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Economic News Release
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Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release



Technical Information:  (202) 691-6553     USDL 09-0184
                http://www.bls.gov/bdm/

                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media Contact:          (202) 691-5902     Tuesday, February 24, 2009


          BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS:  SECOND QUARTER 2008          


   From March 2008 to June 2008, the number of job gains from opening
and expanding private sector establishments was 7.3 million, and the
number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was
7.8 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  (See tables A and 3.)
Over this period, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all
but five industry sectors: natural resources and mining, utilities,
information, education and health services, and other services.  (See
tables B and 3.)

   The Business Employment Dynamics (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.

   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 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.)



Table A.  Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses,
seasonally adjusted

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  |            3 months ended           
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  | June  | Sept.| Dec. | Mar. | June    
           Category               | 2007  | 2007 | 2007 | 2008 | 2008   
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |         Levels (in thousands)       
----------------------------------|-------------------------------------
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job gains...................|  7,665| 7,323| 7,676| 7,130| 7,258  
  At expanding establishments.....|  6,250| 5,849| 6,220| 5,731| 5,858  
  At opening establishments.......|  1,415| 1,474| 1,456| 1,399| 1,400  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|  7,473| 7,564| 7,366| 7,400| 7,751  
  At contracting establishments...|  6,066| 6,209| 6,010| 6,047| 6,277  
  At closing establishments.......|  1,407| 1,355| 1,356| 1,353| 1,474  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|    192|  -241|   310|  -270|  -493  
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |           Rates (percent)           
                                  |-------------------------------------
Gross job gains...................|    6.7|   6.4|   6.8|   6.2|   6.4  
  At expanding establishments.....|    5.5|   5.1|   5.5|   5.0|   5.2  
  At opening establishments.......|    1.2|   1.3|   1.3|   1.2|   1.2  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|    6.5|   6.7|   6.5|   6.5|   6.8  
  At contracting establishments...|    5.3|   5.5|   5.3|   5.3|   5.5  
  At closing establishments.......|    1.2|   1.2|   1.2|   1.2|   1.3  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|     .2|   -.3|    .3|   -.3|   -.4  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   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.



Private Sector Establishment-Level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses

   Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained
7.3 million jobs in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 128,000
from the previous quarter.  Over the quarter, expanding establishments
added 5.9 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.4 million
jobs.

   Gross job losses totaled 7.8 million, an increase of 351,000 from the
previous quarter.  During the quarter, contracting establishments lost
6.3 million jobs, while closing establishments lost 1.5 million jobs.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)

   The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number
of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of -493,000 jobs in the
private sector for second quarter 2008.

   Gross job gains represented 6.4 percent of private sector employment,
while gross job losses represented 6.8 percent of private sector
employment.  (See tables A and 2.)

Major Industry Sector Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses

   From March 2008 to June 2008, gross job losses exceeded gross job
gains in all but five industry sectors: natural resources and mining,
utilities, information, education and health services, and other
services.  (See tables B and 3.)

   Goods-producing.  Expanding and opening establishments in the goods-
producing sectors accounted for 1,494,000 jobs gained, and contracting
and closing establishments accounted for 1,778,000 jobs lost.  This
net loss of 284,000 jobs results in the eighth consecutive quarter of
net loss for these sectors of the economy.

   Construction.  In construction, gross job gains fell over the quarter
to 737,000.  Gross job losses increased to 922,000, resulting in a net
loss of 185,000 jobs.  This is the lowest level of gross job gains since
the first quarter of 1994, and the highest level of gross job losses
this sector has experienced since this time series began in 1992.

   Manufacturing.  Gross job gains grew to 477,000 while gross job
losses fell to 588,000.  The net loss of 111,000 jobs is the eighth
consecutive quarter of net job losses in the manufacturing sector.



Table B.  Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses by industry,
seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       |       Gross job gains       |      Gross job losses       
                       |       (3 months ended)      |      (3 months ended)       
       Industry        |-----------------------------|-----------------------------
                       |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. |June |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. |June 
                       |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 |2008 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 |2008 
-----------------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
  Total private (1)....|7,665|7,323|7,676|7,130|7,258|7,473|7,564|7,366|7,400|7,751
 Goods-Producing.......|1,633|1,504|1,573|1,493|1,494|1,713|1,725|1,701|1,758|1,778
  Natural resources    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    and mining.........|  290|  262|  292|  274|  280|  274|  274|  261|  293|  268
  Construction ........|  820|  772|  784|  763|  737|  865|  882|  875|  869|  922
  Manufacturing .......|  523|  470|  497|  456|  477|  574|  569|  565|  596|  588
 Service-Providing (1).|6,032|5,819|6,103|5,637|5,764|5,760|5,839|5,665|5,642|5,973
  Wholesale trade......|  321|  310|  321|  294|  295|  304|  308|  301|  306|  314
  Retail trade ........|1,029|1,007|1,022|  954|  939|1,042|1,064|1,011|  979|1,080
    Transportation and |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
  warehousing..........|  246|  224|  254|  208|  225|  223|  233|  229|  250|  253
  Utilities............|   15|   14|   15|   13|   16|   12|   12|   11|   10|   12
  Information..........|  161|  155|  145|  154|  162|  139|  154|  155|  153|	161
  Financial activities.|  433|  418|  432|  412|  394|  463|  479|  486|  436|	455
  Professional and     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    business services..|1,403|1,316|1,440|1,239|1,345|1,347|1,339|1,337|1,358|1,433
  Education and        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    health services....|  795|  810|  814|  785|  788|  696|  685|  666|  667|	715
  Leisure and          |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    hospitality........|1,228|1,179|1,247|1,158|1,183|1,206|1,224|1,148|1,154|1,218
  Other services.......|  308|  293|  296|  290|  300|  289|  307|  287|  289|	293
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately.



   Service-providing.  In the service-providing sectors, gross job gains
increased to 5,764,000 and gross job losses increased to 5,973,000.
Job gains at expanding establishments increased to 4,590,000 jobs,
while job losses at contracting establishments increased to 4,791,000
jobs, resulting in a net loss of 209,000 jobs.

   Retail Trade.  In retail trade, gross job gains decreased to
939,000 and gross job losses increased to 1,080,000 for a net loss of
141,000 jobs.  This is the second highest net loss in this industry
since the series began in 1992, second to only the third quarter of
2001.

Education and Health Services.  Gross job gains increased slightly to
788,000 jobs in the second quarter, while gross job losses increased to
715,000.  This industry sector is the only one which has experienced a
net positive change in every quarter since this series began in 1992.

   Financial Activities.  Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in
the financial sector for the fifth consecutive quarter.  Gross job gains
fell to 394,000, while gross job losses increased to 455,000.

Number of Establishments Gaining and Losing Employment

   Another way to look at the dynamics of business activities is to
monitor the number and proportion of business units that are growing
and declining.  In the second quarter of 2008, the number of
establishments losing jobs exceeded the number of establishments
gaining jobs.

   Out of 7 million active private-sector establishments, a total of
2,024,000 establishments lost jobs from March 2008 to June 2008.
(See table C.)  Of these establishments, 1,633,000 were contracting
establishments and 391,000 were closing establishments.  Of the
establishments gaining jobs, 1,479,000 establishments were expanding
and 355,000 establishments were opening, resulting in 1,834,000
establishments gaining jobs.

   The number of closing establishments exceeded the number of opening
establishments, resulting in a net loss of 36,000 private-sector
establishments during the quarter.  This is the highest net decline in
establishments that has been observed since the time series began in
1992, and the first time that the net number of establishments has
declined for two consecutive quarters.



