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

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST), Wednesday, November 7, 2018                                  	USDL-18-1787

Technical Information:	(202) 691-6553  *  BDMInfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/bdm
Media Contact:	        (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov	

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FIRST QUARTER 2018

From December 2017 to March 2018, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector 
establishments were 7.4 million, a decrease of 420,000 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 6.7 million, a decrease of 181,000 jobs from the previous quarter. 
The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net 
employment gain of 740,000 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2018. (See tables A 
and 1.)

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                                                          |
|                           Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data                           |
|                                                                                                          |
|                                                                                                          |
| Data in this release incorporate annual revisions to the BED series. Annual revisions are published each |
| year with the release of first quarter data. These revisions cover the last four quarters of not season- |
| ally adjusted data and five years of seasonally adjusted data.                                           |
|                                                                                                          |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment 
that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics 
track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter 
to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of 
gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See Technical Note.) The BED data series include 
gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, 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

In the first quarter of 2018, gross job gains represented 6.0 percent of private-sector employment. Gross 
job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the 
addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 6.1 
million in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease of 312,000 compared to the previous quarter. Opening 
establishments accounted for 1.3 million of the jobs gained in the first quarter of 2018, a decrease of 
108,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)

Gross Job Losses

In the first quarter of 2018, gross job losses represented 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. Gross 
job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at 
closing establishments. Contracting establishments lost 5.5 million jobs in the first quarter of 2018, a 
decrease of 21,000 jobs from the prior quarter. In the first quarter of 2018, closing establishments lost 
1.1 million jobs, a decrease of 160,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)

Establishment Births and Deaths

In the first quarter of 2018, the number of establishment births (a subset of the openings data) 
increased by 4,000, to a total of 250,000 establishments. These new establishments accounted for 
817,000 jobs, a decrease of 36,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Data for establishment deaths (a 
subset of the closings data) are available through the second quarter of 2017, when 760,000 jobs were 
lost at 225,000 establishments, an increase of 101,000 jobs from the first quarter of 2017. (See Technical 
Note and table 8.)

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 11 of 13 industries in the first quarter of 2018. The service-
providing industries experienced a net job increase of 524,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2018. Within 
service-providing industries, leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, 
with a gain of 148,000 jobs. The net job increase in leisure and hospitality was the result of 1.3 million 
gross job gains and 1.2 million gross job losses. The transportation and warehousing industry had the 
only decrease among service-providing industries, with a loss of 70,000 jobs. The goods-producing 
industries experienced a net job increase of 216,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2018. Of the goods-
producing industries, construction added 132,000, manufacturing added 66,000 jobs, and natural 
resources and mining experienced a net increase of 18,000 jobs. (See table 3.)

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |                  3 months ended                 
                 Category                 |    Mar. |    June |   Sept. |    Dec. |    Mar.
                                          |    2017 |    2017 |    2017 |    2017 |    2018
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |              Levels (in thousands)              
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
 Gross job gains......................... |   7,423 |   7,624 |   7,311 |   7,826 |   7,406
        At expanding establishments...... |   6,088 |   6,255 |   5,959 |   6,383 |   6,071
        At opening establishments........ |   1,335 |   1,369 |   1,352 |   1,443 |   1,335
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Gross job losses........................ |   6,765 |   7,161 |   7,404 |   6,847 |   6,666
        At contracting establishments.... |   5,582 |   5,889 |   6,106 |   5,547 |   5,526
        At closing establishments........ |   1,183 |   1,272 |   1,298 |   1,300 |   1,140
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Net employment change (1)............... |     658 |     463 |     -93 |     979 |     740
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
                                          |                 Rates (percent)                 
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
 Gross job gains......................... |     6.1 |     6.2 |     6.0 |     6.4 |     6.0
        At expanding establishments...... |     5.0 |     5.1 |     4.9 |     5.2 |     4.9
        At opening establishments........ |     1.1 |     1.1 |     1.1 |     1.2 |     1.1
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Gross job losses........................ |     5.6 |     5.8 |     6.1 |     5.6 |     5.4
        At contracting establishments.... |     4.6 |     4.8 |     5.0 |     4.5 |     4.5
        At closing establishments........ |     1.0 |     1.0 |     1.1 |     1.1 |     0.9
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Net employment change (1)............... |     0.5 |     0.4 |    -0.1 |     0.8 |     0.6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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.

Firm Size

In the first quarter of 2018, firms with 1-49 employees had a net employment gain of 334,000. Firms 
with 50-249 employees had a net employment gain of 167,000. Firms with 250 or more employees had a 
net employment gain of 278,000. Of the 2.0 million net jobs created over the last four quarters, firms 
with 1-49 employees contributed 29.0 percent of net job growth, while firms with 50-249 employees 
contributed 20.4 percent, and firms with 250 or more employees contributed 50.6 percent. (See tables 4 
and 5.)

States
	
Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 45 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 
2018. Alaska had the highest rate of gross job gains as a percent of employment at 9.8 percent, above the 
U.S. rate of 6.0 percent. Hawaii and Tennessee had the lowest rate of gross job gains as a percent of 
employment at 5.0 percent each. Alaska had the highest rate of gross job losses as a percent of 
employment at 8.8 percent, above the national rate of 5.4 percent. Michigan had the lowest rate of gross 
job losses as a percent of employment at 4.6 percent. (See tables 6 and 7.)

For 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 can be obtained by emailing BDMinfo@bls.gov.

_____________
The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2018 are scheduled to be released on 
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).






Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative 
program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are 
compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records. Most 
employers in the U.S. are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of 
workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW 
is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to the State Workforce 
Agencies (SWAs). 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 measures for any given 
quarter. Each of these measures—Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Business 
Employment Dynamics (BED), and Current Employment Statistics (CES)—makes use of the 
quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; however, 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 
employment change over time. It is important to understand program differences and the intended 
uses of the program products. (See table.) Additional information on each program can be obtained 
from the program websites 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- |  651,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 10.0  |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million establish- |  submitted by 8.0    |
           |  ments in first qu- |  million private-sec-|
           |  arter of 2018      |  tor establishments  |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and salary
           |  age, including all |  ing government, pri-|  jobs:
           |  employers subject  |  vate households, and|--UI Coverage, exclud-
           |  to state and feder-|  establishments with |  ing agriculture, pri-
           |  ral UI Laws        |  zero employment     |  vate households, and
           |                     |                      |  self-employed workers
           |                     |                      |--other employment, 
           |                     |                      |  including railroads,
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
           |                     |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -6 months after the|  -7 months after the |  -Usually the 3rd Fri-
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   day after the end of
           |   ter               |                      |   the week including 
           |                     |                      |   the 12th of the month
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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 to ann-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ually realign sample-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  based estimates to pop-
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  ulation counts (bench-
           |                     |  losses              |  marking)
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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, Met-|  and contractions at |  industry
           |  ropolitan statisti-|  the national level  |
           |  cal area (MSA), St-|  by NAICS super-     |
           |  ate, and national  |  sectors,3-digit     |
           |  levels by detailed |  NAICS, and by size  |
           |  industry           |  of firm, and at the |
           |                     |  state private-sector|
           |                     |  total level         |
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include        |
           |                     |  data with greater   |
           |                     |  industry 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 federal
           |   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 organizations, 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 certain small nonprofit organizations.

Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from longitudinal histories of 8.0 
million private sector employer reports out of 10.0 million total reports of employment and wages 
submitted by states to BLS in the first quarter of 2018. 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 employment in both previous and current 
quarters. Data from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also excluded from the national data. 
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 2018.

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

 Total establishments QCEW program....................................................10.0

   Excluded: Public sector............................................................ 0.3
           Private households......................................................... 0.2
           Zero employment............................................................ 1.5

 Total establishments included in Business
 Employment Dynamics data............................................................. 8.0

Unit of analysis

Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by industry and firms are used in the 
tabulation of the BED size class statistics. 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 employment 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 employment 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 quarters. 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 establishments' unique SWA identification numbers 
(SWA-ID). Between 95 and 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 records 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 establishment classification codes resulting from the verification process are 
introduced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year. Changes resulting 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 allocated 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 variation 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 analyze changes in economic 
activity.

The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting units are 
independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated based on the difference between 
gross job gains and gross job losses. Similarly, 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 employment levels are independently 
seasonally adjusted to calculate the seasonally adjusted rates. Concurrent seasonal adjustment is 
run using X-13 ARIMA-SEATS. 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 adjusted 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 
particularly 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 administrative rather than 
sample data, there are no issues related to sampling error. Nonsampling error, however, still exists. 
Nonsampling errors can occur 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 distributed 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 
complications.

The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on corrections 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 quarter data. These revisions 
cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adjusted 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 employment and wages and the annual bulletin also 
are available upon request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover 
(Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages), telephone (202) 691-6567; (www.bls.gov/cew/); 
(e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces monthly estimates of employment, its 
net change, hours, and earnings by detailed industry. These estimates are part of the Employment 
Situation report put out monthly by BLS.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides monthly measures of 
job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 
Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone 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

2008  March                 -199        7,320         5,860        1,460         7,519          6,111       1,408
      June                  -593        7,281         5,833        1,448         7,874          6,363       1,511
      September             -913        6,944         5,535        1,409         7,857          6,436       1,421
      December            -1,838        6,738         5,345        1,393         8,576          7,056       1,520
 
2009  March               -2,680        5,918         4,675        1,243         8,598          7,142       1,456
      June                -1,667        6,425         5,080        1,345         8,092          6,674       1,418
      September             -849        6,399         5,139        1,260         7,248          5,854       1,394
      December              -264        6,665         5,308        1,357         6,929          5,605       1,324
 
2010  March                 -247        6,325         5,108        1,217         6,572          5,324       1,248
      June                   698        6,995         5,674        1,321         6,297          5,090       1,207
      September              237        6,741         5,438        1,303         6,504          5,231       1,273
      December               566        7,052         5,639        1,413         6,486          5,219       1,267
 
2011  March                  334        6,540         5,322        1,218         6,206          5,025       1,181
      June                   582        6,966         5,625        1,341         6,384          5,115       1,269
      September              841        7,205         5,810        1,395         6,364          5,172       1,192
      December               335        6,865         5,503        1,362         6,530          5,273       1,257
 
2012  March                  948        7,080         5,746        1,334         6,132          5,005       1,127
      June                   616        7,051         5,724        1,327         6,435          5,266       1,169
      September              252        6,881         5,571        1,310         6,629          5,430       1,199
      December               695        7,110         5,753        1,357         6,415          5,225       1,190
 
2013  March                  558        6,941         5,705        1,236         6,383          5,201       1,182
      June                   674        7,152         5,830        1,322         6,478          5,271       1,207
      September              507        7,058         5,719        1,339         6,551          5,408       1,143
      December               700        7,255         5,926        1,329         6,555          5,353       1,202
 
2014  March                  433        6,955         5,687        1,268         6,522          5,372       1,150
      June                   885        7,454         6,114        1,340         6,569          5,350       1,219
      September              553        7,241         5,912        1,329         6,688          5,504       1,184
      December             1,060        7,629         6,256        1,373         6,569          5,334       1,235
 
2015  March                  221        7,039         5,729        1,310         6,818          5,614       1,204
      June                   832        7,584         6,239        1,345         6,752          5,558       1,194
      September              445        7,335         5,975        1,360         6,890          5,680       1,210
      December               987        7,834         6,372        1,462         6,847          5,582       1,265
 
2016  March                  253        7,145         5,860        1,285         6,892          5,692       1,200
      June                   294        7,449         6,076        1,373         7,155          5,846       1,309
      September              714        7,704         6,243        1,461         6,990          5,744       1,246
      December               368        7,440         6,026        1,414         7,072          5,770       1,302
 
2017  March                  658        7,423         6,088        1,335         6,765          5,582       1,183
      June                   463        7,624         6,255        1,369         7,161          5,889       1,272
      September              -93        7,311         5,959        1,352         7,404          6,106       1,298
      December               979        7,826         6,383        1,443         6,847          5,547       1,300
 
2018  March                  740        7,406         6,071        1,335         6,666          5,526       1,140
 
(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

2008  March                  -.1          6.4           5.1          1.3           6.5            5.3         1.2
      June                   -.5          6.4           5.1          1.3           6.9            5.6         1.3
      September             -0.9          6.1           4.9          1.2           7.0            5.7         1.3
      December              -1.7          6.0           4.8          1.2           7.7            6.3         1.4
 
