From December 2014 to March 2015 gross job gains in Minnesota totaled 132,507, while gross job losses numbered 124,085, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 8,422. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 7,988.

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.)

The 132,507 gross job gains in March 2015 was below the 136,923 gross job gains in the three-month period ended December 2014. During the past 5 years, gross job gains in Minnesota peaked at 152,221 in June 2014 and reached a low of 122,490 in March 2014. (See chart 1.) Minnesota’s 124,085 gross job losses in March 2015 was less than the 128,935 gross job losses recorded in December 2014. Over the past 5 years, gross job losses reached a high of 134,267 in September 2014 and a low of 112,245 in June 2010. (See chart 1.) The gross job losses in June 2010 were a series low for the state. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private sector employment in Minnesota in the quarter ended March 2015, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Since December 2007, the rate of gross job gains in Minnesota has been equal to or below the U.S. rate. Minnesota’s rate of gross job losses represented 5.2 percent of private sector employment in March 2015, compared to the U.S. rate of 5.7 percent. Since March 2012, Minnesota’s rate of gross job losses has been below the national rate.

During the first quarter of 2015, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in seven industry sectors in Minnesota. For example, within leisure and hospitality, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 4,541. While more than 20,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, more than 25,000 jobs were created by opening and expanding establishments in the 3 months ended in March 2015. In the construction industry, more than 15,000 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and more than 12,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. This resulted in a net employment gain of 3,128 jobs in the construction industry. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in four industry sectors. Within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 2,367. In the three other sectors— transportation and warehousing, information services, and wholesale trade—gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by less than 1,000 jobs in each, respectively.

Minnesota was among the seven states in the West North Central Census division. Five states in the division (Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota) had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Three states (Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri) had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 5.9-percent national rate. Three states (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) had a rate of gross job gains that was higher than the national rate and one state (Iowa) had a rate of gross job gains that was equal to the national rate. Four states (Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska) had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.7-percent national rate. Two states (Kansas and North Dakota) had rates of gross job losses that were higher than the national rate and one state (South Dakota) had a rate of gross job losses that was equal to 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, March 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	6,947,000	5.9	6,721,000	5.7	226,000	0.2
West North Central (1)	496,970	—	478,998	—	17,972	—
Iowa	75,990	5.9	68,787	5.4	7,203	0.5
Kansas	63,109	5.7	65,217	5.8	-2,108	-0.1
Minnesota	132,507	5.6	124,085	5.2	8,422	0.4
Missouri	127,642	5.6	122,952	5.4	4,690	0.2
Nebraska	48,584	6.1	45,229	5.6	3,355	0.5
North Dakota	27,400	7.1	33,253	8.7	-5,853	-1.6