Table C.  Number of private sector establishments by direction of
employment change, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  |             3 months ended           
                                  |--------------------------------------
             Category             |  June |  Sept.| Dec. | Mar. | June   
                                  |  2007 |  2007 | 2007 | 2008 | 2008   
----------------------------------|-------|-------|------|------|--------
Establishments gaining jobs.......|  1,919|  1,901| 1,940| 1,874| 1,834  
  Expanding establishments........|  1,559|  1,525| 1,558| 1,517| 1,479  
  Opening establishments..........|    360|    376|   382|   357|   355  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Establishments losing jobs........|  1,952|  1,956| 1,935| 1,976| 2,024  
  Contracting establishments......|  1,582|  1,595| 1,575| 1,596| 1,633  
  Closing establishments..........|    370|    361|   360|   380|   391  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Net establishment change (1)......|    -10|     15|    22|   -23|   -36  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 The net establishment change is the difference between the number of
opening establishments and the number of closing establishments.  See the
Technical Note for further information.


Firm-level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses by Size Class

   From March 2008 to June 2008, firms with 1,000 or more employees
experienced an increase in their share of gross job gains with 16.8
percent, and experienced an even larger increase in gross job losses
with 18.2 percent.  (See tables D and 4.)


Table D.  Three-month private sector share (1) of gross job gains and losses by firm
size, seasonally adjusted

(Percent)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       |   Share of gross job gains   |   Share of gross job losses  
                       |        (3 months ended)      |        (3 months ended)      
       Firm size       |------------------------------|------------------------------
                       | June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. |June | June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. |June 
                       | 2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 |2008 | 2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 |2008 
-----------------------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|------|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
   1  -   4 employees..|  14.9| 16.2| 15.6| 16.2| 15.4|  16.1| 15.8| 16.0| 16.7| 15.9
   5  -   9 employees..|  11.6| 12.2| 11.4| 12.4| 11.8|  12.3| 12.1| 12.3| 12.4| 11.9
  10  -  19 employees..|  12.1| 12.2| 11.6| 12.6| 12.1|  12.3| 12.3| 12.4| 12.4| 12.0
  20  -  49 employees..|  14.5| 14.3| 13.8| 14.7| 14.4|  14.3| 14.5| 14.4| 14.3| 13.9
  50  -  99 employees..|   9.1|  8.9|  8.7|  9.1|  9.1|   8.6|  8.9|  8.9|  8.7|  8.6
 100  - 249 employees..|   9.8|  9.2|  9.3|  9.4|  9.7|   8.9|  9.4|  9.1|  8.9|  8.9
 250  - 499 employees..|   5.9|  5.6|  5.5|  5.6|  5.6|   5.2|  5.5|  5.3|  5.3|  5.4
 500  - 999 employees..|   4.7|  4.6|  4.5|  4.4|  4.6|   4.4|  4.5|  4.5|  4.2|  4.7
1,000 or more employees|  16.9| 16.4| 19.1| 15.2| 16.8|  17.4| 16.6| 16.7| 16.8| 18.2
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Shares measure the percent of the category represented by firm size,
     and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.



Gross Job Gains and Losses by State

   In the second quarter of 2008, 11 states and the District of Columbia
experienced net employment growth while 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands experienced net job losses.  Alaska and Wyoming had both the
highest rates of gross job gains (11.5 and 8.7 percent, respectively)
as well as the highest rates of gross job losses (9.7 and 10.4 percent,
respectively).  (See tables 5 and 6.)


More Information

   Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses are
available at the Business Employment Dynamics Web page on the BLS Web
site 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.


 ------------------------------------------------------------------
|     Comparing Business Employment Dynamics Data with Current     |
|     Employment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment     |
|                           and Wages Data                         |
|                                                                  |
|    The net change in employment from Business Employment         |
| Dynamics (BED) data series will not match the net change in      |
| employment from the monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES)  |
| survey.  The CES estimates are based on monthly surveys from a   |
| sample of establishments, while gross job gains and gross job    |
| losses are based on a quarterly census of administrative records.|
| In addition, the CES has a different coverage, excluding the     |
| agriculture sector but including establishments not covered by   |
| the unemployment insurance program.  The net over-the-quarter    |
| changes derived by aggregating component series in the BED data  |
| may be different from the net employment change estimated from   |
| the CES seasonally adjusted total employment series.  The in-    |
| tended use of the BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor    |
| market flows that underlie the net changes in aggregate employ-  |
| ment levels; data users who want to track net changes in aggre-  |
| gate employment levels over time should refer to CES data.       |
|                                                                  |
|    BED data have a more limited scope than the Quarterly Census  |
| of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data.  The data in this release,  |
| in contrast to the QCEW data, exclude government employees,      |
| private households (NAICS 814110), and establishments with zero  |
| employment.                                                      |
|                                                                  |
|    See the Technical Note for further information.               |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 


                                                                 
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), or the ES-202 program.  The BED data are compiled by the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing quarterly state unemployment
insurance (UI) records.  Most employers in the U.S. are required to file
quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI
laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes.  The quarterly UI reports are sent by
the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) to BLS and form the basis of the BLS 
establishment universe sampling frame.  These reports also are used to pro-
duce the quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitu-
dinal BED data on gross job gains and losses.  Other important BLS uses 
of the UI reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. 
(See table below for differences between QCEW, CES, and BED.)
                                     
   In the BED program, the quarterly UI 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 establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establish-
ments.

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures

   The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment mea-
sures for any given quarter.  Each of these measures--QCEW, BED, and CES--
makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; how-
ever, each measure has a somewhat different universe coverage, estimation 
procedure, and publication product.

   Differences in coverage and estimation methods can result in somewhat 
different measures of over-the-quarter employment change.  It is important to 
understand program differences and the intended uses of the program products.  
(See table below.)  Additional information on each program can be obtained 
from the program Web sites shown in the table.

				                                  
Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           |         QCEW        |         BED          |         CES
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Source     |--Count of UI admini-|--Count of longitudi- |--Sample survey: 
           |  strative records   |  nally-linked UI ad- |  400,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 9.1   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million employers  |  submitted by 7      |
           |                     |  million private sec-|
           |                     |  tor employers       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and sal-
           |  age:  all employers|  ing government, pri-|  ary jobs:
           |  subject to state   |  vate households, and|--UI Coverage, exclud-
           |  and federal UI Laws|  establishments with |  ing agriculture, pri-
           |                     |  zero employment     |  vate households, and
           |                     |                      |  self-employed workers
           |                     |                      |--Other employment, in-
           |                     |                      |  cluding railroads, 
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -7 months after the|  -8 months after the |  -Usually first Friday
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   of following month
           |   ter               |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Use of UI  |--Directly summarizes|--Links each new UI   |--Uses UI file as a sam-
file       |  and publishes each |  quarter to longitu- |  pling frame and annu-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ally realigns (bench-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  marks) sample esti-    
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  mates to first quar-  
           |                     |  losses              |  ter UI levels
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Provides a quarter-|--Provides quarterly  |--Provides current month-
products   |  ly and annual uni- |  employer dynamics   |  ly estimates of employ-
           |  verse count of es- |  data on establish-  |  ment, hours, and earn-
           |  tablishments, em-  |  ment openings, clos-|  ings at the MSA, state,
           |  ployment, and wages|  ings, expansions,   |  and national level by
           |  at the county, MSA,|  and contractions at |  industry
           |  state, and national|  the national level  |
           |  levels by detailed |  by NAICS super-     |
           |  industry           |  sectors and by size |
           |                     |  of firm, and at the |   
           |                     |  state private-sector|
           |                     |  total level         | 
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include data   |
           |                     |  with greater in-    |
           |                     |  dustry detail and   |
           |                     |  data at the county  |
           |                     |  and MSA level       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Major uses include:|--Major uses include: |--Major uses include:
uses       |  -Detailed locality |  -Business cycle     |  -Principal national
           |   data              |   analysis           |   economic indicator
           |  -Periodic universe |  -Analysis of employ-|  -Official time series 
           |   counts for bench- |   er dynamics under- |   for employment change
           |   marking sample    |   lying economic ex- |   measures
           |   survey estimates  |   pansions and con-  |  -Input into other ma-
           |  -Sample frame for  |   tractions          |   jor economic indi-
           |   BLS establishment |  -Analysis of employ-|   cators
           |   surveys           |   ment expansion and |
           |                     |   contraction by size|   
           |                     |   of firm            |
           |                     |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Program    |--www.bls.gov/cew/   |--www.bls.gov/bdm/    |--www.bls.gov/ces/
Web sites  |                     |                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               
                           
Coverage                           

   Employment and wage data for workers covered by state UI and Unemployment 
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) laws are compiled from quarterly 
contribution reports submitted to the SWAs by employers.  In addition to the 
quarterly contribution reports, employers who operate multiple establishments 
within a state complete a questionnaire, called the "Multiple Worksite Report,"
which provides detailed information on the location of their establishments. 
These reports are based on place of employment rather than place of residence. 
UI and UCFE coverage is broad and basically comparable from state to state.
   
