From September 2015 to December 2015 gross job gains in Iowa totaled 77,425, while gross job losses numbered 72,893, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 4,532. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 4,285.

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 64,475 in March 2009. Iowa’s gross job gains were 77,425 in December 2015, down from the recent peak of 78,802 reached in June 2014. Gross job losses declined in the three-months ended in December 2015, down from last quarter’s recent high of 77,479. (See chart 1.) Job losses peaked in June 2001, when more than 96,000 jobs were lost within a three-month period.

Gross job gains represented 6.0 percent of private sector employment in Iowa in the quarter ended December 2015, 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 at or below the U.S. rate in all but four quarters since the series began in September 1992. The state’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 5.6 percent compared to the national rate of 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. With few exceptions, Iowa’s rate of gross job losses has been below the U.S. rate since the series inception.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in eight industry sectors in Iowa. For example, within construction, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 1,970. While almost 7,700 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, more than 9,600 jobs were created by opening and expanding establishments in the three-months ended in December 2015. In transportation and warehousing, approximately 3,700 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and almost 2,700 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in two industry sectors. Within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,973. The manufacturing sector had a net job loss of 45 jobs.

Iowa was among the seven states in the West North Central Division. Six states in the division, including Iowa, had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Five states (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska) had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 6.6-percent national rate. South Dakota had a rate of gross job gains that was equal to the national rate, while North Dakota had a rate of gross job gains that was higher than the national rate. Four states (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.8-percent national rate. One state (Minnesota) had a rate of gross job losses that was equal to the national rate and two states (North Dakota and South Dakota) had rates of gross job losses that were higher than the national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, West North Central Division, and West North Central states, December 2015, 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	7,822,000	6.6	6,822,000	5.8	1,000,000	0.8
West North Central (1)	535,673	—	487,916	—	47,757	—
Iowa	77,425	6.0	72,893	5.6	4,532	0.4
Kansas	70,654	6.2	62,682	5.6	7,972	0.6
Minnesota	146,558	6.1	139,112	5.8	7,446	0.3
Missouri	144,912	6.3	119,640	5.1	25,272	1.2
Nebraska	49,075	6.1	44,278	5.5	4,797	0.6
North Dakota	24,097	6.7	28,943	8.1	-4,846	-1.4
South Dakota	22,952	6.6	20,368	5.9	2,584	0.7
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for 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 2016 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 9, 2016.