2009  March                 -2.4          5.4           4.3          1.1           7.8            6.5         1.3
      June                  -1.5          6.0           4.7          1.3           7.5            6.2         1.3
      September              -.8          6.0           4.8          1.2           6.8            5.5         1.3
      December               -.3          6.3           5.0          1.3           6.6            5.3         1.3
 
2010  March                  -.2          6.0           4.8          1.2           6.2            5.0         1.2
      June                    .7          6.6           5.4          1.2           5.9            4.8         1.1
      September               .2          6.3           5.1          1.2           6.1            4.9         1.2
      December                .5          6.6           5.3          1.3           6.1            4.9         1.2
 
2011  March                   .3          6.1           5.0          1.1           5.8            4.7         1.1
      June                    .5          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.9            4.7         1.2
      September               .8          6.7           5.4          1.3           5.9            4.8         1.1
      December                .4          6.4           5.1          1.3           6.0            4.8         1.2
 
2012  March                   .8          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.6            4.6         1.0
      June                    .5          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.9            4.8         1.1
      September               .2          6.2           5.0          1.2           6.0            4.9         1.1
      December                .6          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.8            4.7         1.1
 
2013  March                   .5          6.2           5.1          1.1           5.7            4.6         1.1
      June                    .6          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.8            4.7         1.1
      September               .5          6.3           5.1          1.2           5.8            4.8         1.0
      December                .6          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.8            4.7         1.1
 
2014  March                   .4          6.1           5.0          1.1           5.7            4.7         1.0
      June                    .7          6.5           5.3          1.2           5.8            4.7         1.1
      September               .4          6.2           5.1          1.1           5.8            4.8         1.0
      December               0.9          6.6           5.4          1.2           5.7            4.6         1.1
 
2015  March                   .2          6.0           4.9          1.1           5.8            4.8         1.0
      June                    .7          6.4           5.3          1.1           5.7            4.7         1.0
      September               .5          6.3           5.1          1.2           5.8            4.8         1.0
      December                .8          6.6           5.4          1.2           5.8            4.7         1.1
 
2016  March                   .2          6.0           4.9          1.1           5.8            4.8         1.0
      June                    .2          6.2           5.1          1.1           6.0            4.9         1.1
      September               .6          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.8            4.8         1.0
      December                .3          6.2           5.0          1.2           5.9            4.8         1.1
 
2017  March                   .5          6.1           5.0          1.1           5.6            4.6         1.0
      June                    .4          6.2           5.1          1.1           5.8            4.8         1.0
      September              -.1          6.0           4.9          1.1           6.1            5.0         1.1
      December                .8          6.4           5.2          1.2           5.6            4.5         1.1
 
2018  March                   .6          6.0           4.9          1.1           5.4            4.5          .9
 
(1) The rates measure gross job gains and job losses as a percentage of the average 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

                                   Mar.     June     Sept.    Dec.     Mar.    Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.
                                   2017     2017     2017     2017     2018    2017    2017    2017    2017    2018
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,423    7,624    7,311    7,826    7,406     6.1     6.2     6.0     6.4     6.0
 At expanding establishments      6,088    6,255    5,959    6,383    6,071     5.0     5.1     4.9     5.2     4.9
 At opening establishments        1,335    1,369    1,352    1,443    1,335     1.1     1.1     1.1     1.2     1.1
Gross job losses                  6,765    7,161    7,404    6,847    6,666     5.6     5.8     6.1     5.6     5.4
 At contracting establishments    5,582    5,889    6,106    5,547    5,526     4.6     4.8     5.0     4.5     4.5
 At closing establishments        1,183    1,272    1,298    1,300    1,140     1.0     1.0     1.1     1.1      .9
Net employment change               658      463      -93      979      740      .5      .4     -.1      .8      .6
 
Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,414    1,400    1,271    1,435    1,390     6.7     6.6     6.0     6.8     6.4
 At expanding establishments      1,214    1,205    1,083    1,226    1,200     5.8     5.7     5.1     5.8     5.5
 At opening establishments          200      195      188      209      190      .9      .9      .9     1.0      .9
Gross job losses                  1,209    1,295    1,331    1,233    1,174     5.7     6.0     6.3     5.8     5.4
 At contracting establishments    1,020    1,094    1,129    1,039      997     4.8     5.1     5.3     4.9     4.6
 At closing establishments          189      201      202      194      177      .9      .9     1.0      .9      .8
Net employment change               205      105      -60      202      216     1.0      .6     -.3     1.0     1.0
 
Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     290      270      253      256      254    15.5    14.4    13.6    13.5    13.2
 At expanding establishments        254      237      220      223      224    13.6    12.6    11.8    11.8    11.6
 At opening establishments           36       33       33       33       30     1.9     1.8     1.8     1.7     1.6
Gross job losses                    238      263      243      258      236    12.7    14.0    13.0    13.6    12.3
 At contracting establishments      203      225      212      227      206    10.8    12.0    11.3    12.0    10.7
 At closing establishments           35       38       31       31       30     1.9     2.0     1.7     1.6     1.6
Net employment change                52        7       10       -2       18     2.8      .4      .6     -.1     0.9
 
Construction

Gross job gains                     717      686      622      719      716    10.4     9.9     9.0    10.4    10.0
 At expanding establishments        587      563      504      582      590     8.5     8.1     7.3     8.4     8.2
 At opening establishments          130      123      118      137      126     1.9     1.8     1.7     2.0     1.8
Gross job losses                    589      641      663      608      584     8.6     9.3     9.6     8.8     8.1
 At contracting establishments      479      525      541      491      476     7.0     7.6     7.8     7.1     6.6
 At closing establishments          110      116      122      117      108     1.6     1.7     1.8     1.7     1.5
Net employment change               128       45      -41      111      132     1.8      .6     -.6     1.6     1.9
 
Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     407      444      396      460      420     3.3     3.6     3.2     3.7     3.4
 At expanding establishments        373      405      359      421      386     3.0     3.3     2.9     3.4     3.1
 At opening establishments           34       39       37       39       34      .3      .3      .3      .3      .3
Gross job losses                    382      391      425      367      354     3.1     3.2     3.4     3.0     2.8
 At contracting establishments      338      344      376      321      315     2.7     2.8     3.0     2.6     2.5
 At closing establishments           44       47       49       46       39      .4      .4      .4      .4      .3
Net employment change                25       53      -29       93       66      .2      .4     -.2      .7      .6
 
Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   6,009    6,224    6,040    6,391    6,016     6.0     6.2     6.0     6.3     5.9
 At expanding establishments      4,874    5,050    4,876    5,157    4,871     4.9     5.0     4.8     5.1     4.8
 At opening establishments        1,135    1,174    1,164    1,234    1,145     1.1     1.2     1.2     1.2     1.1
Gross job losses                  5,556    5,866    6,073    5,614    5,492     5.5     5.9     6.0     5.5     5.3
 At contracting establishments    4,562    4,795    4,977    4,508    4,529     4.5     4.8     4.9     4.4     4.4
 At closing establishments          994    1,071    1,096    1,106      963     1.0     1.1     1.1     1.1      .9
Net employment change               453      358      -33      777      524      .5      .3      .0      .8      .6
 
Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     268      284      270      280      263     4.6     4.8     4.6     4.7     4.5
 At expanding establishments        222      236      225      233      220     3.8     4.0     3.8     3.9     3.8
 At opening establishments           46       48       45       47       43      .8      .8      .8      .8      .7
Gross job losses                    250      248      267      249      243     4.3     4.2     4.5     4.2     4.2
 At contracting establishments      197      195      213      193      192     3.4     3.3     3.6     3.3     3.3
 At closing establishments           53       53       54       56       51      .9      .9      .9      .9      .9
Net employment change                18       36        3       31       20      .3      .6      .1      .5      .3
 
Retail trade

Gross job gains                     945      930      891      907      919     5.9     5.8     5.6     5.7     5.8
 At expanding establishments        817      802      764      793      811     5.1     5.0     4.8     5.0     5.1
 At opening establishments          128      128      127      114      108      .8      .8      .8      .7      .7
Gross job losses                    890      936      986      898      848     5.6     5.9     6.2     5.7     5.3
 At contracting establishments      782      807      860      783      748     4.9     5.1     5.4     5.0     4.7
 At closing establishments          108      129      126      115      100      .7      .8      .8      .7      .6
Net employment change                55       -6      -95        9       71      .3     -.1     -.6      .0      .5
 
Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     252      271      307      390      257     5.1     5.6     6.2     7.6     4.9
 At expanding establishments        220      234      266      343      224     4.5     4.8     5.4     6.7     4.3
 At opening establishments           32       37       41       47       33      .6      .8      .8      .9      .6
Gross job losses                    321      254      232      231      327     6.5     5.2     4.6     4.5     6.3
 At contracting establishments      287      216      195      190      296     5.8     4.4     3.9     3.7     5.7
 At closing establishments           34       38       37       41       31      .7      .8      .7      .8      .6
Net employment change               -69       17       75      159      -70    -1.4      .4     1.6     3.1    -1.4
 
Utilities

Gross job gains                      11       12       11       12       11     2.0     2.2     2.0     2.2     2.0
 At expanding establishments         10       11       10       11       10     1.8     2.0     1.8     2.0     1.8
 At opening establishments            1        1        1        1        1      .2      .2      .2      .2      .2
Gross job losses                     10       13       13       12       11     1.8     2.4     2.4     2.2     2.0
 At contracting establishments        9       12       12       10       10     1.6     2.2     2.2     1.8     1.8
 At closing establishments            1        1        1        2        1      .2      .2      .2      .4      .2
Net employment change                 1       -1       -2        0        0      .2     -.2     -.4      .0      .0
 
Information

Gross job gains                     144      158      157      147      154     5.1     5.6     5.6     5.3     5.5
 At expanding establishments        121      132      125      120      131     4.3     4.7     4.5     4.3     4.7
 At opening establishments           23       26       32       27       23      .8      .9     1.1     1.0      .8
Gross job losses                    152      175      155      148      143     5.5     6.2     5.6     5.3     5.1
 At contracting establishments      128      149      130      121      120     4.6     5.3     4.7     4.3     4.3
 At closing establishments           24       26       25       27       23      .9      .9      .9     1.0      .8
Net employment change                -8      -17        2       -1       11     -.4     -.6      .0      .0      .4
 
Financial activities

Gross job gains                     362      394      374      389      351     4.5     4.9     4.6     4.8     4.3
 At expanding establishments        295      317      298      301      281     3.7     3.9     3.7     3.7     3.4
 At opening establishments           67       77       76       88       70      .8     1.0      .9     1.1      .9
Gross job losses                    343      346      366      370      338     4.3     4.3     4.5     4.6     4.1
 At contracting establishments      266      269      286      283      262     3.3     3.3     3.5     3.5     3.2
 At closing establishments           77       77       80       87       76     1.0     1.0     1.0     1.1      .9
Net employment change                19       48        8       19       13      .2      .6      .1      .2      .2
 
Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,317    1,451    1,387    1,499    1,324     6.5     7.2     6.8     7.3     6.4
 At expanding establishments      1,075    1,190    1,129    1,215    1,088     5.3     5.9     5.5     5.9     5.3
 At opening establishments          242      261      258      284      236     1.2     1.3     1.3     1.4     1.1
Gross job losses                  1,286    1,338    1,384    1,315    1,255     6.3     6.6     6.8     6.4     6.1
 At contracting establishments    1,036    1,075    1,114    1,029    1,016     5.1     5.3     5.5     5.0     4.9
 At closing establishments          250      263      270      286      239     1.2     1.3     1.3     1.4     1.2
Net employment change                31      113        3      184       69      .2      .6      .0     0.9      .3
 
Education and health services

Gross job gains                     972      994      985      987      971     4.4     4.5     4.5     4.4     4.4
 At expanding establishments        802      815      813      805      799     3.6     3.7     3.7     3.6     3.6
 At opening establishments          170      179      172      182      172      .8      .8      .8      .8      .8
Gross job losses                    824      902      908      863      830     3.7     4.1     4.1     3.9     3.7
 At contracting establishments      667      730      731      681      668     3.0     3.3     3.3     3.1     3.0
 At closing establishments          157      172      177      182      162      .7      .8      .8      .8      .7
Net employment change               148       92       77      124      141      .7      .4      .4      .5      .7
 
Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,348    1,346    1,302    1,391    1,331     8.5     8.4     8.2     8.8     8.2
 At expanding establishments      1,065    1,057    1,011    1,093    1,058     6.7     6.6     6.4     6.9     6.5
 At opening establishments          283      289      291      298      273     1.8     1.8     1.8     1.9     1.7
Gross job losses                  1,165    1,334    1,423    1,221    1,183     7.4     8.4     9.0     7.6     7.3
 At contracting establishments      966    1,110    1,187      997      991     6.1     7.0     7.5     6.2     6.1
 At closing establishments          199      224      236      224      192     1.3     1.4     1.5     1.4     1.2
Net employment change               183       12     -121      170      148     1.1      .0     -.8     1.2     0.9
 
Other services

Gross job gains                     292      310      284      295      287     7.1     7.5     6.8     7.1     6.9
 At expanding establishments        230      243      222      232      228     5.6     5.9     5.3     5.6     5.5
 At opening establishments           62       67       62       63       59     1.5     1.6     1.5     1.5     1.4
Gross job losses                    277      284      305      275      275     6.7     6.8     7.4     6.6     6.6
 At contracting establishments      215      222      240      212      215     5.2     5.3     5.8     5.1     5.2
 At closing establishments           62       62       65       63       60     1.5     1.5     1.6     1.5     1.4
Net employment change                15       26      -21       20       12      .4      .7     -.6      .5      .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

2008  March           -274      5,831    6,105        -152       3,235    3,387         -11       1,079    1,090        -111       1,517    1,628
      June            -548      5,850    6,398        -287       3,174    3,461         -44       1,090    1,134        -217       1,586    1,803
      September       -956      5,532    6,488        -343       3,051    3,394        -140       1,020    1,160        -473       1,461    1,934
      December      -1,886      5,338    7,224        -689       2,910    3,599        -375         947    1,322        -822       1,481    2,303
 
2009  March         -2,638      4,617    7,255        -983       2,721    3,704        -616         810    1,426      -1,039       1,086    2,125
      June          -1,763      5,169    6,932        -474       2,946    3,420        -281         950    1,231      -1,008       1,273    2,281
      September       -906      5,164    6,070        -372       2,826    3,198        -110         932    1,042        -424       1,406    1,830
      December        -317      5,403    5,720        -159       2,940    3,099         -45         962    1,007        -113       1,501    1,614
 
2010  March           -234      5,115    5,349        -195       2,863    3,058          -2         914      916         -37       1,338    1,375
      June             664      5,805    5,141         235       3,093    2,858         204       1,071      867         225       1,641    1,416
      September        226      5,525    5,299          26       2,946    2,920          87         998      911         113       1,581    1,468
      December         502      5,781    5,279          92       3,051    2,959          92       1,034      942         318       1,696    1,378
 
2011  March            340      5,375    5,035          99       2,983    2,884         122         971      849         119       1,421    1,302
      June             537      5,746    5,209         190       3,073    2,883         169       1,063      894         178       1,610    1,432
      September        852      5,974    5,122         272       3,137    2,865         171       1,066      895         409       1,771    1,362
      December         297      5,585    5,288          45       2,970    2,925          44         981      937         208       1,634    1,426
 
2012  March            972      5,904    4,932         388       3,173    2,785         220       1,054      834         364       1,677    1,313
      June             612      5,828    5,216         174       3,039    2,865         158       1,074      916         280       1,715    1,435
      September        226      5,581    5,355          55       2,963    2,908          54       1,006      952         117       1,612    1,495
      December         637      5,779    5,142         180       3,025    2,845          94       1,014      920         363       1,740    1,377
 
2013  March            582      5,743    5,161         212       3,071    2,859         156       1,029      873         214       1,643    1,429
      June             650      5,906    5,256         226       3,085    2,859         135       1,071      936         289       1,750    1,461
      September        473      5,764    5,291         225       3,063    2,838          69       1,021      952         179       1,680    1,501
      December         631      5,886    5,255         122       3,021    2,899         105       1,034      929         404       1,831    1,427
 
2014  March            455      5,666    5,211         240       3,073    2,833         152       1,035      883          63       1,558    1,495
      June             887      6,136    5,249         300       3,179    2,879         215       1,121      906         372       1,836    1,464
      September        536      5,860    5,324         185       3,060    2,875         110       1,063      953         241       1,737    1,496
      December         967      6,158    5,191         217       3,107    2,890         154       1,086      932         596       1,965    1,369
 
2015  March            230      5,665    5,435         172       3,097    2,925          77       1,022      945         -19       1,546    1,565
      June             833      6,252    5,419         318       3,199    2,881         189       1,133      944         326       1,920    1,594
      September        417      5,899    5,482         133       3,048    2,915          65       1,041      976         219       1,810    1,591
      December         879      6,267    5,388         242       3,179    2,937          98       1,077      979         539       2,011    1,472
 
2016  March            265      5,746    5,481         213       3,121    2,908          58       1,016      958          -6       1,609    1,615
      June             302      6,046    5,744          66       3,126    3,060         115       1,106      991         121       1,814    1,693
      September        701      6,245    5,544         164       3,143    2,979          88       1,084      996         449       2,018    1,569
      December         302      5,912    5,610          76       3,070    2,994          50       1,033      983         176       1,809    1,633
 
2017  March            674      5,992    5,318         367       3,241    2,874         189       1,077      888         118       1,674    1,556
      June             513      6,198    5,685         143       3,162    3,019         146       1,128      982         224       1,908    1,684
      September       -153      5,812    5,965        -136       2,985    3,121         -60       1,009    1,069          43       1,818    1,775
      December         885      6,224    5,339         245       3,194    2,949         161       1,092      931         479       1,938    1,459
 
2018  March            779      6,021    5,242         334       3,182    2,848         167       1,061      894         278       1,778    1,500
 
(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

                                   Mar.     June     Sept.    Dec.     Mar.    Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.
                                   2017     2017     2017     2017     2018    2017    2017    2017    2017    2018
Total private by firm(1)

Gross job gains                   5,992    6,198    5,812    6,224    6,021     4.9     5.0     4.7     5.1     4.9
 At expanding firms               5,042    5,291    4,929    5,264    5,078     4.1     4.3     4.0     4.3     4.1
 At opening firms                   950      907      883      960      943      .8      .7      .7      .8      .8
 
