From September 2014 to December 2014 gross job gains in Iowa totaled 77,791, while gross job losses numbered 71,592, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,199. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,098.

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. Business Employment Dynamics (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 job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Technical Note for more information.).

Gross job gains in Iowa have trended upward since reaching the series low of 64,466 in March 2009. Although Iowa’s gross job gains have been above 65,000 in each quarter since this low point, the state’s 77,791 gross job gains in December 2014 were down 904 from their recent peak of 78,695 reached in June 2014. Gross job losses in December 2014 totaled 71,592 in the state, 8,391 more than the recent low of 63,201 in March 2012. (See chart 1.) Iowa’s gross job losses were highest in June 2001 when 96,693 jobs were lost.

Gross job gains represented 6.1 percent of private sector employment in Iowa in the fourth quarter of 2014, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.6 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) The rate of gross job gains in Iowa has been below the U.S. rate in all but a few quarters since the series began in September 1992. The state’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment matched the national rate of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. Iowa’s rate of gross job losses has been below the U.S. rate in all but three instances since the quarterly series began.

During the fourth quarter 2014, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in eight industry sectors in Iowa. For example, within retail trade, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 1,289. While almost 9,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, more than 10,000 jobs were created by opening and expanding establishments in the three months ended in December 2014. In transportation and warehousing, approximately 3,800 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and more than 2,500 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments resulting in a net employment gain of 1,286 jobs. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in two industry sectors. Within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 506. The other services sector had a net job loss of 244.

Iowa was among the seven states in the West North Central Census division. All seven states in the division had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Six states, including Iowa, had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 6.6-percent national rate. Only North Dakota had a rate of gross job gains that was higher than the national rate. Three states (Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri) had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.6-percent national rate. Two states (North Dakota and South Dakota) had rates of gross job losses that were higher than the national rate and two states (Iowa and Nebraska) had rates of gross job losses that were equal to the national rate.

Table A. Private sector job gains and losses for the United States, West North Central Division, and West North Central states, December 2014, seasonally adjusted

Area	Gross job gains		Gross job losses		Net change	Net change as a percent of total employment
	Total	As a percent of total employment	Total	As a percent of total employment
United States	7,635,000	6.6	6,526,000	5.6	1,109,000	1.0
West North Central(1)	532,052	—	466,918	—	65,134	—
Iowa	77,791	6.1	71,592	5.6	6,199	0.5
Kansas	70,016	6.2	59,244	5.3	10,772	0.9
Minnesota	137,598	5.8	129,787	5.4	7,811	0.4
Missouri	142,836	6.3	116,244	5.1	26,592	1.2
Nebraska	49,466	6.2	44,487	5.6	4,979	0.6
North Dakota	32,989	8.7	25,721	6.7	7,268	2.0
South Dakota	21,356	6.3	19,843	5.8	1,513	0.5
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for the states located in the West North Central Census Division.
Note: Dash indicates data not available.

Additional statistics and other information

BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. For more information on the Business Employment Dynamics data, visit the BED web site at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics release for first quarter 2015 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 18, 2015.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), or the ES-202 program. The BED data are compiled from existing QCEW records. The QCEW reports are sent by the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) to BLS and form the basis of the Bureau’s QCEW program and establishment universe sampling frame. These reports are also used to produce the QCEW data on total employment and wages. Other important Bureau uses of the QCEW reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, net changes, and earnings by detailed industry.

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 establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.

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 establishments 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 establishments 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 establishments with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions.  These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment over this period.