   Major exclusions from UI coverage are self-employed workers, religious or-
ganizations, most agricultural workers on small farms, all members of the 
Armed Forces, elected officials in most states, most employees of railroads, 
some domestic workers, most student workers at schools, and employees of cer-
tain small nonprofit organizations.
   
   Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from lon-
gitudinal histories of over 7 million private sector employer reports out 
of 9.1 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 
BLS in the second quarter of 2008.  Gross job gains and gross job losses data 
in this release do not report estimates for government employees or private 
households (NAICS 814110) and do not include establishments with zero employ-
ment in both previous and current quarters.  Data from Puerto Rico and the 
Virgin Islands also are excluded from the national data.  As an illustration, 
the table below shows, in millions of establishments, the number of establish-
ments excluded from the gross job gains and gross job losses data in the second 
quarter of 2008:


             Number of active establishments included in 
              Business Employment Dynamics data at the
                          national level

                                                                   Millions
                                                                       
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.1

    Excluded:  Public sector.........................................0.3 
               Private households....................................0.6
               Zero employment.......................................1.1      
               Establishments in Puerto Rico 
                 and the Virgin Islands..............................0.1 
         
Total establishments included in Business
Employment Dynamics data.............................................7.0

Unit of analysis
   
   Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by in-
dustry and firms are used in the tabulation of the BED size class sta-
tistics.  An establishment is defined as an economic unit that produces
goods or services, usually at a single physical location, and engages in
one or predominantly one activity.  A firm is a legal business, either
corporate or otherwise, and may consist of several establishments.  Firm-
level data are compiled based on an aggregation of establishments under
common ownership by a corporate parent using employer tax identification
numbers.  The firm-level aggregation, which is consistent with the role of
corporations as the economic decision makers, is used for the measurement
of the BED data elements by size class.
   
   Because of the difference in the unit of analysis, total gross job gains
and gross job losses by size class are lower than total gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry, as some establishment gains and losses within
a firm are offset during the aggregation process.  However, the total net
changes in employment are the same for not seasonally adjusted data and are
similar for seasonally adjusted data.
                                 
Concepts and methodology

   The Business Employment Dynamics data measure the net change in employ-
ment at the establishment or firm level.  These changes come about in one 
of four ways.  A net increase in employment can come from either opening 
units or expanding units.  A net decrease in employment can come from either 
closing units or contracting units.  Gross job gains include the sum of all
jobs added at either opening or expanding units.  Gross job losses include
the sum of all jobs lost in either closing or contracting units.  The net
change in employment is the difference between gross job gains and gross
job losses.
   
   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 em-
ployment 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 units with positive third-month employment in the pre-
vious 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.

   All establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third 
month of each quarter.  Not all establishments and firms change their em-
ployment levels.  Units with no change in employment count towards estimates
of total employment, but not for levels of gross employment job gains and 
gross job losses.

   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 quar-
ters.  This provides a symmetric growth rate.  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.

Linkage methodology

   Prior to the measurement of gross job gains and gross job losses, QCEW
records are linked across two quarters.  The linkage process matches esta-
blishments' unique SWA identification numbers (SWA-ID).  Between 95 to 97
percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter
are matched by SWA-ID.  The rest are linked in one of three ways.  The first
method uses predecessor and successor information, identified by the states,
which relates records with different SWA-IDs across quarters.  Predecessor
and successor relations can come about for a variety of reasons, including
a change in ownership, a firm restructuring, or a UI account restructuring.
If a match cannot be attained in this manner, a probability-based match is
used.  This match attempts to identify two establishments with different SWA-
IDs as continuous.  The match is based upon comparisons such as the same
name, address, and phone number.  Third, an analyst examines unmatched re-
cords individually and makes a possible match.

   In order to ensure the highest possible quality of data, SWAs verify with 
employers and update, if necessary, the industry, location, and ownership 
classification of all establishments on a 3-year cycle.  Changes in establish-
ment classification codes resulting from the verification process are intro-
duced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year.  Changes re-
sulting from improved employer reporting also are introduced in the first 
quarter.   
                              
Sizing methodology
   
   The method of dynamic sizing is used in calculations for the BED size-
class data series.  Dynamic sizing allocates each firm's employment gain or
loss during a quarter to each respective size class in which the change
occurred.  For example, if a firm grew from 2 employees in quarter 1 to 38
employees in quarter 2, then, of the 36-employee increase, 2 would be al-
located to the first size class, 5 to the size class 5 to 9, 10 to size
class 10 to 19, and 19 to size class 20 to 49.
   
   Dynamic sizing provides symmetrical firm-size estimates and eliminates
any systematic effects which may be caused by the transitory and reverting
changes in firms' sizes over time.  Additionally, it allocates each job
gain or loss to the actual size class where it occurred.

Seasonal adjustment

   Over the course of a year, the levels of employment and the associated
job flows undergo sharp fluctuations due to such seasonal events as changes
in the weather, reduced or expanded production, harvests, major holidays,
and the opening and closing of schools.  The effect of such seasonal vari-
ation can be very large.

   Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each 
year, their influence can be eliminated by adjusting these statistics from 
quarter to quarter.  These adjustments make nonseasonal developments, such as 
declines in economic activity, easier to recognize.  For example, the large 
number of youths taking summer jobs is likely to obscure other changes that 
have taken place in June relative to March, making it difficult to determine 
if the level of economic activity has risen or declined.  However, because
the effect of students finishing school in previous years is known, the 
statistics for the current year can be adjusted to allow for a comparable 
change.  The adjusted figures provide a more useful tool with which to ana-
lyze changes in economic activity.

   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contract-
ing units are independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated
based on the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.  Simi-
larly, for industry data, the establishment counts data series for opening,
expanding, closing, and contracting establishments are independently adjusted,
and the net changes are calculated based on the difference between the number
of opening and closing establishments.  Additionally, establishment and em-
ployment levels are independently seasonally adjusted to calculate the sea-
sonally adjusted rates.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment is run using X-12
ARIMA.  Seasonally adjusted data series for the total private sector are cal-
culated by summing the seasonally adjusted data for all sectors, including
the unclassified sector, which is not published separately.
   
   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting 
units for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are seasonally
adjusted at the total private level only.  The sum of the state series for
opening, expanding, closing, and contracting units will not necessarily be
equal to the national total private series because of the independent seasonal
adjustment of these series.
   
   The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED component series 
will differ from the net employment change estimated from the seasonally ad-
justed total private employment series from the CES program.  The intended use 
of BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor market changes that underlie 
the net employment change statistic.  As such, data users interested particu-
larly in the net employment change and not in the gross job flows underlying 
this change should refer to CES data for over-the-quarter net employment
changes.
   
Reliability of the data
   
   Since the data series on Business Employment Dynamics are based on admini-
strative rather than sample data, there are no issues related to sampling 
error.  Nonsampling error, however, still exists.  Nonsampling errors can oc-
cur for many reasons, such as the employer submitting corrected employment 
data after the end of the quarter or typographical errors made by businesses 
when providing information.  Such errors, however, are likely to be distri-
buted randomly throughout the dataset.
   