Gross job losses                  5,318    5,685    5,965    5,339    5,242     4.4     4.7     4.9     4.3     4.3
 At contracting firms             4,472    4,832    5,078    4,460    4,433     3.7     4.0     4.2     3.6     3.6
 At closing firms                   846      853      887      879      809      .7      .7      .7      .7      .7
 
Net employment change               674      513     -153      885      779      .5      .3     -.2      .8      .6
 

Firm size 1 to 49 employees

Gross job gains                   3,241    3,162    2,985    3,194    3,182     9.5     9.2     8.8     9.4     9.3
 At expanding firms               2,323    2,296    2,142    2,270    2,283     6.8     6.7     6.3     6.7     6.7
 At opening firms                   918      866      843      924      899     2.7     2.5     2.5     2.7     2.6
 
Gross job losses                  2,874    3,019    3,121    2,949    2,848     8.5     8.9     9.2     8.7     8.3
 At contracting firms             2,060    2,197    2,271    2,107    2,064     6.1     6.5     6.7     6.2     6.0
 At closing firms                   814      822      850      842      784     2.4     2.4     2.5     2.5     2.3
 
Net employment change               367      143     -136      245      334     1.0      .3     -.4      .7     1.0
 

Firm size 50 to 249 employees

Gross job gains                   1,077    1,128    1,009    1,092    1,061     4.9     5.1     4.5     4.9     4.7
 At expanding firms               1,047    1,091      976    1,060    1,032     4.8     4.9     4.4     4.8     4.6
 At opening firms                    30       37       33       32       29      .1      .2      .1      .1      .1
 
Gross job losses                    888      982    1,069      931      894     4.0     4.4     4.8     4.2     4.0
 At contracting firms               860      955    1,038      898      871     3.9     4.3     4.7     4.1     3.9
 At closing firms                    28       27       31       33       23      .1      .1      .1      .1      .1
 
Net employment change               189      146      -60      161      167     0.9      .7     -.3      .7      .7
 

Firm size 250 or more employees

Gross job gains                   1,674    1,908    1,818    1,938    1,778     2.5     2.9     2.7     2.9     2.6
 At expanding firms               1,672    1,904    1,811    1,934    1,763     2.5     2.9     2.7     2.9     2.6
 At opening firms                     2        4        7        4       15      .0      .0      .0      .0      .0
 
Gross job losses                  1,556    1,684    1,775    1,459    1,500     2.4     2.5     2.7     2.2     2.2
 At contracting firms             1,552    1,680    1,769    1,455    1,498     2.4     2.5     2.7     2.2     2.2
 At closing firms                     4        4        6        4        2      .0      .0      .0      .0      .0
 
Net employment change               118      224       43      479      278      .1      .4      .0      .7      .4
 
 
(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

                           Mar.       June       Sept.      Dec.       Mar.        Mar.       June       Sept.      Dec.       Mar.
                           2017       2017       2017       2017       2018        2017       2017       2017       2017       2018

United States(1)....  7,423,000  7,624,000  7,311,000  7,826,000  7,406,000   6,765,000  7,161,000  7,404,000  6,847,000  6,666,000
 
Alabama.............     95,396     87,628     94,446     94,822     95,408      81,548     89,429     91,407     86,247     84,599
Alaska..............     23,446     26,852     21,397     23,753     24,212      24,956     24,550     26,684     25,045     21,672
Arizona.............    139,743    145,184    155,502    149,164    143,329     128,188    133,759    123,614    126,322    127,123
Arkansas............     57,171     53,955     57,887     61,837     54,713      51,795     57,494     55,030     51,164     51,129
California..........    978,752  1,011,827    944,355  1,006,720    943,168     897,392    946,159    912,206    879,820    873,921
Colorado............    148,598    155,332    147,249    151,305    152,077     131,149    138,368    141,723    135,072    133,458
Connecticut.........     83,754     82,431     76,526     76,225     73,726      77,019     75,429     83,269     75,144     74,835
Delaware............     24,795     25,363     24,438     26,545     27,296      22,289     25,080     25,225     24,302     22,600
District of Columbia     30,043     29,471     28,320     30,487     31,638      24,747     27,883     26,722     25,823     25,107
Florida.............    450,422    487,933    423,467    610,728    461,699     413,230    453,918    556,886    396,998    415,301
 
Georgia.............    232,653    230,899    229,356    256,202    243,572     214,385    225,148    226,960    206,907    211,926
Hawaii..............     28,595     27,783     29,071     27,322     26,880      25,342     28,038     27,155     25,437     26,108
Idaho...............     45,855     43,239     39,562     44,087     47,380      37,658     39,161     39,690     38,758     35,993
Illinois............    303,386    296,909    291,827    306,642    297,390     278,250    285,523    309,933    273,761    263,419
Indiana.............    148,024    148,425    143,899    152,730    150,823     133,190    144,525    146,250    132,131    135,050
Iowa................     79,118     73,924     70,270     77,044     72,763      72,462     75,216     74,090     69,393     68,476
Kansas..............     66,146     62,158     70,776     67,371     59,291      63,234     73,961     63,746     59,074     62,541
Kentucky............     92,657     95,753     94,074     96,637     97,348      88,853     94,600     93,321     88,557     93,418
Louisiana...........    104,037     99,314     98,944     99,534    104,399      93,946    104,220     97,205     95,862     93,651
Maine...............     36,553     39,440     33,579     36,637     37,325      33,783     34,978     38,391     34,260     36,037
 
Maryland............    133,097    137,314    137,981    135,910    136,190     127,134    132,372    133,326    136,873    124,625
Massachusetts.......    172,569    191,505    170,033    179,340    170,940     161,240    162,662    175,714    170,518    161,219
Michigan............    209,978    214,731    197,425    209,924    215,009     185,458    196,603    221,611    201,345    172,727
Minnesota...........    144,230    140,365    131,527    142,622    133,031     121,219    130,303    141,017    137,459    124,520
Mississippi.........     52,077     52,756     51,886     57,247     49,047      52,469     53,369     52,345     48,680     52,670
Missouri............    138,795    134,103    140,341    134,191    128,761     117,736    133,913    139,943    129,197    122,569
Montana.............     30,342     29,677     26,820     31,819     29,814      27,206     29,181     29,704     27,823     26,996
Nebraska............     48,701     45,194     47,837     50,496     46,119      41,711     49,129     47,865     44,716     44,422
Nevada..............     76,362     72,388     73,746     77,583     77,239      59,916     68,792     68,376     61,853     64,015
New Hampshire.......     32,928     37,680     31,569     38,049     34,737      32,092     34,282     37,293     33,715     33,948
 