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

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Iowa, 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)
	Dec. 2013	Mar. 2014	June 2014	Sept. 2014	Dec. 2014	Dec. 2013	Mar. 2014	June 2014	Sept. 2014	Dec. 2014
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	75,848	73,265	78,695	72,206	77,791	6.0	5.8	6.2	5.7	6.1
At expanding establishments	62,550	61,684	65,301	60,834	65,436	4.9	4.9	5.1	4.8	5.1
At opening establishments	13,298	11,581	13,394	11,372	12,355	1.1	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	69,858	69,123	72,090	73,304	71,592	5.5	5.5	5.7	5.7	5.6
At contracting establishments	58,425	57,843	59,481	61,690	60,013	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.8	4.7
At closing establishments	11,433	11,280	12,609	11,614	11,579	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	5,990	4,142	6,605	-1,098	6,199	0.5	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.5
Construction
Gross job gains	10,030	10,852	10,116	10,258	10,162	14.5	15.2	13.8	13.8	13.4
At expanding establishments	7,778	9,097	8,110	8,562	8,701	11.2	12.7	11.1	11.5	11.5
At opening establishments	2,252	1,755	2,006	1,696	1,461	3.3	2.5	2.7	2.3	1.9
Gross job losses	8,803	8,140	8,155	8,272	8,953	12.8	11.4	11.1	11.1	11.7
At contracting establishments	7,106	6,479	6,667	6,525	7,329	10.3	9.1	9.1	8.8	9.6
At closing establishments	1,697	1,661	1,488	1,747	1,624	2.5	2.3	2.0	2.3	2.1
Net employment change (2)	1,227	2,712	1,961	1,986	1,209	1.7	3.8	2.7	2.7	1.7
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,384	5,494	6,106	5,373	6,682	2.9	2.5	2.8	2.4	3.1
At expanding establishments	6,061	5,215	5,771	5,083	6,323	2.8	2.4	2.6	2.3	2.9
At opening establishments	323	279	335	290	359	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2
Gross job losses	4,839	4,959	5,258	6,794	6,218	2.2	2.3	2.4	3.1	2.9
At contracting establishments	4,618	4,633	4,952	6,344	5,876	2.1	2.1	2.3	2.9	2.7
At closing establishments	221	326	306	450	342	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	1,545	535	848	-1,421	464	0.7	0.2	0.4	-0.7	0.2
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	3,833	3,234	3,717	2,690	3,662	5.5	4.7	5.4	3.9	5.3
At expanding establishments	3,415	2,836	3,355	2,128	3,235	4.9	4.1	4.9	3.1	4.7
At opening establishments	418	398	362	562	427	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.6
Gross job losses	2,657	3,312	3,073	3,781	2,786	3.9	4.8	4.4	5.5	4.0
At contracting establishments	1,992	2,812	2,702	3,289	2,277	2.9	4.1	3.9	4.8	3.3
At closing establishments	665	500	371	492	509	1.0	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,176	-78	644	-1,091	876	1.6	-0.1	1.0	-1.6	1.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	9,556	9,398	10,294	9,139	10,272	5.4	5.2	5.7	5.1	5.8
At expanding establishments	8,482	8,499	9,041	8,166	9,272	4.8	4.7	5.0	4.6	5.2
At opening establishments	1,074	899	1,253	973	1,000	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	9,828	9,201	10,061	9,758	8,983	5.5	5.2	5.6	5.5	5.0
At contracting establishments	8,870	8,180	8,911	8,718	8,029	5.0	4.6	5.0	4.9	4.5
At closing establishments	958	1,021	1,150	1,040	954	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-272	197	233	-619	1,289	-0.1	0.0	0.1	-0.4	0.8
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,401	2,450	2,635	2,482	3,839	6.3	4.5	4.9	4.6	6.9
At expanding establishments	3,100	2,083	2,207	2,204	3,434	5.7	3.8	4.1	4.1	6.2
At opening establishments	301	367	428	278	405	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.7
Gross job losses	2,407	3,174	2,094	2,632	2,553	4.4	5.8	3.9	4.9	4.6
At contracting establishments	2,021	2,733	1,763	2,198	2,157	3.7	5.0	3.3	4.1	3.9
At closing establishments	386	441	331	434	396	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	994	-724	541	-150	1,286	1.9	-1.3	1.0	-0.3	2.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,879	3,441	3,948	3,382	3,466	3.7	3.3	3.8	3.2	3.3
At expanding establishments	3,253	2,774	3,108	2,838	2,826	3.1	2.7	3.0	2.7	2.7
At opening establishments	626	667	840	544	640	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	3,233	3,675	3,755	3,484	3,154	3.1	3.5	3.6	3.4	3.0
At contracting establishments	2,663	3,114	2,953	2,777	2,451	2.6	3.0	2.8	2.7	2.3
At closing establishments	570	561	802	707	703	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	646	-234	193	-102	312	0.6	-0.2	0.2	-0.2	0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	11,670	9,253	12,810	10,808	10,224	8.7	6.9	9.5	7.9	7.5
At expanding establishments	9,228	7,298	10,638	8,942	8,096	6.9	5.4	7.9	6.5	5.9
At opening establishments	2,442	1,955	2,172	1,866	2,128	1.8	1.5	1.6	1.4	1.6
Gross job losses	10,234	10,574	9,779	10,250	10,730	7.6	7.9	7.3	7.4	7.8
At contracting establishments	8,300	8,695	7,753	8,267	8,932	6.2	6.5	5.8	6.0	6.5
At closing establishments	1,934	1,879	2,026	1,983	1,798	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.3
Net employment change (2)	1,436	-1,321	3,031	558	-506	1.1	-1.0	2.2	0.5	-0.3
Education and health services
Gross job gains	8,360	8,838	8,829	8,305	8,961	4.0	4.2	4.2	3.9	4.2
At expanding establishments	7,057	7,607	7,190	7,277	7,406	3.4	3.6	3.4	3.4	3.5
At opening establishments	1,303	1,231	1,639	1,028	1,555	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.5	0.7
Gross job losses	8,261	8,262	9,265	8,443	8,224	3.9	3.9	4.4	4.0	3.9
At contracting establishments	6,938	6,977	8,218	6,895	7,132	3.3	3.3	3.9	3.3	3.4
At closing establishments	1,323	1,285	1,047	1,548	1,092	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	99	576	-436	-138	737	0.1	0.3	-0.2	-0.1	0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	12,456	14,059	13,440	13,074	13,959	9.1	10.3	9.7	9.5	10.1
At expanding establishments	9,156	11,065	10,264	10,354	10,868	6.7	8.1	7.4	7.5	7.9
At opening establishments	3,300	2,994	3,176	2,720	3,091	2.4	2.2	2.3	2.0	2.2
Gross job losses	12,932	11,845	14,516	13,571	13,260	9.5	8.6	10.5	9.9	9.6
At contracting establishments	10,595	9,335	10,588	11,419	10,802	7.8	6.8	7.7	8.3	7.8
At closing establishments	2,337	2,510	3,928	2,152	2,458	1.7	1.8	2.8	1.6	1.8
Net employment change (2)	-476	2,214	-1,076	-497	699	-0.4	1.7	-0.8	-0.4	0.5
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,654	2,870	3,116	2,950	2,772	6.7	7.2	7.7	7.3	6.9
At expanding establishments	2,274	2,421	2,575	2,575	2,298	5.7	6.1	6.4	6.4	5.7
At opening establishments	380	449	541	375	474	1.0	1.1	1.3	0.9	1.2
Gross job losses	2,687	2,379	2,644	2,939	3,016	6.7	6.0	6.6	7.3	7.5
At contracting establishments	2,197	1,950	2,194	2,417	2,317	5.5	4.9	5.5	6.0	5.8
At closing establishments	490	429	450	522	699	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.3	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-33	491	472	11	-244	0.0	1.2	1.1	0.0	-0.6
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.