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. 2014	Mar. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015	Dec. 2014	Mar. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	78,199	75,990	77,630	73,194	77,425	6.1	5.9	6.1	5.6	6.0
At expanding establishments	65,560	63,199	65,278	59,909	64,078	5.1	4.9	5.1	4.6	5.0
At opening establishments	12,639	12,791	12,352	13,285	13,347	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Gross job losses	72,224	68,787	76,474	77,479	72,893	5.6	5.4	5.9	6.0	5.6
At contracting establishments	60,502	58,650	66,322	65,662	61,112	4.7	4.6	5.1	5.1	4.7
At closing establishments	11,722	10,137	10,152	11,817	11,781	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	5,975	7,203	1,156	-4,285	4,532	0.5	0.5	0.2	-0.4	0.4
Construction
Gross job gains	10,141	10,249	9,183	10,082	9,653	13.4	13.1	11.7	13.3	12.3
At expanding establishments	8,639	8,310	7,632	8,287	7,902	11.4	10.6	9.7	10.9	10.1
At opening establishments	1,502	1,939	1,551	1,795	1,751	2.0	2.5	2.0	2.4	2.2
Gross job losses	8,944	8,185	13,423	9,580	7,683	11.7	10.4	17.1	12.6	9.8
At contracting establishments	7,332	6,787	11,906	7,833	6,285	9.6	8.6	15.2	10.3	8.0
At closing establishments	1,612	1,398	1,517	1,747	1,398	2.1	1.8	1.9	2.3	1.8
Net employment change (2)	1,197	2,064	-4,240	502	1,970	1.7	2.7	-5.4	0.7	2.5
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,736	5,645	5,982	5,836	6,423	3.1	2.6	2.7	2.7	3.0
At expanding establishments	6,355	5,349	5,673	5,203	5,586	2.9	2.5	2.6	2.4	2.6
At opening establishments	381	296	309	633	837	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.4
Gross job losses	6,225	5,429	6,550	7,581	6,468	2.9	2.4	3.1	3.5	3.0
At contracting establishments	5,893	5,112	5,998	7,217	6,181	2.7	2.3	2.8	3.3	2.9
At closing establishments	332	317	552	364	287	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.1
Net employment change (2)	511	216	-568	-1,745	-45	0.2	0.2	-0.4	-0.8	0.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	3,669	3,555	3,432	2,437	3,278	5.3	5.1	5.0	3.6	4.9
At expanding establishments	3,239	3,184	2,923	2,024	2,798	4.7	4.6	4.3	3.0	4.2
At opening establishments	430	371	509	413	480	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.7
Gross job losses	2,828	3,434	3,537	3,602	2,881	4.1	5.0	5.2	5.4	4.3
At contracting establishments	2,322	3,074	3,099	3,028	2,263	3.4	4.5	4.6	4.5	3.4
At closing establishments	506	360	438	574	618	0.7	0.5	0.6	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	841	121	-105	-1,165	397	1.2	0.1	-0.2	-1.8	0.6
Retail trade
Gross job gains	10,349	11,596	11,221	8,773	9,603	5.8	6.5	6.2	4.9	5.3
At expanding establishments	9,327	9,960	9,846	7,919	8,650	5.2	5.6	5.4	4.4	4.8
At opening establishments	1,022	1,636	1,375	854	953	0.6	0.9	0.8	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	8,939	8,694	9,719	10,720	9,134	5.0	4.8	5.3	5.9	5.1
At contracting establishments	7,982	7,734	8,418	9,758	8,250	4.5	4.3	4.6	5.4	4.6
At closing establishments	957	960	1,301	962	884	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,410	2,902	1,502	-1,947	469	0.8	1.7	0.9	-1.0	0.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,765	2,516	2,629	2,771	3,659	6.9	4.4	4.7	4.8	6.4
At expanding establishments	3,347	2,180	2,309	2,361	3,102	6.1	3.8	4.1	4.1	5.4
At opening establishments	418	336	320	410	557	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.7	1.0
Gross job losses	2,644	3,456	2,456	2,625	2,688	4.8	6.0	4.4	4.6	4.7
At contracting establishments	2,239	3,110	2,133	2,287	2,243	4.1	5.4	3.8	4.0	3.9
At closing establishments	405	346	323	338	445	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.8
Net employment change (2)	1,121	-940	173	146	971	2.1	-1.6	0.3	0.2	1.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,502	4,528	3,922	3,880	4,359	3.3	4.4	3.8	3.6	4.0
At expanding establishments	2,865	3,943	3,229	3,309	3,455	2.7	3.8	3.1	3.1	3.2
At opening establishments	637	585	693	571	904	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.8
Gross job losses	3,289	3,777	3,268	3,472	3,531	3.2	3.6	3.1	3.2	3.3
At contracting establishments	2,586	3,134	2,848	2,804	2,985	2.5	3.0	2.7	2.6	2.8
At closing establishments	703	643	420	668	546	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	213	751	654	408	828	0.1	0.8	0.7	0.4	0.7
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	10,352	9,120	12,103	11,023	10,728	7.6	6.7	8.8	8.0	7.8
At expanding establishments	8,193	7,360	9,945	7,883	8,428	6.0	5.4	7.2	5.7	6.1
At opening establishments	2,159	1,760	2,158	3,140	2,300	1.6	1.3	1.6	2.3	1.7
Gross job losses	10,914	10,115	10,003	11,021	12,701	8.0	7.4	7.3	7.9	9.2
At contracting establishments	9,134	8,467	8,377	8,943	9,481	6.7	6.2	6.1	6.4	6.9
At closing establishments	1,780	1,648	1,626	2,078	3,220	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.5	2.3
Net employment change (2)	-562	-995	2,100	2	-1,973	-0.4	-0.7	1.5	0.1	-1.4
Education and health services
Gross job gains	8,987	9,019	9,694	9,576	9,643	4.2	4.3	4.6	4.5	4.5
At expanding establishments	7,436	7,618	8,064	8,683	8,079	3.5	3.6	3.8	4.1	3.8
At opening establishments	1,551	1,401	1,630	893	1,564	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.4	0.7
Gross job losses	8,338	8,257	8,845	8,557	9,020	4.0	3.9	4.2	4.0	4.2
At contracting establishments	7,132	7,029	8,021	7,451	7,585	3.4	3.3	3.8	3.5	3.5
At closing establishments	1,206	1,228	824	1,106	1,435	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.7
Net employment change (2)	649	762	849	1,019	623	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	14,066	13,498	12,956	12,370	13,451	10.2	9.7	9.2	8.9	9.6
At expanding establishments	10,885	10,431	10,238	9,203	10,765	7.9	7.5	7.3	6.6	7.7
At opening establishments	3,181	3,067	2,718	3,167	2,686	2.3	2.2	1.9	2.3	1.9
Gross job losses	13,198	11,208	12,548	13,956	12,514	9.6	8.1	9.0	10.0	8.9
At contracting establishments	10,738	9,108	10,439	11,081	10,505	7.8	6.6	7.5	7.9	7.5
At closing establishments	2,460	2,100	2,109	2,875	2,009	1.8	1.5	1.5	2.1	1.4
Net employment change (2)	868	2,290	408	-1,586	937	0.6	1.6	0.2	-1.1	0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,771	3,147	3,057	3,246	3,140	6.9	7.9	7.6	8.0	7.6
At expanding establishments	2,289	2,318	2,589	2,482	2,637	5.7	5.8	6.4	6.1	6.4
At opening establishments	482	829	468	764	503	1.2	2.1	1.2	1.9	1.2
Gross job losses	3,035	2,769	2,591	2,791	2,644	7.5	6.9	6.4	6.9	6.4
At contracting establishments	2,372	2,296	2,159	2,271	2,200	5.9	5.7	5.3	5.6	5.3
At closing establishments	663	473	432	520	444	1.6	1.2	1.1	1.3	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-264	378	466	455	496	-0.6	1.0	1.2	1.1	1.2
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.