   Changes in administrative data sometimes create complications for the 
linkage process.  This can result in overstating openings and closings while 
understating expansions and contractions.  The BLS continues to refine methods 
for improving the linkage process to alleviate the effects of these compli-
cations.
   
   The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on correc-
tions in QCEW records, updates on predecessors and successors information, and
seasonal adjustment revisions.
                      
Additional statistics and other information
   
   Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information.  
The QCEW program, also known as the ES-202 program, provides both quarterly 
and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed industry. 
News releases on quarterly county employment and wages are available upon 
request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212; 
telephone 202-691-6567; (http://www.bls.gov/cew/); (e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).
                                     
   The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, its net change, 
and earnings by detailed industry.  These estimates are part of the Employ-
ment Situation report put out monthly by BLS.
                                     
   The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides month-
ly measures of job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired in-
dividuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral 
number: 1-800-877-8339.






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

Total private

(In thousands)

                                                  Gross job gains                       Gross job losses
Year  3 months ended  Net change(1) Total     Expanding      Opening      Total     Contracting      Closing
                                           establishments establishments           establishments establishments

1992  September            599      7,329       5,688         1,641       6,730       5,308           1,422
      December             123      6,986       5,452         1,534       6,863       5,484           1,379

1993  March                288      7,117       5,404         1,713       6,829       5,364           1,465
      June                 734      7,275       5,782         1,493       6,541       5,155           1,386
      September            965      7,539       5,926         1,613       6,574       5,265           1,309
      December             603      7,375       5,822         1,553       6,772       5,411           1,361

1994  March                559      7,381       5,800         1,581       6,822       5,401           1,421
      June                 905      7,709       6,041         1,668       6,804       5,315           1,489
      September          1,288      8,002       6,277         1,725       6,714       5,426           1,288
      December             460      7,535       5,978         1,557       7,075       5,642           1,433

1995  March                758      7,787       6,124         1,663       7,029       5,652           1,377
      June                 358      7,666       6,006         1,660       7,308       5,840           1,468
      September            845      7,983       6,341         1,642       7,138       5,645           1,493
      December             378      7,830       6,140         1,690       7,452       5,929           1,523

1996  March                457      7,933       6,179         1,754       7,476       5,967           1,509
      June                 631      8,051       6,282         1,769       7,420       5,903           1,517
      September            704      8,177       6,373         1,804       7,473       5,942           1,531
      December             816      8,206       6,396         1,810       7,390       5,875           1,515

1997  March                784      8,214       6,407         1,807       7,430       5,886           1,544
      June                 584      8,055       6,330         1,725       7,471       5,931           1,540
      September            901      8,515       6,718         1,797       7,614       5,927           1,687
      December             708      8,617       6,697         1,920       7,909       6,024           1,885

1998  March                711      8,648       6,599         2,049       7,937       6,077           1,860
      June                 610      8,629       6,552         2,077       8,019       6,224           1,795
      September            742      8,508       6,607         1,901       7,766       6,093           1,673
      December             768      8,475       6,737         1,738       7,707       6,025           1,682

1999  March                353      8,585       6,626         1,959       8,232       6,395           1,837
      June                 644      8,539       6,661         1,878       7,895       6,210           1,685
      September            588      8,571       6,734         1,837       7,983       6,250           1,733
      December           1,005      8,749       6,956         1,793       7,744       6,076           1,668

2000  March                789      8,792       6,924         1,868       8,003       6,341           1,662
      June                 492      8,499       6,814         1,685       8,007       6,387           1,620
      September            296      8,506       6,728         1,778       8,210       6,483           1,727
      December             295      8,400       6,702         1,698       8,105       6,433           1,672

2001  March               -156      8,436       6,694         1,742       8,592       6,717           1,875
      June                -792      8,009       6,319         1,690       8,801       7,050           1,751
      September         -1,184      7,608       5,917         1,691       8,792       6,991           1,801
      December            -960      7,591       5,932         1,659       8,551       6,858           1,693

2002  March                -39      8,049       6,259         1,790       8,088       6,424           1,664
      June                 -38      7,890       6,164         1,726       7,928       6,290           1,638
      September           -171      7,608       6,015         1,593       7,779       6,248           1,531
      December            -198      7,522       5,960         1,562       7,720       6,171           1,549

2003  March               -412      7,439       5,917         1,522       7,851       6,311           1,540
      June                -104      7,401       5,928         1,473       7,505       6,040           1,465
      September            204      7,383       5,918         1,465       7,179       5,818           1,361
      December             309      7,549       6,016         1,533       7,240       5,802           1,438

2004  March                450      7,683       6,189         1,494       7,233       5,799           1,434
      June                 631      7,760       6,234         1,526       7,129       5,648           1,481
      September            215      7,630       6,057         1,573       7,415       5,877           1,538
      December             781      7,872       6,256         1,616       7,091       5,660           1,431

2005  March                363      7,595       6,123         1,472       7,232       5,806           1,426
      June                 585      7,783       6,231         1,552       7,198       5,785           1,413
      September            680      7,962       6,387         1,575       7,282       5,834           1,448
      December             516      7,833       6,263         1,570       7,317       5,945           1,372

2006  March                787      7,697       6,278         1,419       6,910       5,635           1,275
      June                 410      7,795       6,274         1,521       7,385       6,009           1,376
      September             36      7,488       6,052         1,436       7,452       6,099           1,353
      December             492      7,801       6,262         1,539       7,309       5,953           1,356

2007  March                470      7,627       6,228         1,399       7,157       5,872           1,285
      June                 192      7,665       6,250         1,415       7,473       6,066           1,407
      September           -241      7,323       5,849         1,474       7,564       6,209           1,355
      December             310      7,676       6,220         1,456       7,366       6,010           1,356

2008  March               -270      7,130       5,731         1,399       7,400       6,047           1,353
      June                -493      7,258       5,858         1,400       7,751       6,277           1,474

(1) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Table 2.  Private sector gross job gains and losses, as a percent of employment(1), seasonally adjusted

Total private

(Percent)

                                                  Gross job gains                       Gross job losses
Year  3 months ended  Net change(2) Total     Expanding      Opening      Total     Contracting      Closing
                                           establishments establishments           establishments establishments

1992  September             .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          5.9            1.6
      December              .2       7.8         6.1           1.7         7.6          6.1            1.5

1993  March                 .3       7.9         6.0           1.9         7.6          6.0            1.6
      June                  .8       8.0         6.4           1.6         7.2          5.7            1.5
      September            1.1       8.3         6.5           1.8         7.2          5.8            1.4
      December              .6       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.4          5.9            1.5

1994  March                 .7       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                 1.0       8.3         6.5           1.8         7.3          5.7            1.6
      September            1.3       8.4         6.6           1.8         7.1          5.7            1.4
      December              .5       7.9         6.3           1.6         7.4          5.9            1.5

1995  March                 .8       8.1         6.4           1.7         7.3          5.9            1.4
      June                  .3       7.9         6.2           1.7         7.6          6.1            1.5
      September             .9       8.2         6.5           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      December              .3       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.7          6.1            1.6

1996  March                 .5       8.1         6.3           1.8         7.6          6.1            1.5
      June                  .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          6.0            1.5
      September             .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          6.0            1.5
      December              .8       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.4          5.9            1.5

1997  March                 .9       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                  .6       7.9         6.2           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September            1.0       8.4         6.6           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December              .8       8.4         6.5           1.9         7.6          5.8            1.8

1998  March                 .7       8.4         6.4           2.0         7.7          5.9            1.8
      June                  .6       8.3         6.3           2.0         7.7          6.0            1.7
      September             .7       8.1         6.3           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December              .7       8.0         6.4           1.6         7.3          5.7            1.6

