Technical Information: (202) 691-6553 USDL 09-0978
http://www.bls.gov/bdm/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, August 19, 2009
BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS: FOURTH QUARTER 2008
From September 2008 to December 2008 the number of job gains from
opening and expanding private sector establishments was 6.7 million,
and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments
was 8.5 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. (See tables A, 1 and 3.)
Over this period, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all
but two industry sectors: utilities and education and health services.
(See tables B and 3.)
The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data series include gross job
gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by major
industry sector and for the 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and
gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class.
The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of
increases and decreases in employment that occur at all businesses in
the economy. BED statistics track these changes in employment at
private business units from the third month of one quarter to the
third month of the next. Gross job gains are the sum of increases in
employment from expansions at existing units and the addition of new
jobs at opening units. Gross job losses are the result of
contractions in employment at existing units and the loss of jobs at
closing units. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained
and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.
(See the Technical Note for more information.)
Table A. Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses,
seasonally adjusted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 months ended
|-------------------------------------
| Dec. | Mar. | June | Sept.| Dec.
Category | 2007 | 2008 | 2008 | 2008 | 2008
|-------------------------------------
| Levels (in thousands)
----------------------------------|-------------------------------------
| | | | |
Gross job gains...................| 7,676| 7,130| 7,258| 6,822| 6,712
At expanding establishments.....| 6,220| 5,731| 5,858| 5,504| 5,367
At opening establishments.......| 1,456| 1,399| 1,400| 1,318| 1,345
| | | | |
Gross job losses..................| 7,366| 7,400| 7,751| 7,754| 8,467
At contracting establishments...| 6,010| 6,047| 6,277| 6,383| 6,977
At closing establishments.......| 1,356| 1,353| 1,474| 1,371| 1,490
| | | | |
Net employment change (1).........| 310| -270| -493| -932|-1,755
|-------------------------------------
| Rates (percent)
|-------------------------------------
Gross job gains...................| 6.8| 6.2| 6.4| 6.1| 6.0
At expanding establishments.....| 5.5| 5.0| 5.2| 4.9| 4.8
At opening establishments.......| 1.3| 1.2| 1.2| 1.2| 1.2
| | | | |
Gross job losses..................| 6.5| 6.5| 6.8| 6.9| 7.6
At contracting establishments...| 5.3| 5.3| 5.5| 5.7| 6.3
At closing establishments.......| 1.2| 1.2| 1.3| 1.2| 1.3
| | | | |
Net employment change (1).........| .3| -.3| -.4| -.8| -1.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 The net employment change is the difference between total gross job
gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further
information.
Private Sector Establishment-Level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses
Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained
6.7 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008, a decrease of 110,000
from the previous quarter. Over the quarter, expanding establishments
added 5.4 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.3 million
jobs.
Gross job losses totaled 8.5 million, an increase of 713,000 from the
previous quarter. During the quarter, contracting establishments lost
7.0 million jobs, while closing establishments lost 1.5 million jobs.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)
The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number
of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of -1,755,000 jobs in the
private sector for fourth quarter 2008.
Gross job gains represented 6.0 percent of private sector employment,
while gross job losses represented 7.6 percent of private sector
employment. (See tables A and 2.)
Major Industry Sector Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses
From September 2008 to December 2008, gross job losses exceeded gross
job gains in all but two industry sectors: utilities and education and
health services. (See tables B and 3.)
Goods-producing. Expanding and opening establishments in the goods-
producing sectors accounted for 1,302,000 jobs gained, and contracting
and closing establishments accounted for 2,063,000 jobs lost. This
net loss of 761,000 jobs was the tenth consecutive quarter of net loss
for these sectors of the economy.
Construction. In construction, gross job gains fell over the quarter
to 639,000. This was the lowest level of gross job gains since the
series began in third quarter of 1992. The construction sector
experienced a net loss of 337,000 jobs, as gross job losses increased by
100,000 to 976,000. This was the seventh consecutive quarter of net job
losses in this sector.
Manufacturing. Gross job gains fell to 378,000 while gross job
losses increased to 801,000. The net loss of 423,000 jobs was the tenth
consecutive quarter of net job losses in the manufacturing sector.
Service-providing. In the service-providing sectors, gross job gains
decreased to 5,410,000 and gross job losses increased to 6,404,000,
resulting in a net loss of 994,000 jobs. Job gains at expanding
establishments decreased to 4,280,000 jobs, while job losses at
contracting establishments increased to 5,226,000 jobs.
Retail Trade. In retail trade, gross job gains decreased to
835,000. Gross job losses increased to 1,181,000 for a net loss of
346,000 jobs. This was the largest net loss in this industry since the
series began in 1992, driven by the lowest total of gross job gains in
the history of this series.
Education and Health Services. Gross job gains increased to 841,000
jobs in the fourth quarter, while gross job losses decreased to 665,000.
This industry sector is the only one which has experienced a net
positive change in every quarter since this series began in 1992.
Financial Activities. Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in
the financial sector for the seventh consecutive quarter. Altough gross
job gains increased to 388,000, gross job losses also increased to
497,000, resulting in a net loss of 109,000 jobs in the fourth quarter.
Table B. Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses by industry,
seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Gross job gains | Gross job losses
| (3 months ended) | (3 months ended)
Industry |-----------------------------|-----------------------------
|Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec.
|2007 |2008 |2008 |2008 |2008 |2007 |2008 |2008 |2008 |2008
-----------------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----
| | | | | | | | | |
Total private (1)....|7,676|7,130|7,258|6,822|6,712|7,366|7,400|7,751|7,754|8,467
Goods-Producing.......|1,573|1,493|1,494|1,397|1,302|1,701|1,758|1,778|1,767|2,063
Natural resources | | | | | | | | | |
and mining.........| 292| 274| 280| 274| 285| 261| 293| 268| 255| 286
Construction ........| 784| 763| 737| 698| 639| 875| 869| 922| 876| 976
Manufacturing .......| 497| 456| 477| 425| 378| 565| 596| 588| 636| 801
Service-Providing (1).|6,103|5,637|5,764|5,425|5,410|5,665|5,642|5,973|5,987|6,404
Wholesale trade......| 321| 294| 295| 272| 259| 301| 306| 314| 313| 364
Retail trade ........|1,022| 954| 939| 892| 835|1,011| 979|1,080|1,062|1,181
Transportation and | | | | | | | | | |
warehousing........| 254| 208| 225| 208| 238| 229| 250| 253| 250| 283
Utilities............| 15| 13| 16| 14| 13| 11| 10| 12| 13| 12
Information..........| 145| 154| 162| 135| 137| 155| 153| 161| 168| 191
Financial activities.| 432| 412| 394| 376| 388| 486| 436| 455| 460| 497
Professional and | | | | | | | | | |
business services..|1,440|1,239|1,345|1,231|1,234|1,337|1,358|1,433|1,411|1,619
Education and | | | | | | | | | |
health services....| 814| 785| 788| 799| 841| 666| 667| 715| 706| 665
Leisure and | | | | | | | | | |
hospitality........|1,247|1,158|1,183|1,114|1,111|1,148|1,154|1,218|1,259|1,235
Other services.......| 296| 290| 300| 280| 265| 287| 289| 293| 307| 322
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately.
Number of Establishments Gaining and Losing Employment
Another way to look at the dynamics of business activities is to
monitor the number and proportion of business units that are growing
and declining. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the number of
establishments losing jobs exceeded the number of establishments
gaining jobs.
Of the 7.0 million active private-sector establishments, a total of
2,091,000 establishments lost jobs from September 2008 to December 2008.
(See table C.) Of these establishments, 1,686,000 were contracting
establishments and 405,000 were closing establishments. Of the
establishments gaining jobs, 1,376,000 establishments were expanding
and 368,000 establishments were opening, resulting in 1,744,000
establishments gaining jobs.
The number of closing establishments exceeded the number of opening
establishments, resulting in a net loss of 37,000 private-sector
establishments during the quarter. This was the seventh quarter that
there has been a net decline in the number of establishments since 1992,
and the fifth time a decline occurred in the past seven quarters.
