forum

From what I've spot checked, KC doesn't have a wage problem with STEM, med/healthcare and specialty skill jobs. Appears to be that for low to mid-wage jobs, backoffice, etc, the wage growth is lower than other similar markets, not keeping up with rising COL.

This partly impacts gross metro product (GMP) and KC's has been below average per capita for the last decade. KC per capita GMP used to be well above average. STL also has a below average per cap GMP, near the bottom for a largish market, comparable to a retirement city.

It's not horrible and there are plenty of fair and even high paying jobs. The minimum wage is low and that's what's making it difficult for some people to pay their rents. I would love to see the City boost up to 15 an hr by 2026 using an incremental dollar raise every year.

Congress's failure to raise the national minimum wage since 2009 is partly responsible for low wages. We all know that the price of everything has gone up since then. Anyone making minimum wage has lost buying power since 2009. Even people on Social Security get periodic raises based on inflation and they are no longer working.

^I don't particularly disagree but markets comparable to KC (Indy, Columbus, San Antonio, etc) typically on avg have better wages at the lower half of job wage spectrum. It's something at the local level. Maybe being isolated from no other large cities nearby allows for local employers to take advantage? KC employers behave as if they only need to do slightly better than Omaha, Des Moines and Wichita to draw from broader region.

Starting wages I see advertised here in food service are abysmal. I was making $11 an hour as a teenager working a dish pit 10 years ago. Crazy seeing the same or lower starting wage for that job 10 years later especially given the inflation of the past year. Then I have to hear my damn parents and in-laws mouth off about how no one wants to work. It’s a big problem, plenty of cities have set their own minimum wages.

The state of Missouri has preempted cities from setting their own minimum wage.

MO min wage is currently 11.15 and is set to be $12 in 2023

Revealed: top US corporations raising prices on Americans even as profits surge
A Guardian analysis uncovers how companies enriched themselves and their investors while boasting about jacking up prices

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... es-profits

As mentioned in past, BLS/Feds have 2 methods of surveys for employment data, one from employers and one from workers/labor force. They've revised the KC data reported, which shows much lower for report by employers than last year, below US average now and not recovered above 2019. But report from workers/labor force is recovered, well over 2019. As always, take with grain of salt...

KC metro employment up to June as reported by workers/labor force shows good recovery. Better than US average.


KC metro employment up to June as reported by employers shows still not yet recovered to 2019 but the revised update shows KC now below US avg in recovery.

Pro Biz/Services employment represents a big chunk of the office workers. The KS side of metro has been dropping ProBiz employment even before pandemic. MO side recovered but has flattened and not keeping up with US avg. May also explain why JoCo is taking a bigger hit with negative office space absorption.

KS side of KC metro struggling to recover ProBiz jobs (up to June)...


MO side of KC metro has recovered but since flattened (up to June). However US avg is trucking along with growth above 2019.

We used to read in BizJournal over the years about strategies and actions of local economic development groups but there hasn't really seemed to be any notable metro strategies since pandemic started. KC metro as a whole needs to step up and collaborate, get ecodev groups kicking into gear again.

Would be good for metro to target a new Big 5 strategies list like we used to see in past. We're getting a new airport, streetcar extensions and there are some recent good scores like Panasonic and Meta but can't rest on those. Need to start peculating new strategies for rest of decade into next, like raising tier of local universities and addressing the challenges like crime and impact of local companies often being on the losing side of acquisitions.

The danger of a boomtown (if KC becomes that, with all of its attractions coming online -- airport, streetcar, Panasonic as mentioned upthread) is the vicious cycle of housing inflation. Look at Denver or Nashville.

If you think housing is unaffordable in KC now (arguable), wait until entry SFH hit a million dollars, and attached housing starts at 500k. That's what is happening in the current boomtowns.

This coming recession, which will probably trickle into real estate, may be the last "cheap" buying opportunity for many decades.

^Agree KC shouldn't be pursuing boomtown status but w/out long term strategies it may fall behind. And even if KC doesn't grow much going forward (not necessarily a bad thing), it can keep improving the existing population with better tier of education/research to labor training and higher quality jobs for all levels of skills/education. No sign of broad issues yet but need to keep long term strategies in the pipeline and there hasn't been much chatter about strategies by ecodev groups for a while.

herrfrank wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:43 am If you think housing is unaffordable in KC now (arguable), wait until entry SFH hit a million dollars, and attached housing starts at 500k. That's what is happening in the current boomtowns.