New Jersey..........    193,582    230,234    207,984    222,652    195,067     202,338    191,941    215,560    198,679    202,204
New Mexico..........     40,909     42,742     41,437     40,895     40,492      39,306     40,518     40,213     38,285     35,382
New York............    487,109    509,041    494,576    486,419    487,774     446,228    457,553    486,906    458,703    446,548
North Carolina......    229,283    228,081    217,327    228,877    227,451     203,934    221,870    218,183    201,030    190,130
North Dakota........     26,055     23,247     23,228     23,364     24,123      23,084     23,818     23,107     23,093     21,767
Ohio................    265,464    269,114    243,678    264,245    257,964     239,648    254,723    262,622    241,351    233,979
Oklahoma............     79,282     82,735     83,769     82,246     78,771      78,593     74,918     74,871     74,837     70,899
Oregon..............    109,493    105,170    103,655    108,362    126,218      91,556     96,792    100,748     95,674     91,805
Pennsylvania........    270,123    281,115    280,427    280,828    269,034     255,325    264,277    264,778    254,044    253,319
Rhode Island........     26,447     27,373     25,029     27,510     26,816      24,894     24,811     26,569     25,380     25,611
 
South Carolina......    103,729    102,603     96,088    117,366    101,452      94,832    102,112    104,581     88,279     80,164
South Dakota........     22,280     21,835     19,999     22,366     22,660      20,586     21,781     20,660     20,135     20,837
Tennessee...........    130,766    136,862    135,735    148,658    128,609     125,921    130,049    131,055    124,382    122,183
Texas...............    585,792    590,669    600,634    647,693    594,270     523,798    543,780    583,688    543,784    524,628
Utah................     91,980     81,928     83,405     85,107     91,524      72,807     75,631     76,415     70,867     73,492
Vermont.............     16,912     20,125     16,838     18,850     16,527      17,343     17,580     20,048     16,838     18,162
Virginia............    190,197    197,726    184,675    196,457    184,748     175,344    185,613    193,851    171,383    167,145
Washington..........    187,588    194,267    174,549    188,715    201,454     161,186    170,639    174,372    163,741    160,868
West Virginia.......     34,668     34,901     36,996     34,506     37,645      34,265     35,528     34,633     33,250     32,156
Wisconsin...........    145,194    140,042    123,582    137,630    138,695     117,887    136,344    140,499    121,738    116,842
 
Wyoming.............     18,072     17,444     17,775     17,919     17,379      16,553     18,518     16,180     17,229     16,363
Puerto Rico.........     34,388     35,972     29,774     46,357     55,031      38,377     36,503     45,400     76,992     43,925
Virgin Islands......      1,542      1,856      1,111      2,218      2,702       1,500      1,451      3,103      6,800      3,775
 
The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.






Table 7. Private sector gross job gains and losses, as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

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

                        Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.          Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.
                        2017    2017    2017    2017    2018          2017    2017    2017    2017    2018

United States(1)....     6.1     6.2     6.0     6.4     6.0           5.6     5.8     6.1     5.6     5.4
 
Alabama.............     6.1     5.6     6.0     6.0     6.0           5.2     5.6     5.8     5.4     5.3
Alaska..............     9.4    10.9     8.7     9.7     9.8          10.1     9.9    10.8    10.2     8.8
Arizona.............     6.0     6.2     6.6     6.3     6.0           5.5     5.7     5.2     5.3     5.3
Arkansas............     5.7     5.4     5.8     6.1     5.4           5.2     5.7     5.5     5.1     5.0
California..........     6.8     6.9     6.5     6.9     6.4           6.2     6.5     6.3     6.0     5.9
Colorado............     6.9     7.0     6.7     6.8     6.8           6.0     6.3     6.5     6.1     6.0
Connecticut.........     5.8     5.7     5.4     5.3     5.1           5.4     5.2     5.8     5.2     5.2
Delaware............     6.6     6.7     6.4     7.0     7.1           5.9     6.6     6.6     6.4     5.9
District of Columbia     5.8     5.7     5.4     5.8     6.0           4.8     5.4     5.2     5.0     4.7
Florida.............     6.1     6.6     5.8     8.2     6.1           5.6     6.1     7.5     5.3     5.5
 
Georgia.............     6.3     6.2     6.2     6.9     6.5           5.9     6.1     6.1     5.6     5.6
Hawaii..............     5.4     5.2     5.4     5.1     5.0           4.8     5.3     5.1     4.7     4.8
Idaho...............     7.8     7.3     6.7     7.4     7.9           6.4     6.6     6.8     6.6     5.9
Illinois............     5.9     5.7     5.6     6.0     5.7           5.5     5.6     6.0     5.3     5.1
Indiana.............     5.7     5.7     5.4     5.7     5.6           5.1     5.5     5.6     5.0     5.1
Iowa................     6.1     5.7     5.5     5.9     5.5           5.6     5.8     5.7     5.3     5.3
Kansas..............     5.9     5.5     6.3     5.9     5.2           5.6     6.5     5.7     5.2     5.5
Kentucky............     5.9     6.1     6.0     6.1     6.2           5.6     6.0     6.0     5.6     5.9
Louisiana...........     6.5     6.3     6.2     6.2     6.5           5.9     6.6     6.1     6.0     5.8
Maine...............     7.2     7.7     6.5     7.2     7.2           6.6     6.8     7.5     6.6     7.0
 
