From December 2020 to March 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Virginia were 184,421, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 169,083, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 15,338 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2021. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 52,465. (See chart 1.)

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.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job gains represented 6.0 percent of private-sector employment in Virginia; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 6.8 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) 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. In Virginia, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 148,184 in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 25,476 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 36,237 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 4,672 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job losses represented 5.4 percent of private-sector employment in Virginia; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Virginia, contracting establishments lost 137,264 jobs in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 13,352 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 31,819 jobs, a decrease of 6,373 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Virginia in the first quarter of 2021. Retail trade had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 4,986 jobs. This was the result of 24,328 gross job gains and 19,342 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 4,073 jobs. Wholesale trade showed a net gain of 1,416 jobs. Virginia’s transportation and warehousing industry sector had a net loss of 1,736 jobs.

For more information

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. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2021 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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.

In the BED program, the 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.

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all businesses in the economy. BED statistics track these changes in employment at private business establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment from expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.

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. 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.

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.

The full Technical Note for the Business Employment Dynamics program, which includes information on coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the current quarterly news release online at www.bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Virginia, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and job losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	181,700	142,363	307,263	214,569	184,421	5.6	4.6	10.4	7.0	6.0
At expanding establishments	145,703	108,062	251,813	173,660	148,184	4.5	3.5	8.5	5.7	4.8
At opening establishments	35,997	34,301	55,450	40,909	36,237	1.1	1.1	1.9	1.3	1.2
Gross job losses	198,361	559,329	159,249	162,104	169,083	6.1	18.3	5.4	5.3	5.4
At contracting establishments	158,584	483,874	126,640	123,912	137,264	4.9	15.8	4.3	4.1	4.4
At closing establishments	39,777	75,455	32,609	38,192	31,819	1.2	2.5	1.1	1.2	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-16,661	-416,966	148,014	52,465	15,338	-0.5	-13.7	5.0	1.7	0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	16,276	11,729	16,384	16,463	13,968	7.9	5.8	8.2	8.2	6.9
At expanding establishments	13,526	9,427	12,939	13,491	11,204	6.6	4.7	6.5	6.7	5.5
At opening establishments	2,750	2,302	3,445	2,972	2,764	1.3	1.1	1.7	1.5	1.4
Gross job losses	13,633	20,317	14,622	12,634	14,015	6.6	10.0	7.3	6.2	6.9
At contracting establishments	11,089	16,894	12,148	9,576	11,590	5.4	8.3	6.1	4.7	5.7
At closing establishments	2,544	3,423	2,474	3,058	2,425	1.2	1.7	1.2	1.5	1.2
Net employment change (2)	2,643	-8,588	1,762	3,829	-47	1.3	-4.2	0.9	2.0	0.0
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,609	4,707	12,222	10,932	6,617	2.8	2.0	5.3	4.7	2.8
At expanding establishments	5,998	4,075	10,748	9,960	6,021	2.5	1.7	4.7	4.3	2.5
At opening establishments	611	632	1,474	972	596	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.3
Gross job losses	6,838	20,418	6,957	6,217	5,851	2.9	8.7	3.0	2.7	2.5
At contracting establishments	5,950	19,046	6,244	4,857	5,224	2.5	8.1	2.7	2.1	2.2
At closing establishments	888	1,372	713	1,360	627	0.4	0.6	0.3	0.6	0.3
Net employment change (2)	-229	-15,711	5,265	4,715	766	-0.1	-6.7	2.3	2.0	0.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	4,726	3,305	5,498	5,023	5,264	4.3	3.1	5.3	4.8	4.9
At expanding establishments	4,039	2,673	4,271	4,301	4,480	3.7	2.5	4.1	4.1	4.2
At opening establishments	687	632	1,227	722	784	0.6	0.6	1.2	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	4,497	9,653	4,867	3,784	3,848	4.1	9.1	4.7	3.6	3.7
