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Economic News Release
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BDM BDM Program Links

Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) 				USDL-15-1484
Wednesday, July 29, 2015	

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 2014

From September 2014 to December 2014, gross job gains from opening 
and expanding private sector establishments were 7.6 million, an 
increase of 456,000 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 6.5 
million, a decrease of 111,000 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 1,109,000 jobs in the
private sector during the fourth quarter of 2014. 
(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 6.3 million in 
the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 383,000 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 2014, an increase of 73,000 jobs from the previous
quarter. (See tables A, 1, and 3.)

Contracting establishments lost 5.3 million jobs in the fourth quarter 
of 2014. This was a decrease of 200,000 jobs from the prior quarter. 
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)

In the fourth quarter of 2014, closing establishments lost 1.2 million
jobs, an increase of 89,000 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 2014, while gross job losses represented 5.6 
percent of private sector employment. (See tables A, 2, and 3.)

In the fourth quarter of 2014, the number of establishment births 
(a subset of the openings data, see the Technical Note for more 
information) decreased by 2,000 to 222,000 establishments. These 
new establishments accounted for 842,000 jobs, an increase of
17,000 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 2014, when 629,000 jobs were
lost at 187,000 establishments. In the prior quarter, 677,000 jobs 
were lost at 190,000 establishments.  (See table 8.)

During the fourth quarter of 2014, gross job gains exceeded gross job
losses in all industry sectors except the natural resources and mining
sector. The service-providing sector, with 6.251 million gross job 
gains and 5.263 million gross job losses, experienced a net increase
of 988,000 jobs. The goods-producing sector experienced a net increase
of 121,000 jobs, the result of 1.384 million gross job gains and 1.263 
million gross job losses. The professional and business services 
sector, a subset of the service-providing sector, experienced a net
increase of 285,000 jobs, the largest net gain in the sector since 
December 1999. (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.
                                2013    2014    2014    2014    2014

                                      Levels (in thousands)
                                      
Gross job gains................ 7,296   6,856   7,438   7,179  7,635
 At expanding establishments... 5,956   5,624   6,109   5,878  6,261
 At opening establishments..... 1,340   1,232   1,329   1,301  1,374

Gross job losses............... 6,553   6,459   6,522   6,637  6,526
 At contracting establishments. 5,335   5,330   5,340   5,492  5,292
 At closing establishments..... 1,218   1,129   1,182   1,145  1,234

Net employment change(1).......   743     397     916     542  1,109
								
                                         Rates (percent)

Gross job gains................   6.4     6.0     6.5     6.2    6.6
 At expanding establishments...   5.2     4.9     5.3     5.1    5.4
 At opening establishments.....   1.2     1.1     1.2     1.1    1.2

Gross job losses...............   5.8     5.7     5.6     5.8    5.6
 At contracting establishments.   4.7     4.7     4.6     4.8    4.5
 At closing establishments.....   1.1     1.0     1.0     1.0    1.1

Net employment change(1).......    .6      .3      .9      .4    1.0

    (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 2014, firms with 1-49 employees accounted for 
22 percent of total net job growth. Firms with 50-249 employees 
accounted for 15 percent of net job growth. Firms with 250 or more 
employees accounted for 63 percent of net job growth.
(See tables 4 and 5.)

Of the 2.9 million net jobs created over the last year, firms with 1-49
employees contributed 33 percent of net job growth, while firms with 
50-249 employees contributed 22 percent, and firms with 250 or more 
employees contributed 45 percent. (See table 4 and 5.)

In the fourth quarter of 2014, gross job gains exceeded gross job 
losses in 49 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Texas 
experienced 619,644 gross job gains and 479,473 gross job losses 
resulting in a net employment gain of 140,171. This is the largest net
employment gain of any state this quarter. California had the second 
largest net employment gain this quarter with 115,797 net jobs, the 
result of 994,075 gross job gains and 878,278 gross job losses. 
(See table 6.) Alaska had the highest rate of gross job gains as a 
percent of employment at 10.5 percent, above the U.S. rate of 6.6
percent. Hawaii had the lowest rate of gross job losses as a percent
of employment at 4.4 percent, below the U.S. rate of 5.6 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 2015 are scheduled  |
| to be released on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).    |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|         Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data           |
| Data in the next release, published on Wednesday, November 18, 2015,   |
| will incorporate annual revisions to the BED series as well as         |
| historical revisions to reflect an administrative change that occurred |
| in first quarter 2013. Annual revisions are published each year with   |
| the release of first quarter data. These revisions will cover the last |
| four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and five years of        |
| seasonally adjusted data.                                              |
|                                                                        |
| Additionally, all historical BED series back to third quarter 1992 will|
| be revised with the release of first quarter data, for both seasonally |
| adjusted and not seasonally adjusted series, to incorporate an         |
| administrative scope change. These revisions are primarily due to the  |
| reclassification of a number of establishments from private households | 
| (NAICS 814110) to services for the elderly and persons with            |
| disabilities (NAICS 624120). Private households are not within the     |
| scope of BED and, as a result, those establishments impacted by this   |
| industry reclassification are now within scope.                        |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|           Changes to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data           |
| With the processing of fourth quarter 2014 BED data, BLS implemented a |
| new statistical matching process used in the longitudinal linking of   |
| Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. Tabulations from | 
| this quarter forward will reflect this new methodology. For additional |
| details on this new methodology, please see the article "A Simplified  |
| Approach to Administrative Record Linkage in the Quarterly Census of   |
| Employment and Wages" available at:                                    |
| http://www.bls.gov/osmr/pdf/st140020.pdf.                              |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                                 
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’s 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- |  554,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 9.4   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million employers  |  submitted by 7.5    |
           |                     |  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 7.5 million private sector employer reports out 
of 9.4 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 
BLS in the first quarter of 2014.  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 2014:

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

                                                                   Millions
                                                                       
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.4

    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.............................................7.5

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

2004  March                470      7,715       6,204         1,511       7,245       5,795           1,450
      June                 644      7,754       6,235         1,519       7,110       5,639           1,471
      September            206      7,633       6,060         1,573       7,427       5,888           1,539
      December             757      7,844       6,243         1,601       7,087       5,663           1,424

2005  March                384      7,620       6,131         1,489       7,236       5,801           1,435
      June                 593      7,774       6,231         1,543       7,181       5,776           1,405
      September            677      7,965       6,387         1,578       7,288       5,844           1,444
      December             494      7,807       6,252         1,555       7,313       5,948           1,365

2006  March                874      7,797       6,354         1,443       6,923       5,636           1,287
      June                 371      7,758       6,246         1,512       7,387       6,015           1,372
      September             52      7,499       6,061         1,438       7,447       6,097           1,350
      December             455      7,740       6,223         1,517       7,285       5,941           1,344

2007  March                549      7,727       6,297         1,430       7,178       5,881           1,297
      June                 149      7,632       6,222         1,410       7,483       6,079           1,404
      September           -252      7,318       5,847         1,471       7,570       6,215           1,355
      December             299      7,658       6,196         1,462       7,359       6,012           1,347

2008  March               -225      7,246       5,834         1,412       7,471       6,102           1,369
      June                -578      7,254       5,846         1,408       7,832       6,352           1,480
      September           -944      6,886       5,523         1,363       7,830       6,448           1,382
      December          -1,809      6,706       5,354         1,352       8,515       7,034           1,481

2009  March             -2,716      5,850       4,659         1,191       8,566       7,141           1,425
      June              -1,667      6,386       5,084         1,302       8,053       6,671           1,382
      September           -878      6,342       5,131         1,211       7,220       5,856           1,364
      December            -234      6,640       5,315         1,325       6,874       5,596           1,278

2010  March               -263      6,264       5,090         1,174       6,527       5,320           1,207
      June                 709      6,958       5,679         1,279       6,249       5,087           1,162
      September            215      6,678       5,428         1,250       6,463       5,234           1,229
      December             585      7,010       5,638         1,372       6,425       5,206           1,219

2011  March                301      6,458       5,286         1,172       6,157       5,021           1,136
      June                 600      6,936       5,640         1,296       6,336       5,109           1,227
      September            824      7,148       5,790         1,358       6,324       5,174           1,150
      December             364      6,894       5,546         1,348       6,530       5,253           1,277

2012  March                851      6,953       5,706         1,247       6,102       4,997           1,105
      June                 607      7,020       5,732         1,288       6,413       5,260           1,153
      September            241      6,851       5,559         1,292       6,610       5,430           1,180
      December             698      7,107       5,766         1,341       6,409       5,209           1,200

2013  March                926      7,272       5,648         1,624       6,346       5,187           1,159
      June                 678      7,174       5,849         1,325       6,496       5,284           1,212
      September            468      7,051       5,708         1,343       6,583       5,435           1,148
      December             743      7,296       5,956         1,340       6,553       5,335           1,218

2014  March                397      6,856       5,624         1,232       6,459       5,330           1,129
      June                 916      7,438       6,109         1,329       6,522       5,340           1,182
      September            542      7,179       5,878         1,301       6,637       5,492           1,145
      December           1,109      7,635       6,261         1,374       6,526       5,292           1,234


(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

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                 .4       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.6          5.3            1.3
      June                  .6       7.1         5.7           1.4         6.5          5.2            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                 .9       7.0         5.7           1.3         6.1          5.0            1.1
      June                  .3       6.8         5.5           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September             .1       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .3       6.8         5.5           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2007  March                 .5       6.8         5.5           1.3         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              .2       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2008  March                -.3       6.3         5.1           1.2         6.6          5.4            1.2
      June                 -.6       6.3         5.1           1.2         6.9          5.6            1.3
      September            -.8       6.1         4.9           1.2         6.9          5.7            1.2
      December            -1.6       6.0         4.8           1.2         7.6          6.3            1.3

2009  March               -2.4       5.4         4.3           1.1         7.8          6.5            1.3
      June                -1.6       5.9         4.7           1.2         7.5          6.2            1.3
      September            -.9       5.9         4.8           1.1         6.8          5.5            1.3
      December             -.2       6.3         5.0           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2010  March                -.3       5.9         4.8           1.1         6.2          5.1            1.1
      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              .6       6.6         5.3           1.3         6.0          4.9            1.1

2011  March                 .2       6.0         4.9           1.1         5.8          4.7            1.1
      June                  .6       6.5         5.3           1.2         5.9          4.8            1.1
      September             .8       6.7         5.4           1.3         5.9          4.8            1.1
      December              .3       6.3         5.1           1.2         6.0          4.8            1.2

2012  March                 .7       6.3         5.2           1.1         5.6          4.6            1.0
      June                  .6       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.8          4.8            1.0
      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                1.0       6.6         5.1           1.5         5.6          4.6            1.0
      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                 .3       6.0         4.9           1.1         5.7          4.7            1.0
      June                  .9       6.5         5.3           1.2         5.6          4.6            1.0
      September             .4       6.2         5.1           1.1         5.8          4.8            1.0
      December             1.0       6.6         5.4           1.2         5.6          4.5            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.  
                                   2013    2014    2014    2014    2014   2013   2014   2014   2014   2014
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,296   6,856   7,438   7,179   7,635    6.4    6.0    6.5    6.2    6.6
 At expanding establishments      5,956   5,624   6,109   5,878   6,261    5.2    4.9    5.3    5.1    5.4
 At opening establishments        1,340   1,232   1,329   1,301   1,374    1.2    1.1    1.2    1.1    1.2
Gross job losses                  6,553   6,459   6,522   6,637   6,526    5.8    5.7    5.6    5.8    5.6
 At contracting establishments    5,335   5,330   5,340   5,492   5,292    4.7    4.7    4.6    4.8    4.5
 At closing establishments        1,218   1,129   1,182   1,145   1,234    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.0    1.1
Net employment change               743     397     916     542   1,109     .6     .3     .9     .4    1.0

Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,357   1,355   1,410   1,335   1,384    6.8    6.8    7.0    6.5    6.8
 At expanding establishments      1,155   1,163   1,211   1,145   1,189    5.8    5.8    6.0    5.6    5.8
 At opening establishments          202     192     199     190     195    1.0    1.0    1.0     .9    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,312   1,208   1,233   1,215   1,263    6.6    6.0    6.0    6.0    6.2
 At contracting establishments    1,102   1,017   1,042   1,036   1,067    5.5    5.1    5.1    5.1    5.2
 At closing establishments          210     191     191     179     196    1.1     .9     .9     .9    1.0
Net employment change                45     147     177     120     121     .2     .8    1.0     .5     .6

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     280     288     281     279     277   13.8   14.0   13.7   13.5   13.2
 At expanding establishments        243     253     246     243     239   12.0   12.3   12.0   11.8   11.4
 At opening establishments           37      35      35      36      38    1.8    1.7    1.7    1.7    1.8
Gross job losses                    280     253     271     247     282   13.8   12.4   13.2   12.0   13.5
 At contracting establishments      243     219     237     216     249   12.0   10.7   11.5   10.5   11.9
 At closing establishments           37      34      34      31      33    1.8    1.7    1.7    1.5    1.6
Net employment change                 0      35      10      32      -5     .0    1.6     .5    1.5    -.3

Construction

Gross job gains                     653     673     692     652     665   11.1   11.2   11.4   10.7   10.7
 At expanding establishments        526     551     564     537     545    8.9    9.2    9.3    8.8    8.8
 At opening establishments          127     122     128     115     120    2.2    2.0    2.1    1.9    1.9
Gross job losses                    638     585     597     579     603   10.9    9.8    9.9    9.5    9.7
 At contracting establishments      511     468     483     471     483    8.7    7.8    8.0    7.7    7.8
 At closing establishments          127     117     114     108     120    2.2    2.0    1.9    1.8    1.9
Net employment change                15      88      95      73      62     .2    1.4    1.5    1.2    1.0

Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     424     394     437     404     442    3.5    3.3    3.6    3.3    3.6
 At expanding establishments        386     359     401     365     405    3.2    3.0    3.3    3.0    3.3
 At opening establishments           38      35      36      39      37     .3     .3     .3     .3     .3
Gross job losses                    394     370     365     389     378    3.3    3.0    3.0    3.2    3.1
 At contracting establishments      348     330     322     349     335    2.9    2.7    2.6    2.9    2.7
 At closing establishments           46      40      43      40      43     .4     .3     .4     .3     .4
Net employment change                30      24      72      15      64     .2     .3     .6     .1     .5

Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   5,939   5,501   6,028   5,844   6,251    6.3    5.8    6.4    6.2    6.5
 At expanding establishments      4,801   4,461   4,898   4,733   5,072    5.1    4.7    5.2    5.0    5.3
 At opening establishments        1,138   1,040   1,130   1,111   1,179    1.2    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2
Gross job losses                  5,241   5,251   5,289   5,422   5,263    5.6    5.6    5.5    5.7    5.5
 At contracting establishments    4,233   4,313   4,298   4,456   4,225    4.5    4.6    4.5    4.7    4.4
 At closing establishments        1,008     938     991     966   1,038    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.0    1.1
Net employment change               698     250     739     422     988     .7     .2     .9     .5    1.0

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     286     272     284     277     293    4.9    4.7    4.9    4.8    5.0
 At expanding establishments        237     225     240     231     243    4.1    3.9    4.1    4.0    4.1
 At opening establishments           49      47      44      46      50     .8     .8     .8     .8     .9
Gross job losses                    251     251     248     251     246    4.3    4.4    4.3    4.3    4.2
 At contracting establishments      192     196     191     199     191    3.3    3.4    3.3    3.4    3.3
 At closing establishments           59      55      57      52      55    1.0    1.0    1.0     .9     .9
Net employment change                35      21      36      26      47     .6     .3     .6     .5     .8

Retail trade

Gross job gains                     944     877     969     897     950    6.2    5.7    6.3    5.8    6.2
 At expanding establishments        818     757     837     771     829    5.4    4.9    5.4    5.0    5.4
 At opening establishments          126     120     132     126     121     .8     .8     .9     .8     .8
Gross job losses                    835     879     827     905     834    5.5    5.8    5.3    5.9    5.4
 At contracting establishments      720     775     716     798     722    4.7    5.1    4.6    5.2    4.7
 At closing establishments          115     104     111     107     112     .8     .7     .7     .7     .7
Net employment change               109      -2     142      -8     116     .7    -.1    1.0    -.1     .8

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     283     232     244     248     329    6.5    5.4    5.6    5.6    7.3
 At expanding establishments        252     199     210     215     297    5.8    4.6    4.8    4.9    6.6
 At opening establishments           31      33      34      33      32     .7     .8     .8     .7     .7
Gross job losses                    206     244     206     212     203    4.8    5.6    4.7    4.8    4.6
 At contracting establishments      168     210     172     176     169    3.9    4.8    3.9    4.0    3.8
 At closing establishments           38      34      34      36      34     .9     .8     .8     .8     .8
Net employment change                77     -12      38      36     126    1.7    -.2     .9     .8    2.7

