From March 2014 to June 2014, gross job gains in private sector establishments in Colorado totaled 147,457, while gross job losses numbered 122,734, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 24,723. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that gross jobs gains exceeded gross job losses by 17,768 during the previous quarter.

 

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.)

Gross job gains in Colorado have trended upward since bottoming out at 110,520 in March 2009. Additionally, Colorado’s gross job gains have been above 130,000 in each of the last nine quarters. Gross job losses increased by 5,650 in the three months ended in June 2014, after declining in each of the two previous quarters. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 7.3 percent of private sector employment in Colorado in the quarter ended June 2014, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.5 percent of private employment. (See chart 2.) The rates of both gross job gains and gross job losses in Colorado have been above the U.S. rate since data were first published in 1992.

During the second quarter 2014, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in Colorado. For example, within leisure and hospitality, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 3,842. While 30,825 jobs in the industry were created by opening and expanding establishments, 26,983 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the three months ended in June 2014. In professional and business services, 29,096 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and 25,536 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in the information sector during the second quarter of 2014. The 2,793 jobs lost in contracting and closing establishments offset the 2,557 jobs created in expanding and opening establishments, resulting in a net loss of 236 jobs.

For More 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 2014 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

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 quarterly 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 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, Colorado, 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	Sept.	Dec.	Mar.	June	June	Sept.	Dec.	Mar.	June
	2013	2013	2013	2014	2014	2013	2013	2013	2014	2014
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	137,234	136,576	138,088	134,852	147,457	7.0	7.0	6.9	6.7	7.3
At expanding establishments	113,045	109,473	111,445	110,139	119,639	5.8	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.9
At opening establishments	24,189	27,103	26,643	24,713	27,818	1.2	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.4
Gross job losses	120,154	123,433	120,042	117,084	122,734	6.1	6.3	6.1	5.9	6.1
At contracting establishments	96,083	101,516	96,949	94,914	99,970	4.9	5.2	4.9	4.8	5.0
At closing establishments	24,071	21,917	23,093	22,170	22,764	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1
Net employment change (2)	17,080	13,143	18,046	17,768	24,723	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.8	1.2
Construction
Gross job gains	15,069	14,491	17,163	15,345	14,664	12.0	11.3	12.9	11.1	10.4
At expanding establishments	12,056	11,611	13,616	13,071	12,206	9.6	9.1	10.2	9.5	8.7
At opening establishments	3,013	2,880	3,547	2,274	2,458	2.4	2.2	2.7	1.6	1.7
Gross job losses	11,551	11,568	11,275	12,169	12,393	9.2	9.0	8.5	8.8	8.8
At contracting establishments	8,872	8,826	8,842	9,382	9,996	7.1	6.9	6.7	6.8	7.1
At closing establishments	2,679	2,742	2,433	2,787	2,397	2.1	2.1	1.8	2.0	1.7
Net employment change (2)	3,518	2,923	5,888	3,176	2,271	2.8	2.3	4.4	2.3	1.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	4,861	5,117	5,008	4,587	5,679	3.6	3.8	3.8	3.4	4.2
At expanding establishments	4,421	4,439	4,363	4,285	5,184	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.2	3.8
At opening establishments	440	678	645	302	495	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.4
Gross job losses	4,860	4,799	4,521	4,155	4,357	3.7	3.6	3.4	3.1	3.2
At contracting establishments	4,261	4,317	3,954	3,581	3,767	3.2	3.2	3.0	2.7	2.8
At closing establishments	599	482	567	574	590	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	1	318	487	432	1,322	-0.1	0.2	0.4	0.3	1.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,042	4,775	4,881	4,768	5,122	5.2	4.9	5.1	4.9	5.1
At expanding establishments	4,131	3,786	4,049	4,101	4,290	4.3	3.9	4.2	4.2	4.3
At opening establishments	911	989	832	667	832	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	4,344	4,456	4,071	4,034	4,168	4.5	4.6	4.1	4.2	4.2
At contracting establishments	3,122	3,442	2,959	3,083	2,952	3.2	3.6	3.0	3.2	3.0
At closing establishments	1,222	1,014	1,112	951	1,216	1.3	1.0	1.1	1.0	1.2
Net employment change (2)	698	319	810	734	954	0.7	0.3	1.0	0.7	0.9
Retail trade
Gross job gains	16,032	16,047	15,676	14,968	16,986	6.4	6.4	6.2	5.9	6.6