Table C. Number of private sector establishments by direction of
employment change, seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3 months ended
|--------------------------------------
Category | Dec. | Mar. | June | Sept.| Dec.
| 2007 | 2008 | 2008 | 2008 | 2008
----------------------------------|-------|-------|------|------|--------
Establishments gaining jobs.......| 1,940| 1,874| 1,834| 1,788| 1,744
Expanding establishments........| 1,558| 1,517| 1,479| 1,439| 1,376
Opening establishments..........| 382| 357| 355| 349| 368
| | | | |
Establishments losing jobs........| 1,935| 1,976| 2,024| 1,987| 2,091
Contracting establishments......| 1,575| 1,596| 1,633| 1,608| 1,686
Closing establishments..........| 360| 380| 391| 379| 405
| | | | |
Net establishment change (1)......| 22| -23| -36| -30| -37
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 The net establishment change is the difference between the number of
opening establishments and the number of closing establishments. See the
Technical Note for further information.
Establishment Births and Deaths
From September 2008 to December 2008, a total of 189,000 new private
sector nonfarm business establishments created 794,000 jobs. This was
2,000 more establishment births than in the prior quarter, but 19,000
fewer jobs were gained from these births. The jobs created by these new
establishments represent 11.8 percent of total gross job gains. The
historical time series of birth data shows the number of establishment
births has remained around 200,000 every quarter, while employment from
births dropped from a high of 1.3 million in the first quarter 1998 to a
low of 794,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008. (See Table 7.)
Gross Job Gains and Losses by State
In the fourth quarter of 2008, Louisiana and North Dakota
experienced net employment growth, while 48 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands experienced net job
losses. Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina showed
rates of gross job gains below the U.S. rate of 6.0 percent and rates
of gross job losses above the U.S. rate of 7.6 percent. (See tables 5
and 6.)
Firm-level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses by Size Class
From September 2008 to December 2008, the share of gross job gains
accounted for by firms with 1 to 4 employees rose from 16.1 to 16.8
percent. Firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced an increase in
the share of gross job losses from 19.4 to 20.7 percent. (See tables D
and 4.)
Table D. Three-month private sector share (1) of gross job gains and losses by firm
size, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Share of gross job gains | Share of gross job losses
| (3 months ended) | (3 months ended)
Firm size |------------------------------|------------------------------
| Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. | Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec.
| 2007 |2008 |2008 |2008 |2008 | 2007 |2008 |2008 |2008 |2008
-----------------------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|------|-----|-----|-----|-----
| | | | | | | | | |
1 - 4 employees..| 15.6| 16.2| 15.4| 16.1| 16.8| 16.1| 16.7| 16.0| 15.3| 14.5
5 - 9 employees..| 11.5| 12.4| 11.9| 12.1| 11.7| 12.3| 12.4| 11.9| 11.4| 10.8
10 - 19 employees..| 11.7| 12.6| 12.2| 12.2| 11.8| 12.4| 12.4| 12.0| 11.6| 11.2
20 - 49 employees..| 13.8| 14.8| 14.5| 14.3| 13.6| 14.5| 14.3| 14.0| 13.9| 13.6
50 - 99 employees..| 8.8| 9.1| 9.1| 9.1| 8.6| 9.0| 8.8| 8.7| 8.7| 8.9
100 - 249 employees..| 9.3| 9.5| 9.7| 9.5| 9.2| 9.1| 8.9| 9.0| 9.4| 9.6
250 - 499 employees..| 5.6| 5.6| 5.7| 5.8| 5.5| 5.4| 5.3| 5.5| 5.6| 5.9
500 - 999 employees..| 4.5| 4.4| 4.7| 4.7| 4.6| 4.5| 4.2| 4.7| 4.8| 5.0
1,000 or more employees| 19.2| 15.2| 16.8| 16.3| 18.2| 16.7| 16.9| 18.2| 19.4| 20.7
| | | | | | | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Shares measure the percent of the category represented by firm size,
and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
More Information
Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses are
available online at http://www.bls.gov/bdm. This information includes
data on the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by
firm size, the not seasonally adjusted data and other seasonally adjusted
time series not presented in this release, charts of gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry and firm size, and frequently asked
questions on firm-size data. Additional information about the
Business Employment Dynamics data can be found in the Technical Note
of this release or may be obtained by e-mailing BDMinfo@bls.gov.
------------------------------------------------------------------
| Upcoming Changes to the Business Employment Dynamics |
| News Release |
| |
| Beginning with the next edition of the Business Employment |
| Dynamics news release scheduled for publication on November 19, |
| 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will introduce changes in |
| the presentation of the text section of the release. There will |
| be no changes to the format and content of tables 1-7. |
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
| Comparing Business Employment Dynamics Data with Current |
| Employment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment |
| and Wages Data |
| |
| The net change in employment from Business Employment |
| Dynamics (BED) data series will not match the net change in |
| employment from the monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) |
| survey. The CES estimates are based on monthly surveys from a |
| sample of establishments, while gross job gains and gross job |
| losses are based on a quarterly census of administrative records.|
| In addition, the CES has a different coverage, excluding the |
| agriculture sector but including establishments not covered by |
| the unemployment insurance program. The net over-the-quarter |
| changes derived by aggregating component series in the BED data |
| may be different from the net employment change estimated from |
| the CES seasonally adjusted total employment series. The in- |
| tended use of the BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor |
| market flows that underlie the net changes in aggregate employ- |
| ment levels; data users who want to track net changes in aggre- |
| gate employment levels over time should refer to CES data. |
| |
| BED data have a more limited scope than the Quarterly Census |
| of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. The data in this release, |
| in contrast to the QCEW data, exclude government employees, |
| private households (NAICS 814110), and establishments with zero |
| employment. |
| |
| See the Technical Note for further information. |
------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Note
The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-
state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
(QCEW), or the ES-202 program. The BED data are compiled by the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing quarterly state unemployment
insurance (UI) records. Most employers in the U.S. are required to file
quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI
laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The quarterly UI reports are sent by
the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) to BLS and form the basis of the BLS
establishment universe sampling frame. These reports also are used to pro-
duce the quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitu-
dinal BED data on gross job gains and losses. Other important BLS uses
of the UI reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program.
(See table below for differences between QCEW, CES, and BED.)
In the BED program, the quarterly UI records are linked across quarters
to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage
process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment
level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and
expanding establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establish-
ments.
Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures
The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment mea-
sures for any given quarter. Each of these measures--QCEW, BED, and CES--
makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; how-
ever, each measure has a somewhat different universe coverage, estimation
procedure, and publication product.
Differences in coverage and estimation methods can result in somewhat
different measures of over-the-quarter employment change. It is important to
understand program differences and the intended uses of the program products.
(See table below.) Additional information on each program can be obtained
from the program Web sites shown in the table.
Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| QCEW | BED | CES
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Source |--Count of UI admini-|--Count of longitudi- |--Sample survey:
| strative records | nally-linked UI ad- | 400,000 establish-
| submitted by 9.2 | ministrative records| ments
| million employers | submitted by 7.0 |
| | million private sec-|
| | tor employers |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and sal-
| age: all employers| ing government, pri-| ary jobs:
| subject to state | vate households, and|--UI Coverage, exclud-
| and federal UI Laws| establishments with | ing agriculture, pri-
| | zero employment | vate households, and
| | | self-employed workers
| | |--Other employment, in-
| | | cluding railroads,
| | | religious organiza-
| | | tions, and other non-
| | | UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly |--Quarterly |--Monthly
frequency | -7 months after the| -8 months after the | -Usually first Friday
| end of each quar- | end of each quarter| of following month
| ter | |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Use of UI |--Directly summarizes|--Links each new UI |--Uses UI file as a sam-
file | and publishes each | quarter to longitu- | pling frame and annu-
| new quarter of UI | dinal database and | ally realigns (bench-
| data | directly summarizes | marks) sample esti-
| | gross job gains and | mates to first quar-
| | losses | ter UI levels
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal |--Provides a quarter-|--Provides quarterly |--Provides current month-
products | ly and annual uni- | employer dynamics | ly estimates of employ-
| verse count of es- | data on establish- | ment, hours, and earn-
| tablishments, em- | ment openings, clos-| ings at the MSA, state,
| ployment, and wages| ings, expansions, | and national level by
| at the county, MSA,| and contractions at | industry
| state, and national| the national level |
| levels by detailed | by NAICS super- |
| industry | sectors and by size |
| | of firm, and at the |
| | state private-sector|
| | total level |
| |--Future expansions |
| | will include data |
| | with greater in- |
| | dustry detail and |
| | data at the county |
| | and MSA level |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal |--Major uses include:|--Major uses include: |--Major uses include:
uses | -Detailed locality | -Business cycle | -Principal national
| data | analysis | economic indicator
| -Periodic universe | -Analysis of employ-| -Official time series
| counts for bench- | er dynamics under- | for employment change
| marking sample | lying economic ex- | measures
| survey estimates | pansions and con- | -Input into other ma-
| -Sample frame for | tractions | jor economic indi-
| BLS establishment | -Analysis of employ-| cators
| surveys | ment expansion and |
| | contraction by size|
| | of firm |
| | |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Program |--www.bls.gov/cew/ |--www.bls.gov/bdm/ |--www.bls.gov/ces/
Web sites | | |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coverage
Employment and wage data for workers covered by state UI and Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) laws are compiled from quarterly
contribution reports submitted to the SWAs by employers. In addition to the
quarterly contribution reports, employers who operate multiple establishments
within a state complete a questionnaire, called the "Multiple Worksite Report,"
which provides detailed information on the location of their establishments.
