From December 2016 to March 2017, gross job gains in North Dakota totaled 26,128, while gross job losses numbered 22,998, 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 3,130. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 3,514.

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 26,128 gross job gains in March 2017 followed the 23,021 gross job gains in December 2016. (See chart 1.) North Dakota’s gross job losses numbered 22,998 in March 2017, lower than the recent peak of 41,045 gross job losses in June 2015.

Gross job gains represented 7.6 percent of private sector employment in North Dakota in the quarter ended March 2017, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Since March 2007, the rate of gross job gains in North Dakota has been above the U.S. rate each quarter. Gross job losses represented 6.7 percent of private sector employment in North Dakota in the quarter ended March 2017, while the U.S. rate of gross job losses was 5.4 percent of private sector employment. The rate of gross job losses in North Dakota has been above the national rate since the fourth quarter of 2011.

During the first quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 548 in North Dakota’s leisure and hospitality industry sector. While almost 4,000 jobs were gained in opening and expanding establishments, more than 3,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the three-months ended in March 2017. In each of the four other published sectors for the state, the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses was less than 250. (See table 1.)

North Dakota 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.)  Three states (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa) had rates of gross job gains that were higher than the 6.0-percent national rate. Three states (Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska) had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.4-percent 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, North Dakota, 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	23,641	23,256	27,990	23,021	26,128	6.7	6.8	8.2	6.7	7.6
At expanding establishments	18,845	18,893	22,938	17,667	21,071	5.3	5.5	6.7	5.1	6.1
At opening establishments	4,796	4,363	5,052	5,354	5,057	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.6	1.5
Gross job losses	31,323	30,933	24,632	26,535	22,998	8.9	8.9	7.1	7.7	6.7
At contracting establishments	26,319	26,026	20,063	22,249	19,036	7.5	7.5	5.8	6.5	5.5
At closing establishments	5,004	4,907	4,569	4,286	3,962	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-7,682	-7,677	3,358	-3,514	3,130	-2.2	-2.1	1.1	-1.0	0.9
Construction
Gross job gains	5,387	5,580	6,496	4,174	5,857	16.8	18.0	20.9	13.8	20.3
At expanding establishments	3,720	4,344	5,293	2,997	4,185	11.6	14.0	17.0	9.9	14.5
At opening establishments	1,667	1,236	1,203	1,177	1,672	5.2	4.0	3.9	3.9	5.8
Gross job losses	6,987	6,904	5,856	6,517	5,637	21.7	22.2	18.8	21.6	19.6
At contracting establishments	5,764	5,446	4,547	5,351	4,598	17.9	17.5	14.6	17.7	16.0
At closing establishments	1,223	1,458	1,309	1,166	1,039	3.8	4.7	4.2	3.9	3.6
Net employment change (2)	-1,600	-1,324	640	-2,343	220	-4.9	-4.2	2.1	-7.8	0.7
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	1,232	937	1,308	1,097	1,179	4.8	3.9	5.5	4.6	4.9
At expanding establishments	1,049	822	1,195	888	1,073	4.1	3.4	5.0	3.7	4.5
At opening establishments	183	115	113	209	106	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.9	0.4
Gross job losses	1,896	1,796	1,183	1,426	1,009	7.5	7.3	4.9	6.0	4.3
At contracting establishments	1,703	1,598	1,038	1,215	876	6.7	6.5	4.3	5.1	3.7
At closing establishments	193	198	145	211	133	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-664	-859	125	-329	170	-2.7	-3.4	0.6	-1.4	0.6
Retail trade
Gross job gains	2,737	2,538	2,904	2,282	2,668	5.5	5.2	6.0	4.7	5.5
At expanding establishments	2,490	2,265	2,432	1,982	2,218	5.0	4.6	5.0	4.1	4.6
At opening establishments	247	273	472	300	450	0.5	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.9
Gross job losses	2,940	3,445	2,770	3,031	2,634	5.9	6.9	5.6	6.2	5.5
At contracting establishments	2,727	3,229	2,458	2,776	2,317	5.5	6.5	5.0	5.7	4.8
At closing establishments	213	216	312	255	317	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-203	-907	134	-749	34	-0.4	-1.7	0.4	-1.5	0.0
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	2,171	3,116	2,892	3,087	2,919	6.3	9.1	8.4	9.0	8.6
At expanding establishments	1,648	2,574	2,055	2,038	2,184	4.8	7.5	6.0	5.9	6.4
At opening establishments	523	542	837	1,049	735	1.5	1.6	2.4	3.1	2.2
Gross job losses	3,957	2,707	2,786	3,484	2,932	11.5	7.9	8.1	10.1	8.6
At contracting establishments	3,136	2,011	2,213	2,689	2,280	9.1	5.9	6.4	7.8	6.7
At closing establishments	821	696	573	795	652	2.4	2.0	1.7	2.3	1.9
Net employment change (2)	-1,786	409	106	-397	-13	-5.2	1.2	0.3	-1.1	0.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	3,432	3,582	4,226	3,263	3,722	8.6	9.0	10.7	8.2	9.4
At expanding establishments	2,797	2,780	3,347	2,262	2,888	7.0	7.0	8.5	5.7	7.3
At opening establishments	635	802	879	1,001	834	1.6	2.0	2.2	2.5	2.1
Gross job losses	3,952	4,555	3,581	3,718	3,174	9.8	11.6	9.1	9.4	8.0
At contracting establishments	3,065	3,661	2,863	3,268	2,698	7.6	9.3	7.3	8.3	6.8
At closing establishments	887	894	718	450	476	2.2	2.3	1.8	1.1	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-520	-973	645	-455	548	-1.2	-2.6	1.6	-1.2	1.4
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.