Utilities

Gross job gains                      12      14      12      12      14    2.2    2.6    2.2    2.2    2.6
 At expanding establishments         11      12      11      11      12    2.0    2.2    2.0    2.0    2.2
 At opening establishments            1       2       1       1       2     .2     .4     .2     .2     .4
Gross job losses                     16      11      13      11      12    3.0    2.0    2.4    2.0    2.2
 At contracting establishments       14      10      12      10      10    2.6    1.8    2.2    1.8    1.8
 At closing establishments            2       1       1       1       2     .4     .2     .2     .2     .4
Net employment change                -4       3      -1       1       2    -.8     .6    -.2     .2     .4

Information

Gross job gains                     136     122     141     139     145    5.0    4.5    5.2    5.1    5.2
 At expanding establishments        113     101     119     117     119    4.2    3.7    4.4    4.3    4.3
 At opening establishments           23      21      22      22      26     .8     .8     .8     .8     .9
Gross job losses                    123     127     133     138     134    4.5    4.6    4.9    5.0    4.8
 At contracting establishments      101     107     111     118     108    3.7    3.9    4.1    4.3    3.9
 At closing establishments           22      20      22      20      26     .8     .7     .8     .7     .9
Net employment change                13      -5       8       1      11     .5    -.1     .3     .1     .4

Financial activities

Gross job gains                     368     324     374     357     383    4.8    4.2    4.9    4.6    5.0
 At expanding establishments        288     262     305     288     301    3.8    3.4    4.0    3.7    3.9
 At opening establishments           80      62      69      69      82    1.0     .8     .9     .9    1.1
Gross job losses                    356     343     333     340     341    4.6    4.5    4.3    4.4    4.4
 At contracting establishments      278     269     262     268     261    3.6    3.5    3.4    3.5    3.4
 At closing establishments           78      74      71      72      80    1.0    1.0     .9     .9    1.0
Net employment change                12     -19      41      17      42     .2    -.3     .6     .2     .6

Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,455   1,258   1,438   1,378   1,554    7.7    6.7    7.6    7.2    8.0
 At expanding establishments      1,187   1,034   1,187   1,137   1,283    6.3    5.5    6.3    5.9    6.6
 At opening establishments          268     224     251     241     271    1.4    1.2    1.3    1.3    1.4
Gross job losses                  1,256   1,263   1,236   1,247   1,269    6.7    6.7    6.5    6.5    6.5
 At contracting establishments    1,000   1,026     983   1,000     994    5.3    5.4    5.2    5.2    5.1
 At closing establishments          256     237     253     247     275    1.4    1.3    1.3    1.3    1.4
Net employment change               199      -5     202     131     285    1.0     .0    1.1     .7    1.5

Education and health services

Gross job gains                     886     827     882     927     930    4.4    4.1    4.3    4.5    4.5
 At expanding establishments        725     694     731     768     764    3.6    3.4    3.6    3.7    3.7
 At opening establishments          161     133     151     159     166     .8     .7     .7     .8     .8
Gross job losses                    781     779     836     786     780    3.9    3.8    4.1    3.8    3.8
 At contracting establishments      626     640     671     632     616    3.1    3.1    3.3    3.1    3.0
 At closing establishments          155     139     165     154     164     .8     .7     .8     .7     .8
Net employment change               105      48      46     141     150     .5     .3     .2     .7     .7

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,209   1,197   1,275   1,199   1,250    8.4    8.3    8.8    8.2    8.4
 At expanding establishments        945     942   1,003     950     979    6.6    6.5    6.9    6.5    6.6
 At opening establishments          264     255     272     249     271    1.8    1.8    1.9    1.7    1.8
Gross job losses                  1,121   1,075   1,162   1,226   1,140    7.8    7.4    8.0    8.4    7.7
 At contracting establishments      914     876     961   1,024     930    6.4    6.0    6.6    7.0    6.3
 At closing establishments          207     199     201     202     210    1.4    1.4    1.4    1.4    1.4
Net employment change                88     122     113     -27     110     .6     .9     .8    -.2     .7

Other services

Gross job gains                     272     280     302     282     283    7.0    7.1    7.6    7.1    7.1
 At expanding establishments        214     224     241     227     226    5.5    5.7    6.1    5.7    5.7
 At opening establishments           58      56      61      55      57    1.5    1.4    1.5    1.4    1.4
Gross job losses                    273     252     268     280     272    7.0    6.4    6.7    7.1    6.8
 At contracting establishments      214     197     211     222     212    5.5    5.0    5.3    5.6    5.3
 At closing establishments           59      55      57      58      60    1.5    1.4    1.4    1.5    1.5
Net employment change                -1      28      34       2      11     .0     .7     .9     .0     .3

(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

2004  March            430      6,306    5,876         153       3,392    3,239        137        1,194    1,057         140        1,720    1,580
      June             621      6,471    5,850         169       3,387    3,218        141        1,196    1,055         311        1,888    1,577
      September        197      6,243    6,046          88       3,379    3,291         88        1,175    1,087          21        1,689    1,668
      December         759      6,494    5,735         274       3,480    3,206        101        1,172    1,071         384        1,842    1,458

2005  March            368      6,320    5,952          66       3,416    3,350         97        1,161    1,064         205        1,743    1,538
      June             570      6,435    5,865         243       3,476    3,233        146        1,198    1,052         181        1,761    1,580
      September        701      6,672    5,971         218       3,510    3,292         85        1,195    1,110         398        1,967    1,569
      December         506      6,406    5,900         169       3,462    3,293         45        1,140    1,095         292        1,804    1,512