These reports are based on place of employment rather than place of residence.
UI and UCFE coverage is broad and basically comparable from state to state.
Major exclusions from UI coverage are self-employed workers, religious or-
ganizations, most agricultural workers on small farms, all members of the
Armed Forces, elected officials in most states, most employees of railroads,
some domestic workers, most student workers at schools, and employees of cer-
tain small nonprofit organizations.
Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from lon-
gitudinal histories of 7.0 million private sector employer reports out
of 9.2 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to
BLS in the fourth quarter of 2008. Gross job gains and gross job losses data
in this release do not report estimates for government employees or private
households (NAICS 814110) and do not include establishments with zero employ-
ment in both previous and current quarters. Data from Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands also are excluded from the national data. As an illustration,
the table below shows, in millions of establishments, the number of establish-
ments excluded from the gross job gains and gross job losses data in the fourth
quarter of 2008:
Number of active establishments included in
Business Employment Dynamics data at the
national level
Millions
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.2
Excluded: Public sector.........................................0.3
Private households....................................0.6
Zero employment.......................................1.2
Establishments in Puerto Rico
and the Virgin Islands..............................0.1
Total establishments included in Business
Employment Dynamics data.............................................7.0
Unit of analysis
Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by in-
dustry and firms are used in the tabulation of the BED size class sta-
tistics. An establishment is defined as an economic unit that produces
goods or services, usually at a single physical location, and engages in
one or predominantly one activity. A firm is a legal business, either
corporate or otherwise, and may consist of several establishments. Firm-
level data are compiled based on an aggregation of establishments under
common ownership by a corporate parent using employer tax identification
numbers. The firm-level aggregation, which is consistent with the role of
corporations as the economic decision makers, is used for the measurement
of the BED data elements by size class.
Because of the difference in the unit of analysis, total gross job gains
and gross job losses by size class are lower than total gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry, as some establishment gains and losses within
a firm are offset during the aggregation process. However, the total net
changes in employment are the same for not seasonally adjusted data and are
similar for seasonally adjusted data.
Concepts and methodology
The Business Employment Dynamics data measure the net change in employ-
ment at the establishment or firm level. These changes come about in one
of four ways. A net increase in employment can come from either opening
units or expanding units. A net decrease in employment can come from either
closing units or contracting units. Gross job gains include the sum of all
jobs added at either opening or expanding units. Gross job losses include
the sum of all jobs lost in either closing or contracting units. The net
change in employment is the difference between gross job gains and gross
job losses.
The formal definitions of employment changes are as follows:
Openings. These are either units with positive third month employment for
the first time in the current quarter, with no links to the prior quarter, or
with positive third month employment in the current quarter, following zero em-
ployment in the previous quarter.
Expansions. These are units with positive employment in the third month
in both the previous and current quarters, with a net increase in employment
over this period.
Closings. These are units with positive third month employment in the pre-
vious quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current
quarter.
Contractions. These are units with positive employment in the third month
in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment
over this period.
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 establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third
month of each quarter. Not all establishments and firms change their em-
ployment levels. Units with no change in employment count towards estimates
of total employment, but not for levels of gross employment job gains and
gross job losses.
Gross job gains and gross job losses are expressed as rates by dividing
their levels by the average of employment in the current and previous quar-
ters. This provides a symmetric growth rate. The rates are calculated for
the components of gross job gains and gross job losses and then summed to
form their respective totals. These rates can be added and subtracted just
as their levels can. For instance, the difference between the gross job
gains rate and the gross job losses rate is the net growth rate.
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 estblishment 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 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 esta-
blishments' unique SWA identification numbers (SWA-ID). Between 95 to 97
percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter
are matched by SWA-ID. The rest are linked in one of three ways. The first
method uses predecessor and successor information, identified by the states,
which relates records with different SWA-IDs across quarters. Predecessor
and successor relations can come about for a variety of reasons, including
a change in ownership, a firm restructuring, or a UI account restructuring.
If a match cannot be attained in this manner, a probability-based match is
used. This match attempts to identify two establishments with different SWA-
IDs as continuous. The match is based upon comparisons such as the same
name, address, and phone number. Third, an analyst examines unmatched re-
cords individually and makes a possible match.
In order to ensure the highest possible quality of data, SWAs verify with
employers and update, if necessary, the industry, location, and ownership
classification of all establishments on a 3-year cycle. Changes in establish-
ment classification codes resulting from the verification process are intro-
duced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year. Changes re-
sulting from improved employer reporting also are introduced in the first
quarter.
Sizing methodology
The method of dynamic sizing is used in calculations for the BED size-
class data series. Dynamic sizing allocates each firm's employment gain or
loss during a quarter to each respective size class in which the change
occurred. For example, if a firm grew from 2 employees in quarter 1 to 38
employees in quarter 2, then, of the 36-employee increase, 2 would be al-
located to the first size class, 5 to the size class 5 to 9, 10 to size
class 10 to 19, and 19 to size class 20 to 49.
Dynamic sizing provides symmetrical firm-size estimates and eliminates
any systematic effects which may be caused by the transitory and reverting
changes in firms' sizes over time. Additionally, it allocates each job
gain or loss to the actual size class where it occurred.
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 contract-
ing units are independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated
based on the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses. Simi-
larly, for industry data, the establishment counts data series for opening,
expanding, closing, and contracting establishments are independently adjusted,
and the net changes are calculated based on the difference between the number
of opening and closing establishments. Additionally, establishment and em-
ployment levels are independently seasonally adjusted to calculate the sea-
sonally adjusted rates. Concurrent seasonal adjustment is run using X-12
ARIMA. Seasonally adjusted data series for the total private sector are cal-
culated by summing the seasonally adjusted data for all sectors, including
the unclassified sector, which is not published separately.
The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting
units for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are seasonally
adjusted at the total private level only. The sum of the state series for
opening, expanding, closing, and contracting units will not necessarily be
equal to the national total private series because of the independent seasonal
adjustment of these series.
The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED component series
will differ from the net employment change estimated from the seasonally ad-
justed total private employment series from the CES program. The intended use
of BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor market changes that underlie
the net employment change statistic. As such, data users interested particu-
larly in the net employment change and not in the gross job flows underlying
this change should refer to CES data for over-the-quarter net employment
changes.
Reliability of the data
Since the data series on Business Employment Dynamics are based on admini-
strative rather than sample data, there are no issues related to sampling
error. Nonsampling error, however, still exists. Nonsampling errors can oc-
cur for many reasons, such as the employer submitting corrected employment
data after the end of the quarter or typographical errors made by businesses
when providing information. Such errors, however, are likely to be distri-
buted randomly throughout the dataset.
Changes in administrative data sometimes create complications for the
linkage process. This can result in overstating openings and closings while
understating expansions and contractions. The BLS continues to refine methods
for improving the linkage process to alleviate the effects of these compli-
cations.
The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on correc-
tions in QCEW records, updates on predecessors and successors information, and
seasonal adjustment revisions.
Additional statistics and other information
Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information.
The QCEW program, also known as the ES-202 program, provides both quarterly
and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed industry.
News releases on quarterly county employment and wages are available upon
request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212;
telephone 202-691-6567; (http://www.bls.gov/cew/); (e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).
