From March 2019 to June 2019, gross job gains in opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Illinois totaled 289,823, while gross job losses in closing and contracting private-sector establishments numbered 277,708, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 12,115. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 4,063. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

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. 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 289,823 gross job gains in the second quarter of 2019, although higher than the 273,000 gross job gains in the previous quarter, remained below the 5-year peak of 320,538 during the fourth quarter of 2015.  Gross job losses in the second quarter of 2019 totaled 277,708 in the state, an increase from 268,937 in the previous quarter.  Illinois’ gross job losses were at a 5-year high of 309,374 in the third quarter of 2017 and a low of 260,273 in the second quarter of 2015. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private-sector employment in Illinois in the second quarter of 2019, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) With one exception, Illinois’ rate of gross job gains has been below the national rate each quarter since the series began in 1992. The rate of gross job losses as a percent of private-sector employment in Illinois was 5.3 percent, below the national rate of 5.9 percent in the second quarter of 2019. Since the series inception, the rate of gross job losses in Illinois has been at or below the U.S. rate each quarter.

During the second quarter of 2019, gross job gains exceeded gross losses in eight industry sectors in Illinois. For example, within professional and business and services, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 5,298. While 59,966 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, opening and expanding establishments created 65,264 jobs. In financial activities, 16,607 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments, 13,405 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net employment gain of 3,202 jobs. In the six other sectors with net employment gains during the quarter, four industries had net job gains ranging between 1,000 and 2,600, and two industries had net job gains of less than 1,000. (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in three industry sectors in the second quarter of 2019. Within retail trade and manufacturing, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains and by 2,943 and 2,034, respectively. The information sector had a net loss of 799 jobs. 

Three of the five states in the East North Central Division, including Illinois, had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses in the second quarter of 2019. All states in the division had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 6.0-percent national rate. (See table A.) All five states in the division had rates of gross job losses that were lower than the 5.9-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, June 2019, 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	7,605,000	6.0	7,423,000	5.9	182,000	0.1
East North Central (1)	1,047,960	—	1,051,583	—	-3,623	—
Illinois	289,823	5.6	277,708	5.3	12,115	0.3
Indiana	140,418	5.2	155,955	5.8	-15,537	-0.6
Michigan	211,732	5.5	219,402	5.8	-7,670	-0.3
Ohio	266,633	5.6	265,147	5.7	1,486	-0.1
Wisconsin	139,354	5.5	133,371	5.3	5,983	0.2
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 for third quarter 2019 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as the 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 units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.