1999  March                 .3       8.0         6.2           1.8         7.7          6.0            1.7
      June                  .6       8.0         6.2           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      September             .6       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December             1.0       8.1         6.4           1.7         7.1          5.6            1.5

2000  March                 .7       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                  .4       7.7         6.2           1.5         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September             .2       7.7         6.1           1.6         7.5          5.9            1.6
      December              .3       7.6         6.1           1.5         7.3          5.8            1.5

2001  March                -.1       7.7         6.1           1.6         7.8          6.1            1.7
      June                 -.8       7.2         5.7           1.5         8.0          6.4            1.6
      September           -1.2       6.9         5.4           1.5         8.1          6.4            1.7
      December             -.9       7.0         5.5           1.5         7.9          6.3            1.6

2002  March                 .0       7.5         5.8           1.7         7.5          6.0            1.5
      June                  .0       7.3         5.7           1.6         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September            -.1       7.1         5.6           1.5         7.2          5.8            1.4
      December              .0       7.1         5.6           1.5         7.1          5.7            1.4

2003  March                -.4       6.9         5.5           1.4         7.3          5.9            1.4
      June                 -.1       7.0         5.6           1.4         7.1          5.7            1.4
      September             .2       6.9         5.5           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3
      December              .3       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3

2004  March                 .5       7.2         5.8           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3
      June                  .6       7.2         5.8           1.4         6.6          5.2            1.4
      September             .3       7.1         5.6           1.5         6.8          5.4            1.4
      December              .7       7.2         5.7           1.5         6.5          5.2            1.3

2005  March                 .3       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.6          5.3            1.3
      June                  .5       7.1         5.7           1.4         6.6          5.3            1.3
      September             .6       7.2         5.8           1.4         6.6          5.3            1.3
      December              .4       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.6          5.4            1.2

2006  March                 .8       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.1          5.0            1.1
      June                  .5       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September             .1       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .4       6.9         5.5           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2

2007  March                 .4       6.7         5.5           1.2         6.3          5.2            1.1
      June                  .2       6.7         5.5           1.2         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September            -.3       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.7          5.5            1.2
      December              .3       6.8         5.5           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2008  March                -.3       6.2         5.0           1.2         6.5          5.3            1.2
      June                 -.4       6.4         5.2           1.2         6.8          5.5            1.3

(1) The rates measure gross job gains and gross job losses as a percentage
    of the previous and current quarter employment levels.

(2) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Table 3: Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted

                                      Gross job gains and job losses      Gross job gains and job losses
                                           (in thousands)                   as a percent of employment

    Category                                 3 months ended                      3 months ended

                                   June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.    June   June   Sept.  Dec.   Mar.   June  
                                   2007    2007    2007    2008    2008   2007   2007   2007   2008   2008
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,665   7,323   7,676   7,130   7,258    6.7    6.4    6.8    6.2    6.4
 At expanding establishments      6,250   5,849   6,220   5,731   5,858    5.5    5.1    5.5    5.0    5.2
 At opening establishments        1,415   1,474   1,456   1,399   1,400    1.2    1.3    1.3    1.2    1.2
Gross job losses                  7,473   7,564   7,366   7,400   7,751    6.5    6.7    6.5    6.5    6.8
 At contracting establishments    6,066   6,209   6,010   6,047   6,277    5.3    5.5    5.3    5.3    5.5
 At closing establishments        1,407   1,355   1,356   1,353   1,474    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.3
Net employment change               192    -241     310    -270    -493     .2    -.3     .3    -.3    -.4

Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,633   1,504   1,573   1,493   1,494    7.0    6.4    6.8    6.5    6.6
 At expanding establishments      1,386   1,262   1,337   1,258   1,268    5.9    5.4    5.8    5.5    5.6
 At opening establishments          247     242     236     235     226    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.0    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,713   1,725   1,701   1,758   1,778    7.3    7.5    7.4    7.6    7.8
 At contracting establishments    1,433   1,455   1,424   1,481   1,486    6.1    6.3    6.2    6.4    6.5
 At closing establishments          280     270     277     277     292    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.3
Net employment change               -80    -221    -128    -265    -284    -.3   -1.1    -.6   -1.1   -1.2

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     290     262     292     274     280   15.8   14.4   15.8   14.5   14.9
 At expanding establishments        251     224     250     234     242   13.7   12.3   13.5   12.4   12.9
 At opening establishments           39      38      42      40      38    2.1    2.1    2.3    2.1    2.0
Gross job losses                    274     274     261     293     268   14.9   15.1   14.1   15.5   14.3
 At contracting establishments      233     233     224     251     228   12.7   12.8   12.1   13.3   12.2
 At closing establishments           41      41      37      42      40    2.2    2.3    2.0    2.2    2.1
Net employment change                16     -12      31     -19      12     .9    -.7    1.7   -1.0     .6

Construction

Gross job gains                     820     772     784     763     737   10.7   10.2   10.5   10.2   10.1
 At expanding establishments        657     616     634     614     593    8.6    8.1    8.5    8.2    8.1
 At opening establishments          163     156     150     149     144    2.1    2.1    2.0    2.0    2.0
Gross job losses                    865     882     875     869     922   11.3   11.7   11.7   11.7   12.6
 At contracting establishments      696     715     702     698     738    9.1    9.5    9.4    9.4   10.1
 At closing establishments          169     167     173     171     184    2.2    2.2    2.3    2.3    2.5
Net employment change               -45    -110     -91    -106    -185    -.6   -1.5   -1.2   -1.5   -2.5

Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     523     470     497     456     477    3.7    3.3    3.6    3.3    3.5
 At expanding establishments        478     422     453     410     433    3.4    3.0    3.3    3.0    3.2
 At opening establishments           45      48      44      46      44     .3     .3     .3     .3     .3
Gross job losses                    574     569     565     596     588    4.1    4.1    4.1    4.4    4.3
 At contracting establishments      504     507     498     532     520    3.6    3.7    3.6    3.9    3.8
 At closing establishments           70      62      67      64      68     .5     .4     .5     .5     .5
Net employment change               -51     -99     -68    -140    -111    -.4    -.8    -.5   -1.1    -.8

Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   6,032   5,819   6,103   5,637   5,764    6.7    6.5    6.7    6.2    6.3
 At expanding establishments      4,864   4,587   4,883   4,473   4,590    5.4    5.1    5.4    4.9    5.0
 At opening establishments        1,168   1,232   1,220   1,164   1,174    1.3    1.4    1.3    1.3    1.3
Gross job losses                  5,760   5,839   5,665   5,642   5,973    6.3    6.4    6.3    6.2    6.6
 At contracting establishments    4,633   4,754   4,586   4,566   4,791    5.1    5.2    5.1    5.0    5.3
 At closing establishments        1,127   1,085   1,079   1,076   1,182    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.3
Net employment change               272     -20     438      -5    -209     .4     .1     .4     .0    -.3

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     321     310     321     294     295    5.4    5.1    5.4    4.9    4.9
 At expanding establishments        264     248     263     238     239    4.4    4.1    4.4    4.0    4.0
 At opening establishments           57      62      58      56      56    1.0    1.0    1.0     .9     .9
Gross job losses                    304     308     301     306     314    5.1    5.2    5.0    5.1    5.3
 At contracting establishments      233     244     232     239     243    3.9    4.1    3.9    4.0    4.1
 At closing establishments           71      64      69      67      71    1.2    1.1    1.1    1.1    1.2
Net employment change                17       2      20     -12     -19     .3    -.1     .4    -.2    -.4