The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, its net change,
and earnings by detailed industry. These estimates are part of the Employ-
ment Situation report put out monthly by BLS.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides month-
ly measures of job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired in-
dividuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral
number: 1-800-877-8339.
Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and job losses, seasonally adjusted
Total private
(In thousands)
Gross job gains Gross job losses
Year 3 months ended Net change(1) Total Expanding Opening Total Contracting Closing
establishments establishments establishments establishments
1992 September 599 7,329 5,688 1,641 6,730 5,308 1,422
December 123 6,986 5,452 1,534 6,863 5,484 1,379
1993 March 288 7,117 5,404 1,713 6,829 5,364 1,465
June 734 7,275 5,782 1,493 6,541 5,155 1,386
September 965 7,539 5,926 1,613 6,574 5,265 1,309
December 603 7,375 5,822 1,553 6,772 5,411 1,361
1994 March 559 7,381 5,800 1,581 6,822 5,401 1,421
June 905 7,709 6,041 1,668 6,804 5,315 1,489
September 1,288 8,002 6,277 1,725 6,714 5,426 1,288
December 460 7,535 5,978 1,557 7,075 5,642 1,433
1995 March 758 7,787 6,124 1,663 7,029 5,652 1,377
June 358 7,666 6,006 1,660 7,308 5,840 1,468
September 845 7,983 6,341 1,642 7,138 5,645 1,493
December 378 7,830 6,140 1,690 7,452 5,929 1,523
1996 March 457 7,933 6,179 1,754 7,476 5,967 1,509
June 631 8,051 6,282 1,769 7,420 5,903 1,517
September 704 8,177 6,373 1,804 7,473 5,942 1,531
December 816 8,206 6,396 1,810 7,390 5,875 1,515
1997 March 784 8,214 6,407 1,807 7,430 5,886 1,544
June 584 8,055 6,330 1,725 7,471 5,931 1,540
September 901 8,515 6,718 1,797 7,614 5,927 1,687
December 708 8,617 6,697 1,920 7,909 6,024 1,885
1998 March 711 8,648 6,599 2,049 7,937 6,077 1,860
June 610 8,629 6,552 2,077 8,019 6,224 1,795
September 742 8,508 6,607 1,901 7,766 6,093 1,673
December 768 8,475 6,737 1,738 7,707 6,025 1,682
1999 March 353 8,585 6,626 1,959 8,232 6,395 1,837
June 644 8,539 6,661 1,878 7,895 6,210 1,685
September 588 8,571 6,734 1,837 7,983 6,250 1,733
December 1,005 8,749 6,956 1,793 7,744 6,076 1,668
2000 March 789 8,792 6,924 1,868 8,003 6,341 1,662
June 492 8,499 6,814 1,685 8,007 6,387 1,620
September 296 8,506 6,728 1,778 8,210 6,483 1,727
December 295 8,400 6,702 1,698 8,105 6,433 1,672
2001 March -156 8,436 6,694 1,742 8,592 6,717 1,875
June -792 8,009 6,319 1,690 8,801 7,050 1,751
September -1,184 7,608 5,917 1,691 8,792 6,991 1,801
December -960 7,591 5,932 1,659 8,551 6,858 1,693
2002 March -39 8,049 6,259 1,790 8,088 6,424 1,664
June -38 7,890 6,164 1,726 7,928 6,290 1,638
September -171 7,608 6,015 1,593 7,779 6,248 1,531
December -198 7,522 5,960 1,562 7,720 6,171 1,549
2003 March -412 7,439 5,917 1,522 7,851 6,311 1,540
June -104 7,401 5,928 1,473 7,505 6,040 1,465
September 204 7,383 5,918 1,465 7,179 5,818 1,361
December 309 7,549 6,016 1,533 7,240 5,802 1,438
2004 March 450 7,683 6,189 1,494 7,233 5,799 1,434
June 631 7,760 6,234 1,526 7,129 5,648 1,481
September 215 7,630 6,057 1,573 7,415 5,877 1,538
December 781 7,872 6,256 1,616 7,091 5,660 1,431
2005 March 363 7,595 6,123 1,472 7,232 5,806 1,426
June 585 7,783 6,231 1,552 7,198 5,785 1,413
September 680 7,962 6,387 1,575 7,282 5,834 1,448
December 516 7,833 6,263 1,570 7,317 5,945 1,372
2006 March 787 7,697 6,278 1,419 6,910 5,635 1,275
June 410 7,795 6,274 1,521 7,385 6,009 1,376
September 36 7,488 6,052 1,436 7,452 6,099 1,353
December 492 7,801 6,262 1,539 7,309 5,953 1,356
2007 March 470 7,627 6,228 1,399 7,157 5,872 1,285
June 192 7,665 6,250 1,415 7,473 6,066 1,407
September -241 7,323 5,849 1,474 7,564 6,209 1,355
December 310 7,676 6,220 1,456 7,366 6,010 1,356
2008 March -270 7,130 5,731 1,399 7,400 6,047 1,353
June -493 7,258 5,858 1,400 7,751 6,277 1,474
September -932 6,822 5,504 1,318 7,754 6,383 1,371
December -1,755 6,712 5,367 1,345 8,467 6,977 1,490
(1) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.
Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses, as a percent of employment(1), seasonally adjusted
Total private
(Percent)
Gross job gains Gross job losses
Year 3 months ended Net change(2) Total Expanding Opening Total Contracting Closing
establishments establishments establishments establishments
1992 September .7 8.2 6.4 1.8 7.5 5.9 1.6
December .2 7.8 6.1 1.7 7.6 6.1 1.5
1993 March .3 7.9 6.0 1.9 7.6 6.0 1.6
June .8 8.0 6.4 1.6 7.2 5.7 1.5
September 1.1 8.3 6.5 1.8 7.2 5.8 1.4
December .6 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.4 5.9 1.5
1994 March .7 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.3 5.8 1.5
June 1.0 8.3 6.5 1.8 7.3 5.7 1.6
September 1.3 8.4 6.6 1.8 7.1 5.7 1.4
December .5 7.9 6.3 1.6 7.4 5.9 1.5
1995 March .8 8.1 6.4 1.7 7.3 5.9 1.4
June .3 7.9 6.2 1.7 7.6 6.1 1.5
September .9 8.2 6.5 1.7 7.3 5.8 1.5
December .3 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.7 6.1 1.6
1996 March .5 8.1 6.3 1.8 7.6 6.1 1.5
June .7 8.2 6.4 1.8 7.5 6.0 1.5
September .7 8.2 6.4 1.8 7.5 6.0 1.5
December .8 8.2 6.4 1.8 7.4 5.9 1.5
1997 March .9 8.2 6.4 1.8 7.3 5.8 1.5
June .6 7.9 6.2 1.7 7.3 5.8 1.5
September 1.0 8.4 6.6 1.8 7.4 5.8 1.6
December .8 8.4 6.5 1.9 7.6 5.8 1.8
1998 March .7 8.4 6.4 2.0 7.7 5.9 1.8
June .6 8.3 6.3 2.0 7.7 6.0 1.7
September .7 8.1 6.3 1.8 7.4 5.8 1.6
December .7 8.0 6.4 1.6 7.3 5.7 1.6
1999 March .3 8.0 6.2 1.8 7.7 6.0 1.7
June .6 8.0 6.2 1.8 7.4 5.8 1.6
September .6 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.4 5.8 1.6
December 1.0 8.1 6.4 1.7 7.1 5.6 1.5
2000 March .7 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.3 5.8 1.5
June .4 7.7 6.2 1.5 7.3 5.8 1.5
September .2 7.7 6.1 1.6 7.5 5.9 1.6
December .3 7.6 6.1 1.5 7.3 5.8 1.5
2001 March -.1 7.7 6.1 1.6 7.8 6.1 1.7
June -.8 7.2 5.7 1.5 8.0 6.4 1.6
September -1.2 6.9 5.4 1.5 8.1 6.4 1.7
December -.9 7.0 5.5 1.5 7.9 6.3 1.6
2002 March .0 7.5 5.8 1.7 7.5 6.0 1.5
June .0 7.3 5.7 1.6 7.3 5.8 1.5
September -.1 7.1 5.6 1.5 7.2 5.8 1.4
December .0 7.1 5.6 1.5 7.1 5.7 1.4
2003 March -.4 6.9 5.5 1.4 7.3 5.9 1.4
June -.1 7.0 5.6 1.4 7.1 5.7 1.4
September .2 6.9 5.5 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3
December .3 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3
2004 March .5 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3
June .6 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.6 5.2 1.4
September .3 7.1 5.6 1.5 6.8 5.4 1.4
December .7 7.2 5.7 1.5 6.5 5.2 1.3
2005 March .3 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.6 5.3 1.3
June .5 7.1 5.7 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3
September .6 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3
December .4 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.6 5.4 1.2
2006 March .8 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.1 5.0 1.1
June .5 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.5 5.3 1.2
September .1 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.6 5.4 1.2
December .4 6.9 5.5 1.4 6.5 5.3 1.2
2007 March .4 6.7 5.5 1.2 6.3 5.2 1.1
June .2 6.7 5.5 1.2 6.5 5.3 1.2
September -.3 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.7 5.5 1.2
December .3 6.8 5.5 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2
2008 March -.3 6.2 5.0 1.2 6.5 5.3 1.2
June -.4 6.4 5.2 1.2 6.8 5.5 1.3
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
(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. March June Sept. Dec. Dec. March June Sept. Dec.