At contracting establishments	3,332	8,623	3,551	2,824	3,046	3.0	8.1	3.4	2.7	2.9
At closing establishments	1,165	1,030	1,316	960	802	1.1	1.0	1.3	0.9	0.8
Net employment change (2)	229	-6,348	631	1,239	1,416	0.2	-6.0	0.6	1.2	1.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	25,360	21,925	40,202	23,558	24,328	6.3	5.7	10.5	6.1	6.2
At expanding establishments	22,648	19,745	36,473	20,474	20,913	5.6	5.1	9.5	5.3	5.3
At opening establishments	2,712	2,180	3,729	3,084	3,415	0.7	0.6	1.0	0.8	0.9
Gross job losses	22,914	66,633	19,696	21,533	19,342	5.7	17.1	5.1	5.6	4.9
At contracting establishments	19,814	60,531	17,373	17,769	17,292	4.9	15.5	4.5	4.6	4.4
At closing establishments	3,100	6,102	2,323	3,764	2,050	0.8	1.6	0.6	1.0	0.5
Net employment change (2)	2,446	-44,708	20,506	2,025	4,986	0.6	-11.4	5.4	0.5	1.3
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	5,804	10,361	11,746	10,788	8,025	4.5	8.2	9.3	8.2	6.1
At expanding establishments	5,013	9,510	10,648	9,785	7,108	3.9	7.5	8.4	7.4	5.4
At opening establishments	791	851	1,098	1,003	917	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	7,737	17,933	6,795	7,233	9,761	6.0	14.2	5.3	5.5	7.4
At contracting establishments	6,839	16,528	5,730	6,200	9,106	5.3	13.1	4.5	4.7	6.9
At closing establishments	898	1,405	1,065	1,033	655	0.7	1.1	0.8	0.8	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-1,933	-7,572	4,951	3,555	-1,736	-1.5	-6.0	4.0	2.7	-1.3
Information
Gross job gains	3,176	2,393	3,883	3,250	3,177	4.7	3.6	6.1	5.0	4.9
At expanding establishments	2,647	1,847	2,734	2,022	2,650	3.9	2.8	4.3	3.1	4.1
At opening establishments	529	546	1,149	1,228	527	0.8	0.8	1.8	1.9	0.8
Gross job losses	3,175	7,463	2,786	3,090	2,768	4.7	11.4	4.3	4.8	4.2
At contracting establishments	2,691	5,926	2,118	2,243	2,094	4.0	9.1	3.3	3.5	3.2
At closing establishments	484	1,537	668	847	674	0.7	2.3	1.0	1.3	1.0
Net employment change (2)	1	-5,070	1,097	160	409	0.0	-7.8	1.8	0.2	0.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	8,296	6,542	9,640	9,991	9,128	4.1	3.3	5.0	5.1	4.6
At expanding establishments	6,449	4,687	7,577	7,601	6,730	3.2	2.4	3.9	3.9	3.4
At opening establishments	1,847	1,855	2,063	2,390	2,398	0.9	0.9	1.1	1.2	1.2
Gross job losses	8,489	14,788	8,041	9,412	8,429	4.2	7.5	4.2	4.8	4.3
At contracting establishments	6,614	11,468	5,908	6,278	6,523	3.3	5.8	3.1	3.2	3.3
At closing establishments	1,875	3,320	2,133	3,134	1,906	0.9	1.7	1.1	1.6	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-193	-8,246	1,599	579	699	-0.1	-4.2	0.8	0.3	0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	42,357	38,618	56,896	50,083	42,237	5.5	5.2	7.7	6.7	5.5
At expanding establishments	35,138	29,738	45,325	40,578	35,327	4.6	4.0	6.1	5.4	4.6
At opening establishments	7,219	8,880	11,571	9,505	6,910	0.9	1.2	1.6	1.3	0.9
Gross job losses	44,366	76,962	43,139	38,710	38,164	5.8	10.3	5.8	5.2	5.0
At contracting establishments	35,154	66,408	34,806	29,073	30,007	4.6	8.9	4.7	3.9	3.9
At closing establishments	9,212	10,554	8,333	9,637	8,157	1.2	1.4	1.1	1.3	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-2,009	-38,344	13,757	11,373	4,073	-0.3	-5.1	1.9	1.5	0.5
Education and health services
Gross job gains	25,683	17,187	35,622	28,009	26,434	5.0	3.5	7.4	5.7	5.3
At expanding establishments	20,084	11,214	28,795	22,078	20,041	3.9	2.3	6.0	4.5	4.0
At opening establishments	5,599	5,973	6,827	5,931	6,393	1.1	1.2	1.4	1.2	1.3
Gross job losses	27,050	63,401	22,036	21,332	25,367	5.2	12.7	4.6	4.3	5.1
At contracting establishments	20,097	54,531	16,720	15,809	19,083	3.9	10.9	3.5	3.2	3.8
At closing establishments	6,953	8,870	5,316	5,523	6,284	1.3	1.8	1.1	1.1	1.3
Net employment change (2)	-1,367	-46,214	13,586	6,677	1,067	-0.2	-9.2	2.8	1.4	0.2
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	28,032	13,219	93,346	39,000	29,791	6.7	3.9	31.6	12.0	9.0
At expanding establishments	20,828	8,625	79,118	32,172	23,922	5.0	2.5	26.8	9.9	7.2
At opening establishments	7,204	4,594	14,228	6,828	5,869	1.7	1.4	4.8	2.1	1.8
Gross job losses	45,149	228,147	18,692	25,521	28,427	10.8	67.3	6.4	7.8	8.5
At contracting establishments	37,052	199,772	13,764	20,847	23,843	8.9	58.9	4.7	6.4	7.1
At closing establishments	8,097	28,375	4,928	4,674	4,584	1.9	8.4	1.7	1.4	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-17,117	-214,928	74,654	13,479	1,364	-4.1	-63.4	25.2	4.2	0.5
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	7,727	5,371	14,295	8,759	7,407	6.2	4.7	13.2	7.8	6.5
At expanding establishments	5,743	3,354	9,757	6,526	5,453	4.6	2.9	9.0	5.8	4.8
At opening establishments	1,984	2,017	4,538	2,233	1,954	1.6	1.8	4.2	2.0	1.7
Gross job losses	8,988	26,416	6,732	7,411	7,323	7.3	23.1	6.2	6.6	6.4
At contracting establishments	6,547	19,568	4,893	5,477	5,806	5.3	17.1	4.5	4.9	5.1
At closing establishments	2,441	6,848	1,839	1,934	1,517	2.0	6.0	1.7	1.7	1.3
Net employment change (2)	-1,261	-21,045	7,563	1,348	84	-1.1	-18.4	7.0	1.2	0.1
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further information. (3) Except public administration.