For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) USDL-16-1538
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Technical information: (202) 691-6553 * BDMInfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/bdm
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS: FOURTH QUARTER 2015
From September 2015 to December 2015, gross job gains from opening
and expanding private sector establishments were 7.8 million, an
increase of 530,000 jobs from the previous quarter, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, gross job losses
from closing and contracting private sector establishments were 6.8
million, a decrease of 52,000 jobs from the previous quarter.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)
The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of
gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 1.0 million jobs in
the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2015.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)
The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of
increases and decreases in employment that occur at all businesses
in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track
these changes in employment at private business units from the third
month of one quarter to the third month of the next. Gross job gains
are the sum of increases in employment from expansions at existing
units and the addition of new jobs at opening units. Gross job losses
are the result of contractions in employment at existing units and the
loss of jobs at closing units. The difference between the number of
gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change
in employment. (See the Technical Note for more information.)
The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at the
establishment level by industry subsector 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.
Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 6.4 million in
the fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 415,000 jobs from the
previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, and 3.)
Opening establishments accounted for 1.4 million jobs gained in the
fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 115,000 jobs from the previous
quarter. (See tables A, 1, and 3.)
Contracting establishments lost 5.6 million jobs in the fourth quarter
of 2015. This was a decrease of 106,000 jobs from the prior quarter.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)
In the fourth quarter of 2015, closing establishments lost 1.3 million
jobs, an increase of 54,000 jobs from the previous quarter.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)
Gross job gains represented 6.6 percent of private sector employment
in the fourth quarter of 2015, while gross job losses represented 5.8
percent of private sector employment. (See tables A, 2, and 3.)
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the number of establishment births
(a subset of the openings data, see the Technical Note for more
information) increased by 2,000 to 240,000 establishments. These
new establishments accounted for 889,000 jobs, an increase of 18,000
jobs from the previous quarter. (See table 8.)
Data for establishment deaths (a subset of the closings data) are
available through the first quarter of 2015, when 691,000 jobs were
lost at 206,000 establishments. In the prior quarter, 709,000 jobs
were lost at 197,000 establishments. (See table 8.)
During the fourth quarter of 2015, gross job gains exceeded gross job
losses in most industry sectors except for natural resources and
mining, and manufacturing. The natural resources and mining sector
experienced a net decrease of 54,000 jobs, the result of 245,000 gross
job gains and 299,000 gross job losses. The manufacturing sector
experienced a net decrease of 12,000 jobs, the result of 412,000 gross
job gains and 424,000 gross job losses. Overall, goods-producing
industries experienced a net increase of 43,000 jobs, the result of
1.4 million gross job gains and 1.3 million gross job losses.
Service-providing industries, with 6.5 million gross job gains and
5.5 million gross job losses, experienced a net increase of 957,000
jobs. (See table 3.)
Table A. Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses,
seasonally adjusted
Category 3 months ended
Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.
2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
Levels (in thousands)
Gross job gains................ 7,658 6,947 7,554 7,292 7,822
At expanding establishments... 6,279 5,666 6,220 5,958 6,373
At opening establishments..... 1,379 1,281 1,334 1,334 1,449
Gross job losses............... 6,563 6,721 6,725 6,874 6,822
At contracting establishments. 5,322 5,558 5,541 5,657 5,551
At closing establishments..... 1,241 1,163 1,184 1,217 1,271
Net employment change(1)....... 1,095 226 829 418 1,000
Rates (percent)
Gross job gains................ 6.6 5.9 6.4 6.1 6.6
At expanding establishments... 5.4 4.8 5.3 5.0 5.4
At opening establishments..... 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2
Gross job losses............... 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8
At contracting establishments. 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.7
At closing establishments..... 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1
Net employment change(1)....... .9 .2 .7 .3 .8
(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.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, firms with 1-49 employees had a net
employment gain of 230,000. Firms with 50-249 employees had a net
employment gain of 98,000. Firms with 250 or more employees had a net
employment gain of 554,000. (See tables 4 and 5.)
Of the 2.3 million net jobs created over the last four quarters, firms
with 1-49 employees contributed 35 percent of net job growth, while
firms with 50-249 employees contributed 19 percent, and firms with 250
or more employees contributed 46 percent. (See tables 4 and 5.)
In the fourth quarter of 2015, gross job gains exceeded gross job
losses in 45 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the
Virgin Islands. California experienced 1,068,393 gross job gains and
933,600 gross job losses resulting in a net employment gain of 134,793.
This is the largest net employment gain of any state this quarter.
Florida had the second largest net employment gain this quarter with
98,741 net jobs, the result of 506,029 gross job gains and 407,288
gross job losses. (See table 6.) Alaska had the highest rate of gross
job gains as a percent of employment at 9.5 percent, above the U.S.
rate of 6.6 percent, as well as the highest rate of gross job losses
as a percent of employment at 10.5 percent, above the U.S. rate of 5.8
percent. Hawaii and Tennessee had the lowest rate of gross job losses
as a percent of employment at 4.6 percent. (See table 7.)
More Information
Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses is
available online at www.bls.gov/bdm. This information includes data on
the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by firm
size, not seasonally adjusted data and other seasonally adjusted time
series not presented in this release, charts of gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry and firm size, and frequently asked
questions on firm size data. Additional information about the Business
Employment Dynamics data can be found in the Technical Note of this
release or may be obtained by e-mailing BDMinfo@bls.gov.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2016 are scheduled |
| to be released on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (EST). |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Note
The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-
state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
(QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) from existing QCEW records. Most employers in the U.S. are required
to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by
unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW
is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to
the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). These UI reports are
supplemented by two additional BLS data collections to render administrative
data into economic statistics. Together these data comprise the QCEW and
form the basis of the Bureau’s establishment universe sampling frame.
These reports are used to produce the quarterly QCEW data on total
employment and wages and the longitudinal BED data on gross job gains and
losses. The QCEW is also the employment benchmark for the Current
Employment Statistics (CES), Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), and
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) programs and is a major input
to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Income Accounts.
In the BED program, the quarterly QCEW records are linked across quarters
to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage
process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment
level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and
expanding units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.
Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures
The Bureau 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 below.
