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.
United States Department of Labor
