From December 2015 to March 2016 gross job gains in Wisconsin totaled 136,563, while gross job losses numbered 126,353, 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 10,210. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 19,138.

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 136,563 gross job gains in March 2016 followed the 145,150 gross job gains in the three-month period ended December 2015. During the past 5 years, gross job gains in Wisconsin peaked at 145,150 in December 2015 and were at a low of 124,826 in March 2014. (See chart 1.) Wisconsin’s 126,353 gross job losses in March 2016 followed the 126,012 gross job losses recorded in December 2015. Over the past 5 years, gross job losses reached a high of 134,844 in September 2015 and a low of 118,984 in March 2012. (See chart 1.) The gross job losses in March 2012 were a series low for the state.  

Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private sector employment in Wisconsin in the quarter ended March 2016, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 5.8 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Since the series inception in 1992, the rate of gross job gains in Wisconsin has been below the U.S. rate each quarter. Wisconsin’s gross job losses represented 5.2 percent of private sector employment in March 2016, compared to the U.S. rate of 5.7 percent. With only one exception, Wisconsin’s rate of gross job losses has been below the national rate since the series began.

During the first quarter of 2016, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in five industry sectors in Wisconsin. For example, within retail trade, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 5,678. While nearly 15,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, more than 20,000 jobs were created by opening and expanding establishments in the three-months ended in March 2016. In the construction industry, approximately 12,000 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and nearly 10,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. This resulted in a net employment gain of 2,204 jobs in the construction industry. (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in five industry sectors in the first quarter of 2016. Within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,885. In each of the four other sectors— manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and other services—gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by less than 1,000.

Wisconsin was among the five states in the East North Central Census division. Four states in the division (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) All five states had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 5.8-percent national rate. All five states had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.7-percent national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East North Central Division, and East North Central states, March 2016, 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	6,977,000	5.8	6,783,000	5.7	194,000	0.1
East North Central (1)	996,692	—	950,665	—	46,027	—
Illinois	271,116	5.3	274,351	5.4	-3,235	-0.1
Indiana	141,057	5.5	136,213	5.3	4,844	0.2
Michigan	196,117	5.4	179,106	4.9	17,011	0.5
Ohio	251,839	5.4	234,642	5.1	17,197	0.3
Wisconsin	136,563	5.6	126,353	5.2	10,210	0.4
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for states located in the East 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 2016 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 25, 2017.