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- | 588,000 establish-
| submitted by 9.5 | ministrative records| ments
| million employers | submitted by 7.6 |
| | 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;
| | | including: railroads,
| | | religious organiza-
| | | tions, and other non-
| | | UI-covered jobs
| | |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly |--Quarterly |--Monthly
frequency | -6 months after the| -7 months after the | -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,3-digit |
| | NAICS, and by size |
| | of firm, and at the |
| | state private-sector|
| | total level |
| |--Future expansions |
| | will include |
| | 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 SESAs 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 7.6 million private sector employer reports out
of 9.5 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to
BLS in the first quarter of 2015. 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 are also excluded from the national data. As an illustration,
the table below shows, in millions of establishments, the number of
establishments excluded from the national gross job gains and gross job losses
data in the first quarter 2015:
Number of active establishments included in
Business Employment Dynamics data at the
national level
Millions
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.5
Excluded: Public sector.........................................0.3
Private households....................................0.2
Zero employment.......................................1.3
Establishments in Puerto Rico
and the Virgin Islands..............................0.1
Total establishments included in Business
Employment Dynamics data.............................................7.6
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 are 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 either units with positive third month employment in
the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the
current quarter.
Contractions. These are units with positive employment in the third month
in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment
over this period.
Births. These are units with positive third month employment for the
first time in the current quarter with no links to the prior quarter, or
units with positive third month employment in the current quarter and zero
employment in the third month of the previous four quarters. Births are a
subset of openings not including re-openings of seasonal businesses.
Deaths. These are units with no employment or zero employment reported in
the third month of four consecutive quarters following the last quarter with
positive employment. Deaths are a subset of closings not including temporary
shutdowns of seasonal businesses. A unit that closes during the quarter may
be a death, but we wait three quarters to determine whether it is a permanent
closing or a temporary shutdown. Therefore, there is always a lag of three
quarters for the publication of death statistics.
All employment changes are measured from the third month of the previous
quarter to the third month of the current quarter. Not all establishments and
firms change their employment levels. Units with no change in employment
count towards estimates of total employment, but not for levels of gross 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.
Establishment Births and Deaths
For the purpose of BED statistics, births are defined as establishments
that appear in the longitudinal database for the first time with positive
employment in the third month of a quarter, or showed four consecutive
quarters of zero employment in the third month followed by a quarter in
which it shows positive employment in the third month. Similarly, deaths
are defined as establishments that either drop out of the longitudinal
database or an establishment that had positive employment in the third
month of a given quarter followed by four consecutive quarters of showing
zero employment in the third month. Although the data for establishment
births and deaths are tabulated independently from the data for openings
and closings, the concepts are not mutually exclusive. An establishment
that is defined as a birth in a given quarter is necessarily an opening
as well, and an establishment defined as a death in a quarter must also be
a closing. Since openings include seasonal and other re-openings and
closings include temporary shutdowns, the not seasonally adjusted values
for births and deaths must be less than those for openings and closings.
However, because some BED series do not have many re-openings or temporary
shutdowns, as well as the fact that births and deaths are independently
seasonally adjusted from openings and closings, there may be instances in
which the seasonally adjusted value of the former is greater than the latter.
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 estab-
lishments' unique SESA identification numbers (SESA-ID). Between 95 to 97
percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter
are matched by SESA-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 SESA-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 SESA-
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, SESAs verify with
employers and update, if necessary, the industry, location, and ownership
classification of all establishments on a 4-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.
Annual Data
The annual gross job gains and gross job losses measure the net change
in employment at the establishment level from the third month of a quarter
in the previous year to the third month of the same quarter in the current
year. The BLS publishes annual BED data based on March-to-March changes
once a year with the release of the first quarter BED data. The annual
data based on over-the-year changes for other quarters of the year are
available upon request. The definitions and methodology in measuring
annual gross job gains and gross job losses are similar to the quarterly
measures. The linkage method considers all predecessor and successor
relations that may come about due to changes in ownership and corporate
restructuring over the entire year. At the establishment level, some of
the quarterly job gains and job losses are offset during the estimation
over the year. Therefore, the sum of four quarters of gross job gains
and gross job losses are not equal to annual gross job gains and gross
job losses. The net change in employment over the year, however, is
equal to the sum of four quarterly net changes on a not seasonally
adjusted basis.
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 contrac-
ting 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 total private are the sum of
seasonally adjusted data of all sectors including the unclassified sector,
which is not separately published.
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.
Annual revisions are published each year with the release of the first qua-
rter data. These revisions cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adj-
usted data and 5 years of seasonally adjusted data.
Additional statistics and other information
Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information.
