From June 2021 to September 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Pennsylvania were 309,749, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 260,551, 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 49,198 jobs in the private sector during the third quarter of 2021. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 11,325. (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 third quarter of 2021, gross job gains represented 6.2 percent of private-sector employment in Pennsylvania; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 7.2 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 Pennsylvania, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 260,371 in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 26,013 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 49,378 jobs gained in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 6,405 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the third quarter of 2021, gross job losses represented 5.3 percent of private-sector employment in Pennsylvania; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 6.2 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 Pennsylvania, contracting establishments lost 222,866 jobs in the third quarter of 2021, a decrease of 11,758 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 37,685 jobs, an increase of 6,303 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 8 of the 11 industry sectors in Pennsylvania in the third quarter of 2021. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 23,667 jobs. This was the result of 66,816 gross job gains and 43,149 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 9,192 jobs. The transportation and warehousing industry had a net gain of 7,448 jobs. Retail trade showed a net loss of 4,611 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state.

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 Fourth Quarter 2021 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	June 2021	Sept. 2021	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	June 2021	Sept. 2021
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	487,751	298,990	318,356	277,331	309,749	10.3	6.2	6.4	5.6	6.2
At expanding establishments	388,732	252,371	271,810	234,358	260,371	8.2	5.2	5.5	4.7	5.2
At opening establishments	99,019	46,619	46,546	42,973	49,378	2.1	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	232,669	258,653	227,213	266,006	260,551	4.9	5.3	4.6	5.3	5.3
At contracting establishments	197,271	218,308	193,458	234,624	222,866	4.2	4.5	3.9	4.7	4.5
At closing establishments	35,398	40,345	33,755	31,382	37,685	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.8
Net employment change (2)	255,082	40,337	91,143	11,325	49,198	5.4	0.9	1.8	0.3	0.9
Construction
Gross job gains	27,503	24,656	22,940	21,369	20,069	11.5	10.0	9.0	8.4	8.0
At expanding establishments	21,490	20,210	18,535	17,772	15,987	9.0	8.2	7.3	7.0	6.4
At opening establishments	6,013	4,446	4,405	3,597	4,082	2.5	1.8	1.7	1.4	1.6
Gross job losses	20,142	19,155	20,016	20,091	20,884	8.4	7.7	7.9	7.9	8.3