2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
Total private(1)
Gross job gains 7,676 7,130 7,258 6,822 6,712 6.8 6.2 6.4 6.1 6.0
At expanding establishments 6,220 5,731 5,858 5,504 5,367 5.5 5.0 5.2 4.9 4.8
At opening establishments 1,456 1,399 1,400 1,318 1,345 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
Gross job losses 7,366 7,400 7,751 7,754 8,467 6.5 6.5 6.8 6.9 7.6
At contracting establishments 6,010 6,047 6,277 6,383 6,977 5.3 5.3 5.5 5.7 6.3
At closing establishments 1,356 1,353 1,474 1,371 1,490 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3
Net employment change 310 -270 -493 -932 -1,755 .3 -.3 -.4 -.8 -1.6
Goods-producing
Gross job gains 1,573 1,493 1,494 1,397 1,302 6.8 6.5 6.6 6.2 6.0
At expanding establishments 1,337 1,258 1,268 1,185 1,087 5.8 5.5 5.6 5.3 5.0
At opening establishments 236 235 226 212 215 1.0 1.0 1.0 .9 1.0
Gross job losses 1,701 1,758 1,778 1,767 2,063 7.4 7.6 7.8 7.9 9.4
At contracting establishments 1,424 1,481 1,486 1,493 1,751 6.2 6.4 6.5 6.7 8.0
At closing establishments 277 277 292 274 312 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.4
Net employment change -128 -265 -284 -370 -761 -.6 -1.1 -1.2 -1.7 -3.4
Natural resources and mining
Gross job gains 292 274 280 274 285 15.8 14.5 14.9 14.6 15.0
At expanding establishments 250 234 242 239 247 13.5 12.4 12.9 12.7 13.0
At opening establishments 42 40 38 35 38 2.3 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.0
Gross job losses 261 293 268 255 286 14.1 15.5 14.3 13.6 15.0
At contracting establishments 224 251 228 221 251 12.1 13.3 12.2 11.8 13.2
At closing establishments 37 42 40 34 35 2.0 2.2 2.1 1.8 1.8
Net employment change 31 -19 12 19 -1 1.7 -1.0 .6 1.0 .0
Construction
Gross job gains 784 763 737 698 639 10.5 10.2 10.1 9.8 9.4
At expanding establishments 634 614 593 560 505 8.5 8.2 8.1 7.9 7.4
At opening establishments 150 149 144 138 134 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.9 2.0
Gross job losses 875 869 922 876 976 11.7 11.7 12.6 12.4 14.2
At contracting establishments 702 698 738 700 774 9.4 9.4 10.1 9.9 11.3
At closing establishments 173 171 184 176 202 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.9
Net employment change -91 -106 -185 -178 -337 -1.2 -1.5 -2.5 -2.6 -4.8
Manufacturing
Gross job gains 497 456 477 425 378 3.6 3.3 3.5 3.2 2.9
At expanding establishments 453 410 433 386 335 3.3 3.0 3.2 2.9 2.6
At opening establishments 44 46 44 39 43 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3
Gross job losses 565 596 588 636 801 4.1 4.4 4.3 4.8 6.1
At contracting establishments 498 532 520 572 726 3.6 3.9 3.8 4.3 5.5
At closing establishments 67 64 68 64 75 .5 .5 .5 .5 .6
Net employment change -68 -140 -111 -211 -423 -.5 -1.1 -.8 -1.6 -3.2
Service-providing(1)
Gross job gains 6,103 5,637 5,764 5,425 5,410 6.7 6.2 6.3 6.0 6.1
At expanding establishments 4,883 4,473 4,590 4,319 4,280 5.4 4.9 5.0 4.8 4.8
At opening establishments 1,220 1,164 1,174 1,106 1,130 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.3
Gross job losses 5,665 5,642 5,973 5,987 6,404 6.3 6.2 6.6 6.6 7.1
At contracting establishments 4,586 4,566 4,791 4,890 5,226 5.1 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.8
At closing establishments 1,079 1,076 1,182 1,097 1,178 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3
Net employment change 438 -5 -209 -562 -994 .4 .0 -.3 -.6 -1.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains 321 294 295 272 259 5.4 4.9 4.9 4.5 4.4
At expanding establishments 263 238 239 223 206 4.4 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.5
At opening establishments 58 56 56 49 53 1.0 .9 .9 .8 .9
Gross job losses 301 306 314 313 364 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.2 6.2
At contracting establishments 232 239 243 247 290 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.9
At closing establishments 69 67 71 66 74 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.3
Net employment change 20 -12 -19 -41 -105 .4 -.2 -.4 -.7 -1.8
Retail trade
Gross job gains 1,022 954 939 892 835 6.6 6.2 6.0 5.8 5.6
At expanding establishments 870 804 785 736 704 5.6 5.2 5.0 4.8 4.7
At opening establishments 152 150 154 156 131 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 .9
Gross job losses 1,011 979 1,080 1,062 1,181 6.5 6.3 6.9 6.9 7.8
At contracting establishments 871 846 935 923 1,025 5.6 5.4 6.0 6.0 6.8
At closing establishments 140 133 145 139 156 .9 .9 .9 .9 1.0
Net employment change 11 -25 -141 -170 -346 .1 -.1 -.9 -1.1 -2.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains 254 208 225 208 238 5.8 4.8 5.2 4.8 5.6
At expanding establishments 219 177 193 178 206 5.0 4.1 4.5 4.1 4.8
At opening establishments 35 31 32 30 32 .8 .7 .7 .7 .8
Gross job losses 229 250 253 250 283 5.3 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.6
At contracting establishments 189 216 210 209 240 4.4 5.0 4.9 4.9 5.6
At closing establishments 40 34 43 41 43 .9 .8 1.0 1.0 1.0
Net employment change 25 -42 -28 -42 -45 .5 -1.0 -.7 -1.1 -1.0
Utilities
Gross job gains 15 13 16 14 13 2.8 2.4 2.9 2.5 2.3
At expanding establishments 13 11 14 13 12 2.4 2.0 2.5 2.3 2.1
At opening establishments 2 2 2 1 1 .4 .4 .4 .2 .2
Gross job losses 11 10 12 13 12 2.0 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.2
At contracting establishments 10 9 10 12 11 1.8 1.6 1.8 2.1 2.0
At closing establishments 1 1 2 1 1 .2 .2 .4 .2 .2
Net employment change 4 3 4 1 1 .8 .6 .7 .2 .1
Information
Gross job gains 145 154 162 135 137 4.7 5.1 5.4 4.5 4.6
At expanding establishments 117 129 139 111 109 3.8 4.3 4.6 3.7 3.7
At opening establishments 28 25 23 24 28 .9 .8 .8 .8 .9
Gross job losses 155 153 161 168 191 5.1 5.1 5.4 5.6 6.4
At contracting establishments 126 123 126 142 155 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.7 5.2
At closing establishments 29 30 35 26 36 1.0 1.0 1.2 .9 1.2
Net employment change -10 1 1 -33 -54 -.4 .0 .0 -1.1 -1.8
Financial activities
Gross job gains 432 412 394 376 388 5.3 5.1 4.9 4.7 4.9
At expanding establishments 332 324 310 293 293 4.1 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7
At opening establishments 100 88 84 83 95 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.2
Gross job losses 486 436 455 460 497 6.0 5.4 5.7 5.7 6.3
At contracting establishments 368 323 345 353 377 4.5 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.8