At expanding establishments	13,821	13,384	13,363	12,459	14,840	5.5	5.3	5.3	4.9	5.8
At opening establishments	2,211	2,663	2,313	2,509	2,146	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	13,405	15,185	13,974	14,415	14,549	5.4	6.0	5.5	5.7	5.7
At contracting establishments	11,496	13,396	12,178	12,824	12,732	4.6	5.3	4.8	5.1	5.0
At closing establishments	1,909	1,789	1,796	1,591	1,817	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	2,627	862	1,702	553	2,437	1.0	0.4	0.7	0.2	0.9
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,594	3,512	4,231	3,668	4,362	5.8	5.6	6.7	5.7	6.7
At expanding establishments	2,921	2,942	3,783	3,279	3,748	4.7	4.7	6.0	5.1	5.8
At opening establishments	673	570	448	389	614	1.1	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.9
Gross job losses	3,696	3,339	3,079	3,469	3,405	5.9	5.3	4.9	5.4	5.3
At contracting establishments	3,277	2,823	2,638	2,821	2,835	5.2	4.5	4.2	4.4	4.4
At closing establishments	419	516	441	648	570	0.7	0.8	0.7	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-102	173	1,152	199	957	-0.1	0.3	1.8	0.3	1.4
Information
Gross job gains	2,834	2,491	2,457	2,152	2,557	4.0	3.6	3.5	3.0	3.7
At expanding establishments	2,469	2,005	2,108	1,918	2,355	3.5	2.9	3.0	2.7	3.4
At opening establishments	365	486	349	234	202	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.3
Gross job losses	2,616	2,571	2,681	2,137	2,793	3.7	3.6	3.9	3.0	4.0
At contracting establishments	1,979	2,187	2,215	1,832	2,384	2.8	3.1	3.2	2.6	3.4
At closing establishments	637	384	466	305	409	0.9	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.6
Net employment change (2)	218	-80	-224	15	-236	0.3	0.0	-0.4	0.0	-0.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	8,085	8,702	7,514	6,809	7,736	5.6	5.9	5.1	4.7	5.3
At expanding establishments	6,399	6,649	5,648	5,543	6,268	4.4	4.5	3.8	3.8	4.3
At opening establishments	1,686	2,053	1,866	1,266	1,468	1.2	1.4	1.3	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	7,127	7,986	7,441	7,286	7,142	4.9	5.4	5.1	5.0	4.8
At contracting establishments	5,292	5,916	5,570	5,255	5,471	3.6	4.0	3.8	3.6	3.7
At closing establishments	1,835	2,070	1,871	2,031	1,671	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	958	716	73	-477	594	0.7	0.5	0.0	-0.3	0.5
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	28,831	28,692	27,899	25,494	29,096	7.8	7.6	7.4	6.8	7.6
At expanding establishments	23,325	22,557	21,825	20,690	24,012	6.3	6.0	5.8	5.5	6.3
At opening establishments	5,506	6,135	6,074	4,804	5,084	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.3	1.3
Gross job losses	26,048	25,307	26,165	25,807	25,536	7.1	6.8	7.0	6.8	6.7
At contracting establishments	19,508	19,709	19,510	20,003	19,574	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.1
At closing establishments	6,540	5,598	6,655	5,804	5,962	1.8	1.5	1.8	1.5	1.6
Net employment change (2)	2,783	3,385	1,734	-313	3,560	0.7	0.8	0.4	0.0	0.9
Education and health services
Gross job gains	12,756	13,921	14,082	12,783	14,146	4.5	4.9	4.9	4.5	4.9
At expanding establishments	10,753	11,669	11,770	11,153	12,221	3.8	4.1	4.1	3.9	4.2
At opening establishments	2,003	2,252	2,312	1,630	1,925	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.7
Gross job losses	11,998	10,275	10,978	10,981	11,889	4.3	3.6	3.8	3.8	4.1
At contracting establishments	9,704	8,513	9,002	9,010	9,498	3.5	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.3
At closing establishments	2,294	1,762	1,976	1,971	2,391	0.8	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.8
Net employment change (2)	758	3,646	3,104	1,802	2,257	0.2	1.3	1.1	0.7	0.8
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	30,125	28,282	26,902	29,746	30,825	10.3	9.6	9.1	10.1	10.2
At expanding establishments	25,340	22,879	22,725	24,781	25,885	8.7	7.8	7.7	8.4	8.6
At opening establishments	4,785	5,403	4,177	4,965	4,940	1.6	1.8	1.4	1.7	1.6
Gross job losses	25,597	29,080	27,535	24,137	26,983	8.8	9.9	9.4	8.2	8.9
At contracting establishments	21,625	25,085	23,139	20,300	23,254	7.4	8.5	7.9	6.9	7.7
At closing establishments	3,972	3,995	4,396	3,837	3,729	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.2
Net employment change (2)	4,528	-798	-633	5,609	3,842	1.5	-0.3	-0.3	1.9	1.3
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	5,047	5,116	4,921	5,021	5,130	7.7	7.8	7.4	7.5	7.5
At expanding establishments	3,871	3,940	3,946	4,110	4,289	5.9	6.0	5.9	6.1	6.3
At opening establishments	1,176	1,176	975	911	841	1.8	1.8	1.5	1.4	1.2
Gross job losses	4,574	4,832	4,762	4,617	4,436	7.0	7.3	7.2	6.9	6.5
At contracting establishments	3,526	3,917	3,862	3,832	3,590	5.4	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.3
At closing establishments	1,048	915	900	785	846	1.6	1.4	1.4	1.2	1.2
Net employment change (2)	473	284	159	404	694	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.6	1.0
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.