At contracting establishments	16,978	15,491	17,011	17,348	17,149	7.1	6.2	6.7	6.8	6.8
At closing establishments	3,164	3,664	3,005	2,743	3,735	1.3	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.5
Net employment change (2)	7,361	5,501	2,924	1,278	-815	3.1	2.3	1.1	0.5	-0.3
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	24,296	19,675	18,905	16,088	18,442	4.5	3.6	3.5	3.0	3.4
At expanding establishments	22,532	18,432	18,024	15,003	17,306	4.2	3.4	3.3	2.8	3.2
At opening establishments	1,764	1,243	881	1,085	1,136	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Gross job losses	19,587	14,830	14,109	17,430	15,549	3.7	2.8	2.7	3.2	2.9
At contracting establishments	18,023	13,990	12,696	16,671	14,436	3.4	2.6	2.4	3.1	2.7
At closing establishments	1,564	840	1,413	759	1,113	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.2
Net employment change (2)	4,709	4,845	4,796	-1,342	2,893	0.8	0.8	0.8	-0.2	0.5
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	11,892	9,277	8,898	8,925	10,156	5.9	4.5	4.4	4.4	5.0
At expanding establishments	10,074	7,805	7,450	7,654	8,713	5.0	3.8	3.7	3.8	4.3
At opening establishments	1,818	1,472	1,448	1,271	1,443	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.7
Gross job losses	7,991	7,235	7,214	7,724	8,005	4.0	3.5	3.5	3.8	3.9
At contracting establishments	6,526	5,714	5,714	6,584	6,278	3.3	2.8	2.8	3.2	3.1
At closing establishments	1,465	1,521	1,500	1,140	1,727	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.8
Net employment change (2)	3,901	2,042	1,684	1,201	2,151	1.9	1.0	0.9	0.6	1.1
Retail trade
Gross job gains	66,882	32,532	37,905	33,572	34,430	11.9	5.7	6.4	5.6	5.8
At expanding establishments	57,383	29,216	33,555	30,408	29,659	10.2	5.1	5.7	5.1	5.0
At opening establishments	9,499	3,316	4,350	3,164	4,771	1.7	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.8
Gross job losses	28,502	31,709	27,058	35,252	39,041	5.0	5.5	4.7	5.9	6.6
At contracting establishments	25,623	27,557	23,821	32,230	36,408	4.5	4.8	4.1	5.4	6.2
At closing establishments	2,879	4,152	3,237	3,022	2,633	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.4
Net employment change (2)	38,380	823	10,847	-1,680	-4,611	6.9	0.2	1.7	-0.3	-0.8
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	24,602	28,989	19,021	11,650	19,242	9.5	10.6	6.8	4.2	7.0
At expanding establishments	20,139	24,557	17,734	10,165	16,877	7.8	9.0	6.3	3.7	6.1
At opening establishments	4,463	4,432	1,287	1,485	2,365	1.7	1.6	0.5	0.5	0.9
Gross job losses	15,939	12,305	19,511	17,646	11,794	6.1	4.5	6.9	6.4	4.2
At contracting establishments	14,814	10,584	18,591	16,613	10,655	5.7	3.9	6.6	6.0	3.8
At closing establishments	1,125	1,721	920	1,033	1,139	0.4	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	8,663	16,684	-490	-5,996	7,448	3.4	6.1	-0.1	-2.2	2.8
Information
Gross job gains	6,244	3,724	5,731	4,863	10,204	7.8	4.6	6.9	5.8	11.6
At expanding establishments	5,146	2,864	4,482	3,589	6,771	6.4	3.5	5.4	4.3	7.7
At opening establishments	1,098	860	1,249	1,274	3,433	1.4	1.1	1.5	1.5	3.9
Gross job losses	3,470	4,463	4,177	4,405	4,654	4.3	5.5	5.1	5.2	5.3
At contracting establishments	2,808	3,638	3,620	3,559	3,831	3.5	4.5	4.4	4.2	4.4