The QCEW program provides both quarterly and annual estimates of employment
by state, county, and detailed industry. News releases on quarterly county e
mployment and wages and an annual bulletin: Employment and Wages Annual
Averages, 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
2005 March 475 7,779 6,222 1,557 7,304 5,828 1,476
June 516 7,753 6,183 1,570 7,237 5,802 1,435
September 736 8,023 6,412 1,611 7,287 5,813 1,474
December 467 7,812 6,239 1,573 7,345 5,960 1,385
2006 March 896 7,880 6,383 1,497 6,984 5,661 1,323
June 342 7,766 6,228 1,538 7,424 6,026 1,398
September 92 7,545 6,076 1,469 7,453 6,067 1,386
December 431 7,770 6,226 1,544 7,339 5,964 1,375
2007 March 584 7,815 6,331 1,484 7,231 5,894 1,337
June 132 7,647 6,205 1,442 7,515 6,084 1,431
September -209 7,376 5,870 1,506 7,585 6,190 1,395
December 268 7,687 6,181 1,506 7,419 6,040 1,379
2008 March -199 7,320 5,860 1,460 7,519 6,111 1,408
June -593 7,281 5,833 1,448 7,874 6,363 1,511
September -913 6,944 5,535 1,409 7,857 6,436 1,421
December -1,838 6,738 5,345 1,393 8,576 7,056 1,520
2009 March -2,680 5,918 4,675 1,243 8,598 7,142 1,456
June -1,667 6,425 5,080 1,345 8,092 6,674 1,418
September -849 6,399 5,139 1,260 7,248 5,854 1,394
December -264 6,665 5,308 1,357 6,929 5,605 1,324
2010 March -247 6,325 5,108 1,217 6,572 5,324 1,248
June 698 6,995 5,674 1,321 6,297 5,090 1,207
September 237 6,741 5,438 1,303 6,504 5,231 1,273
December 566 7,052 5,639 1,413 6,486 5,219 1,267
2011 March 315 6,521 5,304 1,217 6,206 5,026 1,180
June 595 6,976 5,633 1,343 6,381 5,113 1,268
September 833 7,198 5,804 1,394 6,365 5,174 1,191
December 350 6,878 5,515 1,363 6,528 5,271 1,257
2012 March 933 7,059 5,729 1,330 6,126 5,003 1,123
June 618 7,057 5,733 1,324 6,439 5,270 1,169
September 255 6,886 5,573 1,313 6,631 5,433 1,198
December 708 7,122 5,762 1,360 6,414 5,221 1,193
2013 March 544 6,913 5,685 1,228 6,369 5,191 1,178
June 666 7,160 5,839 1,321 6,494 5,284 1,210
September 473 7,051 5,710 1,341 6,578 5,430 1,148
December 728 7,279 5,944 1,335 6,551 5,343 1,208
2014 March 423 6,927 5,664 1,263 6,504 5,360 1,144
June 883 7,467 6,128 1,339 6,584 5,362 1,222
September 525 7,235 5,905 1,330 6,710 5,523 1,187
December 1,095 7,658 6,279 1,379 6,563 5,322 1,241
2015 March 226 6,947 5,666 1,281 6,721 5,558 1,163
June 829 7,554 6,220 1,334 6,725 5,541 1,184
September 418 7,292 5,958 1,334 6,874 5,657 1,217
December 1,000 7,822 6,373 1,449 6,822 5,551 1,271
(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
2005 March .5 7.1 5.7 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3
June .4 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3
September .8 7.3 5.8 1.5 6.5 5.2 1.3
December .4 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.6 5.4 1.2
2006 March .8 7.0 5.7 1.3 6.2 5.0 1.2
June .4 6.9 5.5 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 .5 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.4 5.2 1.2
June .1 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.6 5.3 1.3
September -.2 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.6 5.4 1.2
December .2 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2
2008 March -.1 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2
June -.5 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.9 5.6 1.3
September -.9 6.1 4.9 1.2 7.0 5.7 1.3
December -1.7 6.0 4.8 1.2 7.7 6.3 1.4
2009 March -2.4 5.4 4.3 1.1 7.8 6.5 1.3
June -1.5 6.0 4.7 1.3 7.5 6.2 1.3
September -.8 6.0 4.8 1.2 6.8 5.5 1.3
December -.3 6.3 5.0 1.3 6.6 5.3 1.3
2010 March -.2 6.0 4.8 1.2 6.2 5.0 1.2
June .7 6.6 5.4 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1
September .2 6.3 5.1 1.2 6.1 4.9 1.2
December .5 6.6 5.3 1.3 6.1 4.9 1.2
2011 March .2 6.0 4.9 1.1 5.8 4.7 1.1
June .5 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.9 4.7 1.2
September .8 6.7 5.4 1.3 5.9 4.8 1.1
December .4 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.0 4.8 1.2
2012 March .8 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.6 4.6 1.0
June .5 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1
September .2 6.2 5.0 1.2 6.0 4.9 1.1
December .6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1
2013 March .5 6.2 5.1 1.1 5.7 4.6 1.1
June .6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1
September .5 6.3 5.1 1.2 5.8 4.8 1.0
December .6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1
2014 March .4 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0
June .7 6.5 5.3 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1
September .5 6.3 5.1 1.2 5.8 4.8 1.0
December .9 6.6 5.4 1.2 5.7 4.6 1.1
2015 March .2 5.9 4.8 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0
June .7 6.4 5.3 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0
September .3 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0
December .8 6.6 5.4 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1
(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
Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.
2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
Total private(1)
Gross job gains 7,658 6,947 7,554 7,292 7,822 6.6 5.9 6.4 6.1 6.6
At expanding establishments 6,279 5,666 6,220 5,958 6,373 5.4 4.8 5.3 5.0 5.4
At opening establishments 1,379 1,281 1,334 1,334 1,449 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2
Gross job losses 6,563 6,721 6,725 6,874 6,822 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8
At contracting establishments 5,322 5,558 5,541 5,657 5,551 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.7
At closing establishments 1,241 1,163 1,184 1,217 1,271 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1
Net employment change 1,095 226 829 418 1,000 .9 .2 .7 .3 .8
Goods-producing
Gross job gains 1,393 1,321 1,387 1,275 1,353 6.8 6.4 6.7 6.2 6.5
At expanding establishments 1,195 1,136 1,195 1,099 1,156 5.8 5.5 5.8 5.3 5.6
At opening establishments 198 185 192 176 197 1.0 .9 .9 .9 .9
