From September 2019 to December 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Alaska totaled 25,548, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments numbered 25,427, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 121 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,392. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the fourth quarter of 2019, gross job gains represented 10.2 percent of private-sector employment in Alaska; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 6.2 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In Alaska, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 21,488 in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 1,931 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 4,060 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2019, similar to the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the fourth quarter of 2019, gross job losses represented 10.2 percent of private-sector employment in Alaska; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Alaska, contracting establishments lost 21,653 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2019, similar to the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 3,774 jobs, an increase of 406 jobs from the previous quarter.)

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 3 of the 11 industry sectors in Alaska in the fourth quarter of 2019. Education and health services had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 444 jobs. This was the result of 2,441 gross job gains and 1,997 gross job losses. The construction industry had a net gain of 370 jobs. The leisure and hospitality industry sector showed a net loss of 1,026 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state. Alaska’s transportation and warehousing industry sector had a net loss of 572 jobs.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, 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. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2020 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records. Most employers in the U.S. are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). These UI reports are supplemented by two additional BLS data collections to render administrative data into economic statistics. Together these data comprise the QCEW and form the basis of the Bureau’s establishment universe sampling frame.

In the BED program, the QCEW records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.

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. BED statistics track these changes in employment at private business establishments 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 establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.

Gross job gains and gross job losses are expressed as rates by dividing their levels by the average of employment in the current and previous quarters. The rates are calculated for the components of gross job gains and gross job losses and then summed to form their respective totals. These rates can be added and subtracted just as their levels can. For instance, the difference between the gross job gains rate and the gross job losses rate is the net growth rate.

The formal definitions of employment changes are as follows:

Openings. These are either units with positive third month employment for the first time in the current quarter, with no links to the prior quarter, or with positive third month employment in the current quarter following zero employment in the previous quarter.

Expansions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net increase in employment over this period.

Closings. These are either units with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment over this period.

