From December 2025 to March 2026, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 23,909, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in North Dakota were 23,882, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 27 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2026. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 1,722. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector 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 Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2026, gross job gains represented 6.8 percent of private-sector employment in North Dakota; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In North Dakota, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 19,013 in the first quarter of 2026, a decrease of 819 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 4,896 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 156 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2026, gross job losses represented 6.7 percent of private-sector employment in North Dakota; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In North Dakota, contracting establishments lost 20,187 jobs in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 995 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 3,695 jobs, an increase of 37 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 3 of the 5 published industry sectors in North Dakota in the first quarter of 2026. Construction had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 1,142 jobs. This was the result of 5,645 gross job gains and 4,503 gross job losses. Leisure and hospitality showed a net loss of 353 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2026 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 27, 2027, at 9:00 a.m. (CT).

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.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

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Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, North Dakota, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	23,924	22,570	21,860	24,572	23,909	6.7	6.4	6.2	6.9	6.8
At expanding establishments	19,907	18,357	17,662	19,832	19,013	5.6	5.2	5.0	5.6	5.4
At opening establishments	4,017	4,213	4,198	4,740	4,896	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.4
Gross job losses	23,189	24,156	23,199	22,850	23,882	6.5	6.8	6.6	6.4	6.7
At contracting establishments	19,471	20,027	19,590	19,192	20,187	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.4	5.7
At closing establishments	3,718	4,129	3,609	3,658	3,695	1.0	1.2	1.0	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	735	-1,586	-1,339	1,722	27	0.2	-0.4	-0.4	0.5	0.1
Construction
Gross job gains	4,728	4,102	4,093	5,223	5,645	15.7	13.7	14.0	17.3	17.7
At expanding establishments	3,903	3,212	2,999	4,010	4,133	13.0	10.7	10.3	13.3	13.0
At opening establishments	825	890	1,094	1,213	1,512	2.7	3.0	3.7	4.0	4.7
Gross job losses	3,564	4,367	3,793	4,035	4,503	11.8	14.6	13.0	13.4	14.1
At contracting establishments	2,869	3,478	3,152	3,287	3,736	9.5	11.6	10.8	10.9	11.7
At closing establishments	695	889	641	748	767	2.3	3.0	2.2	2.5	2.4
Net employment change (2)	1,164	-265	300	1,188	1,142	3.9	-0.9	1.0	3.9	3.6
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	1,124	1,025	1,066	1,039	1,136	4.6	4.2	4.4	4.4	4.8
At expanding establishments	967	908	897	855	953	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.6	4.0
At opening establishments	157	117	169	184	183	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	1,129	1,325	1,147	1,274	1,048	4.6	5.5	4.8	5.3	4.4
At contracting establishments	976	1,136	1,027	1,102	884	4.0	4.7	4.3	4.6	3.7
At closing establishments	153	189	120	172	164	0.6	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-5	-300	-81	-235	88	0.0	-1.3	-0.4	-0.9	0.4
Retail trade
Gross job gains	2,832	2,157	2,523	1,982	2,321	6.1	4.7	5.5	4.3	5.1
At expanding establishments	2,359	1,976	2,206	1,810	2,133	5.1	4.3	4.8	3.9	4.7
At opening establishments	473	181	317	172	188	1.0	0.4	0.7	0.4	0.4
Gross job losses	1,995	2,689	2,307	2,490	2,160	4.4	5.8	5.0	5.4	4.7
At contracting establishments	1,783	2,477	2,094	2,294	1,979	3.9	5.3	4.5	5.0	4.3
At closing establishments	212	212	213	196	181	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	837	-532	216	-508	161	1.7	-1.1	0.5	-1.1	0.4
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	2,396	3,092	2,707	3,110	2,748	7.1	9.1	7.9	9.0	8.0
At expanding establishments	1,800	2,427	2,057	2,336	1,984	5.3	7.1	6.0	6.8	5.8
At opening establishments	596	665	650	774	764	1.8	2.0	1.9	2.2	2.2
Gross job losses	3,185	2,411	2,897	2,750	3,040	9.3	7.1	8.4	8.0	8.9
At contracting establishments	2,530	1,840	2,197	2,073	2,460	7.4	5.4	6.4	6.0	7.2
At closing establishments	655	571	700	677	580	1.9	1.7	2.0	2.0	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-789	681	-190	360	-292	-2.2	2.0	-0.5	1.0	-0.9
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	3,863	4,014	3,116	4,451	3,419	9.3	9.7	7.6	10.9	8.2
At expanding establishments	3,157	3,147	2,453	3,436	2,697	7.6	7.6	6.0	8.4	6.5
At opening establishments	706	867	663	1,015	722	1.7	2.1	1.6	2.5	1.7
Gross job losses	4,159	4,105	4,084	3,447	3,772	10.0	10.0	10.0	8.4	9.1
At contracting establishments	3,407	3,289	3,310	2,943	3,111	8.2	8.0	8.1	7.2	7.5
At closing establishments	752	816	774	504	661	1.8	2.0	1.9	1.2	1.6
Net employment change (2)	-296	-91	-968	1,004	-353	-0.7	-0.3	-2.4	2.5	-0.9
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.