Gross job losses 1,269 1,298 1,331 1,302 1,310 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.3
At contracting establishments 1,070 1,113 1,138 1,110 1,116 5.2 5.4 5.5 5.4 5.4
At closing establishments 199 185 193 192 194 1.0 .9 .9 .9 .9
Net employment change 124 23 56 -27 43 .6 .1 .3 -.1 .2
Natural resources and mining
Gross job gains 280 284 263 243 245 13.4 13.5 13.0 12.3 12.6
At expanding establishments 243 250 229 211 212 11.6 11.9 11.3 10.7 10.9
At opening establishments 37 34 34 32 33 1.8 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.7
Gross job losses 285 297 332 285 299 13.7 14.2 16.3 14.5 15.5
At contracting establishments 250 264 296 251 265 12.0 12.6 14.5 12.8 13.7
At closing establishments 35 33 36 34 34 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.8
Net employment change -5 -13 -69 -42 -54 -.3 -.7 -3.3 -2.2 -2.9
Construction
Gross job gains 669 652 693 643 696 10.8 10.3 10.9 10.0 10.7
At expanding establishments 546 533 571 532 571 8.8 8.4 9.0 8.3 8.8
At opening establishments 123 119 122 111 125 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.9
Gross job losses 606 616 599 603 587 9.7 9.8 9.4 9.4 9.1
At contracting establishments 485 503 484 489 472 7.8 8.0 7.6 7.6 7.3
At closing establishments 121 113 115 114 115 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8
Net employment change 63 36 94 40 109 1.1 .5 1.5 .6 1.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains 444 385 431 389 412 3.6 3.2 3.5 3.2 3.3
At expanding establishments 406 353 395 356 373 3.3 2.9 3.2 2.9 3.0
At opening establishments 38 32 36 33 39 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3
Gross job losses 378 385 400 414 424 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.4 3.5
At contracting establishments 335 346 358 370 379 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1
At closing establishments 43 39 42 44 45 .4 .3 .3 .4 .4
Net employment change 66 0 31 -25 -12 .5 .1 .3 -.2 -.2
Service-providing(1)
Gross job gains 6,265 5,626 6,167 6,017 6,469 6.5 5.8 6.4 6.2 6.6
At expanding establishments 5,084 4,530 5,025 4,859 5,217 5.3 4.7 5.2 5.0 5.3
At opening establishments 1,181 1,096 1,142 1,158 1,252 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3
Gross job losses 5,294 5,423 5,394 5,572 5,512 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.6
At contracting establishments 4,252 4,445 4,403 4,547 4,435 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.7 4.5
At closing establishments 1,042 978 991 1,025 1,077 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1
Net employment change 971 203 773 445 957 1.0 .2 .9 .4 1.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains 293 262 284 269 294 5.0 4.5 4.8 4.5 5.0
At expanding establishments 243 218 240 226 245 4.1 3.7 4.1 3.8 4.2
At opening establishments 50 44 44 43 49 .9 .8 .7 .7 .8
Gross job losses 247 256 261 263 268 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.5
At contracting establishments 192 204 207 208 209 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
At closing establishments 55 52 54 55 59 .9 .9 .9 .9 1.0
Net employment change 46 6 23 6 26 .8 .1 .4 .1 .5
Retail trade
Gross job gains 952 908 990 919 919 6.2 5.9 6.3 5.8 5.9
At expanding establishments 829 787 863 791 796 5.4 5.1 5.5 5.0 5.1
At opening establishments 123 121 127 128 123 .8 .8 .8 .8 .8
Gross job losses 842 873 825 930 916 5.4 5.6 5.2 5.9 5.8
At contracting establishments 728 763 714 817 785 4.7 4.9 4.5 5.2 5.0
At closing establishments 114 110 111 113 131 .7 .7 .7 .7 .8
Net employment change 110 35 165 -11 3 .8 .3 1.1 -.1 .1
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains 330 228 257 264 343 7.3 5.0 5.6 5.7 7.3
At expanding establishments 297 197 223 228 307 6.6 4.3 4.9 4.9 6.5
At opening establishments 33 31 34 36 36 .7 .7 .7 .8 .8
Gross job losses 205 272 230 224 225 4.6 6.0 5.0 4.9 4.8
At contracting establishments 170 242 198 188 186 3.8 5.3 4.3 4.1 4.0
At closing establishments 35 30 32 36 39 .8 .7 .7 .8 .8
Net employment change 125 -44 27 40 118 2.7 -1.0 .6 .8 2.5
Utilities
Gross job gains 14 13 13 14 12 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.2
At expanding establishments 12 12 12 12 11 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0
At opening establishments 2 1 1 2 1 .4 .2 .2 .4 .2
Gross job losses 12 11 12 12 11 2.2 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.0
At contracting establishments 10 10 11 11 10 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.0 1.8
At closing establishments 2 1 1 1 1 .4 .2 .2 .2 .2
Net employment change 2 2 1 2 1 .4 .4 .2 .4 .2
Information
Gross job gains 145 124 147 143 161 5.3 4.5 5.4 5.2 5.8
At expanding establishments 119 107 126 121 135 4.3 3.9 4.6 4.4 4.9
At opening establishments 26 17 21 22 26 1.0 .6 .8 .8 .9
Gross job losses 136 128 132 145 138 5.0 4.7 4.8 5.2 5.0
At contracting establishments 110 104 110 122 111 4.0 3.8 4.0 4.4 4.0
At closing establishments 26 24 22 23 27 1.0 .9 .8 .8 1.0
Net employment change 9 -4 15 -2 23 .3 -.2 .6 .0 .8
Financial activities
Gross job gains 384 341 385 367 394 5.0 4.3 4.9 4.7 5.0
At expanding establishments 302 275 314 298 308 3.9 3.5 4.0 3.8 3.9
At opening establishments 82 66 71 69 86 1.1 .8 .9 .9 1.1
Gross job losses 344 330 332 345 352 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.4 4.5
At contracting establishments 263 257 259 270 269 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.4
At closing establishments 81 73 73 75 83 1.0 .9 .9 1.0 1.1
Net employment change 40 11 53 22 42 .6 .1 .7 .3 .5
Professional and business services
Gross job gains 1,570 1,253 1,438 1,401 1,588 8.1 6.5 7.3 7.1 8.0
At expanding establishments 1,292 1,025 1,179 1,141 1,293 6.7 5.3 6.0 5.8 6.5
At opening establishments 278 228 259 260 295 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.5
Gross job losses 1,277 1,320 1,296 1,308 1,310 6.6 6.8 6.6 6.6 6.6