At closing establishments 118 113 110 107 120 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.5
Net employment change -54 -24 -61 -84 -109 -.7 -.3 -.8 -1.0 -1.4
Professional and business services
Gross job gains 1,440 1,239 1,345 1,231 1,234 8.0 6.8 7.5 6.9 7.1
At expanding establishments 1,158 998 1,073 994 977 6.4 5.5 6.0 5.6 5.6
At opening establishments 282 241 272 237 257 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.5
Gross job losses 1,337 1,358 1,433 1,411 1,619 7.5 7.6 8.1 7.9 9.2
At contracting establishments 1,072 1,094 1,100 1,138 1,317 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.4 7.5
At closing establishments 265 264 333 273 302 1.5 1.5 1.9 1.5 1.7
Net employment change 103 -119 -88 -180 -385 .5 -.8 -.6 -1.0 -2.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains 814 785 788 799 841 4.6 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.6
At expanding establishments 695 661 673 681 716 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.9
At opening establishments 119 124 115 118 125 .7 .7 .6 .7 .7
Gross job losses 666 667 715 706 665 3.7 3.8 4.0 4.0 3.7
At contracting establishments 552 551 587 588 547 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.0
At closing establishments 114 116 128 118 118 .6 .7 .7 .7 .7
Net employment change 148 118 73 93 176 .9 .6 .4 .5 .9
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains 1,247 1,158 1,183 1,114 1,111 9.3 8.6 8.7 8.3 8.4
At expanding establishments 961 879 908 854 835 7.2 6.5 6.7 6.4 6.3
At opening establishments 286 279 275 260 276 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.1
Gross job losses 1,148 1,154 1,218 1,259 1,235 8.5 8.6 9.1 9.4 9.3
At contracting establishments 931 930 993 1,023 1,000 6.9 6.9 7.4 7.6 7.5
At closing establishments 217 224 225 236 235 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8
Net employment change 99 4 -35 -145 -124 .8 .0 -.4 -1.1 -.9
Other services
Gross job gains 296 290 300 280 265 7.6 7.5 7.7 7.1 6.8
At expanding establishments 238 233 238 221 209 6.1 6.0 6.1 5.6 5.4
At opening establishments 58 57 62 59 56 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.4
Gross job losses 287 289 293 307 322 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.8 8.3
At contracting establishments 224 224 228 243 254 5.7 5.7 5.8 6.2 6.5
At closing establishments 63 65 65 64 68 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.8
Net employment change 9 1 7 -27 -57 .3 .1 .2 -.7 -1.5
(1) Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately
Table 4. Private sector percentage share (1) of gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)
3 months ended
Dec. 2007 March 2008 June 2008 Sept. 2008 Dec. 2008
Firm size 1 - 4 employees
Gross job gains............... 15.6 16.2 15.4 16.1 16.8
Expanding firms............ 7.2 7.7 7.3 7.6 7.6
Opening firms.............. 61.6 58.9 59.0 60.6 62.2
Gross job losses.............. 16.1 16.7 16.0 15.3 14.5
Contracting firms.......... 8.0 8.1 7.6 7.2 6.9
Closing firms.............. 59.6 61.0 61.1 60.6 61.1
Firm size 5 - 9 employees
Gross job gains............... 11.5 12.4 11.9 12.1 11.7
Expanding firms............ 10.7 11.6 11.0 11.3 11.0
Opening firms.............. 15.6 16.5 16.6 16.4 15.2
Gross job losses.............. 12.3 12.4 11.9 11.4 10.8
Contracting firms.......... 11.6 11.7 11.1 10.5 10.0
Closing firms.............. 16.3 16.0 16.1 16.0 15.8
Firm size 10 - 19 employees
Gross job gains............... 11.7 12.6 12.2 12.2 11.8
Expanding firms............ 12.0 12.9 12.4 12.5 12.1
Opening firms.............. 10.1 11.1 11.2 10.6 10.1
Gross job losses.............. 12.4 12.4 12.0 11.6 11.2
Contracting firms.......... 12.7 12.8 12.3 11.8 11.3
Closing firms.............. 10.8 10.3 10.4 10.4 10.4
Firm size 20 - 49 employees
Gross job gains............... 13.8 14.8 14.5 14.3 13.6
Expanding firms............ 14.9 16.1 15.6 15.5 14.8
Opening firms.............. 7.7 7.9 8.5 7.8 7.7
Gross job losses.............. 14.5 14.3 14.0 13.9 13.6
Contracting firms.......... 15.7 15.7 15.2 15.0 14.5
Closing firms.............. 8.0 7.5 7.5 7.7 7.5
Firm size 50 - 99 employees
Gross job gains............... 8.8 9.1 9.1 9.1 8.6
Expanding firms............ 9.9 10.4 10.3 10.3 9.7
Opening firms.............. 2.9 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.9
Gross job losses.............. 9.0 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.9
Contracting firms.......... 10.1 9.9 9.8 9.8 9.9
Closing firms.............. 3.0 2.9 2.6 2.7 2.6
Firm size 100 - 249 employees
Gross job gains............... 9.3 9.5 9.7 9.5 9.2
Expanding firms............ 10.8 11.1 11.3 11.0 10.7
Opening firms.............. 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4
Gross job losses.............. 9.1 8.9 9.0 9.4 9.6
Contracting firms.......... 10.5 10.4 10.4 10.8 10.9
Closing firms.............. 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.6
Firm size 250 - 499 employees
Gross job gains............... 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.5
Expanding firms............ 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.8 6.6
Opening firms.............. .3 .4 .4 .3 .4
Gross job losses.............. 5.4 5.3 5.5 5.6 5.9
Contracting firms.......... 6.3 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.7
Closing firms.............. .5 .4 .4 .5 .6
Firm size 500 - 999 employees
Gross job gains............... 4.5 4.4 4.7 4.7 4.6
Expanding firms............ 5.3 5.3 5.5 5.5 5.5
Opening firms.............. .2 .3 .2 .1 .1
Gross job losses.............. 4.5 4.2 4.7 4.8 5.0
Contracting firms.......... 5.4 5.0 5.6 5.6 5.7
Closing firms.............. .1 .2 .2 .3 .3
Firm size 1,000 or more employees
Gross job gains............... 19.2 15.2 16.8 16.3 18.2
Expanding firms............ 22.6 18.1 20.0 19.4 21.9
Opening firms.............. .2 .7 .0 .0 .0
Gross job losses.............. 16.7 16.9 18.2 19.4 20.7
Contracting firms.......... 19.8 20.1 21.6 22.8 24.1
Closing firms.............. .0 .2 .2 .3 .1
(1) Share measures the percent of the category represented by each firm size class,
and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
Table 5. Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted
Gross job gains Gross job losses
State (3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Dec. March June Sept. Dec. Dec. March June Sept. Dec.
