From March 2017 to June 2017, gross job losses in private sector establishments in Nebraska totaled 48,966, while gross job gains numbered 45,258, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 3,708. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,314.

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 48,966 gross job losses in June 2017, although higher than the 42,036 job losses seen in the previous quarter, remained below the 5-year peak of 49,989 in December 2016. Gross job gains in June 2017 totaled 45,258 in the state, a decrease from 48,350 in the previous quarter. Nebraska’s gross job gains were at a 5-year high of 51,489 in September 2016 and a low of 42,252 in March 2013. (See chart 1.)

Nebraska’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 6.1 percent in June 2017, above the national rate of 5.8 percent. Nebraska’s rate of gross job losses has been below the U.S. rate each quarter over the past five years, with four exceptions. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private sector employment in Nebraska in the quarter ended June 2017, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.2 percent of private sector employment. Since June 2012, the rate of gross job gains in Nebraska has been below the U.S. rate each quarter with two exceptions.

During the second quarter of 2017, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in five industry sectors in Nebraska. For example, within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,115. While nearly 8,000 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments in the industry, more than 9,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the 3-months ended in June 2017. In retail trade, nearly 7,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, but almost 6,000 were created in opening and expanding establishments. Three sectors had net job losses of less than 1,000 during the quarter: construction, education and health services, and leisure and hospitality. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in five industry sectors. Within financial activities, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 423. Net employment gains were less than 175 in each of the four remaining sectors.