This is the future of Kansas City. It's inevitable. Buy a house.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:51 pm

herrfrank wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:43 am If you think housing is unaffordable in KC now (arguable), wait until entry SFH hit a million dollars, and attached housing starts at 500k. That's what is happening in the current boomtowns.

This is the future of Kansas City. It's inevitable. Buy a house.

Or 2

Gross Metro Product with forecast to 2023. KC used to be high per capita until the last decade.

KC has been passed by smaller markets like Indy and now Nashville. STL has this issue too, passed by smaller markets like Austin and Charlotte. Large retirement metros tend to have lower per cap GMP like Vegas, Tampa and San Antonio. KC office employment has flattened, significant telcom lost over 2 decades, often on losing side of HQ acquisitions and warehouse jobs don't pay as well as manufacturing. KC could improve GMP with higher quality jobs whether labor or office.

https://www.usmayors.org/wp-content/upl ... 6-3-22.pdf

Total Nonfarm(3): Kansas City



12 Month Change: Total Employment: June 2023 vs June 2022

Jacksonville: 5.1%
Austin: 4.4%
Charlotte: 4.3%
Nashville: 4.2%
Miami: 4.2%
Tampa: 4.1%
IND: 3.8%
Orlando: 3.7%
KC: 3.7%
CIN: 3.3%
RDU: 2.9%
Atlanta: 2.9%
Pitt: 2.9%
OMA: 2.5%
MSP: 2.3%
SF: 2.2%
NoLa: 2.1%
CHI: 2.0%
STL: 1.7%
CLE: 0.9%

langosta wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 3:54 pm Total Nonfarm(3): Kansas City



12 Month Change: Total Employment: May 2023 vs May 2022

Mid 2030's, KC will pass STl at current rate

langosta wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 3:54 pm Total Nonfarm(3): Kansas City



12 Month Change: Total Employment: June 2023 vs June 2022

Jacksonville: 5.1%
Austin: 4.4%
Charlotte: 4.3%
Nashville: 4.2%
Miami: 4.2%
Tampa: 4.1%
IND: 3.8%
Orlando: 3.7%
KC: 3.7%
CIN: 3.3%
RDU: 2.9%
Atlanta: 2.9%
Pitt: 2.9%
OMA: 2.5%
MSP: 2.3%
SF: 2.2%
NoLa: 2.1%
CHI: 2.0%
STL: 1.7%
CLE: 0.9%

12-Month Change in Labor Force Size: June 23 - June 22


Jacksonville: 5.3%
TPA: 4.4%
Orlando: 3.9%
Kansas City: 3.6%
AUS: 3.4%
IND: 2.2%
STL: 2.0%
CIN: 1.6%
CLE: 1.5%
ATL: 1.5%
NASH: 1.4%

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) on Monday said it has struck a deal to sell an investment advisory business to wealth management firm Creative Planning LLC.

Creative Planning, an Overland Park, Kansas-based registered investment advisor, has agreed to buy Goldman Sachs’ Personal Financial Management unit, according to an announcement on Monday.

The terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, were not disclosed. AdvisorHub reported last week that Creative Planning was among several prospective buyers for the Goldman unit, which includes around 300 advisors and $29 billion in assets “under supervision.”

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/g ... 023-08-28/

langosta wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 9:35 am

langosta wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2023 3:54 pm Total Nonfarm(3): Kansas City



12 Month Change: Total Employment: June 2023 vs June 2022

Jacksonville: 5.1%
Austin: 4.4%
Charlotte: 4.3%
Nashville: 4.2%
Miami: 4.2%
Tampa: 4.1%
IND: 3.8%
Orlando: 3.7%
KC: 3.7%
CIN: 3.3%
RDU: 2.9%
Atlanta: 2.9%
Pitt: 2.9%
OMA: 2.5%
MSP: 2.3%
SF: 2.2%
NoLa: 2.1%
CHI: 2.0%
STL: 1.7%
CLE: 0.9%

12-Month Change in Labor Force Size: June 23 - June 22


Jacksonville: 5.3%
TPA: 4.4%
Orlando: 3.9%
Kansas City: 3.6%
AUS: 3.4%
IND: 2.2%
STL: 2.0%
CIN: 1.6%
CLE: 1.5%
ATL: 1.5%
NASH: 1.4%

Labor Force Growth.

July 2023 over July 2023

KC: 2.8% Growth to 1.21 million