2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
United States1..... 7,676,000 7,130,000 7,258,000 6,822,000 6,712,000 7,366,000 7,400,000 7,751,000 7,754,000 8,467,000
Alabama..... 107,871 96,431 92,858 94,018 83,012 104,544 102,216 103,750 106,097 119,055
Alaska..... 24,875 24,026 27,326 23,290 25,991 26,209 21,293 23,152 25,878 26,540
Arizona..... 157,454 131,093 135,186 136,644 127,435 173,557 157,425 169,011 160,041 194,334
Arkansas..... 60,518 57,573 55,808 59,307 54,192 57,447 55,687 61,899 60,203 65,356
California..... 991,318 883,486 924,534 823,743 820,811 917,701 970,184 992,365 968,431 1,021,575
Colorado..... 147,704 144,403 142,518 136,670 128,334 142,396 139,549 143,312 148,638 161,291
Connecticut..... 84,896 75,774 81,956 74,507 71,865 82,717 75,913 79,403 86,469 91,586
Delaware..... 26,057 22,843 22,931 23,365 23,185 23,286 23,490 26,415 29,015 27,529
District of Columbia 26,858 27,668 29,566 27,587 24,920 26,855 24,968 26,545 26,265 30,282
Florida..... 503,784 462,893 456,432 437,465 439,888 557,019 508,941 559,962 548,854 582,767
Georgia..... 246,217 241,910 235,469 223,052 214,679 257,581 248,694 265,860 259,344 299,093
Hawaii..... 27,626 27,444 26,659 24,608 23,763 26,283 28,861 35,007 34,248 33,212
Idaho..... 46,957 43,825 40,999 41,167 38,841 42,462 47,387 48,725 46,527 49,607
Illinois..... 289,963 257,263 279,798 251,615 244,677 284,241 277,394 274,501 293,498 330,096
Indiana..... 147,408 128,823 148,823 142,552 129,136 152,272 151,313 156,699 160,977 191,303
Iowa..... 76,423 75,913 75,492 72,202 71,402 72,570 75,739 77,074 75,503 85,180
Kansas..... 72,455 85,756 73,245 66,962 74,781 72,803 76,089 76,424 75,491 78,274
Kentucky..... 98,760 89,802 92,385 82,716 85,906 91,580 94,167 94,347 98,439 106,165
Louisiana..... 114,566 105,843 106,666 101,375 119,844 102,061 101,310 110,348 117,794 105,818
Maine..... 39,812 35,386 39,310 35,228 38,175 36,533 38,311 38,951 42,054 41,665
Maryland..... 133,972 129,204 130,724 127,690 125,257 137,186 132,403 144,023 142,439 156,325
Massachusetts..... 163,903 156,011 170,476 151,905 146,760 169,769 152,572 161,310 172,780 188,813
Michigan..... 226,325 207,642 227,833 205,970 201,544 249,067 242,937 245,121 263,868 295,072
Minnesota..... 140,089 139,026 141,178 131,850 118,610 143,481 142,695 144,422 145,373 155,252
Mississippi..... 65,791 57,582 55,524 54,090 57,009 57,571 58,523 68,125 66,097 68,718
Missouri..... 138,451 137,642 142,593 133,936 133,000 141,379 139,452 147,646 144,905 167,561
Montana..... 32,517 30,702 27,908 27,599 28,115 28,468 30,160 31,601 28,770 31,199
Nebraska..... 47,931 46,332 44,468 45,474 44,255 47,536 42,107 47,868 45,394 50,122
Nevada..... 85,876 76,077 71,885 66,270 62,916 77,350 85,232 84,034 86,950 99,850
New Hampshire..... 39,237 35,433 38,576 34,837 33,804 38,422 37,137 38,970 38,872 41,707
New Jersey..... 227,637 202,756 230,667 196,277 189,705 218,322 213,561 225,045 234,424 247,770
New Mexico..... 47,752 44,333 43,833 44,736 39,679 44,620 41,459 47,977 45,529 51,967
New York..... 492,874 435,576 471,669 440,884 441,693 439,494 450,588 466,336 470,365 511,515
North Carolina..... 233,942 222,100 207,441 206,032 199,409 217,800 221,137 237,807 240,101 266,928
North Dakota..... 20,281 21,771 19,325 20,897 19,509 17,305 17,438 18,918 18,489 19,267
Ohio..... 270,727 243,918 271,662 245,865 228,707 274,342 283,287 273,471 281,477 320,542
Oklahoma..... 80,007 86,731 81,885 80,037 77,009 77,962 72,919 80,295 77,491 83,065
Oregon..... 107,206 97,406 89,219 97,615 86,078 103,814 100,289 110,881 98,568 126,138
Pennsylvania..... 289,282 267,831 287,681 267,451 255,471 275,587 274,187 282,520 290,479 310,328
Rhode Island..... 25,807 23,562 26,773 24,724 21,871 28,218 26,635 27,873 28,605 30,457
South Carolina..... 103,048 99,070 92,276 87,937 84,926 105,799 100,963 107,813 108,041 123,569
South Dakota..... 21,382 21,942 21,298 21,110 20,975 20,270 19,382 21,663 20,789 22,676
Tennessee..... 141,888 133,791 131,679 126,191 117,983 133,361 138,012 150,958 158,301 162,740
Texas..... 568,802 535,846 529,866 499,414 534,436 487,640 484,274 520,811 533,886 563,061
Utah..... 81,880 71,826 70,125 67,227 65,565 75,317 71,419 77,237 73,222 82,140
Vermont..... 20,368 17,728 18,395 17,109 17,491 18,694 19,372 18,709 19,096 20,345
Virginia..... 184,806 186,117 185,464 176,537 169,652 186,717 181,561 190,261 198,251 209,325
Washington..... 185,367 185,681 160,249 172,149 156,619 164,540 167,911 188,699 163,055 203,989
West Virginia..... 40,109 36,735 35,116 38,356 37,530 36,420 37,112 37,914 36,140 38,723
Wisconsin..... 136,739 133,678 138,886 129,435 127,923 135,453 136,642 144,751 150,913 162,478
Wyoming..... 23,500 23,351 19,438 21,024 19,620 18,010 19,803 23,122 18,684 19,854
Puerto Rico..... 49,548 43,097 43,855 42,205 44,854 49,977 56,195 52,124 47,635 50,209
Virgin Islands..... 2,261 2,193 2,119 1,927 1,881 2,234 2,157 2,482 2,302 2,197
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Table 6. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted
Gross job gains as a percent of employment Gross job losses as a percent of employment
State (3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Dec. March June Sept. Dec. Dec. March June Sept. Dec.
2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
United States1..... 6.8 6.2 6.4 6.1 6.0 6.5 6.5 6.8 6.9 7.6
Alabama..... 6.8 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.4 6.5 6.5 6.6 6.7 7.7
Alaska..... 10.6 10.2 11.5 9.7 10.9 11.2 9.0 9.7 10.8 11.2
Arizona..... 7.0 5.9 6.2 6.3 6.0 7.7 7.1 7.7 7.3 9.1
Arkansas..... 6.2 5.8 5.7 6.1 5.6 5.8 5.7 6.3 6.2 6.8
California..... 7.7 6.8 7.2 6.5 6.5 7.0 7.5 7.7 7.6 8.1
Colorado..... 7.6 7.4 7.3 7.0 6.7 7.3 7.1 7.3 7.7 8.3
Connecticut..... 5.9 5.3 5.7 5.2 5.1 5.7 5.3 5.5 6.0 6.5
Delaware..... 7.1 6.2 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.4 6.4 7.3 8.0 7.8
District of Columbia.. 6.0 6.2 6.6 6.1 5.6 6.1 5.6 5.9 5.8 6.8
Florida..... 7.4 6.8 6.8 6.6 6.9 8.1 7.5 8.4 8.3 9.0
Georgia..... 7.3 7.1 7.0 6.7 6.6 7.5 7.3 7.9 7.7 9.1
Hawaii..... 5.4 5.4 5.3 4.9 4.9 5.2 5.7 6.9 6.9 6.8