At contracting establishments 1,002 1,085 1,037 1,044 1,032 5.2 5.6 5.3 5.3 5.2
At closing establishments 275 235 259 264 278 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.4
Net employment change 293 -67 142 93 278 1.5 -.3 .7 .5 1.4
Education and health services
Gross job gains 930 855 933 961 1,002 4.5 4.1 4.4 4.5 4.7
At expanding establishments 765 706 777 804 822 3.7 3.4 3.7 3.8 3.9
At opening establishments 165 149 156 157 180 .8 .7 .7 .7 .8
Gross job losses 778 818 810 823 799 3.8 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8
At contracting establishments 619 642 651 653 630 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.0
At closing establishments 159 176 159 170 169 .8 .8 .8 .8 .8
Net employment change 152 37 123 138 203 .7 .2 .5 .6 .9
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains 1,257 1,235 1,308 1,244 1,324 8.5 8.3 8.7 8.2 8.6
At expanding establishments 981 964 1,032 987 1,044 6.6 6.5 6.9 6.5 6.8
At opening establishments 276 271 276 257 280 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8
Gross job losses 1,146 1,112 1,197 1,209 1,180 7.7 7.4 7.9 8.1 7.7
At contracting establishments 932 916 996 1,005 976 6.3 6.1 6.6 6.7 6.4
At closing establishments 214 196 201 204 204 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.3
Net employment change 111 123 111 35 144 .8 .9 .8 .1 .9
Other services
Gross job gains 284 276 301 280 289 7.2 7.0 7.5 7.0 7.1
At expanding establishments 226 218 240 228 231 5.7 5.5 6.0 5.7 5.7
At opening establishments 58 58 61 52 58 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.4
Gross job losses 274 266 267 281 273 6.8 6.6 6.6 7.0 6.7
At contracting establishments 213 209 209 218 212 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.2
At closing establishments 61 57 58 63 61 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.5
Net employment change 10 10 34 -1 16 .4 .4 .9 .0 .4
(1) Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately
Table 4. Private sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
Total private by firm(1) Firm size 1 - 49 employees Firm size 50 - 249 employees Firm size 250 or more employees
Year 3 months Net Gross job Net Gross job Net Gross job Net Gross job
ended change(2,3) gains losses change gains losses change gains losses change gains losses
2005 March 416 6,418 6,002 58 3,424 3,366 90 1,175 1,085 268 1,819 1,551
June 518 6,383 5,865 217 3,456 3,239 126 1,180 1,054 175 1,747 1,572
September 767 6,699 5,932 228 3,517 3,289 110 1,199 1,089 429 1,983 1,554
December 513 6,408 5,895 195 3,470 3,275 55 1,147 1,092 263 1,791 1,528
2006 March 782 6,460 5,678 312 3,538 3,226 211 1,216 1,005 259 1,706 1,447
June 369 6,329 5,960 111 3,425 3,314 102 1,179 1,077 156 1,725 1,569
September 86 6,120 6,034 -5 3,334 3,339 48 1,133 1,085 43 1,653 1,610
December 446 6,388 5,942 137 3,406 3,269 80 1,153 1,073 229 1,829 1,600
2007 March 478 6,333 5,855 173 3,445 3,272 98 1,158 1,060 207 1,730 1,523
June 163 6,239 6,076 -33 3,330 3,363 99 1,171 1,072 97 1,738 1,641
September -215 5,920 6,135 -116 3,263 3,379 -34 1,079 1,113 -65 1,578 1,643
December 270 6,251 5,981 10 3,317 3,307 56 1,139 1,083 204 1,795 1,591
2008 March -274 5,831 6,105 -152 3,235 3,387 -11 1,079 1,090 -111 1,517 1,628
June -548 5,850 6,398 -287 3,174 3,461 -44 1,090 1,134 -217 1,586 1,803
September -956 5,532 6,488 -343 3,051 3,394 -140 1,020 1,160 -473 1,461 1,934
December -1,886 5,338 7,224 -689 2,910 3,599 -375 947 1,322 -822 1,481 2,303
2009 March -2,638 4,617 7,255 -983 2,721 3,704 -616 810 1,426 -1,039 1,086 2,125
June -1,763 5,169 6,932 -474 2,946 3,420 -281 950 1,231 -1,008 1,273 2,281
September -906 5,164 6,070 -372 2,826 3,198 -110 932 1,042 -424 1,406 1,830
December -317 5,403 5,720 -159 2,940 3,099 -45 962 1,007 -113 1,501 1,614
2010 March -234 5,115 5,349 -195 2,863 3,058 -2 914 916 -37 1,338 1,375
June 664 5,805 5,141 235 3,093 2,858 204 1,071 867 225 1,641 1,416
September 226 5,525 5,299 26 2,946 2,920 87 998 911 113 1,581 1,468
December 502 5,781 5,279 92 3,051 2,959 92 1,034 942 318 1,696 1,378
2011 March 327 5,358 5,031 98 2,978 2,880 121 969 848 108 1,411 1,303
June 547 5,757 5,210 193 3,076 2,883 173 1,065 892 181 1,616 1,435
September 841 5,965 5,124 266 3,132 2,866 170 1,065 895 405 1,768 1,363
December 311 5,592 5,281 43 2,970 2,927 45 982 937 223 1,640 1,417
2012 March 960 5,883 4,923 397 3,175 2,778 220 1,052 832 343 1,656 1,313
June 610 5,836 5,226 175 3,043 2,868 162 1,077 915 273 1,716 1,443
September 230 5,584 5,354 50 2,959 2,909 52 1,005 953 128 1,620 1,492
December 641 5,777 5,136 177 3,023 2,846 89 1,011 922 375 1,743 1,368
2013 March 576 5,719 5,143 229 3,077 2,848 155 1,024 869 192 1,618 1,426
June 650 5,922 5,272 224 3,088 2,864 141 1,078 937 285 1,756 1,471
September 449 5,757 5,308 207 3,054 2,847 60 1,016 956 182 1,687 1,505
December 649 5,892 5,243 125 3,023 2,898 102 1,033 931 422 1,836 1,414
2014 March 448 5,642 5,194 256 3,077 2,821 152 1,031 879 40 1,534 1,494
June 887 6,152 5,265 298 3,182 2,884 221 1,127 906 368 1,843 1,475
September 505 5,850 5,345 161 3,046 2,885 101 1,059 958 243 1,745 1,502
December 987 6,164 5,177 218 3,108 2,890 153 1,085 932 616 1,971 1,355
2015 March 238 5,607 5,369 185 3,064 2,879 78 1,013 935 -25 1,530 1,555
June 826 6,233 5,407 311 3,175 2,864 192 1,136 944 323 1,922 1,599
September 394 5,885 5,491 97 3,009 2,912 66 1,044 978 231 1,832 1,601
December 882 6,245 5,363 230 3,162 2,932 98 1,076 978 554 2,007 1,453
(1) Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower
than total gross job gains and gross job losses by establishment,
as some establishment gains and losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process.
(2) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.
(3) Net change totals for firm-level data shown differ from the establishment-level data
due to independent seasonal adjustment of the series.