At closing establishments	662	825	557	846	823	0.8	1.0	0.7	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,774	-739	1,554	458	5,550	3.5	-0.9	1.8	0.6	6.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	13,997	11,287	12,480	11,646	13,743	4.3	3.5	3.8	3.6	4.2
At expanding establishments	11,302	9,069	9,799	9,334	11,177	3.5	2.8	3.0	2.9	3.4
At opening establishments	2,695	2,218	2,681	2,312	2,566	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	11,109	11,839	10,226	12,964	13,391	3.5	3.6	3.2	4.0	4.1
At contracting establishments	9,227	9,808	8,068	11,050	11,045	2.9	3.0	2.5	3.4	3.4
At closing establishments	1,882	2,031	2,158	1,914	2,346	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	2,888	-552	2,254	-1,318	352	0.8	-0.1	0.6	-0.4	0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	59,771	64,237	47,949	51,842	55,246	8.0	8.4	6.1	6.6	7.0
At expanding establishments	48,816	54,573	39,313	41,626	45,183	6.5	7.1	5.0	5.3	5.7
At opening establishments	10,955	9,664	8,636	10,216	10,063	1.5	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.3
Gross job losses	44,970	40,271	43,136	48,924	46,054	6.0	5.3	5.5	6.2	5.8
At contracting establishments	36,954	31,967	35,629	41,767	36,699	4.9	4.2	4.5	5.3	4.6
At closing establishments	8,016	8,304	7,507	7,157	9,355	1.1	1.1	1.0	0.9	1.2
Net employment change (2)	14,801	23,966	4,813	2,918	9,192	2.0	3.1	0.6	0.4	1.2
Education and health services
Gross job gains	62,899	41,485	43,953	40,014	42,365	5.4	3.5	3.7	3.4	3.6
At expanding establishments	52,682	36,576	38,684	35,218	37,592	4.5	3.1	3.3	3.0	3.2
At opening establishments	10,217	4,909	5,269	4,796	4,773	0.9	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4
Gross job losses	37,278	41,865	37,424	46,164	43,195	3.2	3.5	3.2	3.9	3.7
At contracting establishments	32,719	36,874	32,055	41,496	38,124	2.8	3.1	2.7	3.5	3.3
At closing establishments	4,559	4,991	5,369	4,668	5,071	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	25,621	-380	6,529	-6,150	-830	2.2	0.0	0.5	-0.5	-0.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	141,502	45,412	82,054	59,577	66,816	36.7	10.8	19.0	12.9	13.8
At expanding establishments	112,849	35,598	69,961	49,067	55,621	29.3	8.5	16.2	10.6	11.5
At opening establishments	28,653	9,814	12,093	10,510	11,195	7.4	2.3	2.8	2.3	2.3
Gross job losses	28,007	57,927	30,155	41,154	43,149	7.2	13.9	7.0	8.9	8.9
At contracting establishments	21,358	48,886	24,791	35,149	36,773	5.5	11.7	5.8	7.6	7.6
At closing establishments	6,649	9,041	5,364	6,005	6,376	1.7	2.2	1.2	1.3	1.3
Net employment change (2)	113,495	-12,515	51,899	18,423	23,667	29.5	-3.1	12.0	4.0	4.9
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	43,508	13,015	14,363	13,463	14,872	27.9	7.7	8.3	7.7	8.3
At expanding establishments	22,300	9,665	10,672	10,861	11,833	14.3	5.7	6.2	6.2	6.6
At opening establishments	21,208	3,350	3,691	2,602	3,039	13.6	2.0	2.1	1.5	1.7
Gross job losses	10,543	12,764	10,110	9,746	10,757	6.8	7.5	5.9	5.5	6.0
At contracting establishments	7,907	10,191	7,931	8,009	8,283	5.1	6.0	4.6	4.5	4.6
At closing establishments	2,636	2,573	2,179	1,737	2,474	1.7	1.5	1.3	1.0	1.4
