From December 2016 to March 2017, gross job gains in Minnesota totaled 142,651, while gross job losses numbered 117,302, 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 25,349. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 1,557.

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 142,651 gross job gains in March 2017 were above the 140,520 gross job gains in the three-month period ended December 2016. During the past 5 years, gross job gains in Minnesota peaked at 152,006 in June 2014 after a low of 123,115 in March 2014. (See chart 1.) Since March 2012, gross job losses reached a low of 117,302 in March 2017 after reaching a high of 138,963 gross job losses in December 2016. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.8 percent of private sector employment in Minnesota in the quarter ended March 2017, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Minnesota’s rate of gross job losses represented 4.7 percent of private sector employment in March 2017 and was below the U.S. rate of 5.4 percent. The rate of gross job losses in Minnesota has been at or below the national rate with one exception since March 2012.  

During the first quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Minnesota. For example, leisure and hospitality created more than 30,000 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, but lost nearly 21,000 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 9,690 jobs was the largest of any sector in the first quarter of 2017. In the construction industry, approximately 20,000 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments, and almost 12,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 8,134 jobs. (See table 1.) Three industry sectors—education and health services, retail trade, and manufacturing—each had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 1,000. In contrast, the transportation and warehousing sector was the only industry with a net job loss of greater than 1,000. In each of the remaining five industry sectors, the difference between gross job gains and losses was less than 1,000, in the first quarter of 2017.

Minnesota was among the seven states in the West North Central Census division. All states in the division had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Three states (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa) had rates of gross job gains that were higher than the 6.0-percent national rate. Four states (Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Minnesota) had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the national rate. Three states (Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska) had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.4-percent national rate. The four remaining states 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, March 2017, 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	7,328,000	6.0	6,674,000	5.4	654,000	0.6
West North Central (1)	522,571	—	453,681	—	68,890	—
Iowa	78,764	6.1	71,324	5.5	7,440	0.6
Kansas	66,295	5.8	63,041	5.6	3,254	0.2
Minnesota	142,651	5.8	117,302	4.7	25,349	1.1
Missouri	138,174	5.9	116,324	4.9	21,850	1.0
Nebraska	48,350	5.9	42,036	5.2	6,314	0.7
North Dakota	26,128	7.6	22,998	6.7	3,130	0.9
South Dakota	22,209	6.4	20,656	5.9	1,553	0.5
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 2017 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 24, 2018.