NOTE: See http://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmfirmsize.htm for additional firm size class data.
Table 5. Components of private sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, 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
Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.
2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
Total private by firm(1)
Gross job gains 6,164 5,607 6,233 5,885 6,245 5.3 4.8 5.3 4.9 5.3
At expanding firms 5,237 4,699 5,335 5,023 5,295 4.5 4.0 4.5 4.2 4.5
At opening firms 927 908 898 862 950 .8 .8 .8 .7 .8
Gross job losses 5,177 5,369 5,407 5,491 5,363 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.5
At contracting firms 4,320 4,536 4,592 4,669 4,513 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8
At closing firms 857 833 815 822 850 .7 .7 .7 .7 .7
Net employment change 987 238 826 394 882 .9 .2 .7 .3 .8
Firm size 1 to 49 employees
Gross job gains 3,108 3,064 3,175 3,009 3,162 9.5 9.2 9.6 9.1 9.5
At expanding firms 2,224 2,192 2,326 2,187 2,257 6.8 6.6 7.0 6.6 6.8
At opening firms 884 872 849 822 905 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.7
Gross job losses 2,890 2,879 2,864 2,912 2,932 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.8 8.7
At contracting firms 2,077 2,088 2,082 2,122 2,119 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.4 6.3
At closing firms 813 791 782 790 813 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4
Net employment change 218 185 311 97 230 .7 .5 .9 .3 .8
Firm size 50 to 249 employees
Gross job gains 1,085 1,013 1,136 1,044 1,076 5.1 4.7 5.3 4.9 5.0
At expanding firms 1,047 981 1,099 1,007 1,042 4.9 4.6 5.1 4.7 4.8
At opening firms 38 32 37 37 34 .2 .1 .2 .2 .2
Gross job losses 932 935 944 978 978 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.6
At contracting firms 893 900 917 951 944 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.4
At closing firms 39 35 27 27 34 .2 .2 .1 .1 .2
Net employment change 153 78 192 66 98 .7 .3 .9 .4 .4
Firm size 250 or more employees
Gross job gains 1,971 1,530 1,922 1,832 2,007 3.2 2.4 3.0 2.9 3.1
At expanding firms 1,966 1,526 1,910 1,829 1,996 3.2 2.4 3.0 2.9 3.1
At opening firms 5 4 12 3 11 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Gross job losses 1,355 1,555 1,599 1,601 1,453 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.3
At contracting firms 1,350 1,548 1,593 1,596 1,450 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.3
At closing firms 5 7 6 5 3 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Net employment change 616 -25 323 231 554 1.0 -.1 .5 .4 .8
(1) Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower
than total gross job gains and gross job losses by establishment,
as some establishment gains and losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process.
Table 6. Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted
Gross job gains Gross job losses
State (3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.
2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
United States(1)... 7,658,000 6,947,000 7,554,000 7,292,000 7,822,000 6,563,000 6,721,000 6,725,000 6,874,000 6,822,000
Alabama..... 90,302 84,986 89,888 88,051 96,278 79,390 83,133 81,281 86,070 82,503
Alaska..... 26,664 26,843 27,385 22,909 23,944 26,187 23,647 27,823 25,911 26,564
Arizona..... 151,389 130,192 131,338 150,336 154,963 114,098 126,022 125,809 119,366 122,506
Arkansas..... 63,560 52,074 57,124 58,978 62,235 48,759 55,318 51,031 50,906 50,080
California..... 1,009,991 938,495 934,842 955,474 1,068,393 876,809 853,530 897,517 811,020 933,600
Colorado..... 145,332 142,474 146,534 148,147 147,322 124,926 128,469 135,196 134,447 133,647
Connecticut..... 76,473 67,827 81,367 72,894 75,663 73,361 71,870 68,807 82,363 69,891
Delaware..... 25,677 20,948 27,972 22,481 27,012 19,694 26,759 20,802 22,614 22,998
District of Columbia 26,915 27,023 31,303 31,118 29,909 26,143 26,418 26,711 27,635 23,726
Florida..... 485,325 433,403 479,423 481,244 506,029 408,151 385,077 410,152 405,571 407,288
Georgia..... 238,116 215,750 232,741 226,362 247,039 191,800 195,401 200,532 208,499 202,852
Hawaii..... 26,591 25,524 25,438 25,807 29,858 22,314 24,417 25,488 24,416 23,585
Idaho..... 42,898 49,556 41,477 42,927 43,910 37,619 37,971 39,261 38,677 37,964
Illinois..... 311,522 289,355 309,794 277,165 323,308 274,821 287,323 263,025 287,722 285,139
Indiana..... 159,935 135,251 146,088 138,935 158,608 126,976 135,133 130,145 135,979 125,772
Iowa..... 78,199 75,990 77,630 73,194 77,425 72,224 68,787 76,474 77,479 72,893