2006  March            788      6,433    5,645         334       3,547    3,213        222        1,213      991         232        1,673    1,441
      June             375      6,349    5,974         117       3,434    3,317        110        1,190    1,080         148        1,725    1,577
      September         43      6,103    6,060         -14       3,329    3,343         27        1,127    1,100          30        1,647    1,617
      December         447      6,375    5,928         117       3,393    3,276         74        1,147    1,073         256        1,835    1,579

2007  March            466      6,300    5,834         189       3,451    3,262         99        1,153    1,054         178        1,696    1,518
      June             174      6,256    6,082         -31       3,337    3,368        108        1,180    1,072          97        1,739    1,642
      September       -269      5,891    6,160        -132       3,252    3,384        -53        1,073    1,126         -84        1,566    1,650
      December         298      6,254    5,956           8       3,315    3,307         63        1,140    1,077         227        1,799    1,572

2008  March           -290      5,806    6,096        -154       3,228    3,382        -14        1,073    1,087        -122        1,505    1,627
      June            -548      5,855    6,403        -284       3,179    3,463        -41        1,095    1,136        -223        1,581    1,804
      September       -999      5,498    6,497        -346       3,047    3,393       -151        1,015    1,166        -502        1,436    1,938
      December      -1,869      5,338    7,207        -695       2,907    3,602       -374          948    1,322        -800        1,483    2,283

2009  March         -2,673      4,584    7,257        -991       2,714    3,705       -620          806    1,426      -1,062        1,064    2,126
      June          -1,767      5,165    6,932        -472       2,948    3,420       -277          953    1,230      -1,018        1,264    2,282
      September       -933      5,138    6,071        -375       2,822    3,197       -114          930    1,044        -444        1,386    1,830
      December        -288      5,405    5,693        -155       2,942    3,097        -43          964    1,007         -90        1,499    1,589

2010  March           -247      5,097    5,344        -207       2,851    3,058         -6          910      916         -34        1,336    1,370
      June             687      5,809    5,122         238       3,096    2,858        207        1,074      867         242        1,639    1,397
      September        200      5,497    5,297          24       2,940    2,916         83          996      913          93        1,561    1,468
      December         518      5,781    5,263          91       3,048    2,957         95        1,035      940         332        1,698    1,366

2011  March            316      5,344    5,028          87       2,966    2,879        118          965      847         111        1,413    1,302
      June             546      5,753    5,207         198       3,077    2,879        175        1,067      892         173        1,609    1,436
      September        834      5,948    5,114         260       3,123    2,863        164        1,062      898         410        1,763    1,353
      December         320      5,613    5,293          46       2,973    2,927         45          987      942         229        1,653    1,424

2012  March            840      5,767    4,927         373       3,153    2,780        214        1,047      833         253        1,567    1,314
      June             602      5,819    5,217         179       3,041    2,862        167        1,080      913         256        1,698    1,442
      September        219      5,569    5,350          48       2,951    2,903         47        1,003      956         124        1,615    1,491
      December         637      5,766    5,129         176       3,018    2,842         91        1,013      922         370        1,735    1,365

2013  March          1,209      6,350    5,141         294       3,138    2,844        153        1,022      869         762        2,190    1,428
      June             656      5,929    5,273         226       3,093    2,867        146        1,081      935         284        1,755    1,471
      September        433      5,746    5,313         203       3,050    2,847         55        1,014      959         175        1,682    1,507
      December         658      5,897    5,239         130       3,028    2,898        104        1,034      930         424        1,835    1,411

2014  March            445      5,621    5,176         236       3,044    2,808        151        1,026      875          58        1,551    1,493
      June             915      6,134    5,219         322       3,160    2,838        227        1,129      902         366        1,845    1,479
      September        521      5,813    5,292         171       3,002    2,831         99        1,057      958         251        1,754    1,503
      December       1,000      6,142    5,142         219       3,085    2,866        154        1,083      929         627        1,974    1,347



(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.  
                                   2013    2014    2014    2014    2014   2013   2014   2014   2014   2014
Total private by firm(1)

Gross job gains                   5,897   5,621   6,134   5,813   6,142    5.2    4.9    5.4    5.0    5.3
 At expanding firms               4,988   4,738   5,240   4,949   5,230    4.4    4.1    4.6    4.3    4.5
 At opening firms                   909     883     894     864     912     .8     .8     .8     .7     .8

Gross job losses                  5,239   5,176   5,219   5,292   5,142    4.6    4.5    4.5    4.6    4.4
 At contracting firms             4,394   4,349   4,410   4,498   4,296    3.9    3.8    3.8    3.9    3.7
 At closing firms                   845     827     809     794     846     .7     .7     .7     .7     .7

Net employment change               658     445     915     521   1,000     .6     .4     .9     .4     .9


Firm size 1 to 49 employees

Gross job gains                   3,028   3,044   3,160   3,002   3,085    9.4    9.4    9.7    9.2    9.3
 At expanding firms               2,158   2,196   2,305   2,183   2,215    6.7    6.8    7.1    6.7    6.7
 At opening firms                   870     848     855     819     870    2.7    2.6    2.6    2.5    2.6

Gross job losses                  2,898   2,808   2,838   2,831   2,866    9.0    8.6    8.7    8.6    8.7
 At contracting firms             2,089   2,015   2,065   2,074   2,067    6.5    6.2    6.3    6.3    6.3
 At closing firms                   809     793     773     757     799    2.5    2.4    2.4    2.3    2.4

Net employment change               130     236     322     171     219     .4     .8    1.0     .6     .6


Firm size 50 to 249 employees

Gross job gains                   1,034   1,026   1,129   1,057   1,083    4.9    4.9    5.4    5.0    5.1
 At expanding firms               1,003     996   1,094   1,020   1,046    4.8    4.8    5.2    4.8    4.9
 At opening firms                    31      30      35      37      37     .1     .1     .2     .2     .2