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 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. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	132,819	143,583	148,763	140,520	142,651	5.5	5.9	6.1	5.7	5.8
At expanding establishments	112,123	118,440	121,480	117,730	118,667	4.6	4.9	5.0	4.8	4.8
At opening establishments	20,696	25,143	27,283	22,790	23,984	0.9	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	127,554	133,901	133,973	138,963	117,302	5.2	5.5	5.5	5.7	4.7
At contracting establishments	104,771	111,460	113,839	114,054	103,972	4.3	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.2
At closing establishments	22,783	22,441	20,134	24,909	13,330	0.9	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.5
Net employment change (2)	5,265	9,682	14,790	1,557	25,349	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.0	1.1
Construction
Gross job gains	13,696	15,237	12,655	13,624	19,788	11.8	13.1	11.0	11.9	16.5
At expanding establishments	11,146	12,070	10,288	11,253	15,590	9.6	10.4	8.9	9.8	13.0
At opening establishments	2,550	3,167	2,367	2,371	4,198	2.2	2.7	2.1	2.1	3.5
Gross job losses	14,768	13,550	14,380	14,812	11,654	12.7	11.7	12.5	12.9	9.7
At contracting establishments	12,281	11,020	12,362	11,826	10,317	10.6	9.5	10.7	10.3	8.6
At closing establishments	2,487	2,530	2,018	2,986	1,337	2.1	2.2	1.8	2.6	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-1,072	1,687	-1,725	-1,188	8,134	-0.9	1.4	-1.5	-1.0	6.8
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	8,598	10,212	9,732	9,493	9,120	2.8	3.2	3.1	3.0	2.9
At expanding establishments	7,791	9,469	8,780	8,686	8,506	2.5	3.0	2.8	2.7	2.7
At opening establishments	807	743	952	807	614	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	9,153	10,541	10,271	10,227	7,848	2.9	3.3	3.3	3.2	2.5
At contracting establishments	8,306	9,289	9,392	9,291	7,238	2.6	2.9	3.0	2.9	2.3
At closing establishments	847	1,252	879	936	610	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-555	-329	-539	-734	1,272	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	-0.2	0.4
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,373	5,561	5,483	4,914	5,691	4.1	4.2	4.2	3.7	4.3
At expanding establishments	4,733	4,592	4,475	4,200	4,928	3.6	3.5	3.4	3.2	3.7
At opening establishments	640	969	1,008	714	763	0.5	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	5,054	5,942	5,331	5,103	4,975	3.8	4.5	4.1	3.9	3.8
At contracting establishments	3,928	4,767	4,411	4,089	4,114	3.0	3.6	3.4	3.1	3.1
At closing establishments	1,126	1,175	920	1,014	861	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	319	-381	152	-189	716	0.3	-0.3	0.1	-0.2	0.5
Retail trade
Gross job gains	17,134	19,392	19,508	15,753	16,936	5.8	6.4	6.5	5.3	5.7
At expanding establishments	15,172	16,272	16,699	13,629	14,586	5.1	5.4	5.6	4.6	4.9
At opening establishments	1,962	3,120	2,809	2,124	2,350	0.7	1.0	0.9	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	15,095	17,098	19,970	17,428	14,812	5.1	5.7	6.7	5.8	5.0
At contracting establishments	12,979	15,303	18,016	15,240	13,281	4.4	5.1	6.0	5.1	4.5
At closing establishments	2,116	1,795	1,954	2,188	1,531	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	2,039	2,294	-462	-1,675	2,124	0.7	0.7	-0.2	-0.5	0.7
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,072	5,185	6,289	7,296	4,292	4.9	6.3	7.5	8.3	4.8
At expanding establishments	3,569	4,678	5,477	6,751	3,838	4.3	5.7	6.5	7.7	4.3
At opening establishments	503	507	812	545	454	0.6	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.5
Gross job losses	4,929	4,320	4,085	4,870	5,435	6.0	5.2	4.8	5.6	6.2
At contracting establishments	4,198	3,720	3,464	4,085	5,104	5.1	4.5	4.1	4.7	5.8
At closing establishments	731	600	621	785	331	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.4
Net employment change (2)	-857	865	2,204	2,426	-1,143	-1.1	1.1	2.7	2.7	-1.4
Information
Gross job gains	2,363	1,794	2,578	1,782	1,751	4.6	3.6	5.1	3.6	3.4
At expanding establishments	1,987	1,399	2,152	1,296	1,433	3.9	2.8	4.3	2.6	2.8
At opening establishments	376	395	426	486	318	0.7	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.6
Gross job losses	2,206	2,287	1,868	2,638	2,030	4.4	4.5	3.7	5.3	4.0
At contracting establishments	1,807	1,612	1,224	2,055	1,674	3.6	3.2	2.4	4.1	3.3
At closing establishments	399	675	644	583	356	0.8	1.3	1.3	1.2	0.7
Net employment change (2)	157	-493	710	-856	-279	0.2	-0.9	1.4	-1.7	-0.6
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,558	8,001	7,122	6,668	6,329	3.7	4.7	4.1	3.8	3.7
At expanding establishments	5,481	6,660	5,738	5,372	5,361	3.1	3.9	3.3	3.1	3.1
At opening establishments	1,077	1,341	1,384	1,296	968	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.6
Gross job losses	5,293	6,753	5,843	5,871	5,421	2.9	4.0	3.4	3.4	3.1
At contracting establishments	4,142	5,282	4,692	4,566	4,631	2.3	3.1	2.7	2.6	2.6
At closing establishments	1,151	1,471	1,151	1,305	790	0.6	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,265	1,248	1,279	797	908	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.4	0.6
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	20,023	25,708	24,978	22,529	20,571	5.6	6.9	6.7	6.0	5.5
At expanding establishments	16,228	20,777	20,109	18,347	16,493	4.5	5.6	5.4	4.9	4.4
At opening establishments	3,795	4,931	4,869	4,182	4,078	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	23,477	22,236	19,953	22,422	20,491	6.5	6.1	5.3	6.0	5.5
At contracting establishments	18,680	18,359	16,489	17,513	17,868	5.2	5.0	4.4	4.7	4.8
At closing establishments	4,797	3,877	3,464	4,909	2,623	1.3	1.1	0.9	1.3	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-3,454	3,472	5,025	107	80	-0.9	0.8	1.4	0.0	0.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	18,328	16,845	23,291	22,485	17,299	3.7	3.4	4.6	4.5	3.4
At expanding establishments	16,858	14,914	19,155	19,985	15,635	3.4	3.0	3.8	4.0	3.1
At opening establishments	1,470	1,931	4,136	2,500	1,664	0.3	0.4	0.8	0.5	0.3
Gross job losses	14,702	16,069	17,930	18,563	14,410	2.9	3.2	3.6	3.7	2.9
At contracting establishments	12,089	13,441	15,584	15,945	13,068	2.4	2.7	3.1	3.2	2.6
At closing establishments	2,613	2,628	2,346	2,618	1,342	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.3
Net employment change (2)	3,626	776	5,361	3,922	2,889	0.8	0.2	1.0	0.8	0.5
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	26,420	25,739	26,208	25,539	30,352	10.0	9.7	9.8	9.7	11.3
At expanding establishments	20,581	19,747	19,988	19,555	23,470	7.8	7.4	7.5	7.4	8.7
At opening establishments	5,839	5,992	6,220	5,984	6,882	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.6
Gross job losses	22,494	24,397	25,902	26,480	20,662	8.5	9.2	9.8	10.0	7.6
At contracting establishments	17,913	19,976	21,192	20,694	18,179	6.8	7.5	8.0	7.8	6.7
At closing establishments	4,581	4,421	4,710	5,786	2,483	1.7	1.7	1.8	2.2	0.9
Net employment change (2)	3,926	1,342	306	-941	9,690	1.5	0.5	0.0	-0.3	3.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	6,218	6,709	6,902	6,029	6,475	7.3	7.8	8.1	7.0	7.6
At expanding establishments	5,080	5,221	5,141	4,975	5,385	6.0	6.1	6.0	5.8	6.3
At opening establishments	1,138	1,488	1,761	1,054	1,090	1.3	1.7	2.1	1.2	1.3
Gross job losses	5,987	6,313	5,666	7,128	5,804	7.0	7.4	6.7	8.3	6.8
At contracting establishments	4,692	4,833	4,593	5,790	5,000	5.5	5.7	5.4	6.7	5.9
At closing establishments	1,295	1,480	1,073	1,338	804	1.5	1.7	1.3	1.6	0.9
Net employment change (2)	231	396	1,236	-1,099	671	0.3	0.4	1.4	-1.3	0.8
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.