Nebraska was among the seven states in the West North Central Census division. Four states in the division, including Nebraska, had rates of gross job losses that were higher than the national rate of 5.8 percent. (See table A.) Nebraska was among the five states where the rates of gross job gains were lower than the 6.2-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, June 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	7,604,000	6.2	7,128,000	5.8	476,000	0.4
West North Central (1)	500,401	—	504,816	—	-4,415	—
Iowa	73,448	5.6	73,959	5.7	-511	-0.1
Kansas	61,932	5.5	74,435	6.6	-12,503	-1.1
Minnesota	140,705	5.7	129,066	5.3	11,639	0.4
Missouri	133,946	5.6	132,611	5.6	1,335	0.0
Nebraska	45,258	5.6	48,966	6.1	-3,708	-0.5
North Dakota	23,242	6.8	23,826	6.9	-584	-0.1
South Dakota	21,870	6.3	21,953	6.3	-83	0.0
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 for third quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 25, 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), 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 second 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, Nebraska, 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)
	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	45,783	51,489	46,158	48,350	45,258	5.7	6.4	5.7	5.9	5.6
At expanding establishments	37,189	42,213	37,412	39,244	37,380	4.6	5.2	4.6	4.8	4.6
At opening establishments	8,594	9,276	8,746	9,106	7,878	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	47,712	47,315	49,989	42,036	48,966	5.9	5.9	6.2	5.2	6.1
At contracting establishments	38,499	38,692	39,745	34,899	40,203	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.3	5.0
At closing establishments	9,213	8,623	10,244	7,137	8,763	1.1	1.1	1.3	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-1,929	4,174	-3,831	6,314	-3,708	-0.2	0.5	-0.5	0.7	-0.5
Construction
Gross job gains	4,691	5,049	4,545	5,812	4,453	9.1	10.0	9.0	11.2	8.6
At expanding establishments	3,750	3,944	3,488	4,780	3,484	7.3	7.8	6.9	9.2	6.7
At opening establishments	941	1,105	1,057	1,032	969	1.8	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.9
Gross job losses	4,951	5,029	5,180	3,822	5,254	9.7	10.0	10.3	7.4	10.2
At contracting establishments	3,775	4,118	4,216	2,908	4,242	7.4	8.2	8.4	5.6	8.2
At closing establishments	1,176	911	964	914	1,012	2.3	1.8	1.9	1.8	2.0
Net employment change (2)	-260	20	-635	1,990	-801	-0.6	0.0	-1.3	3.8	-1.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	2,372	2,795	2,555	2,245	2,336	2.5	2.9	2.6	2.3	2.4
At expanding establishments	2,220	2,546	2,373	2,110	2,224	2.3	2.6	2.4	2.2	2.3
At opening establishments	152	249	182	135	112	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1
Gross job losses	3,576	2,575	2,209	2,101	2,175	3.7	2.7	2.2	2.2	2.2
At contracting establishments	3,263	2,212	2,078	2,010	2,005	3.4	2.3	2.1	2.1	2.0
At closing establishments	313	363	131	91	170	0.3	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-1,204	220	346	144	161	-1.2	0.2	0.4	0.1	0.2
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	2,144	2,162	1,912	1,975	1,997	5.1	5.2	4.6	4.8	4.8
At expanding establishments	1,731	1,739	1,602	1,608	1,737	4.1	4.2	3.9	3.9	4.2
At opening establishments	413	423	310	367	260	1.0	1.0	0.7	0.9	0.6
Gross job losses	2,194	2,357	2,282	2,074	1,908	5.2	5.6	5.5	5.0	4.6
At contracting establishments	1,845	1,845	1,859	1,730	1,526	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.2	3.7
At closing establishments	349	512	423	344	382	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-50	-195	-370	-99	89	-0.1	-0.4	-0.9	-0.2	0.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	6,653	6,401	5,743	6,421	5,769	5.9	5.8	5.2	5.9	5.2
At expanding establishments	5,954	5,778	5,207	5,468	5,097	5.3	5.2	4.7	5.0	4.6
At opening establishments	699	623	536	953	672	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.9	0.6
Gross job losses	6,353	6,751	6,737	5,493	6,812	5.7	6.1	6.1	5.0	6.2
At contracting establishments	5,618	6,016	5,962	4,968	5,834	5.0	5.4	5.4	4.5	5.3
At closing establishments	735	735	775	525	978	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.9
Net employment change (2)	300	-350	-994	928	-1,043	0.2	-0.3	-0.9	0.9	-1.0
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	1,408	1,975	2,231	1,781	1,862	3.5	5.0	5.6	4.5	4.7
At expanding establishments	1,118	1,655	2,002	1,380	1,655	2.8	4.2	5.0	3.5	4.2
At opening establishments	290	320	229	401	207	0.7	0.8	0.6	1.0	0.5
Gross job losses	1,961	2,034	1,891	2,134	1,780	4.9	5.2	4.8	5.4	4.5
At contracting establishments	1,685	1,529	1,494	1,869	1,581	4.2	3.9	3.8	4.7	4.0
At closing establishments	276	505	397	265	199	0.7	1.3	1.0	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-553	-59	340	-353	82	-1.4	-0.2	0.8	-0.9	0.2
Financial activities
Gross job gains	2,367	2,711	2,539	2,256	2,798	3.6	4.2	3.9	3.4	4.2
At expanding establishments	2,054	2,213	2,027	1,912	2,139	3.1	3.4	3.1	2.9	3.2
At opening establishments	313	498	512	344	659	0.5	0.8	0.8	0.5	1.0
Gross job losses	2,359	2,233	2,410	2,218	2,375	3.6	3.4	3.6	3.3	3.6
At contracting establishments	1,862	1,875	1,865	1,603	1,883	2.8	2.9	2.8	2.4	2.9
At closing establishments	497	358	545	615	492	0.8	0.5	0.8	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	8	478	129	38	423	0.0	0.8	0.3	0.1	0.6
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	8,043	8,933	7,482	8,222	7,983	6.8	7.6	6.4	7.0	6.8
At expanding establishments	6,752	7,362	6,013	6,704	6,485	5.7	6.3	5.1	5.7	5.5
At opening establishments	1,291	1,571	1,469	1,518	1,498	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.3
Gross job losses	7,523	8,575	9,112	7,468	9,098	6.4	7.2	7.8	6.4	7.8
At contracting establishments	6,074	7,224	6,764	6,093	7,393	5.2	6.1	5.8	5.2	6.3
At closing establishments	1,449	1,351	2,348	1,375	1,705	1.2	1.1	2.0	1.2	1.5
Net employment change (2)	520	358	-1,630	754	-1,115	0.4	0.4	-1.4	0.6	-1.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	6,327	7,916	7,541	6,391	6,314	4.7	5.9	5.5	4.7	4.6
At expanding establishments	4,468	6,341	5,171	4,874	4,922	3.3	4.7	3.8	3.6	3.6
At opening establishments	1,859	1,575	2,370	1,517	1,392	1.4	1.2	1.7	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	6,284	6,243	7,902	5,731	7,099	4.7	4.6	5.8	4.2	5.2
At contracting establishments	4,534	4,070	5,492	4,381	5,439	3.4	3.0	4.0	3.2	4.0
At closing establishments	1,750	2,173	2,410	1,350	1,660	1.3	1.6	1.8	1.0	1.2
Net employment change (2)	43	1,673	-361	660	-785	0.0	1.3	-0.3	0.5	-0.6
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	7,874	9,655	7,720	9,389	8,269	8.8	10.6	8.5	10.3	9.0
At expanding establishments	6,278	7,453	6,286	7,231	6,730	7.0	8.2	6.9	7.9	7.3
At opening establishments	1,596	2,202	1,434	2,158	1,539	1.8	2.4	1.6	2.4	1.7
Gross job losses	8,473	8,023	8,564	7,251	8,610	9.4	8.9	9.4	7.9	9.4
At contracting establishments	6,615	7,043	7,128	6,157	7,088	7.3	7.8	7.8	6.7	7.7
At closing establishments	1,858	980	1,436	1,094	1,522	2.1	1.1	1.6	1.2	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-599	1,632	-844	2,138	-341	-0.6	1.7	-0.9	2.4	-0.4
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	1,554	1,633	1,580	1,694	1,570	6.5	6.7	6.5	7.0	6.5
At expanding establishments	1,263	1,381	1,308	1,401	1,291	5.3	5.7	5.4	5.8	5.3
At opening establishments	291	252	272	293	279	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.2
Gross job losses	1,447	1,575	1,685	1,566	1,553	6.0	6.5	7.0	6.5	6.4
At contracting establishments	1,171	1,211	1,364	1,325	1,264	4.9	5.0	5.7	5.5	5.2
At closing establishments	276	364	321	241	289	1.1	1.5	1.3	1.0	1.2
Net employment change (2)	107	58	-105	128	17	0.5	0.2	-0.5	0.5	0.1
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.