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, Wisconsin, 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. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016	Mar. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	132,058	137,249	133,980	145,150	136,563	5.5	5.7	5.6	6.0	5.6
At expanding establishments	111,747	115,868	112,148	117,349	116,826	4.7	4.8	4.7	4.9	4.8
At opening establishments	20,311	21,381	21,832	27,801	19,737	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.8
Gross job losses	123,100	126,130	134,844	126,012	126,353	5.2	5.2	5.6	5.2	5.2
At contracting establishments	106,838	109,009	116,202	105,510	109,675	4.5	4.5	4.8	4.4	4.5
At closing establishments	16,262	17,121	18,642	20,502	16,678	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	8,958	11,119	-864	19,138	10,210	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.8	0.4
Construction
Gross job gains	10,471	12,081	10,821	11,031	11,906	9.8	11.0	10.0	10.1	10.6
At expanding establishments	8,860	9,748	9,091	9,320	10,148	8.3	8.9	8.4	8.5	9.0
At opening establishments	1,611	2,333	1,730	1,711	1,758	1.5	2.1	1.6	1.6	1.6
Gross job losses	10,029	9,508	11,483	10,570	9,702	9.4	8.7	10.5	9.6	8.6
At contracting establishments	8,200	8,098	9,692	8,664	8,131	7.7	7.4	8.9	7.9	7.2
At closing establishments	1,829	1,410	1,791	1,906	1,571	1.7	1.3	1.6	1.7	1.4
Net employment change (2)	442	2,573	-662	461	2,204	0.4	2.3	-0.5	0.5	2.0
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	13,808	14,040	12,059	14,503	14,082	3.0	3.0	2.6	3.2	3.0
At expanding establishments	13,407	13,478	11,311	13,740	13,523	2.9	2.9	2.4	3.0	2.9
At opening establishments	401	562	748	763	559	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1
Gross job losses	12,242	13,559	13,935	12,982	14,414	2.6	2.9	3.0	2.8	3.1
At contracting establishments	11,310	12,918	13,268	12,249	13,429	2.4	2.8	2.9	2.6	2.9
At closing establishments	932	641	667	733	985	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	1,566	481	-1,876	1,521	-332	0.4	0.1	-0.4	0.4	-0.1
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,572	5,578	4,970	5,290	5,061	4.7	4.6	4.0	4.3	4.1
At expanding establishments	4,784	4,844	4,299	4,660	4,348	4.0	4.0	3.5	3.8	3.5
At opening establishments	788	734	671	630	713	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	4,434	4,772	5,352	4,617	4,578	3.7	3.9	4.4	3.8	3.7
At contracting establishments	3,646	3,859	4,416	3,547	3,739	3.0	3.2	3.6	2.9	3.0
At closing establishments	788	913	936	1,070	839	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,138	806	-382	673	483	1.0	0.7	-0.4	0.5	0.4
Retail trade
Gross job gains	17,109	18,671	17,715	15,479	20,379	5.7	6.1	5.8	5.0	6.6
At expanding establishments	15,001	16,993	15,577	13,811	18,693	5.0	5.6	5.1	4.5	6.1
At opening establishments	2,108	1,678	2,138	1,668	1,686	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	16,135	16,121	17,272	17,354	14,701	5.4	5.3	5.7	5.7	4.8
At contracting establishments	14,672	14,569	16,124	15,824	13,283	4.9	4.8	5.3	5.2	4.3
At closing establishments	1,463	1,552	1,148	1,530	1,418	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5
Net employment change (2)	974	2,550	443	-1,875	5,678	0.3	0.8	0.1	-0.7	1.8
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,304	4,898	7,481	6,146	4,604	4.8	5.4	8.1	6.4	4.8
At expanding establishments	3,961	3,972	6,517	5,635	4,093	4.4	4.4	7.1	5.9	4.3
At opening establishments	343	926	964	511	511	0.4	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	5,187	4,343	4,769	4,195	5,596	5.7	4.8	5.2	4.4	5.8
At contracting establishments	4,708	3,861	3,968	3,591	5,004	5.2	4.3	4.3	3.8	5.2
At closing establishments	479	482	801	604	592	0.5	0.5	0.9	0.6	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-883	555	2,712	1,951	-992	-0.9	0.6	2.9	2.0	-1.0
Financial activities
Gross job gains	4,638	5,419	5,400	5,580	4,876	3.1	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.3
At expanding establishments	3,982	4,464	4,516	4,659	4,286	2.7	3.0	3.1	3.2	2.9
At opening establishments	656	955	884	921	590	0.4	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.4
Gross job losses	4,725	4,762	5,820	5,395	4,980	3.3	3.3	4.0	3.6	3.4
At contracting establishments	4,018	3,945	5,088	4,178	4,157	2.8	2.7	3.5	2.8	2.8
At closing establishments	707	817	732	1,217	823	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-87	657	-420	185	-104	-0.2	0.4	-0.3	0.2	-0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	19,467	21,004	21,285	27,314	20,043	6.3	6.8	6.8	8.7	6.3
At expanding establishments	16,745	17,938	17,405	18,122	17,104	5.4	5.8	5.6	5.8	5.4
At opening establishments	2,722	3,066	3,880	9,192	2,939	0.9	1.0	1.2	2.9	0.9
Gross job losses	21,624	19,482	20,900	20,585	21,928	7.0	6.3	6.7	6.5	6.8
At contracting establishments	18,859	16,317	17,400	17,073	18,592	6.1	5.3	5.6	5.4	5.8
At closing establishments	2,765	3,165	3,500	3,512	3,336	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-2,157	1,522	385	6,729	-1,885	-0.7	0.5	0.1	2.2	-0.5
Education and health services
Gross job gains	14,138	15,201	16,463	18,574	15,431	3.4	3.6	3.9	4.4	3.6
At expanding establishments	11,895	12,554	13,435	15,176	13,164	2.9	3.0	3.2	3.6	3.1
At opening establishments	2,243	2,647	3,028	3,398	2,267	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.5
Gross job losses	13,300	14,539	15,575	14,338	14,055	3.3	3.5	3.7	3.4	3.3
At contracting establishments	11,761	12,023	12,557	11,029	12,326	2.9	2.9	3.0	2.6	2.9
At closing establishments	1,539	2,516	3,018	3,309	1,729	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.4
Net employment change (2)	838	662	888	4,236	1,376	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.0	0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	26,714	27,942	25,529	29,096	27,721	10.0	10.3	9.4	10.7	10.1
At expanding establishments	22,110	22,161	20,353	23,090	22,565	8.3	8.2	7.5	8.5	8.2
At opening establishments	4,604	5,781	5,176	6,006	5,156	1.7	2.1	1.9	2.2	1.9
Gross job losses	23,329	26,681	27,806	25,602	25,744	8.7	9.9	10.3	9.5	9.4
At contracting establishments	20,295	23,281	23,875	20,828	21,989	7.6	8.6	8.8	7.7	8.0
At closing establishments	3,034	3,400	3,931	4,774	3,755	1.1	1.3	1.5	1.8	1.4
Net employment change (2)	3,385	1,261	-2,277	3,494	1,977	1.3	0.4	-0.9	1.2	0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	5,351	5,361	4,922	5,096	4,597	7.1	7.0	6.5	6.6	6.0
At expanding establishments	4,585	4,650	4,333	4,315	3,891	6.1	6.1	5.7	5.6	5.1
At opening establishments	766	711	589	781	706	1.0	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	4,788	4,867	5,250	4,889	4,849	6.3	6.3	6.9	6.3	6.3
At contracting establishments	3,926	4,235	4,493	4,088	4,148	5.2	5.5	5.9	5.3	5.4
At closing establishments	862	632	757	801	701	1.1	0.8	1.0	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	563	494	-328	207	-252	0.8	0.7	-0.4	0.3	-0.3
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.