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14.6 million private sector jobs lost during second quarter 2020

February 01, 2021

During the second quarter of 2020, the difference between job losses and job gains in the private sector yielded a net employment loss of 14.6 million jobs. From March 2020 to June 2020, there were 20.4 million jobs lost at closing and contracting private-sector establishments. Over this period, there were 5.7 million job gains at opening and expanding private-sector establishments. This is the largest quarterly net job loss recorded in these data (which begin in 1992). Job losses in the second quarter of 2020 were more than 5 times the next largest quarterly job loss of 2.7 million jobs in the first quarter of 2009.

Job gains, job losses, and net employment change, first quarter 2010–second quarter 2020
Quarter Net employment change Job gains Job losses
        Total         At expanding establishments At opening establishments         Total         At contracting establishments At closing establishments

Mar 2010

-247,000 6,325,000 5,108,000 1,217,000 6,572,000 5,324,000 1,248,000

Jun 2010

698,000 6,995,000 5,674,000 1,321,000 6,297,000 5,090,000 1,207,000

Sep 2010

237,000 6,741,000 5,438,000 1,303,000 6,504,000 5,231,000 1,273,000

Dec 2010

566,000 7,052,000 5,639,000 1,413,000 6,486,000 5,219,000 1,267,000

Mar 2011

334,000 6,540,000 5,322,000 1,218,000 6,206,000 5,025,000 1,181,000

Jun 2011

582,000 6,966,000 5,625,000 1,341,000 6,384,000 5,115,000 1,269,000

Sep 2011

841,000 7,205,000 5,810,000 1,395,000 6,364,000 5,172,000 1,192,000

Dec 2011

335,000 6,865,000 5,503,000 1,362,000 6,530,000 5,273,000 1,257,000

Mar 2012

948,000 7,080,000 5,746,000 1,334,000 6,132,000 5,005,000 1,127,000

Jun 2012

616,000 7,051,000 5,724,000 1,327,000 6,435,000 5,266,000 1,169,000

Sep 2012

252,000 6,881,000 5,571,000 1,310,000 6,629,000 5,430,000 1,199,000

Dec 2012

695,000 7,110,000 5,753,000 1,357,000 6,415,000 5,225,000 1,190,000

Mar 2013

558,000 6,941,000 5,705,000 1,236,000 6,383,000 5,201,000 1,182,000

Jun 2013

674,000 7,152,000 5,830,000 1,322,000 6,478,000 5,271,000 1,207,000

Sep 2013

507,000 7,058,000 5,719,000 1,339,000 6,551,000 5,408,000 1,143,000

Dec 2013

700,000 7,255,000 5,926,000 1,329,000 6,555,000 5,353,000 1,202,000

Mar 2014

419,000 6,953,000 5,687,000 1,266,000 6,534,000 5,380,000 1,154,000

Jun 2014

895,000 7,454,000 6,114,000 1,340,000 6,559,000 5,342,000 1,217,000

Sep 2014

577,000 7,247,000 5,918,000 1,329,000 6,670,000 5,487,000 1,183,000

Dec 2014

1,038,000 7,617,000 6,248,000 1,369,000 6,579,000 5,346,000 1,233,000

Mar 2015

216,000 7,046,000 5,733,000 1,313,000 6,830,000 5,626,000 1,204,000

Jun 2015

849,000 7,580,000 6,235,000 1,345,000 6,731,000 5,540,000 1,191,000

Sep 2015

475,000 7,344,000 5,983,000 1,361,000 6,869,000 5,657,000 1,212,000

Dec 2015

944,000 7,817,000 6,360,000 1,457,000 6,873,000 5,607,000 1,266,000

Mar 2016

243,000 7,149,000 5,864,000 1,285,000 6,906,000 5,702,000 1,204,000

Jun 2016

310,000 7,446,000 6,074,000 1,372,000 7,136,000 5,829,000 1,307,000

Sep 2016

750,000 7,717,000 6,253,000 1,464,000 6,967,000 5,722,000 1,245,000

Dec 2016

329,000 7,423,000 6,012,000 1,411,000 7,094,000 5,795,000 1,299,000

Mar 2017

654,000 7,428,000 6,091,000 1,337,000 6,774,000 5,591,000 1,183,000

Jun 2017

480,000 7,621,000 6,252,000 1,369,000 7,141,000 5,873,000 1,268,000

Sep 2017

-55,000 7,324,000 5,970,000 1,354,000 7,379,000 6,080,000 1,299,000

Dec 2017

933,000 7,801,000 6,366,000 1,435,000 6,868,000 5,571,000 1,297,000

Mar 2018

717,000 7,494,000 6,141,000 1,353,000 6,777,000 5,587,000 1,190,000

Jun 2018

407,000 7,652,000 6,254,000 1,398,000 7,245,000 5,960,000 1,285,000

Sep 2018

79,000 7,506,000 6,126,000 1,380,000 7,427,000 6,104,000 1,323,000

Dec 2018

790,000 7,756,000 6,309,000 1,447,000 6,966,000 5,634,000 1,332,000

Mar 2019

533,000 7,460,000 6,102,000 1,358,000 6,927,000 5,682,000 1,245,000

Jun 2019

171,000 7,637,000 6,253,000 1,384,000 7,466,000 6,105,000 1,361,000

Sep 2019

53,000 7,404,000 6,022,000 1,382,000 7,351,000 6,077,000 1,274,000

Dec 2019

813,000 7,864,000 6,364,000 1,500,000 7,051,000 5,725,000 1,326,000

Mar 2020

-773,000 6,963,000 5,675,000 1,288,000 7,736,000 6,288,000 1,448,000

Jun 2020

-14,617,000 5,749,000 4,469,000 1,280,000 20,366,000 17,470,000 2,896,000

From March 2020 to June 2020, job losses from closing and contracting private-sector increased by 12.6 million from the previous quarter. Job gains at opening and expanding decreased by 1.2 million jobs.

Contracting establishments lost 17.5 million jobs in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 11.2 million jobs from the prior quarter. In the second quarter of 2020, closing establishments lost 2.9 million jobs, an increase of 1.4 million jobs from the previous quarter.

Job gains at expanding establishments totaled 4.5 million in the second quarter of 2020, a decrease of 1.2 million jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 1.3 million of the jobs gained in the second quarter of 2020, little changed from the previous quarter.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics program and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "Business Employment Dynamics — Second Quarter 2020." Also see charts related to the latest "Business Employment Dynamics" news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 14.6 million private sector jobs lost during second quarter 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/14-6-million-private-sector-jobs-lost-during-second-quarter-2020.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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