Gross job losses                    930     875     902     958     929    4.4    4.1    4.3    4.5    4.4
 At contracting firms               899     845     874     928     891    4.3    4.0    4.2    4.4    4.2
 At closing firms                    31      30      28      30      38     .1     .1     .1     .1     .2

Net employment change               104     151     227      99     154     .5     .8    1.1     .5     .7


Firm size 250 or more employees

Gross job gains                   1,835   1,551   1,845   1,754   1,974    3.0    2.5    3.0    2.8    3.2
 At expanding firms               1,827   1,546   1,841   1,746   1,969    3.0    2.5    3.0    2.8    3.2
 At opening firms                     8       5       4       8       5     .0     .0     .0     .0     .0

Gross job losses                  1,411   1,493   1,479   1,503   1,347    2.3    2.4    2.4    2.4    2.2
 At contracting firms             1,406   1,489   1,471   1,496   1,338    2.3    2.4    2.4    2.4    2.2
 At closing firms                     5       4       8       7       9     .0     .0     .0     .0     .0

Net employment change               424      58     366     251     627     .7     .1     .6     .4    1.0


(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. 
                        2013       2014       2014        2014      2014       2013         2014       2014        2014      2014

United States(1)...  7,296,000  6,856,000  7,438,000   7,179,000  7,635,000  6,553,000   6,459,000   6,522,000  6,637,000  6,526,000

Alabama.....            88,974     84,701     87,364      88,919     90,371     80,202      84,878      81,574     81,945     78,004
Alaska.....             25,599     27,111     27,613      23,910     26,557     26,151      24,286      27,672     26,323     26,126
Arizona.....           142,862    122,710    128,550     137,917    151,778    114,990     127,049     126,814    117,215    113,641
Arkansas.....           56,317     55,241     52,907      56,474     62,332     52,575      48,156      46,722     50,404     47,403
California.....        970,775    908,148    934,892     939,378    994,075    826,149     819,458     863,561    809,544    878,278
Colorado.....          138,088    134,852    147,457     149,148    145,170    120,042     117,084     122,734    126,134    125,435
Connecticut.....        72,962     71,412     78,491      73,150     76,328     75,714      70,265      68,091     73,700     71,706
Delaware.....           23,382     22,392     23,550      21,635     25,660     20,578      21,103      18,717     22,310     19,587
District of Columbia    27,767     28,507     31,217      27,893     26,283     26,410      26,428      27,883     27,027     27,030
Florida.....           459,908    429,242    478,152     487,819    485,007    396,853     379,039     412,796    401,485    403,964

Georgia.....           223,857    218,553    229,447     229,767    238,774    191,558     187,662     201,150    198,093    191,279
Hawaii.....             27,361     24,229     24,507      26,070     26,306     22,530      25,768      25,728     23,396     22,671
Idaho.....              43,528     44,986     40,993      39,497     42,651     38,182      38,401      42,522     38,930     35,166
Illinois.....          287,742    282,582    301,654     279,907    310,184    262,299     273,676     271,324    289,157    277,372
Indiana.....           151,123    130,738    146,372     133,763    158,906    126,070     137,774     125,025    131,464    124,754
Iowa.....               75,848     73,265     78,695      72,206     77,791     69,858      69,123      72,090     73,304     71,592
Kansas.....             68,947     62,686     67,594      63,328     70,016     58,995      61,041      62,628     64,034     59,244
Kentucky.....           97,171     91,202     91,806      91,563    100,608     80,834      87,753      82,312     81,553     80,975
Louisiana.....         106,092    106,380    105,324     106,145    109,447     96,483      92,250     102,933     93,279     95,085
Maine.....              34,549     32,803     38,308      32,929     35,170     36,734      34,830      31,772     34,869     35,226

Maryland.....          129,342    120,701    136,035     133,072    138,569    129,324     119,730     119,062    128,097    128,152
Massachusetts.....     155,212    153,255    182,525     162,669    176,385    152,909     146,767     151,926    160,288    153,896
Michigan.....          210,828    193,208    226,224     192,391    220,347    193,392     179,299     192,512    205,613    186,360
Minnesota.....         132,158    122,559    152,857     131,751    137,598    131,154     131,329     118,560    139,248    129,787
Mississippi.....        56,504     49,034     52,831      53,592     59,693     48,189      50,683      57,818     51,427     45,894
Missouri.....          133,406    124,363    134,112     125,122    142,836    123,901     123,281     117,942    125,281    116,244
Montana.....            29,553     25,940     29,275      28,828     30,591     26,617      28,165      27,435     28,838     28,774
Nebraska.....           49,098     46,627     47,067      47,231     49,466     44,342      43,926      46,594     45,164     44,487
Nevada.....             63,969     68,371     69,971      69,834     70,245     53,928      54,147      58,601     58,920     56,185
New Hampshire.....      35,941     30,782     36,567      31,977     37,108     31,262      31,894      32,625     34,115     32,534

New Jersey.....        208,002    191,577    224,863     208,063    228,030    207,528     201,873     189,895    205,705    198,990
New Mexico.....         42,014     38,773     40,569      40,285     43,313     38,594      39,417      37,554     37,562     37,596
New York.....          488,832    453,091    494,472     478,751    489,879    440,138     439,127     429,972    447,805    436,119
North Carolina.....    213,112    196,483    215,534     207,123    222,971    189,004     186,412     182,481    193,641    182,522
North Dakota.....       29,881     31,989     28,240      30,567     32,989     24,992      24,936      26,117     25,255     25,721
Ohio.....              265,643    250,208    270,113     246,052    273,048    236,612     245,509     234,618    248,466    232,601
Oklahoma.....           77,204     76,411     77,458      76,496     85,104     77,423      74,634      76,244     69,680     69,389
Oregon.....             97,663     99,610     98,987     100,879    102,995     92,599      87,208      91,579     87,386     92,052
Pennsylvania.....      267,301    253,643    273,659     255,730    274,455    253,489     242,728     240,437    252,935    240,163
Rhode Island.....       24,474     22,816     26,158      24,210     26,357     22,933      22,863      22,333     23,419     22,844