Retail trade

Gross job gains                   1,029   1,007   1,022     954     939    6.6    6.5    6.6    6.2    6.0
 At expanding establishments        871     821     870     804     785    5.6    5.3    5.6    5.2    5.0
 At opening establishments          158     186     152     150     154    1.0    1.2    1.0    1.0    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,042   1,064   1,011     979   1,080    6.7    6.8    6.5    6.3    6.9
 At contracting establishments      905     926     871     846     935    5.8    5.9    5.6    5.4    6.0
 At closing establishments          137     138     140     133     145     .9     .9     .9     .9     .9
Net employment change               -13     -57      11     -25    -141    -.1    -.3     .1    -.1    -.9

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     246     224     254     208     225    5.7    5.2    5.8    4.8    5.2
 At expanding establishments        209     190     219     177     193    4.8    4.4    5.0    4.1    4.5
 At opening establishments           37      34      35      31      32     .9     .8     .8     .7     .7
Gross job losses                    223     233     229     250     253    5.2    5.4    5.3    5.8    5.9
 At contracting establishments      185     194     189     216     210    4.3    4.5    4.4    5.0    4.9
 At closing establishments           38      39      40      34      43     .9     .9     .9     .8    1.0
Net employment change                23      -9      25     -42     -28     .5    -.2     .5   -1.0    -.7

Utilities

Gross job gains                      15      14      15      13      16    2.8    2.6    2.8    2.4    2.9
 At expanding establishments         14      13      13      11      14    2.6    2.4    2.4    2.0    2.5
 At opening establishments            1       1       2       2       2     .2     .2     .4     .4     .4
Gross job losses                     12      12      11      10      12    2.2    2.2    2.0    1.8    2.2
 At contracting establishments       10      10      10       9      10    1.8    1.8    1.8    1.6    1.8
 At closing establishments            2       2       1       1       2     .4     .4     .2     .2     .4
Net employment change                 3       2       4       3       4     .6     .4     .8     .6     .7

Information

Gross job gains                     161     155     145     154     162    5.3    5.1    4.7    5.1    5.4
 At expanding establishments        137     127     117     129     139    4.5    4.2    3.8    4.3    4.6
 At opening establishments           24      28      28      25      23     .8     .9     .9     .8     .8
Gross job losses                    139     154     155     153     161    4.6    5.0    5.1    5.1    5.4
 At contracting establishments      113     129     126     123     126    3.7    4.2    4.1    4.1    4.2
 At closing establishments           26      25      29      30      35     .9     .8    1.0    1.0    1.2
Net employment change                22       1     -10       1       1     .7     .1    -.4     .0     .0

Financial activities

Gross job gains                     433     418     432     412     394    5.3    5.1    5.3    5.1    4.9
 At expanding establishments        346     322     332     324     310    4.2    3.9    4.1    4.0    3.9
 At opening establishments           87      96     100      88      84    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.1    1.0
Gross job losses                    463     479     486     436     455    5.6    5.8    6.0    5.4    5.7
 At contracting establishments      354     362     368     323     345    4.3    4.4    4.5    4.0    4.3
 At closing establishments          109     117     118     113     110    1.3    1.4    1.5    1.4    1.4
Net employment change               -30     -61     -54     -24     -61    -.3    -.7    -.7    -.3    -.8

Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,403   1,316   1,440   1,239   1,345    7.8    7.4    8.0    6.8    7.5
 At expanding establishments      1,148   1,053   1,158     998   1,073    6.4    5.9    6.4    5.5    6.0
 At opening establishments          255     263     282     241     272    1.4    1.5    1.6    1.3    1.5
Gross job losses                  1,347   1,339   1,337   1,358   1,433    7.5    7.5    7.5    7.6    8.1
 At contracting establishments    1,041   1,075   1,072   1,094   1,100    5.8    6.0    6.0    6.1    6.2
 At closing establishments          306     264     265     264     333    1.7    1.5    1.5    1.5    1.9
Net employment change                56     -23     103    -119     -88     .3    -.1     .5    -.8    -.6

Education and health services

Gross job gains                     795     810     814     785     788    4.6    4.7    4.6    4.4    4.4
 At expanding establishments        676     678     695     661     673    3.9    3.9    3.9    3.7    3.8
 At opening establishments          119     132     119     124     115     .7     .8     .7     .7     .6
Gross job losses                    696     685     666     667     715    4.0    3.9    3.7    3.8    4.0
 At contracting establishments      577     568     552     551     587    3.3    3.2    3.1    3.1    3.3
 At closing establishments          119     117     114     116     128     .7     .7     .6     .7     .7
Net employment change                99     125     148     118      73     .6     .8     .9     .6     .4

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,228   1,179   1,247   1,158   1,183    9.2    8.9    9.3    8.6    8.7
 At expanding establishments        939     891     961     879     908    7.0    6.7    7.2    6.5    6.7
 At opening establishments          289     288     286     279     275    2.2    2.2    2.1    2.1    2.0
Gross job losses                  1,206   1,224   1,148   1,154   1,218    9.0    9.1    8.5    8.6    9.1
 At contracting establishments      975     993     931     930     993    7.3    7.4    6.9    6.9    7.4
 At closing establishments          231     231     217     224     225    1.7    1.7    1.6    1.7    1.7
Net employment change                22     -45      99       4     -35     .2    -.2     .8     .0    -.4

Other services

Gross job gains                     308     293     296     290     300    7.9    7.5    7.6    7.5    7.7
 At expanding establishments        247     230     238     233     238    6.3    5.9    6.1    6.0    6.1
 At opening establishments           61      63      58      57      62    1.6    1.6    1.5    1.5    1.6
Gross job losses                    289     307     287     289     293    7.4    7.8    7.3    7.4    7.5
 At contracting establishments      227     243     224     224     228    5.8    6.2    5.7    5.7    5.8
 At closing establishments           62      64      63      65      65    1.6    1.6    1.6    1.7    1.7
Net employment change                19     -14       9       1       7     .5    -.3     .3     .1     .2

(1) Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately

Table 4.  Private sector percentage share (1) of gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted

(Percent)

                                                         3 months ended

                              June  2007     Sept. 2007      Dec.  2007      Mar.  2008      June  2008


Firm size 1 - 4 employees

Gross job gains...............   14.9            16.2            15.6            16.2            15.4
   Expanding firms............    7.1             7.5             7.2             7.7             7.3
   Opening firms..............   58.4            59.4            61.5            58.9            58.9
Gross job losses..............   16.1            15.8            16.0            16.7            15.9
   Contracting firms..........    7.9             7.7             8.0             8.1             7.6
   Closing firms..............   59.6            60.1            59.6            60.9            61.0

Firm size 5 - 9 employees

Gross job gains...............   11.6            12.2            11.4            12.4            11.8
   Expanding firms............   10.8            11.3            10.7            11.6            10.9
   Opening firms..............   16.5            16.4            15.5            16.5            16.6
Gross job losses..............   12.3            12.1            12.3            12.4            11.9
   Contracting firms..........   11.6            11.3            11.5            11.7            11.1
   Closing firms..............   16.1            16.1            16.2            15.9            16.0

Firm size 10 - 19 employees

Gross job gains...............   12.1            12.2            11.6            12.6            12.1
   Expanding firms............   12.2            12.5            11.9            12.9            12.3
   Opening firms..............   11.4            10.7            10.1            11.0            11.1
Gross job losses..............   12.3            12.3            12.4            12.4            12.0
   Contracting firms..........   12.7            12.7            12.6            12.8            12.3
   Closing firms..............   10.5            10.5            10.8            10.2            10.4

Firm size 20 - 49 employees

Gross job gains...............   14.5            14.3            13.8            14.7            14.4
   Expanding firms............   15.6            15.6            14.9            16.1            15.6
   Opening firms..............    8.6             7.7             7.7             7.8             8.4
Gross job losses..............   14.3            14.5            14.4            14.3            13.9
   Contracting firms..........   15.5            15.7            15.6            15.6            15.2
   Closing firms..............    8.0             7.9             8.0             7.5             7.4