Kansas..... 69,883 63,109 66,653 63,082 70,654 59,565 65,217 64,933 64,142 62,682
Kentucky..... 101,092 83,966 97,089 93,111 102,663 81,418 91,550 83,889 86,400 82,585
Louisiana..... 110,344 98,762 102,189 98,922 105,957 94,750 107,998 108,807 100,050 102,632
Maine..... 35,278 31,952 40,149 32,765 35,593 35,410 34,311 31,987 35,658 35,408
Maryland..... 138,559 122,791 147,032 134,789 142,178 126,916 128,633 122,825 132,518 125,070
Massachusetts..... 178,386 153,727 188,785 162,263 175,914 153,746 160,532 150,136 168,871 156,432
Michigan..... 220,069 186,698 219,556 195,118 218,548 186,438 185,816 187,213 204,087 192,282
Minnesota..... 136,923 132,507 147,427 131,516 146,558 128,935 124,085 122,494 141,927 139,112
Mississippi..... 60,007 48,649 55,359 54,075 62,207 46,688 55,261 51,607 51,187 48,431
Missouri..... 142,699 127,642 138,623 130,446 144,912 116,469 122,952 119,969 126,229 119,640
Montana..... 30,556 33,180 29,110 27,868 31,502 28,910 25,995 30,582 28,040 26,748
Nebraska..... 49,553 48,584 47,109 47,684 49,075 43,949 45,229 45,472 44,223 44,278
Nevada..... 70,287 67,468 66,653 67,838 75,894 56,851 57,353 62,062 58,211 57,714
New Hampshire..... 37,142 31,642 37,379 33,156 37,153 32,733 31,333 32,662 34,823 31,131
New Jersey..... 227,119 192,871 237,230 211,747 228,002 203,873 199,775 196,290 202,878 197,804
New Mexico..... 44,135 40,119 41,785 40,153 42,145 37,593 40,337 42,353 40,217 42,206
New York..... 492,207 452,751 510,517 478,685 499,754 438,941 447,485 442,513 465,778 448,260
North Carolina..... 224,428 201,554 222,540 215,149 231,306 183,831 195,257 186,438 196,782 192,146
North Dakota..... 32,877 27,400 24,976 25,618 24,097 25,770 33,253 41,954 30,853 28,943
Ohio..... 274,778 245,199 272,264 245,565 273,202 233,006 251,495 237,460 256,532 235,464
Oklahoma..... 85,458 72,454 75,658 75,238 79,209 69,618 78,715 82,570 76,608 81,183
Oregon..... 103,676 102,857 102,758 104,581 106,097 92,473 84,267 90,914 95,354 93,204
Pennsylvania..... 278,808 241,865 277,841 265,180 286,453 242,138 260,288 245,484 263,136 256,494
Rhode Island..... 26,349 21,815 27,189 23,866 27,116 22,897 23,924 24,003 23,613 23,503
South Carolina..... 107,723 89,525 103,461 99,083 114,551 78,630 88,343 88,733 92,986 86,340
South Dakota..... 21,338 21,738 21,381 20,412 22,952 19,835 19,475 20,354 21,112 20,368
Tennessee..... 147,613 122,997 142,377 140,614 153,458 114,067 123,505 114,804 123,495 113,930
Texas..... 621,191 558,120 580,476 584,743 600,717 482,093 554,065 542,136 542,464 541,352
Utah..... 77,688 81,508 77,194 78,335 81,518 63,747 64,830 68,853 67,127 67,774
Vermont..... 18,971 17,292 18,547 17,503 18,063 16,952 17,199 17,909 19,351 16,557
Virginia..... 170,860 179,773 194,303 210,997 195,211 163,277 166,667 161,279 178,620 170,622
Washington..... 175,377 172,884 185,623 170,134 176,144 156,237 145,606 150,744 174,709 157,999
West Virginia..... 37,372 33,488 35,119 32,371 36,485 34,173 38,029 37,109 37,289 35,357
Wisconsin..... 136,603 129,845 136,692 131,535 138,711 123,187 121,215 126,192 135,315 126,260
Wyoming..... 20,323 19,818 16,942 17,709 18,969 17,717 19,749 23,720 18,620 19,565
Puerto Rico..... 43,614 35,793 38,676 41,386 42,210 33,418 43,227 46,166 42,614 39,180
Virgin Islands..... 1,721 1,497 1,693 1,584 1,978 1,519 1,618 1,808 1,997 1,464
The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Table 7. 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)
Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.
2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
United States(1)... 6.6 5.9 6.4 6.1 6.6 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8
Alabama..... 6.0 5.6 5.9 5.8 6.2 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.6 5.3
Alaska..... 10.6 10.4 10.6 9.0 9.5 10.4 9.2 10.8 10.2 10.5
Arizona..... 7.0 6.0 5.9 6.8 6.9 5.3 5.7 5.7 5.4 5.4
Arkansas..... 6.6 5.4 5.9 6.1 6.3 5.1 5.7 5.3 5.2 5.1
California..... 7.4 6.8 6.8 6.9 7.6 6.4 6.2 6.5 5.8 6.7
Colorado..... 7.0 6.9 7.0 7.1 7.0 6.1 6.1 6.4 6.4 6.3
Connecticut..... 5.4 4.8 5.8 5.1 5.3 5.2 5.1 4.8 5.8 5.0
Delaware..... 7.0 5.7 7.6 6.1 7.2 5.4 7.3 5.6 6.1 6.2
District of Columbia.. 5.5 5.5 6.2 6.2 5.9 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.5 4.7
Florida..... 7.1 6.3 6.9 6.8 7.1 6.0 5.6 5.9 5.8 5.8
Georgia..... 6.9 6.2 6.7 6.5 6.9 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.9 5.7
Hawaii..... 5.2 4.9 4.9 5.1 5.7 4.4 4.8 5.0 4.8 4.6
Idaho..... 8.0 9.1 7.5 7.8 7.9 7.0 7.0 7.1 7.1 6.9
Illinois..... 6.2 5.8 6.2 5.4 6.4 5.5 5.7 5.2 5.7 5.6
Indiana..... 6.3 5.3 5.7 5.4 6.2 5.0 5.3 5.1 5.3 4.9
Iowa..... 6.1 5.9 6.1 5.6 6.0 5.6 5.4 5.9 6.0 5.6