South Dakota	21,738	6.3	19,475	5.7	2,263	0.6
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 second quarter 2015 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 27, 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, Minnesota, 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. 2014	June 2014	Sept. 2014	Dec. 2014	Mar. 2015	Mar. 2014	June 2014	Sept. 2014	Dec. 2014	Mar. 2015
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	122,490	152,221	131,482	136,923	132,507	5.2	6.5	5.6	5.8	5.6
At expanding establishments	105,867	119,036	108,740	115,568	112,130	4.5	5.1	4.6	4.9	4.7
At opening establishments	16,623	33,185	22,742	21,355	20,377	0.7	1.4	1.0	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	129,346	118,383	134,267	128,935	124,085	5.6	5.1	5.7	5.4	5.2
At contracting establishments	106,352	97,940	112,855	105,239	102,992	4.6	4.2	4.8	4.4	4.3
At closing establishments	22,994	20,443	21,412	23,696	21,093	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-6,856	33,838	-2,785	7,988	8,422	-0.4	1.4	-0.1	0.4	0.4
Construction
Gross job gains	14,203	16,049	13,468	14,749	15,595	13.6	14.9	12.4	13.5	13.8
At expanding establishments	12,334	12,164	11,103	11,914	12,658	11.8	11.3	10.2	10.9	11.2
At opening establishments	1,869	3,885	2,365	2,835	2,937	1.8	3.6	2.2	2.6	2.6
Gross job losses	12,565	12,425	13,787	14,392	12,467	12.0	11.6	12.7	13.1	11.1
At contracting establishments	10,153	10,256	11,449	10,978	10,045	9.7	9.6	10.5	10.0	8.9
At closing establishments	2,412	2,169	2,338	3,414	2,422	2.3	2.0	2.2	3.1	2.2
Net employment change (2)	1,638	3,624	-319	357	3,128	1.6	3.3	-0.3	0.4	2.7
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	8,816	12,013	10,330	11,279	9,214	2.9	3.8	3.3	3.6	2.9
At expanding establishments	8,320	10,980	9,727	10,374	8,716	2.7	3.5	3.1	3.3	2.7
At opening establishments	496	1,033	603	905	498	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	9,188	8,682	9,524	8,759	8,723	3.0	2.8	3.1	2.8	2.7
At contracting establishments	8,333	7,972	8,741	8,146	7,661	2.7	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.4
At closing establishments	855	710	783	613	1,062	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3
Net employment change (2)	-372	3,331	806	2,520	491	-0.1	1.0	0.2	0.8	0.2
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,318	6,321	5,287	5,687	4,848	4.1	4.8	4.0	4.2	3.6
At expanding establishments	4,688	5,219	4,448	4,827	4,294	3.6	4.0	3.4	3.6	3.2
At opening establishments	630	1,102	839	860	554	0.5	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.4
Gross job losses	5,089	4,664	5,747	4,725	4,908	3.9	3.5	4.3	3.6	3.7
At contracting establishments	4,023	3,869	4,647	3,990	3,974	3.1	2.9	3.5	3.0	3.0
At closing establishments	1,066	795	1,100	735	934	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	229	1,657	-460	962	-60	0.2	1.3	-0.3	0.6	-0.1
Retail trade
Gross job gains	15,979	20,293	17,687	17,312	16,956	5.5	7.0	6.1	6.0	5.9
At expanding establishments	13,250	17,189	14,724	15,154	14,968	4.6	5.9	5.1	5.3	5.2
At opening establishments	2,729	3,104	2,963	2,158	1,988	0.9	1.1	1.0	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	17,418	15,958	20,039	17,330	16,016	6.0	5.5	6.9	6.0	5.5
At contracting establishments	15,641	13,602	18,179	14,761	14,207	5.4	4.7	6.3	5.1	4.9
At closing establishments	1,777	2,356	1,860	2,569	1,809	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-1,439	4,335	-2,352	-18	940	-0.5	1.5	-0.8	0.0	0.4
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,690	5,007	4,327	5,792	4,164	4.8	6.4	5.5	7.3	5.2
At expanding establishments	3,392	4,140	3,727	5,212	3,620	4.4	5.3	4.7	6.6	4.5
At opening establishments	298	867	600	580	544	0.4	1.1	0.8	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	4,776	3,861	4,185	3,753	5,152	6.1	4.9	5.3	4.7	6.5
At contracting establishments	3,991	3,295	3,535	3,239	4,463	5.1	4.2	4.5	4.1	5.6
