For release: 10:00 A.M. EST USDL 09-1403
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Technical information: (202) 691-6553 * BDMinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/bdm
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS: FIRST QUARTER 2009
From December 2008 to March 2009 the number of job losses from
closing and contracting establishments remained essentially unchanged
at 8.5 million. The number of job gains from opening and expanding
private sector establishments fell from 6.7 million to 5.7 million,
the lowest level since the series began in 1992, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. (See tables A, 1, and 3.)
Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all but two industry
sectors: utilities and education and health services. (See table 3.)
The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of
increases and decreases in employment that occur at all businesses in
the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track
these changes in employment at private business units from the third
month of one quarter to the third month of the next. Gross job gains
are the sum of increases in employment from expansions at existing
units and the addition of new jobs at opening units. Gross job
losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing units
and the loss of jobs at closing units. The difference between the
number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the
net change in employment. (See the Technical Note for more
information.)
The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at
the establishment level by major industry sector and for the 50
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm
level by employer size class.
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| Changes to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data |
| Data in this release incorporate annual revisions to the BED |
| series. Annual revisions are published each year with the release|
| of first quarter data. These revisions cover the last four |
| quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and 5 years of seasonally|
| adjusted data. |
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Contracting establishments lost 7.0 million jobs, in the first
quarter of 2009, an increase of 7,000 jobs compared to the previous
quarter.
Expanding establishments gained 4.6 million jobs, a sharp decrease
from the previous quarter when expanding establishments gained 5.4
million jobs.
Closing establishments lost 1.4 million jobs, a decrease of 60,000
jobs compared to the previous quarter.
Opening establishments gained 1.1 million jobs, a decrease from the
previous quarter when opening establishments gained 1.4 million jobs
(See tables 1 and 3.)
The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number
of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of -2,740,000 jobs in the
private sector for first quarter 2009. This is the largest quarterly
net loss since the series began in 1992.
Gross job gains represented 5.2 percent of private sector employment,
while gross job losses represented 7.7 percent of private sector
employment. (See table 2.)
Establishment births, a subset of the openings data (see the
Technical Note for more information), gained 697,000 jobs at 171,000
establishments in first quarter 2009, the lowest level of gains since
the series began in June 1993. Data for establishment deaths, a
subset of the closings data, are now available for June 2008, when
936,000 jobs were lost at 227,000 establishments. (See table 7.)
From December 2008 to March 2009, gross job losses exceeded gross job
gains in all but two industry sectors: utilities and education and
health services. (See table 3.) Gross job gains in the education
and health services sector decreased to 731,000 jobs in the first
quarter, while gross job losses increased to 723,000. This industry
sector is the only one which has experienced a net positive change in
every quarter since this series began in 1992.
From December 2008 to March 2009, the share of gross job gains
accounted for by firms with 1 to 4 employees rose from 17.1 to 18.2
percent. Firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced a decrease
in the share of gross job gains from 17.8 to 13.7 percent. (See
table 4.)
In the first quarter of 2009, the rate of gross job gains increased
slightly in the District of Columbia (5.8 percent). Levels of gross
job gains fell in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Levels of gross job losses increased in 20 states, Puerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands, and fell in 30 states and the District of
Columbia (See tables 5 and 6.)
Table A. Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses,
seasonally adjusted
Category 3 months ended
Mar. June Sept. Dec. Mar.
2008 2008 2008 2008 2009
level (in thousands)
Gross job gains................ 7,167 7,296 6,884 6,738 5,746
At expanding establishments... 5,781 5,869 5,520 5,363 4,603
At opening establishments..... 1,386 1,427 1,364 1,375 1,143
Gross job losses............... 7,447 7,832 7,851 8,539 8,486
At contracting establishments. 6,090 6,334 6,461 7,038 7,045
At closing establishments..... 1,357 1,498 1,390 1,501 1,441
Net employment change(1)....... -280 -536 -967 -1,801 -2,740
rate (percent)
Gross job gains................ 6.3 6.5 6.1 6.0 5.2
At expanding establishments... 5.1 5.2 4.9 4.8 4.2
At opening establishments..... 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.0
Gross job losses............... 6.5 6.9 6.9 7.6 7.7
At contracting establishments. 5.3 5.6 5.7 6.3 6.4
At closing establishments..... 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.3
Net employment change(1)....... -0.2 -0.4 -0.8 -1.6 -2.5
(1) The net employment change is the difference between total
gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical
Note for further information.
More Information
Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses are
available online at http://www.bls.gov/bdm. This information
includes data on the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross
job losses by firm size, the not seasonally adjusted data and other
seasonally adjusted time series not presented in this release, charts
of gross job gains and gross job losses by industry and firm size,
and frequently asked questions on firm-size data. Additional
information about the Business Employment Dynamics data can be found
in the Technical Note of this release or may be obtained by e-mailing
BDMinfo@bls.gov.
The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2009 is scheduled
to be released on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).