Kansas..... 6.2 5.7 6.0 5.7 6.2 5.4 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.6
Kentucky..... 6.6 5.5 6.4 6.0 6.6 5.3 6.0 5.5 5.6 5.3
Louisiana..... 6.8 6.1 6.3 6.2 6.5 5.8 6.7 6.8 6.2 6.3
Maine..... 7.2 6.5 8.0 6.5 7.1 7.2 7.0 6.4 7.1 7.0
Maryland..... 6.7 5.9 7.0 6.5 6.7 6.2 6.2 5.9 6.3 5.9
Massachusetts..... 6.0 5.1 6.3 5.4 5.9 5.2 5.4 5.0 5.6 5.2
Michigan..... 6.2 5.2 6.1 5.4 6.1 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.7 5.3
Minnesota..... 5.8 5.6 6.1 5.4 6.1 5.4 5.2 5.2 5.9 5.8
Mississippi..... 6.9 5.5 6.3 6.2 7.1 5.4 6.4 5.9 5.8 5.4
Missouri..... 6.3 5.6 6.0 5.7 6.3 5.1 5.4 5.2 5.5 5.1
Montana..... 8.5 9.1 8.0 7.6 8.5 8.0 7.2 8.4 7.7 7.3
Nebraska..... 6.2 6.1 5.9 6.0 6.1 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.5 5.5
Nevada..... 6.6 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.8 5.3 5.3 5.7 5.3 5.2
New Hampshire..... 6.9 5.7 6.8 6.0 6.7 6.0 5.7 5.9 6.3 5.6
New Jersey..... 6.9 5.8 7.1 6.3 6.8 6.2 6.0 5.9 6.1 5.9
New Mexico..... 7.2 6.4 6.7 6.5 6.8 6.1 6.5 6.8 6.5 6.8
New York..... 6.6 5.9 6.7 6.3 6.5 5.8 5.9 5.8 6.0 5.9
North Carolina..... 6.5 5.9 6.4 6.1 6.6 5.4 5.7 5.4 5.6 5.5
North Dakota..... 8.7 7.1 6.7 7.1 6.7 6.7 8.7 11.3 8.5 8.1
Ohio..... 6.1 5.4 6.0 5.4 6.0 5.1 5.6 5.3 5.6 5.2
Oklahoma..... 6.7 5.7 6.0 6.0 6.3 5.5 6.1 6.5 6.1 6.5
Oregon..... 7.1 6.9 6.9 7.0 7.0 6.3 5.7 6.1 6.4 6.2
Pennsylvania..... 5.6 4.9 5.6 5.2 5.7 4.9 5.2 4.9 5.2 5.1
Rhode Island..... 6.4 5.3 6.6 5.8 6.6 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.7
South Carolina..... 6.8 5.7 6.5 6.2 7.1 5.0 5.5 5.6 5.8 5.3
South Dakota..... 6.3 6.3 6.3 5.9 6.6 5.8 5.7 5.9 6.1 5.9
Tennessee..... 6.2 5.2 5.9 5.8 6.3 4.8 5.2 4.8 5.1 4.6
Texas..... 6.4 5.8 6.0 5.9 6.0 5.0 5.7 5.5 5.5 5.5
Utah..... 7.2 7.3 6.9 7.0 7.2 5.8 5.9 6.1 5.9 6.0
Vermont..... 7.5 6.8 7.3 6.9 7.1 6.7 6.8 7.0 7.6 6.5
Virginia..... 5.8 6.0 6.4 6.9 6.4 5.5 5.6 5.4 5.9 5.5
Washington..... 6.9 6.7 7.2 6.5 6.7 6.1 5.6 5.8 6.7 6.0
West Virginia..... 6.6 6.0 6.3 5.8 6.6 6.0 6.7 6.6 6.8 6.4
Wisconsin..... 5.8 5.4 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.6 5.2
Wyoming..... 9.3 8.9 7.8 8.3 9.0 8.0 8.9 10.9 8.7 9.2
Puerto Rico..... 6.4 5.3 5.8 6.2 6.3 4.9 6.4 6.8 6.3 5.8
Virgin Islands..... 6.2 5.5 6.3 5.8 7.3 5.6 5.9 6.7 7.4 5.4
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Table 8. Private sector establishment births and deaths, seasonally adjusted
Total private
(Levels in thousands)
Number of Establishments Employment
Births Deaths(1) Births Deaths
Year 3 months ended Level Rate(2) Level Rate Level Rate Level Rate
2005 March 227 3.3 196 2.9 972 .9 877 .8
June 232 3.4 192 2.8 964 .9 845 .8
September 236 3.4 195 2.8 1,005 .9 885 .8
December 236 3.4 200 2.9 988 .9 850 .8
2006 March 236 3.3 195 2.8 949 .8 767 .7
June 233 3.3 206 2.9 987 .9 850 .8
September 224 3.1 210 2.9 934 .8 843 .7
December 236 3.3 207 2.9 976 .9 812 .7
2007 March 232 3.2 205 2.8 918 .8 787 .7
June 225 3.1 215 3.0 898 .8 859 .8
September 233 3.2 216 3.0 952 .8 845 .7
December 228 3.1 218 3.0 922 .8 836 .7
2008 March 226 3.1 224 3.1 919 .8 832 .7
June 221 3.0 238 3.3 876 .8 913 .8
September 216 3.0 233 3.2 849 .8 881 .8
December 211 2.9 253 3.5 819 .7 951 .9
2009 March 197 2.7 247 3.4 738 .7 869 .8
June 201 2.8 238 3.3 767 .7 837 .8
September 192 2.7 227 3.2 725 .7 793 .7
December 202 2.8 218 3.1 728 .7 749 .7
2010 March 193 2.7 211 3.0 706 .7 687 .7
June 193 2.7 202 2.9 730 .7 665 .6
September 207 2.9 204 2.9 754 .7 701 .7
December 216 3.0 201 2.8 805 .8 700 .7
2011 March 204 2.9 200 2.8 712 .7 631 .6
June 210 2.9 206 2.9 766 .7 690 .6
September 205 2.9 196 2.7 795 .7 677 .6
December 214 3.0 198 2.8 802 .7 699 .6
2012 March 237 3.3 187 2.6 783 .7 613 .6
June 216 3.0 195 2.7 799 .7 675 .6
September 211 2.9 196 2.7 808 .7 693 .6
December 218 3.0 183 2.5 810 .7 675 .6
2013 March 204 2.8 192 2.6 743 .7 644 .6
June 222 3.0 215 2.9 791 .7 695 .6
September 219 2.9 195 2.6 824 .7 681 .6
December 215 2.9 186 2.5 805 .7 672 .6
2014 March 220 2.9 189 2.5 779 .7 630 .6
June 220 2.9 205 2.7 805 .7 717 .6
September 225 3.0 200 2.6 829 .7 705 .6
December 223 2.9 197 2.6 840 .7 709 .6
2015 March 233 3.0 206 2.7 806 .7 691 .6
June 232 3.0 N/A N/A 831 .7 N/A N/A
September 238 3.1 N/A N/A 871 .7 N/A N/A
December 240 3.1 N/A N/A 889 .7 N/A N/A
(1) Values for deaths are not available for the most recent three quarters
by definition. See the Technical Note for more information.
(2) The rates measure births and deaths as a percentage
of the average of the previous and current quarter employment levels or
total number of establishments.
United States Department of Labor