Idaho..... 8.5 8.0 7.5 7.6 7.3 7.7 8.6 8.9 8.6 9.4
Illinois..... 5.7 5.0 5.5 5.0 4.9 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.8 6.7
Indiana..... 5.9 5.2 6.0 5.7 5.4 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.6 7.9
Iowa..... 6.1 6.0 6.0 5.7 5.7 5.8 6.0 6.1 6.1 6.8
Kansas..... 6.5 7.7 6.5 6.0 6.7 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.7 7.0
Kentucky..... 6.6 5.9 6.1 5.6 5.8 6.1 6.3 6.3 6.6 7.2
Louisiana..... 7.4 6.9 6.9 6.6 7.8 6.7 6.5 7.1 7.7 6.8
Maine..... 8.0 7.0 7.8 7.0 7.7 7.3 7.6 7.8 8.4 8.4
Maryland..... 6.4 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.6 6.4 7.0 6.9 7.6
Massachusetts..... 5.9 5.6 6.0 5.4 5.2 6.1 5.5 5.8 6.2 6.8
Michigan..... 6.4 5.9 6.5 5.9 5.9 7.0 6.9 6.9 7.6 8.7
Minnesota..... 6.0 6.0 6.1 5.7 5.2 6.2 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.8
Mississippi..... 7.3 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.6 6.4 6.5 7.6 7.4 7.8
Missouri..... 6.0 6.0 6.2 5.9 5.9 6.2 6.1 6.4 6.4 7.4
Montana..... 9.0 8.5 7.8 7.7 7.9 8.0 8.4 8.8 8.1 8.8
Nebraska..... 6.3 6.0 5.8 6.0 5.7 6.2 5.5 6.2 6.0 6.6
Nevada..... 7.6 6.7 6.5 6.0 5.8 6.8 7.6 7.6 8.0 9.3
New Hampshire..... 7.2 6.5 7.1 6.4 6.3 7.1 6.8 7.2 7.2 7.8
New Jersey..... 6.8 6.1 6.9 5.9 5.8 6.5 6.3 6.7 7.0 7.5
New Mexico..... 7.5 6.9 6.8 7.0 6.2 7.0 6.5 7.5 7.2 8.2
New York..... 6.9 6.1 6.6 6.1 6.2 6.2 6.3 6.5 6.5 7.1
North Carolina..... 6.8 6.5 6.1 6.1 6.0 6.4 6.5 7.0 7.2 8.1
North Dakota..... 7.2 7.7 6.8 7.3 6.8 6.2 6.1 6.7 6.4 6.7
Ohio..... 6.0 5.4 6.1 5.5 5.1 6.1 6.3 6.0 6.2 7.2
Oklahoma..... 6.5 7.0 6.6 6.4 6.2 6.4 5.9 6.5 6.2 6.8
Oregon..... 7.3 6.7 6.2 6.8 6.1 7.1 6.9 7.7 6.9 8.9
Pennsylvania..... 5.8 5.4 5.8 5.4 5.2 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.9 6.4
Rhode Island..... 6.2 5.7 6.5 6.1 5.5 6.8 6.4 6.8 7.0 7.5
South Carolina..... 6.6 6.3 5.9 5.7 5.6 6.7 6.5 6.9 7.1 8.2
South Dakota..... 6.6 6.7 6.5 6.5 6.4 6.2 5.9 6.7 6.4 7.0
Tennessee..... 6.1 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.2 5.7 5.8 6.5 6.9 7.2
Texas..... 6.7 6.1 6.1 5.8 6.2 5.6 5.6 6.0 6.2 6.5
Utah..... 7.9 7.0 6.8 6.6 6.5 7.3 6.9 7.5 7.1 8.1
Vermont..... 8.2 7.0 7.4 6.9 7.1 7.5 7.7 7.4 7.7 8.2
Virginia..... 6.1 6.2 6.2 5.9 5.8 6.2 6.0 6.3 6.6 7.1
Washington..... 7.7 7.6 6.7 7.2 6.6 6.8 7.0 7.8 6.8 8.5
West Virginia..... 7.0 6.4 6.2 6.8 6.6 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.3 6.8
Wisconsin..... 5.7 5.6 5.8 5.4 5.4 5.7 5.7 6.1 6.4 6.8
Wyoming..... 10.8 10.5 8.7 9.5 8.8 8.2 8.9 10.4 8.4 8.9
Puerto Rico..... 6.7 5.9 6.1 5.9 6.3 6.8 7.6 7.2 6.6 7.0
Virgin Islands..... 6.8 6.6 6.5 5.9 5.8 6.8 6.5 7.5 7.1 6.7
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Table 7. Private sector establishment births and deaths, seasonally adjusted
Total private
(Levels in thousands)
Number of Establishments Employment
Births(1) Deaths(2) Births Deaths
Year 3 months ended Level Rate(3) Level Rate Level Rate Level Rate
1992 September N/A N/A 149 2.8 N/A N/A 951 1.1
December N/A N/A 153 2.8 N/A N/A 931 1.0
1993 March N/A N/A 158 2.9 N/A N/A 1,038 1.2
June 175 3.2 155 2.8 1,064 1.2 915 1.0
September 186 3.4 144 2.6 1,123 1.2 850 .9
December 174 3.1 147 2.7 1,109 1.2 899 1.0
1994 March 180 3.2 157 2.8 1,109 1.2 965 1.0
June 186 3.3 162 2.9 1,196 1.3 959 1.0
September 192 3.4 151 2.7 1,184 1.3 849 .9
December 188 3.3 166 2.9 1,133 1.2 942 1.0
1995 March 187 3.3 156 2.7 1,154 1.2 910 .9
June 189 3.3 162 2.8 1,190 1.2 960 1.0
September 186 3.2 164 2.9 1,142 1.2 957 1.0
December 190 3.3 168 2.9 1,164 1.2 972 1.0
1996 March 194 3.4 169 2.9 1,193 1.2 1,004 1.0
June 191 3.3 166 2.9 1,261 1.3 960 1.0
September 199 3.4 166 2.8 1,233 1.2 1,007 1.0
December 204 3.5 170 2.9 1,302 1.3 992 1.0
1997 March 202 3.4 173 2.9 1,242 1.2 1,055 1.0
June 195 3.3 174 2.9 1,226 1.2 993 1.0
September 196 3.3 166 2.8 1,241 1.2 1,007 1.0
December 196 3.3 184 3.1 1,274 1.2 1,154 1.1
1998 March 206 3.4 178 3.0 1,328 1.3 1,165 1.1
June 206 3.4 167 2.8 1,327 1.3 1,215 1.2
September 201 3.3 178 2.9 1,257 1.2 1,102 1.0
December 192 3.1 180 2.9 1,198 1.1 1,088 1.0
1999 March 198 3.2 184 3.0 1,305 1.2 1,248 1.2
June 206 3.4 184 3.0 1,308 1.2 1,118 1.0
September 206 3.3 186 3.0 1,243 1.2 1,127 1.0
December 203 3.3 183 3.0 1,207 1.1 1,102 1.0
2000 March 211 3.4 186 3.0 1,227 1.1 1,117 1.0
June 205 3.3 181 2.9 1,142 1.0 1,063 1.0
September 212 3.4 199 3.2 1,166 1.1 1,167 1.1
December 200 3.2 194 3.1 1,144 1.0 1,120 1.0
2001 March 205 3.3 203 3.2 1,174 1.1 1,292 1.2
June 204 3.2 205 3.3 1,151 1.0 1,236 1.1
September 204 3.2 209 3.3 1,156 1.1 1,232 1.1
December 197 3.1 200 3.2 1,121 1.0 1,150 1.1
2002 March 203 3.2 190 3.0 1,202 1.1 1,109 1.0
June 209 3.3 186 2.9 1,192 1.1 1,086 1.0
September 201 3.2 184 2.9 1,055 1.0 1,026 1.0
December 203 3.2 191 3.0 1,026 1.0 1,028 1.0
2003 March 192 3.0 186 2.9 997 .9 1,007 .9
June 192 3.0 186 2.9 965 .9 956 .9
September 193 3.0 179 2.8 959 .9 884 .8
December 201 3.1 179 2.8 1,010 .9 921 .9
2004 March 204 3.1 180 2.8 992 .9 912 .8
June 202 3.1 185 2.8 986 .9 912 .8
September 210 3.2 186 2.8 1,021 .9 955 .9
December 212 3.2 180 2.7 1,001 .9 901 .8
2005 March 209 3.1 184 2.8 937 .9 846 .8
June 216 3.2 180 2.7 955 .9 844 .8
September 220 3.3 185 2.8 1,001 .9 885 .8
December 223 3.3 188 2.8 980 .9 853 .8
2006 March 220 3.2 180 2.6 913 .8 738 .7
June 220 3.2 194 2.8 977 .9 846 .8
September 210 3.1 195 2.8 930 .8 837 .7
December 221 3.2 193 2.8 969 .9 815 .7
2007 March 212 3.1 193 2.8 885 .8 758 .7
June 204 2.9 202 2.9 886 .8 856 .8
September 218 3.1 203 2.9 948 .8 843 .7
December 210 3.0 207 3.0 908 .8 841 .7
2008 March 209 3.0 212 3.0 913 .8 807 .7
June 195 2.8 N/A N/A 860 .8 N/A N/A
September 187 2.7 N/A N/A 813 .7 N/A N/A
December 189 2.7 N/A N/A 794 .7 N/A N/A
(1) Values for births are not available for the first three quarters
of the time series by definition. See the Technical Note for more information.
(2) Values for deaths are not available for the most recent three quarters
by definition. See the Technical Note for more information.
(3) 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