At closing establishments	785	566	650	514	689	1.0	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-1,086	1,146	142	2,039	-988	-1.3	1.5	0.2	2.6	-1.3
Information
Gross job gains	1,479	2,293	1,911	2,180	1,851	2.9	4.4	3.6	4.2	3.6
At expanding establishments	1,292	1,771	1,537	1,838	1,479	2.5	3.4	2.9	3.5	2.9
At opening establishments	187	522	374	342	372	0.4	1.0	0.7	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	1,945	1,900	2,110	2,058	2,697	3.7	3.6	4.0	3.9	5.2
At contracting establishments	1,652	1,558	1,625	1,745	2,051	3.1	3.0	3.1	3.3	4.0
At closing establishments	293	342	485	313	646	0.6	0.6	0.9	0.6	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-466	393	-199	122	-846	-0.8	0.8	-0.4	0.3	-1.6
Financial activities
Gross job gains	5,492	7,123	6,281	6,972	7,327	3.1	4.1	3.5	3.9	4.2
At expanding establishments	4,576	5,521	5,144	5,332	6,175	2.6	3.2	2.9	3.0	3.5
At opening establishments	916	1,602	1,137	1,640	1,152	0.5	0.9	0.6	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	6,683	5,473	6,616	7,128	7,111	3.8	3.2	3.8	4.0	4.1
At contracting establishments	5,144	4,316	5,400	5,489	5,199	2.9	2.5	3.1	3.1	3.0
At closing establishments	1,539	1,157	1,216	1,639	1,912	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-1,191	1,650	-335	-156	216	-0.7	0.9	-0.3	-0.1	0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	19,516	24,563	21,148	22,941	19,801	5.5	7.0	6.0	6.4	5.4
At expanding establishments	16,961	18,910	18,091	18,932	16,791	4.8	5.4	5.1	5.3	4.6
At opening establishments	2,555	5,653	3,057	4,009	3,010	0.7	1.6	0.9	1.1	0.8
Gross job losses	22,702	19,912	20,404	21,233	22,168	6.5	5.6	5.8	6.0	6.0
At contracting establishments	19,101	16,287	16,691	16,417	18,118	5.5	4.6	4.7	4.6	4.9
At closing establishments	3,601	3,625	3,713	4,816	4,050	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-3,186	4,651	744	1,708	-2,367	-1.0	1.4	0.2	0.4	-0.6
Education and health services
Gross job gains	16,291	18,299	17,945	17,668	17,119	3.5	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.6
At expanding establishments	14,954	15,090	15,102	15,641	15,598	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3
At opening establishments	1,337	3,209	2,843	2,027	1,521	0.3	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.3
Gross job losses	14,965	15,154	15,765	14,921	14,409	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.1	3.1
At contracting establishments	12,255	12,244	13,970	13,208	12,646	2.6	2.6	2.9	2.7	2.7
At closing establishments	2,710	2,910	1,795	1,713	1,763	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	1,326	3,145	2,180	2,747	2,710	0.3	0.7	0.5	0.6	0.5
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	23,241	29,116	23,210	22,455	25,225	9.2	11.4	9.1	8.8	9.8
At expanding establishments	18,851	19,592	16,857	18,035	19,595	7.5	7.7	6.6	7.1	7.6
At opening establishments	4,390	9,524	6,353	4,420	5,630	1.7	3.7	2.5	1.7	2.2
Gross job losses	24,272	22,321	26,804	24,629	20,684	9.7	8.7	10.4	9.6	8.0
At contracting establishments	18,049	17,893	21,111	18,912	16,538	7.2	7.0	8.2	7.4	6.4
At closing establishments	6,223	4,428	5,693	5,717	4,146	2.5	1.7	2.2	2.2	1.6
Net employment change (2)	-1,031	6,795	-3,594	-2,174	4,541	-0.5	2.7	-1.3	-0.8	1.8
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	5,703	7,583	6,162	5,746	6,336	6.9	9.1	7.3	6.8	7.6
At expanding establishments	4,935	5,552	5,051	4,749	4,999	6.0	6.7	6.0	5.6	6.0
At opening establishments	768	2,031	1,111	997	1,337	0.9	2.4	1.3	1.2	1.6
Gross job losses	5,581	5,032	6,398	6,473	5,538	6.8	6.0	7.6	7.7	6.7
At contracting establishments	4,412	4,073	5,235	5,260	4,405	5.4	4.9	6.2	6.3	5.3
At closing establishments	1,169	959	1,163	1,213	1,133	1.4	1.1	1.4	1.4	1.4
Net employment change (2)	122	2,551	-236	-727	798	0.1	3.1	-0.3	-0.9	0.9
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.