Table 2. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026
United States(1)	5.7	5.7	5.7	6.0	5.5	5.5	6.0	5.7	5.5	5.5
Alabama	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.9	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.2
Alaska	10.4	10.0	7.4	11.9	9.6	8.3	9.9	10.0	9.4	9.4
Arizona	5.8	5.2	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.3	6.2	5.3	5.4	5.6
Arkansas	5.1	5.1	5.4	6.0	5.3	5.1	5.6	5.4	5.3	5.4
California	6.1	6.4	6.3	6.9	6.3	6.4	6.7	6.1	6.1	6.0
Colorado	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.3	6.0	6.6	6.7	6.4	6.2	6.5
Connecticut	5.7	5.8	5.4	5.5	5.3	5.2	5.7	5.7	5.5	5.4
Delaware	6.0	6.0	5.3	5.5	5.5	5.4	6.1	6.0	5.6	5.4
District of Columbia	4.9	5.7	4.6	5.5	5.0	5.8	6.1	6.0	5.1	4.9
Florida	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.9	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.5
Georgia	5.6	5.5	5.7	5.9	5.3	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.5
Hawaii	5.2	4.9	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.2	5.2	4.8	4.7	5.1
Idaho	7.5	7.6	6.7	8.0	7.7	7.3	7.1	7.6	6.3	7.0
Illinois	5.0	5.2	4.7	5.3	5.1	5.0	5.1	5.0	5.3	5.0
Indiana	5.4	5.1	5.1	5.5	4.9	5.1	5.4	5.1	5.1	5.1
Iowa	6.0	5.5	4.8	6.2	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.9	5.4	5.4
Kansas	5.5	5.4	5.8	5.8	5.4	5.4	6.3	5.8	5.4	5.3
Kentucky	5.3	5.0	5.3	5.3	5.2	4.9	5.3	5.6	5.1	5.3
Louisiana	5.8	5.6	6.0	6.0	5.7	5.7	6.2	5.9	5.9	5.4
Maine	7.3	7.1	6.4	6.8	6.4	6.4	7.3	7.0	7.0	6.3
Maryland	5.9	5.7	5.8	6.1	5.6	5.8	6.6	6.3	5.5	6.0
Massachusetts	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.1	5.7	5.9	5.5	5.3
Michigan	5.3	5.8	4.9	5.6	5.4	5.3	5.4	5.9	5.3	4.9
Minnesota	5.1	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.2	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.6
Mississippi	6.0	6.2	6.4	6.4	5.7	6.1	6.2	6.0	5.9	6.3
Missouri	5.4	5.6	5.7	6.2	5.6	5.2	6.1	5.9	5.4	5.3
Montana	8.0	7.7	7.1	8.4	7.8	7.6	8.3	7.9	7.4	7.0
Nebraska	5.3	5.4	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.3	5.5	6.0	5.3	5.4
Nevada	5.4	6.1	6.9	6.4	5.7	5.9	6.3	5.3	5.4	5.7
New Hampshire	6.6	6.3	5.6	6.3	6.1	6.1	6.7	6.8	5.7	6.3
New Jersey	5.4	5.7	5.3	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.4	5.5
New Mexico	6.1	6.0	6.1	6.3	6.0	5.8	6.0	6.4	6.0	5.9
New York	7.0	6.1	5.9	5.6	5.4	5.2	7.0	5.7	5.5	5.2
North Carolina	5.6	5.7	5.4	6.0	5.8	5.5	5.4	5.7	5.0	5.3
North Dakota	6.7	6.4	6.2	6.9	6.8	6.5	6.8	6.6	6.4	6.7
Ohio	5.2	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.2	4.9	5.4	5.3	5.0	5.1
Oklahoma	5.5	5.6	6.0	6.2	5.3	5.3	6.2	6.3	5.3	5.3
Oregon	6.1	6.1	5.7	5.9	5.7	6.1	6.4	6.6	6.0	5.9
Pennsylvania	5.0	4.9	5.0	5.1	4.7	4.7	5.1	5.1	4.7	4.8
Rhode Island	6.6	6.3	6.0	6.6	5.8	5.9	6.7	6.6	6.2	6.0
South Carolina	6.1	5.9	6.3	6.6	6.0	5.6	6.1	6.1	5.5	5.7
South Dakota	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.9	6.4	6.0	5.9	6.1
Tennessee	5.5	5.3	5.8	6.0	5.4	5.3	6.5	5.5	5.3	4.9
Texas	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.8	5.4	5.1	5.3	5.2	4.9	5.4
Utah	6.8	6.9	6.9	6.6	6.4	6.2	6.8	6.5	6.2	6.1
Vermont	7.0	6.9	6.7	7.0	6.6	6.8	7.4	7.7	7.0	6.5
Virginia	5.6	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.5	5.2	5.8	6.1	5.2	5.4
Washington	5.7	6.0	5.2	5.6	5.7	6.0	5.9	6.0	5.7	5.5
West Virginia	6.7	5.6	6.1	6.1	6.4	5.9	6.4	6.2	6.2	5.4
Wisconsin	5.1	5.3	4.9	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.4	5.6	5.1	4.9
Wyoming	8.1	8.3	7.7	9.0	8.8	8.8	8.9	8.4	8.0	8.2
Puerto Rico	6.5	7.0	5.2	4.6	4.6	5.2	6.0	5.4	5.3	4.6
Virgin Islands	6.1	11.9	6.9	8.4	7.3	8.8	9.2	7.5	5.7	7.1
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.