Net employment change (2)	32,965	251	4,253	3,717	4,115	21.1	0.2	2.4	2.2	2.3
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.

Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	June 2021	Sept. 2021	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	June 2021	Sept. 2021
United States(1)	9.5	7.4	6.8	6.7	7.2	6.0	5.7	5.4	5.9	6.2
Alabama	7.8	7.6	5.9	6.2	6.6	5.9	5.5	5.9	6.0	6.7
Alaska	12.2	13.4	11.0	9.5	10.4	9.8	7.7	9.4	9.2	9.5
Arizona	7.8	7.3	6.3	6.8	6.9	6.1	5.0	5.5	6.0	6.0
Arkansas	7.6	7.2	5.9	5.5	6.6	5.7	5.2	5.1	5.6	5.9
California	8.9	8.5	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.1	6.1	5.9	6.4	6.3
Colorado	10.1	7.5	8.6	7.8	8.1	6.4	7.2	5.6	6.4	7.0
Connecticut	11.4	6.6	6.3	6.6	6.8	5.1	5.9	5.3	5.9	6.0
Delaware	10.3	6.8	6.8	6.4	7.2	6.4	6.0	6.0	6.4	7.0
District of Columbia	8.2	5.3	5.5	7.0	7.9	5.7	5.5	5.3	5.4	4.8
Florida	9.5	8.0	6.9	7.8	9.2	6.7	6.0	5.8	6.2	6.0
Georgia	9.3	7.9	6.7	6.9	7.4	6.5	5.2	5.7	6.2	6.2
Hawaii	7.5	14.7	8.5	10.7	7.2	12.2	4.6	5.9	5.6	6.6
Idaho	8.4	8.7	8.1	7.2	7.7	6.4	6.1	5.7	7.2	7.3
Illinois	9.7	6.5	7.2	6.0	6.3	5.6	6.1	4.9	5.6	6.0
Indiana	8.3	6.8	6.0	5.7	6.3	5.2	5.0	5.1	6.0	5.8
Iowa	7.5	6.8	6.1	6.0	6.2	5.5	5.1	5.4	6.0	6.0
Kansas	7.9	7.0	6.2	6.2	6.6	5.9	5.9	5.5	6.1	6.6
Kentucky	9.0	7.3	7.3	6.4	6.6	5.1	6.1	5.1	6.5	6.5
Louisiana	9.1	8.7	6.4	6.8	6.9	7.0	5.6	5.9	6.2	8.6
Maine	12.3	8.5	9.0	7.7	7.8	6.0	6.3	6.3	7.8	8.0
Maryland	11.2	7.3	6.3	6.6	7.5	5.5	5.8	5.5	6.6	6.7
Massachusetts	12.4	7.0	6.6	6.9	7.2	5.4	5.5	5.0	5.7	5.9
Michigan	10.9	6.7	8.5	6.2	6.6	4.8	6.9	4.9	5.6	6.1
Minnesota	9.0	6.9	9.2	6.1	6.4	5.4	6.8	4.9	5.5	6.8
Mississippi	8.7	8.0	5.6	6.4	7.5	5.5	4.9	6.6	6.5	6.2
Missouri	8.5	7.1	6.3	6.0	6.7	5.7	5.2	5.3	6.3	6.1
Montana	9.9	9.4	8.8	8.3	8.4	7.2	6.8	6.9	8.1	8.3
Nebraska	8.2	6.8	6.5	6.2	6.2	5.8	5.5	6.2	6.0	6.6
Nevada	12.9	8.8	7.3	9.5	8.9	6.4	5.7	5.5	5.7	5.8
New Hampshire	11.8	7.4	7.4	7.0	7.0	5.3	6.4	5.4	6.4	6.8
New Jersey	15.7	8.1	7.0	7.2	7.4	5.6	5.9	5.6	5.7	6.1
New Mexico	8.5	7.3	8.5	7.1	7.9	6.1	7.5	5.7	6.6	6.3
New York	13.3	7.4	6.9	7.1	7.5	5.9	6.3	5.4	5.7	6.0
North Carolina	8.7	7.9	6.6	6.4	6.8	5.6	5.0	5.4	5.8	6.4
North Dakota	8.9	7.2	7.8	6.9	7.5	6.9	7.1	6.5	6.5	6.7
Ohio	7.8	6.6	6.1	5.9	6.1	5.3	5.2	5.0	5.8	6.0
Oklahoma	7.1	7.9	6.1	6.5	7.1	6.6	5.8	6.1	6.0	7.0
Oregon	9.0	7.4	8.5	6.6	7.0	6.3	6.5	5.6	6.6	6.5
Pennsylvania	10.3	6.2	6.4	5.6	6.2	4.9	5.3	4.6	5.3	5.3
Rhode Island	13.0	7.6	9.8	7.0	7.6	5.3	7.1	5.5	6.4	6.6
South Carolina	8.8	8.0	6.2	6.3	7.2	5.9	5.2	6.1	6.5	6.6
South Dakota	8.6	7.2	7.3	6.8	6.6	5.5	6.2	6.0	5.8	6.5
Tennessee	8.1	7.5	5.6	5.9	6.8	5.5	4.6	5.0	5.8	5.5
Texas	7.3	7.6	5.7	6.7	7.1	6.1	4.8	5.0	5.4	5.4
Utah	9.1	8.1	7.1	6.9	7.3	6.3	5.6	6.1	6.0	6.8
Vermont	12.9	7.6	8.2	8.4	7.9	5.8	8.0	6.1	6.8	7.5
Virginia	10.4	7.0	6.0	6.2	6.8	5.4	5.3	5.4	6.0	6.1
Washington	8.9	7.2	7.9	6.7	7.2	6.3	6.1	5.4	5.8	5.7
West Virginia	8.9	7.4	7.2	6.5	6.7	6.9	6.2	5.8	6.4	6.5
Wisconsin	7.6	6.3	5.8	5.8	5.5	5.1	5.1	4.7	5.4	5.8
Wyoming	10.8	10.0	9.1	8.8	8.9	7.7	7.7	8.3	8.5	8.6
Puerto Rico	11.1	6.6	6.6	7.7	8.3	5.1	4.9	5.0	5.0	5.1
Virgin Islands	7.8	9.9	7.4	10.6	7.4	12.5	5.8	10.8	6.2	8.5
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.