South Carolina.....    102,061     95,713     99,522      93,993    107,609     82,586      88,987      89,050     90,212     77,805
South Dakota.....       22,932     21,356     21,583      20,766     21,356     20,102      20,435      20,238     20,179     19,843
Tennessee.....         144,253    125,985    130,918     133,159    149,273    110,071     121,089     117,551    117,107    110,514
Texas.....             566,604    553,296    571,566     576,117    619,644    487,463     479,767     465,260    486,158    479,473
Utah.....               77,520     69,642     75,546      76,505     77,378     64,131      63,801      70,146     65,137     63,345
Vermont.....            18,911     16,846     18,513      17,138     18,915     16,542      16,944      17,331     18,095     16,861
Virginia.....          169,315    157,945    183,313     168,475    170,693    165,862     161,816     164,858    174,289    162,570
Washington.....        171,855    165,916    183,724     176,717    181,492    156,542     147,848     138,526    149,394    147,867
West Virginia.....      36,600     35,778     37,208      34,450     37,117     35,915      37,449      36,067     36,943     33,713
Wisconsin.....         131,886    124,346    139,665     126,572    136,741    122,147     121,292     119,588    133,120    121,642

Wyoming.....            20,206     18,391     18,848      17,986     20,197     17,263      17,376      17,883     18,285     17,684
Puerto Rico.....        45,339     35,354     38,012      38,138     43,922     36,188      44,386      42,472     40,511     33,988
Virgin Islands.....      1,497      1,354      1,647       1,701      1,713      1,668       1,662       1,719      1,486      1,520

(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. 
                        2013    2014     2014     2014    2014        2013     2014      2014    2014     2014

United States(1)...      6.4     6.0      6.5      6.2     6.6         5.8      5.7       5.6      5.8     5.6

Alabama.....             6.0     5.6      5.9      5.9     6.0         5.3      5.7       5.5      5.4     5.2
Alaska.....             10.1    10.8     10.9      9.4    10.5        10.4      9.6      10.9     10.4    10.3
Arizona.....             6.7     5.7      6.0      6.4     7.0         5.4      6.0       6.0      5.4     5.2
Arkansas.....            6.0     5.8      5.6      5.9     6.5         5.5      5.0       4.9      5.3     4.9
California.....          7.3     6.8      7.0      7.0     7.3         6.3      6.1       6.4      6.0     6.5
Colorado.....            6.9     6.7      7.3      7.3     7.0         6.1      5.9       6.1      6.2     6.1
Connecticut.....         5.3     5.1      5.6      5.2     5.4         5.4      5.0       4.8      5.3     5.1
Delaware.....            6.6     6.3      6.5      6.0     7.0         5.8      5.9       5.2      6.1     5.4
District of Columbia..   5.8     5.9      6.4      5.7     5.3         5.4      5.5       5.7      5.5     5.5
Florida.....             7.0     6.5      7.2      7.2     7.1         6.0      5.8       6.2      5.9     6.0

Georgia.....             6.8     6.5      6.8      6.8     7.0         5.8      5.6       5.9      5.9     5.6
Hawaii.....              5.4     4.8      4.9      5.2     5.2         4.5      5.1       5.1      4.7     4.4
Idaho.....               8.3     8.4      7.7      7.5     7.9         7.3      7.2       8.0      7.3     6.5
Illinois.....            5.8     5.8      6.1      5.7     6.2         5.3      5.5       5.5      5.8     5.5
Indiana.....             6.1     5.3      5.9      5.3     6.3         5.1      5.5       5.0      5.3     5.0
Iowa.....                6.0     5.8      6.2      5.7     6.1         5.5      5.5       5.7      5.7     5.6
Kansas.....              6.2     5.7      6.1      5.7     6.2         5.3      5.5       5.7      5.8     5.3
Kentucky.....            6.5     6.1      6.2      6.1     6.6         5.4      5.9       5.5      5.4     5.3
Louisiana.....           6.7     6.7      6.6      6.6     6.8         6.1      5.8       6.4      5.8     5.8
Maine.....               7.0     6.7      7.8      6.7     7.1         7.5      7.0       6.5      7.1     7.2

Maryland.....            6.4     5.9      6.6      6.5     6.6         6.3      5.8       5.8      6.2     6.2
Massachusetts.....       5.4     5.3      6.3      5.6     6.0         5.3      5.0       5.3      5.5     5.3
Michigan.....            6.0     5.5      6.4      5.5     6.2         5.6      5.1       5.4      5.8     5.2
Minnesota.....           5.6     5.3      6.5      5.5     5.8         5.6      5.7       5.1      5.9     5.4
Mississippi.....         6.6     5.7      6.1      6.2     6.8         5.6      5.9       6.7      6.0     5.2
Missouri.....            6.0     5.6      6.0      5.6     6.3         5.5      5.5       5.3      5.6     5.1
Montana.....             8.2     7.2      8.2      8.0     8.5         7.5      7.9       7.7      8.1     8.0
Nebraska.....            6.3     5.9      6.0      6.0     6.2         5.7      5.6       6.0      5.7     5.6
Nevada.....              6.3     6.6      6.7      6.6     6.6         5.3      5.2       5.6      5.5     5.3
New Hampshire.....       6.8     5.7      6.7      5.9     6.9         5.8      5.9       6.1      6.3     6.0