The full Technical Note for the Business Employment Dynamics program, which includes information on coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the current quarterly news release online at www.bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Alaska, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and job losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept 2019	Dec. 2019
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	27,051	24,748	26,955	23,615	25,548	11.0	10.0	10.8	9.5	10.2
At expanding establishments	22,763	20,802	22,386	19,557	21,488	9.3	8.4	9.0	7.9	8.6
At opening establishments	4,288	3,946	4,569	4,058	4,060	1.7	1.6	1.8	1.6	1.6
Gross job losses	24,029	22,229	25,350	25,007	25,427	9.8	9.0	10.2	10.1	10.2
At contracting establishments	19,680	18,611	21,187	21,639	21,653	8.0	7.5	8.5	8.7	8.7
At closing establishments	4,349	3,618	4,163	3,368	3,774	1.8	1.5	1.7	1.4	1.5
Net employment change (2)	3,022	2,519	1,605	-1,392	121	1.2	1.0	0.6	-0.6	0.0
Construction
Gross job gains	3,551	2,830	2,829	2,273	3,023	21.9	16.5	16.9	14.3	18.5
At expanding establishments	3,029	2,257	2,342	1,846	2,569	18.7	13.2	14.0	11.6	15.7
At opening establishments	522	573	487	427	454	3.2	3.3	2.9	2.7	2.8
Gross job losses	2,628	2,683	2,775	2,848	2,653	16.2	15.7	16.5	17.8	16.2
At contracting establishments	2,180	2,223	2,267	2,426	2,179	13.4	13.0	13.5	15.2	13.3
At closing establishments	448	460	508	422	474	2.8	2.7	3.0	2.6	2.9
Net employment change (2)	923	147	54	-575	370	5.7	0.8	0.4	-3.5	2.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	2,155	2,286	2,116	2,118	2,176	6.0	6.4	5.9	6.0	6.1
At expanding establishments	1,905	2,015	1,674	1,744	1,700	5.3	5.6	4.7	4.9	4.8
At opening establishments	250	271	442	374	476	0.7	0.8	1.2	1.1	1.3
Gross job losses	2,352	1,934	2,502	2,333	2,632	6.6	5.4	7.0	6.5	7.5
At contracting establishments	1,982	1,617	2,083	2,033	2,205	5.6	4.5	5.8	5.7	6.3
At closing establishments	370	317	419	300	427	1.0	0.9	1.2	0.8	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-197	352	-386	-215	-456	-0.6	1.0	-1.1	-0.5	-1.4
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	2,433	2,460	2,605	2,109	1,894	12.3	12.4	12.9	10.2	9.4
At expanding establishments	1,819	2,057	2,247	1,722	1,559	9.2	10.4	11.1	8.3	7.7
At opening establishments	614	403	358	387	335	3.1	2.0	1.8	1.9	1.7
Gross job losses	2,537	2,356	1,935	2,353	2,466	12.7	12.0	9.6	11.5	12.2
At contracting establishments	2,071	2,122	1,650	2,052	2,005	10.4	10.8	8.2	10.0	9.9
At closing establishments	466	234	285	301	461	2.3	1.2	1.4	1.5	2.3
Net employment change (2)	-104	104	670	-244	-572	-0.4	0.4	3.3	-1.3	-2.8
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	3,328	2,811	2,702	2,502	2,698	12.1	10.1	9.8	9.2	9.8
At expanding establishments	2,524	2,365	2,157	2,130	2,206	9.2	8.5	7.8	7.8	8.0
At opening establishments	804	446	545	372	492	2.9	1.6	2.0	1.4	1.8
Gross job losses	2,819	3,178	2,810	2,509	2,455	10.3	11.5	10.2	9.1	8.8
At contracting establishments	2,029	2,573	2,262	2,036	2,054	7.4	9.3	8.2	7.4	7.4
At closing establishments	790	605	548	473	401	2.9	2.2	2.0	1.7	1.4
Net employment change (2)	509	-367	-108	-7	243	1.8	-1.4	-0.4	0.1	1.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	2,259	2,027	2,283	2,223	2,441	4.5	4.1	4.6	4.4	4.8
At expanding establishments	2,001	1,749	1,845	1,909	2,169	4.0	3.5	3.7	3.8	4.3
At opening establishments	258	278	438	314	272	0.5	0.6	0.9	0.6	0.5
Gross job losses	1,739	2,349	2,207	2,094	1,997	3.5	4.7	4.4	4.2	4.0
At contracting establishments	1,482	1,946	1,892	1,868	1,707	3.0	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.4
At closing establishments	257	403	315	226	290	0.5	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.6
Net employment change (2)	520	-322	76	129	444	1.0	-0.6	0.2	0.2	0.8
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	4,907	5,290	5,773	5,142	4,853	13.7	14.7	15.7	14.0	13.3
At expanding establishments	3,891	4,104	4,371	3,946	3,724	10.9	11.4	11.9	10.7	10.2
At opening establishments	1,016	1,186	1,402	1,196	1,129	2.8	3.3	3.8	3.3	3.1
Gross job losses	5,646	3,725	6,152	5,202	5,879	15.8	10.4	16.8	14.1	16.1
At contracting establishments	4,348	2,864	4,814	4,238	4,757	12.2	8.0	13.1	11.5	13.0
At closing establishments	1,298	861	1,338	964	1,122	3.6	2.4	3.7	2.6	3.1
Net employment change (2)	-739	1,565	-379	-60	-1,026	-2.1	4.3	-1.1	-0.1	-2.8
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	850	831	1,035	850	796	8.8	8.6	10.6	8.7	8.2
At expanding establishments	750	687	936	737	712	7.8	7.1	9.6	7.5	7.3
At opening establishments	100	144	99	113	84	1.0	1.5	1.0	1.2	0.9
Gross job losses	754	832	859	980	816	7.8	8.6	8.9	10.0	8.4
At contracting establishments	650	735	754	864	717	6.7	7.6	7.8	8.8	7.4
At closing establishments	104	97	105	116	99	1.1	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.0
Net employment change (2)	96	-1	176	-130	-20	1.0	0.0	1.7	-1.3	-0.2
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further information. (3) Except public administration.

Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019
United States(1)	6.3	5.9	6.0	5.8	6.2	5.6	5.5	5.9	5.8	5.6
Alabama	6.3	6.0	5.8	5.9	6.3	5.3	5.5	6.0	5.9	5.7
Alaska	11.0	10.0	10.8	9.5	10.2	9.8	9.0	10.2	10.1	10.2
Arizona	6.2	5.6	5.7	6.4	6.4	5.1	5.5	5.7	4.8	5.2
Arkansas	5.9	5.2	5.0	5.5	6.4	5.0	5.1	5.7	5.5	4.8
California	6.9	6.3	6.6	6.3	6.7	5.9	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.9
Colorado	6.8	6.6	7.0	6.6	6.7	6.0	6.3	6.2	6.4	6.2
Connecticut	5.3	5.2	5.8	5.5	5.5	4.9	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.5
Delaware	6.6	6.4	6.0	6.1	6.5	5.6	5.5	6.3	6.2	6.2
District of Columbia	5.6	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.1	4.9	5.5	5.4	4.7
Florida	6.4	6.1	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.1	5.6	6.3	5.7	5.9
Georgia	6.3	6.8	6.2	6.2	6.5	5.8	5.7	6.4	6.1	5.6
Hawaii	5.8	5.4	4.7	5.5	5.6	5.1	5.9	6.1	5.3	5.4
Idaho	7.4	7.5	7.1	6.9	7.7	6.3	6.1	6.7	6.8	6.3
Illinois	5.5	5.2	5.6	4.9	5.6	5.6	5.1	5.3	5.6	5.2
Indiana	5.6	5.9	5.2	5.4	6.0	5.0	4.8	5.8	5.7	5.1
Iowa	5.8	5.1	5.8	5.3	5.8	5.3	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.3
Kansas	6.1	5.4	5.7	5.7	6.3	5.4	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.7
Kentucky	6.1	5.8	5.8	5.8	6.1	5.4	5.5	5.9	5.7	5.8
Louisiana	6.2	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.8	5.9	6.5	6.1	5.8
Maine	7.3	7.2	7.5	6.4	7.4	6.7	6.4	7.5	7.2	7.0
Maryland	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.2	6.5	6.4	5.7	6.4	6.6	5.8
Massachusetts	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.3	5.8	5.3	5.2	5.7	5.9	5.5
Michigan	5.6	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.2	4.6	5.8	6.0	5.3
Minnesota	5.7	5.2	5.8	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.1	5.5	5.8	5.6
Mississippi	6.5	5.7	5.8	5.5	6.2	5.3	6.2	6.0	5.8	5.5
Missouri	5.8	5.4	5.6	5.8	6.1	5.4	5.3	5.8	5.8	5.2
Montana	8.9	7.6	8.0	7.3	8.6	7.2	8.0	7.7	7.7	7.2
Nebraska	5.9	5.7	5.7	5.6	6.2	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.8
Nevada	6.6	6.0	5.9	6.0	6.8	5.5	5.4	6.0	5.7	5.0
New Hampshire	6.6	6.3	6.4	5.8	6.6	5.7	5.7	6.3	6.6	5.9
New Jersey	6.4	5.7	6.2	6.0	6.5	5.7	5.6	5.8	6.1	5.8
New Mexico	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.7	6.7	6.1	5.8	6.3	6.1	6.2
New York	6.3	6.0	6.0	5.8	6.0	5.7	5.3	5.9	5.9	5.7
North Carolina	6.7	6.3	6.1	5.7	6.2	5.3	5.1	5.7	5.9	5.3
North Dakota	6.8	7.1	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.2	6.4	6.7	7.1	6.7
Ohio	5.6	5.5	5.6	5.3	5.7	5.3	5.1	5.7	5.8	5.3
Oklahoma	6.5	5.8	5.9	6.3	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.2	6.1	6.2
Oregon	6.7	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.7	6.0	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.8
Pennsylvania	5.3	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.4	4.8	4.8	5.3	5.2	4.9
Rhode Island	6.4	5.8	6.4	5.8	6.5	5.7	5.6	6.7	6.2	5.9
South Carolina	7.4	6.4	6.3	6.0	6.5	5.4	6.0	6.2	5.7	5.9
South Dakota	6.3	5.7	6.2	5.8	6.4	5.8	6.4	6.0	6.0	5.7
Tennessee	5.8	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.6	4.9	4.8	5.0	5.1	5.0
Texas	6.2	5.5	5.7	5.8	6.0	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.2	5.1
Utah	6.9	7.3	6.9	6.8	6.8	6.2	6.2	6.5	6.2	6.3
Vermont	7.4	6.7	6.9	6.3	6.9	6.8	6.3	7.1	7.6	6.4
Virginia	6.3	6.4	6.1	5.2	6.6	5.6	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.5
Washington	6.4	6.2	6.6	6.0	6.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	6.0	5.7
West Virginia	6.3	6.0	6.2	5.8	6.2	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.7	7.1
Wisconsin	5.4	5.1	5.5	4.8	5.5	5.0	4.8	5.3	5.8	5.0
Wyoming	10.0	8.6	8.5	8.5	9.3	7.8	7.8	9.6	8.7	8.6
Puerto Rico	6.0	7.1	6.4	6.1	5.4	6.8	5.1	5.8	5.4	4.9
Virgin Islands	7.9	11.9	8.8	11.2	10.2	7.1	7.4	6.1	6.6	7.1
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.