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 units 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 units 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 units with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions.  These are units 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, Illinois, 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 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	June 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	291,805	288,877	286,588	273,000	289,823	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.2	5.6
At expanding establishments	234,598	234,899	236,069	225,792	239,008	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.3	4.6
At opening establishments	57,207	53,978	50,519	47,208	50,815	1.1	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	289,244	297,620	288,063	268,937	277,708	5.6	5.8	5.6	5.1	5.3
At contracting establishments	238,378	247,954	221,398	219,922	228,885	4.6	4.8	4.3	4.2	4.4
At closing establishments	50,866	49,666	66,665	49,015	48,823	1.0	1.0	1.3	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,561	-8,743	-1,475	4,063	12,115	0.0	-0.3	-0.1	0.1	0.3
Construction
Gross job gains	25,718	23,255	23,510	26,920	25,717	11.2	10.3	10.4	11.7	11.2
At expanding establishments	20,481	18,772	18,552	21,794	20,485	8.9	8.3	8.2	9.5	8.9
At opening establishments	5,237	4,483	4,958	5,126	5,232	2.3	2.0	2.2	2.2	2.3
Gross job losses	24,527	26,595	26,581	22,863	24,718	10.6	11.7	11.8	10.0	10.7
At contracting establishments	20,649	22,334	20,505	18,123	20,113	8.9	9.8	9.1	7.9	8.7
At closing establishments	3,878	4,261	6,076	4,740	4,605	1.7	1.9	2.7	2.1	2.0
Net employment change (2)	1,191	-3,340	-3,071	4,057	999	0.6	-1.4	-1.4	1.7	0.5
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	19,571	18,294	19,293	16,742	16,954	3.4	3.1	3.3	2.9	2.9
At expanding establishments	17,471	15,874	17,428	15,207	14,679	3.0	2.7	3.0	2.6	2.5
At opening establishments	2,100	2,420	1,865	1,535	2,275	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4
Gross job losses	17,485	18,470	17,722	17,242	18,988	3.0	3.2	3.0	2.9	3.2
At contracting establishments	15,116	16,228	13,706	14,893	17,222	2.6	2.8	2.3	2.5	2.9
At closing establishments	2,369	2,242	4,016	2,349	1,766	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.4	0.3
Net employment change (2)	2,086	-176	1,571	-500	-2,034	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.0	-0.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	11,496	12,599	12,308	12,281	11,914	3.9	4.3	4.2	4.2	4.0
At expanding establishments	9,789	9,754	10,299	10,204	10,295	3.3	3.3	3.5	3.5	3.5
At opening establishments	1,707	2,845	2,009	2,077	1,619	0.6	1.0	0.7	0.7	0.5
Gross job losses	11,362	12,007	12,430	11,462	10,715	3.9	4.1	4.2	3.9	3.7
At contracting establishments	9,141	9,774	8,696	8,821	8,767	3.1	3.3	2.9	3.0	3.0
At closing establishments	2,221	2,233	3,734	2,641	1,948	0.8	0.8	1.3	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	134	592	-122	819	1,199	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.3	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	32,413	31,381	28,590	33,010	32,719	5.4	5.2	4.8	5.6	5.5
At expanding establishments	27,195	27,981	25,211	29,149	28,895	4.5	4.6	4.2	4.9	4.9
At opening establishments	5,218	3,400	3,379	3,861	3,824	0.9	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.6
Gross job losses	34,209	40,852	35,138	32,170	35,662	5.6	6.8	5.9	5.4	6.0
At contracting establishments	29,908	33,056	29,969	27,407	29,751	4.9	5.5	5.0	4.6	5.0
At closing establishments	4,301	7,796	5,169	4,763	5,911	0.7	1.3	0.9	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-1,796	-9,471	-6,548	840	-2,943	-0.2	-1.6	-1.1	0.2	-0.5
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	13,825	13,906	18,948	12,392	13,665	5.0	5.1	6.8	4.4	4.9
At expanding establishments	11,244	11,522	16,664	10,100	11,160	4.1	4.2	6.0	3.6	4.0
At opening establishments	2,581	2,384	2,284	2,292	2,505	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.9
Gross job losses	11,372	12,173	10,405	15,292	11,430	4.2	4.4	3.8	5.4	4.1
At contracting establishments	9,658	10,682	7,714	13,222	9,819	3.6	3.9	2.8	4.7	3.5