Firm size 50 - 99 employees

Gross job gains...............    9.1             8.9             8.7             9.1             9.1
   Expanding firms............   10.2            10.1             9.8            10.4            10.2
   Opening firms..............    2.9             2.8             2.8             2.7             2.8
Gross job losses..............    8.6             8.9             8.9             8.7             8.6
   Contracting firms..........    9.7            10.0            10.0             9.9             9.7
   Closing firms..............    2.8             2.7             2.9             2.8             2.6

Firm size 100 - 249 employees

Gross job gains...............    9.8             9.2             9.3             9.4             9.7
   Expanding firms............   11.3            10.8            10.7            11.1            11.2
   Opening firms..............    1.3             1.5             1.3             1.3             1.3
Gross job losses..............    8.9             9.4             9.1             8.9             8.9
   Contracting firms..........   10.2            10.8            10.4            10.3            10.3
   Closing firms..............    1.6             1.6             1.6             1.5             1.5

Firm size 250 - 499 employees

Gross job gains...............    5.9             5.6             5.5             5.6             5.6
   Expanding firms............    6.9             6.6             6.5             6.6             6.6
   Opening firms..............     .4              .5              .3              .4              .4
Gross job losses..............    5.2             5.5             5.3             5.3             5.4
   Contracting firms..........    6.1             6.4             6.2             6.2             6.4
   Closing firms..............     .6              .5              .5              .4              .4

Firm size 500 - 999 employees

Gross job gains...............    4.7             4.6             4.5             4.4             4.6
   Expanding firms............    5.5             5.5             5.3             5.2             5.5
   Opening firms..............     .2              .2              .2              .3              .2
Gross job losses..............    4.4             4.5             4.5             4.2             4.7
   Contracting firms..........    5.2             5.3             5.3             4.9             5.5
   Closing firms..............     .3              .2              .1              .2              .2

Firm size 1,000 or more employees

Gross job gains...............   16.9            16.4            19.1            15.2            16.8
   Expanding firms............   20.0            19.6            22.6            18.1            19.9
   Opening firms..............     .1              .5              .2              .7              .0
Gross job losses..............   17.4            16.6            16.7            16.8            18.2
   Contracting firms..........   20.7            19.7            19.8            20.1            21.5
   Closing firms..............     .2              .0              .0              .2              .2


(1) Share measures the percent of the category represented by each firm size class,
    and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.

Table 5.  Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

                                         Gross job gains                                          Gross job losses
State                                    (3 months ended)                                         (3 months ended)
                        June       Sept.      Dec.        Mar.      June       June         Sept.      Dec.        Mar.      June 
                        2007       2007       2007        2008      2008       2007         2007       2007        2008      2008

United States1.....  7,665,000  7,323,000  7,676,000   7,130,000  7,258,000  7,473,000   7,564,000   7,366,000  7,400,000  7,751,000

Alabama.....           100,808    101,828    107,871      96,431     92,858    108,221     103,535     104,544    102,216    103,750
Alaska.....             28,101     22,638     24,875      24,026     27,326     24,267      26,359      26,209     21,293     23,152
Arizona.....           155,009    157,479    157,454     131,093    135,186    159,271     159,009     173,557    157,425    169,011
Arkansas.....           55,197     56,555     60,518      57,573     55,808     62,063      57,918      57,447     55,687     61,899
California.....        945,317    914,523    991,318     883,486    924,534    971,930     946,834     917,701    970,184    992,365
Colorado.....          150,850    148,802    147,704     144,403    142,518    136,425     145,775     142,396    139,549    143,312
Connecticut.....        90,055     78,985     84,896      75,774     81,956     77,009      83,429      82,717     75,913     79,403
Delaware.....           25,134     23,562     26,057      22,843     22,931     23,614      27,512      23,286     23,490     26,415
District of Columbia    27,860     26,552     26,858      27,668     29,566     26,521      28,084      26,855     24,968     26,545
Florida.....           496,973    495,029    503,784     462,893    456,432    531,335     557,640     557,019    508,941    559,962

Georgia.....           243,842    244,518    246,217     241,910    235,469    251,328     242,518     257,581    248,694    265,860
Hawaii.....             29,787     26,953     27,626      27,444     26,659     26,976      30,063      26,283     28,861     35,007
Idaho.....              44,611     42,078     46,957      43,825     40,999     45,016      45,607      42,462     47,387     48,725
Illinois.....          298,205    269,396    289,963     257,263    279,798    273,666     289,684     284,241    277,394    274,501
Indiana.....           154,286    145,385    147,408     128,823    148,823    148,037     154,035     152,272    151,313    156,699
Iowa.....               80,645     74,297     76,423      75,913     75,492     72,946      76,519      72,570     75,739     77,074
Kansas.....             71,588     74,748     72,455      85,756     73,245     75,089      67,156      72,803     76,089     76,424
Kentucky.....           96,967     87,033     98,760      89,802     92,385     93,881      96,077      91,580     94,167     94,347
Louisiana.....         110,681    110,325    114,566     105,843    106,666    113,637     107,897     102,061    101,310    110,348
Maine.....              40,256     37,699     39,812      35,386     39,310     38,603      40,136      36,533     38,311     38,951

Maryland.....          129,968    136,821    133,972     129,204    130,724    129,484     138,112     137,186    132,403    144,023
Massachusetts.....     180,726    167,840    163,903     156,011    170,476    151,899     175,531     169,769    152,572    161,310
Michigan.....          240,220    225,991    226,325     207,642    227,833    230,565     246,215     249,067    242,937    245,121
Minnesota.....         151,593    151,427    140,089     139,026    141,178    143,597     140,365     143,481    142,695    144,422
Mississippi.....        60,017     62,592     65,791      57,582     55,524     66,956      58,456      57,571     58,523     68,125
Missouri.....          142,046    146,395    138,451     137,642    142,593    145,375     144,782     141,379    139,452    147,646
Montana.....            30,040     29,111     32,517      30,702     27,908     30,769      29,363      28,468     30,160     31,601
Nebraska.....           48,148     48,569     47,931      46,332     44,468     44,493      44,276      47,536     42,107     47,868
Nevada.....             74,132     69,323     85,876      76,077     71,885     77,618      82,736      77,350     85,232     84,034
New Hampshire.....      40,806     36,282     39,237      35,433     38,576     37,485      39,787      38,422     37,137     38,970

New Jersey.....        242,733    216,092    227,637     202,756    230,667    217,207     234,703     218,322    213,561    225,045
New Mexico.....         45,581     46,822     47,752      44,333     43,833     49,069      47,911      44,620     41,459     47,977
New York.....          496,723    447,389    492,874     435,576    471,669    448,036     463,652     439,494    450,588    466,336
North Carolina.....    231,964    224,225    233,942     222,100    207,441    230,720     223,101     217,800    221,137    237,807
North Dakota.....       19,319     19,566     20,281      21,771     19,325     18,632      17,948      17,305     17,438     18,918
Ohio.....              286,268    253,718    270,727     243,918    271,662    271,389     282,838     274,342    283,287    273,471
Oklahoma.....           85,967     82,213     80,007      86,731     81,885     86,659      76,306      77,962     72,919     80,295
Oregon.....            101,500    102,187    107,206      97,406     89,219    105,123     100,470     103,814    100,289    110,881
Pennsylvania.....      303,250    269,675    289,282     267,831    287,681    277,287     288,146     275,587    274,187    282,520
Rhode Island.....       28,775     23,395     25,807      23,562     26,773     26,609      29,596      28,218     26,635     27,873