New Jersey.....          6.4     5.9      6.9      6.3     6.9         6.4      6.2       5.8      6.3     6.1
New Mexico.....          6.9     6.3      6.6      6.5     7.0         6.4      6.4       6.1      6.1     6.0
New York.....            6.6     6.2      6.6      6.4     6.5         6.0      6.0       5.7      6.0     5.8
North Carolina.....      6.4     5.9      6.4      6.1     6.5         5.7      5.6       5.5      5.8     5.4
North Dakota.....        8.2     8.6      7.6      8.2     8.7         6.9      6.8       7.0      6.7     6.7
Ohio.....                6.0     5.6      6.1      5.5     6.1         5.3      5.6       5.3      5.5     5.1
Oklahoma.....            6.2     6.1      6.2      6.1     6.7         6.2      6.0       6.1      5.5     5.5
Oregon.....              6.9     7.0      6.9      7.0     7.1         6.6      6.1       6.4      6.0     6.3
Pennsylvania.....        5.4     5.2      5.6      5.2     5.6         5.2      4.9       4.8      5.1     4.8
Rhode Island.....        6.2     5.7      6.5      5.9     6.4         5.7      5.7       5.5      5.8     5.6

South Carolina.....      6.7     6.2      6.5      6.1     6.8         5.5      5.8       5.7      5.8     5.0
South Dakota.....        6.9     6.3      6.4      6.2     6.3         6.0      6.1       6.0      6.0     5.8
Tennessee.....           6.3     5.4      5.6      5.7     6.3         4.7      5.3       5.0      5.0     4.7
Texas.....               6.1     5.9      6.0      6.0     6.4         5.3      5.1       4.9      5.1     4.9
Utah.....                7.4     6.5      7.0      7.1     7.1         6.1      6.0       6.6      6.0     5.8
Vermont.....             7.6     6.7      7.4      6.8     7.5         6.6      6.8       6.9      7.2     6.7
Virginia.....            5.7     5.3      6.2      5.6     5.8         5.6      5.5       5.5      5.8     5.5
Washington.....          6.9     6.6      7.3      7.0     7.1         6.3      5.9       5.5      6.0     5.9
West Virginia.....       6.5     6.3      6.6      6.1     6.6         6.4      6.7       6.4      6.6     6.0
Wisconsin.....           5.7     5.3      5.9      5.3     5.7         5.2      5.1       5.0      5.6     5.1

Wyoming.....             9.4     8.4      8.7      8.3     9.2         8.1      8.0       8.2      8.4     8.1
Puerto Rico.....         6.6     5.1      5.6      5.6     6.5         5.2      6.4       6.3      5.9     5.0
Virgin Islands.....      5.5     4.9      6.1      6.3     6.2         6.0      6.1       6.4      5.5     5.5

(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

2004  March               207      3.2       180     2.8        1,000        .9      917        .9
      June                203      3.1       185     2.8          980        .9      909        .8
      September           209      3.2       186     2.8        1,016        .9      953        .9
      December            210      3.2       180     2.7          997        .9      894        .8
  
2005  March               209      3.1       185     2.8          944        .9      852        .8
      June                216      3.2       180     2.7          951        .9      841        .8
      September           221      3.3       186     2.8          996        .9      884        .8
      December            221      3.3       186     2.8          979        .9      846        .8
  
2006  March               220      3.2       180     2.6          924        .8      748        .7
      June                221      3.2       194     2.8          973        .9      841        .7
      September           210      3.1       196     2.9          927        .8      836        .7
      December            221      3.2       194     2.8          959        .8      804        .7
  
2007  March               214      3.1       193     2.8          897        .8      771        .7
      June                206      3.0       202     2.9          884        .8      850        .7
      September           216      3.1       203     2.9          941        .8      836        .7
      December            208      3.0       206     2.9          902        .8      825        .7
  
2008  March               207      3.0       211     3.0          900        .8      817        .7
      June                202      2.9       228     3.3          873        .8      934        .8
      September           191      2.7       223     3.2          826        .7      877        .8
      December            187      2.7       238     3.4          798        .7      941        .8
  
2009  March               172      2.5       236     3.4          707        .6      853        .8
      June                177      2.6       225     3.3          742        .7      830        .8
      September           169      2.5       215     3.2          691        .7      783        .7
      December            183      2.7       200     3.0          711        .7      731        .7
  
2010  March               175      2.6       195     2.9          687        .7      671        .6
      June                180      2.7       185     2.7          713        .7      649        .6
      September           188      2.8       189     2.8          738        .7      693        .7
      December            200      2.9       186     2.7          788        .7      685        .6
  
2011  March               189      2.8       184     2.7          697        .7      615        .6
      June                192      2.8       190     2.8          747        .7      678        .6
      September           199      2.9       187     2.7          786        .7      672        .6
      December            202      2.9       191     2.8          801        .7      750        .7
  
2012  March               201      2.9       181     2.6          750        .7      607        .6
      June                197      2.9       185     2.7          777        .7      664        .6
      September           201      2.9       185     2.7          794        .7      684        .6
      December            201      2.9       182     2.6          793        .7      675        .6
  
2013  March               584      8.1       185     2.6        1,092       1.0      633        .6
      June                229      3.1       219     3.0          796        .7      706        .6
      September           224      3.0       195     2.6          831        .7      683        .6
      December            215      2.9       190     2.5          811        .7      677        .6
  
2014  March               213      2.8       187     2.5          763        .7      629        .5
      June                220      2.9       N/A     N/A          803        .7      N/A       N/A
      September           224      3.0       N/A     N/A          825        .7      N/A       N/A
      December            222      2.9       N/A     N/A          842        .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.

Last Modified Date: July 29, 2015