At closing establishments	1,714	1,491	2,691	2,070	1,611	0.6	0.5	1.0	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	2,453	1,733	8,543	-2,900	2,235	0.8	0.7	3.0	-1.0	0.8
Information
Gross job gains	4,663	7,152	4,244	4,598	4,812	5.0	7.5	4.4	4.8	5.0
At expanding establishments	3,733	6,065	3,252	3,724	3,924	4.0	6.4	3.4	3.9	4.1
At opening establishments	930	1,087	992	874	888	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	6,165	4,374	6,411	4,424	5,611	6.5	4.6	6.8	4.6	5.9
At contracting establishments	5,281	3,508	4,818	3,621	4,643	5.6	3.7	5.1	3.8	4.9
At closing establishments	884	866	1,593	803	968	0.9	0.9	1.7	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-1,502	2,778	-2,167	174	-799	-1.5	2.9	-2.4	0.2	-0.9
Financial activities
Gross job gains	15,462	15,686	15,120	15,708	16,607	4.2	4.2	4.0	4.2	4.4
At expanding establishments	12,188	12,305	11,265	12,804	13,311	3.3	3.3	3.0	3.4	3.5
At opening establishments	3,274	3,381	3,855	2,904	3,296	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.8	0.9
Gross job losses	14,199	15,182	16,690	14,289	13,405	3.8	4.1	4.4	3.8	3.5
At contracting establishments	11,078	11,955	11,282	10,492	10,385	3.0	3.2	3.0	2.8	2.7
At closing establishments	3,121	3,227	5,408	3,797	3,020	0.8	0.9	1.4	1.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	1,263	504	-1,570	1,419	3,202	0.4	0.1	-0.4	0.4	0.9
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	63,355	69,446	64,213	56,111	65,264	6.6	7.3	6.7	5.9	6.9
At expanding establishments	49,706	54,571	52,010	45,588	52,815	5.2	5.7	5.4	4.8	5.6
At opening establishments	13,649	14,875	12,203	10,523	12,449	1.4	1.6	1.3	1.1	1.3
Gross job losses	68,768	59,494	65,341	60,805	59,966	7.2	6.3	6.8	6.5	6.3
At contracting establishments	53,379	48,330	47,224	49,766	46,720	5.6	5.1	4.9	5.3	4.9
At closing establishments	15,389	11,164	18,117	11,039	13,246	1.6	1.2	1.9	1.2	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-5,413	9,952	-1,128	-4,694	5,298	-0.6	1.0	-0.1	-0.6	0.6
Education and health services
Gross job gains	36,786	34,627	33,441	30,510	35,070	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.3	3.8
At expanding establishments	29,494	29,904	28,350	25,663	30,585	3.2	3.2	3.1	2.8	3.3
At opening establishments	7,292	4,723	5,091	4,847	4,485	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	33,992	35,050	35,849	30,196	33,742	3.7	3.8	3.9	3.3	3.7
At contracting establishments	29,218	30,246	28,835	25,820	29,228	3.2	3.3	3.1	2.8	3.2
At closing establishments	4,774	4,804	7,014	4,376	4,514	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.5	0.5
Net employment change (2)	2,794	-423	-2,408	314	1,328	0.3	-0.1	-0.2	0.0	0.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	52,087	46,208	50,511	48,229	50,971	8.4	7.5	8.2	7.7	8.1
At expanding establishments	40,769	35,791	40,404	39,325	40,175	6.6	5.8	6.6	6.3	6.4
At opening establishments	11,318	10,417	10,107	8,904	10,796	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.4	1.7
Gross job losses	50,754	55,395	46,048	44,445	48,411	8.2	9.0	7.5	7.2	7.8
At contracting establishments	42,081	47,475	37,533	35,883	40,532	6.8	7.7	6.1	5.8	6.5
At closing establishments	8,673	7,920	8,515	8,562	7,879	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.3
Net employment change (2)	1,333	-9,187	4,463	3,784	2,560	0.2	-1.5	0.7	0.5	0.3
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	12,887	12,881	12,876	11,827	12,513	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.0	6.3
At expanding establishments	9,790	9,773	9,999	9,131	9,859	5.0	5.0	5.1	4.6	5.0
At opening establishments	3,097	3,108	2,877	2,696	2,654	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.3
Gross job losses	12,065	13,702	12,083	12,287	11,701	6.1	7.0	6.1	6.2	6.0
At contracting establishments	9,299	10,966	8,542	9,307	9,011	4.7	5.6	4.3	4.7	4.6
At closing establishments	2,766	2,736	3,541	2,980	2,690	1.4	1.4	1.8	1.5	1.4
Net employment change (2)	822	-821	793	-460	812	0.5	-0.4	0.5	-0.2	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.