Maryland............     6.1     6.4     6.3     6.2     6.3           5.9     6.1     6.2     6.3     5.7
Massachusetts.......     5.6     6.1     5.4     5.7     5.4           5.2     5.3     5.6     5.4     5.2
Michigan............     5.6     5.8     5.3     5.7     5.7           5.0     5.3     6.0     5.4     4.6
Minnesota...........     5.9     5.7     5.3     5.8     5.3           4.9     5.3     5.7     5.5     5.0
Mississippi.........     5.9     5.9     5.9     6.3     5.5           5.9     6.0     5.9     5.4     5.8
Missouri............     5.9     5.6     5.9     5.7     5.4           5.0     5.6     5.9     5.5     5.2
Montana.............     8.1     7.9     7.2     8.5     7.8           7.2     7.7     7.9     7.4     7.1
Nebraska............     6.0     5.5     5.9     6.2     5.6           5.1     6.1     5.9     5.5     5.5
Nevada..............     6.6     6.2     6.2     6.6     6.5           5.2     5.9     5.8     5.2     5.4
New Hampshire.......     5.8     6.6     5.5     6.7     6.1           5.7     6.0     6.6     5.9     5.9
 
New Jersey..........     5.6     6.7     6.0     6.4     5.6           5.9     5.6     6.3     5.8     5.8
New Mexico..........     6.5     6.8     6.6     6.5     6.3           6.2     6.4     6.3     6.1     5.5
New York............     6.2     6.4     6.3     6.2     6.2           5.7     5.8     6.1     5.8     5.6
North Carolina......     6.4     6.3     6.0     6.3     6.2           5.7     6.2     6.0     5.5     5.2
North Dakota........     7.6     6.8     6.7     6.8     7.0           6.8     6.9     6.7     6.8     6.3
Ohio................     5.8     5.8     5.3     5.7     5.5           5.2     5.5     5.7     5.2     5.0
Oklahoma............     6.3     6.6     6.6     6.4     6.1           6.2     6.0     6.0     5.8     5.5
Oregon..............     7.0     6.7     6.6     6.8     7.8           5.9     6.1     6.4     6.0     5.6
Pennsylvania........     5.3     5.5     5.5     5.5     5.2           5.0     5.2     5.2     5.0     4.9
Rhode Island........     6.4     6.5     6.0     6.6     6.3           6.0     5.9     6.3     6.0     6.1
 
South Carolina......     6.2     6.1     5.8     7.0     5.9           5.7     6.1     6.2     5.3     4.7
South Dakota........     6.4     6.2     5.8     6.4     6.4           5.9     6.2     5.9     5.7     5.9
Tennessee...........     5.2     5.5     5.4     5.9     5.0           5.0     5.2     5.2     4.9     4.8
Texas...............     5.9     5.9     5.9     6.4     5.8           5.2     5.4     5.8     5.3     5.1
Utah................     7.7     6.8     7.0     7.0     7.4           6.1     6.3     6.3     5.9     6.0
Vermont.............     6.6     7.9     6.5     7.4     6.4           6.8     6.8     7.8     6.5     7.0
Virginia............     6.1     6.4     5.9     6.3     5.8           5.6     5.9     6.2     5.5     5.2
Washington..........     6.9     7.1     6.4     6.9     7.2           6.0     6.2     6.4     6.0     5.7
West Virginia.......     6.3     6.4     6.7     6.3     6.8           6.3     6.5     6.3     6.1     5.8
Wisconsin...........     5.9     5.6     5.0     5.6     5.6           4.8     5.5     5.7     5.0     4.7
 
Wyoming.............     8.9     8.6     8.7     8.7     8.4           8.1     9.1     7.9     8.4     8.0
Puerto Rico.........     5.1     5.4     4.5     7.1     8.4           5.7     5.4     6.8    11.8     6.8
Virgin Islands......     5.6     6.7     4.2     9.2    12.0           5.5     5.3    11.6    28.2    16.8
 
(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

2008  March                226      3.1        224      3.1         919       .8        832       .7
      June                 221      3.0        238      3.3         876       .8        913       .8
      September            216      3.0        233      3.2         849       .8        881       .8
      December             211      2.9        253      3.5         819       .7        951       .9
 
2009  March                197      2.7        247      3.4         738       .7        869       .8
      June                 201      2.8        238      3.3         767       .7        837       .8
      September            192      2.7        227      3.2         725       .7        793       .7
      December             202      2.8        218      3.1         728       .7        749       .7
 
2010  March                193      2.7        211      3.0         706       .7        687       .7
      June                 193      2.7        202      2.9         730       .7        665       .6
      September            207      2.9        204      2.9         754       .7        701       .7
      December             216      3.0        201      2.8         805       .8        700       .7
 
2011  March                204      2.9        200      2.8         715       .7        632       .6
      June                 210      2.9        205      2.9         767       .7        689       .6
      September            206      2.9        196      2.7         794       .7        675       .6
      December             214      3.0        198      2.8         800       .7        700       .6
 
2012  March                236      3.3        188      2.6         787       .7        614       .6
      June                 217      3.0        194      2.7         799       .7        673       .6
      September            210      2.9        196      2.7         804       .7        692       .6
      December             218      3.0        183      2.5         809       .7        673       .6
 
2013  March                205      2.8        193      2.6         748       .7        648       .6
      June                 222      3.0        215      2.9         789       .7        695       .6
      September            219      2.9        195      2.6         818       .7        678       .6
      December             215      2.9        187      2.5         803       .7        670       .6
 
2014  March                220      2.9        189      2.5         781       .7        635       .6
      June                 221      2.9        205      2.7         805       .7        716       .6
      September            225      3.0        199      2.6         827       .7        704       .6
      December             224      2.9        197      2.6         839       .7        707       .6
 
2015  March                234      3.1        206      2.7         814       .7        694       .6
      June                 234      3.1        212      2.8         839       .7        732       .6
      September            242      3.1        207      2.7         880       .7        704       .6
      December             247      3.2        208      2.7         893       .8        733       .6
 
2016  March                236      3.0        203      2.6         786       .7        663       .6
      June                 242      3.1        214      2.7         839       .7        723       .6
      September            239      3.0        215      2.7         872       .7        747       .6
      December             239      3.0        217      2.8         869       .7        729       .6
 
2017  March                241      3.0        203      2.6         800       .7        659       .5
      June                 240      3.0        225      2.8         851       .7        760       .6
      September            241      3.0        N/A      N/A         851       .7        N/A      N/A
      December             246      3.1        N/A      N/A         853       .7        N/A      N/A
 
2018  March                250      3.1        N/A      N/A         817       .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 informations.
(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: November 07, 2018