South Carolina.....    103,434     99,461    103,048      99,070     92,276    105,915     100,979     105,799    100,963    107,813
South Dakota.....       21,945     20,782     21,382      21,942     21,298     19,784      20,340      20,270     19,382     21,663
Tennessee.....         144,880    142,360    141,888     133,791    131,679    145,002     141,564     133,361    138,012    150,958
Texas.....             554,057    538,336    568,802     535,846    529,866    489,940     504,337     487,640    484,274    520,811
Utah.....               77,649     74,231     81,880      71,826     70,125     71,533      76,234      75,317     71,419     77,237
Vermont.....            19,069     19,066     20,368      17,728     18,395     19,040      20,052      18,694     19,372     18,709
Virginia.....          191,902    178,420    184,806     186,117    185,464    186,930     191,182     186,717    181,561    190,261
Washington.....        183,218    169,948    185,367     185,681    160,249    166,579     175,505     164,540    167,911    188,699
West Virginia.....      37,553     36,543     40,109      36,735     35,116     37,981      38,839      36,420     37,112     37,914
Wisconsin.....         147,543    129,879    136,739     133,678    138,886    134,549     144,564     135,453    136,642    144,751

Wyoming.....            19,121     21,394     23,500      23,351     19,438     21,843      19,945      18,010     19,803     23,122
Puerto Rico.....        49,080     52,534     49,548      43,097     43,855     50,962      50,788      49,977     56,195     52,124
Virgin Islands.....      3,594      2,401      2,261       2,193      2,119      2,401       3,189       2,234      2,157      2,482

(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 6.  Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

                        Gross job gains as a percent of employment    Gross job losses as a percent of employment
State                              (3 months ended)                               (3 months ended)

                        June    Sept.    Dec.     Mar.    June        June     Sept.     Dec.    Mar.     June 
                        2007    2007     2007     2008    2008        2007     2007      2007    2008     2008

United States1.....      6.7     6.4      6.8      6.2     6.4         6.5      6.7       6.5      6.5     6.8

Alabama.....             6.3     6.3      6.8      6.0     5.9         6.8      6.5       6.5      6.5     6.6
Alaska.....             11.9     9.6     10.6     10.2    11.5        10.3     11.3      11.2      9.0     9.7
Arizona.....             6.9     7.0      7.0      5.9     6.2         7.0      7.0       7.7      7.1     7.7
Arkansas.....            5.6     5.8      6.2      5.8     5.7         6.3      5.9       5.8      5.7     6.3
California.....          7.2     7.0      7.7      6.8     7.2         7.5      7.3       7.0      7.5     7.7
Colorado.....            7.8     7.7      7.6      7.4     7.3         7.0      7.5       7.3      7.1     7.3
Connecticut.....         6.3     5.5      5.9      5.3     5.7         5.4      5.8       5.7      5.3     5.5
Delaware.....            6.9     6.5      7.1      6.2     6.3         6.4      7.6       6.4      6.4     7.3
District of Columbia..   6.3     6.0      6.0      6.2     6.6         5.9      6.3       6.1      5.6     5.9
Florida.....             7.2     7.1      7.4      6.8     6.8         7.7      8.1       8.1      7.5     8.4

Georgia.....             7.1     7.2      7.3      7.1     7.0         7.4      7.1       7.5      7.3     7.9
Hawaii.....              5.9     5.3      5.4      5.4     5.3         5.3      5.9       5.2      5.7     6.9
Idaho.....               8.1     7.6      8.5      8.0     7.5         8.2      8.3       7.7      8.6     8.9
Illinois.....            5.9     5.3      5.7      5.0     5.5         5.4      5.7       5.6      5.4     5.4
Indiana.....             6.1     5.8      5.9      5.2     6.0         5.9      6.1       6.0      6.1     6.3
Iowa.....                6.4     5.9      6.1      6.0     6.0         5.8      6.1       5.8      6.0     6.1
Kansas.....              6.5     6.7      6.5      7.7     6.5         6.8      6.1       6.6      6.7     6.8
Kentucky.....            6.5     5.8      6.6      5.9     6.1         6.2      6.4       6.1      6.3     6.3
Louisiana.....           7.2     7.3      7.4      6.9     6.9         7.4      7.0       6.7      6.5     7.1
Maine.....               8.0     7.5      8.0      7.0     7.8         7.7      8.0       7.3      7.6     7.8

Maryland.....            6.3     6.5      6.4      6.2     6.3         6.2      6.7       6.6      6.4     7.0
Massachusetts.....       6.5     6.0      5.9      5.6     6.0         5.4      6.3       6.1      5.5     5.8
Michigan.....            6.7     6.3      6.4      5.9     6.5         6.5      6.9       7.0      6.9     6.9
Minnesota.....           6.6     6.5      6.0      6.0     6.1         6.2      6.1       6.2      6.1     6.2
Mississippi.....         6.7     7.0      7.3      6.3     6.2         7.5      6.5       6.4      6.5     7.6
Missouri.....            6.2     6.4      6.0      6.0     6.2         6.3      6.3       6.2      6.1     6.4
Montana.....             8.4     8.2      9.0      8.5     7.8         8.6      8.2       8.0      8.4     8.8
Nebraska.....            6.4     6.4      6.3      6.0     5.8         5.9      5.8       6.2      5.5     6.2
Nevada.....              6.5     6.1      7.6      6.7     6.5         6.8      7.3       6.8      7.6     7.6
New Hampshire.....       7.5     6.6      7.2      6.5     7.1         6.9      7.3       7.1      6.8     7.2

New Jersey.....          7.2     6.4      6.8      6.1     6.9         6.4      7.0       6.5      6.3     6.7
New Mexico.....          7.2     7.3      7.5      6.9     6.8         7.7      7.5       7.0      6.5     7.5
New York.....            7.0     6.3      6.9      6.1     6.6         6.3      6.5       6.2      6.3     6.5
North Carolina.....      6.9     6.6      6.8      6.5     6.1         6.8      6.6       6.4      6.5     7.0
North Dakota.....        7.0     7.1      7.2      7.7     6.8         6.7      6.5       6.2      6.1     6.7
Ohio.....                6.2     5.5      6.0      5.4     6.1         5.9      6.2       6.1      6.3     6.0
Oklahoma.....            7.0     6.8      6.5      7.0     6.6         7.1      6.2       6.4      5.9     6.5
Oregon.....              6.9     7.0      7.3      6.7     6.2         7.2      6.9       7.1      6.9     7.7
Pennsylvania.....        6.1     5.5      5.8      5.4     5.8         5.6      5.8       5.6      5.6     5.7
Rhode Island.....        6.8     5.6      6.2      5.7     6.5         6.3      7.0       6.8      6.4     6.8

South Carolina.....      6.6     6.3      6.6      6.3     5.9         6.7      6.5       6.7      6.5     6.9
South Dakota.....        6.8     6.4      6.6      6.7     6.5         6.1      6.3       6.2      5.9     6.7
Tennessee.....           6.2     6.1      6.1      5.7     5.7         6.2      6.0       5.7      5.8     6.5
Texas.....               6.5     6.3      6.7      6.1     6.1         5.8      5.9       5.6      5.6     6.0
Utah.....                7.6     7.2      7.9      7.0     6.8         7.0      7.4       7.3      6.9     7.5
Vermont.....             7.6     7.6      8.2      7.0     7.4         7.6      8.0       7.5      7.7     7.4
Virginia.....            6.4     6.0      6.1      6.2     6.2         6.3      6.3       6.2      6.0     6.3
Washington.....          7.6     7.1      7.7      7.6     6.7         6.9      7.3       6.8      7.0     7.8
West Virginia.....       6.6     6.4      7.0      6.4     6.2         6.6      6.8       6.3      6.5     6.6
Wisconsin.....           6.2     5.4      5.7      5.6     5.8         5.6      6.0       5.7      5.7     6.1

Wyoming.....             8.8     9.9     10.8     10.5     8.7        10.1      9.3       8.2      8.9    10.4
Puerto Rico.....         6.6     7.1      6.7      5.9     6.1         6.9      6.9       6.8      7.6     7.2
Virgin Islands.....     10.8     7.3      6.8      6.6     6.5         7.2      9.5       6.8      6.5     7.5

(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Last Modified Date: February 24, 2009