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

State	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	June 2013	Sept. 2013	Dec. 2013	Mar. 2014	June 2014	June 2013	Sept. 2013	Dec. 2013	Mar. 2014	June 2014
United States(1)	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.0	6.5	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.6
Alabama	6.0	5.5	6.0	5.6	5.9	5.6	5.7	5.3	5.7	5.5
Alaska	10.7	9.8	10.1	10.8	10.9	9.9	10.1	10.4	9.6	10.9
Arizona	6.2	6.4	6.7	5.7	6.0	5.9	5.5	5.4	6.0	6.0
Arkansas	5.3	5.8	6.0	5.8	5.6	6.0	5.7	5.5	5.0	4.9
California	7.0	6.9	7.3	6.8	7.0	6.5	6.2	6.3	6.1	6.4
Colorado	7.0	7.0	6.9	6.7	7.3	6.1	6.3	6.1	5.9	6.1
Connecticut	5.6	5.3	5.3	5.1	5.6	4.8	5.4	5.4	5.0	4.8
Delaware	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.3	6.5	5.8	6.0	5.8	5.9	5.2
District of Columbia	6.2	6.0	5.8	5.9	6.4	5.7	5.1	5.4	5.5	5.7
Florida	7.1	7.0	7.0	6.5	7.2	6.4	6.2	6.0	5.8	6.2
Georgia	6.6	6.6	6.8	6.5	6.8	6.1	6.0	5.8	5.6	5.9
Hawaii	5.2	5.6	5.4	4.8	4.9	5.1	4.7	4.5	5.1	5.1
Idaho	8.0	7.7	8.3	8.4	7.7	7.4	7.2	7.3	7.2	8.0
Illinois	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.8	6.1	5.3	5.7	5.3	5.5	5.5
Indiana	5.7	5.6	6.1	5.3	5.9	5.3	5.4	5.1	5.5	5.0
Iowa	6.0	5.9	6.0	5.8	6.2	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.7
Kansas	6.2	6.1	6.2	5.7	6.1	5.6	5.7	5.3	5.5	5.7
Kentucky	5.9	6.0	6.5	6.1	6.2	5.7	5.5	5.4	5.9	5.5
Louisiana	6.3	6.9	6.7	6.7	6.6	6.6	6.0	6.1	5.8	6.4
Maine	8.1	7.4	7.0	6.7	7.8	6.4	7.3	7.5	7.0	6.5
Maryland	6.2	6.1	6.4	5.9	6.6	6.1	6.1	6.3	5.8	5.8
Massachusetts	6.1	5.5	5.4	5.3	6.3	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.0	5.3
Michigan	6.3	5.9	6.0	5.5	6.4	5.7	5.8	5.6	5.1	5.4
Minnesota	6.1	5.6	5.6	5.3	6.5	5.2	5.5	5.6	5.7	5.1
Mississippi	5.9	6.2	6.6	5.7	6.1	6.1	5.8	5.6	5.9	6.7
Missouri	5.9	5.8	6.0	5.6	6.0	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.5	5.3
Montana	8.0	7.7	8.2	7.2	8.2	7.9	7.6	7.5	7.9	7.7
Nebraska	6.0	6.3	6.3	5.9	6.0	5.4	5.7	5.7	5.6	6.0
Nevada	6.7	6.0	6.3	6.6	6.7	5.6	5.8	5.3	5.2	5.6
New Hampshire	6.8	6.0	6.8	5.7	6.7	5.9	6.5	5.8	5.9	6.1
New Jersey	6.5	6.2	6.4	5.9	6.9	5.7	6.2	6.4	6.2	5.8
New Mexico	6.9	6.7	6.9	6.3	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.4	6.4	6.1
New York	6.5	6.4	6.6	6.2	6.6	5.8	6.1	6.0	6.0	5.7
North Carolina	6.3	6.3	6.4	5.9	6.4	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.5
North Dakota	7.3	8.3	8.2	8.6	7.6	7.6	6.9	6.9	6.8	7.0
Ohio	6.2	5.6	6.0	5.6	6.1	5.3	5.6	5.3	5.6	5.3
Oklahoma	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.1	6.2	5.9	5.7	6.2	6.0	6.1
Oregon	7.2	7.1	6.9	7.0	6.9	6.3	6.3	6.6	6.1	6.4
Pennsylvania	5.3	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.6	5.2	5.2	5.2	4.9	4.8
Rhode Island	6.5	6.2	6.2	5.7	6.5	5.7	6.1	5.7	5.7	5.5
South Carolina	6.3	6.2	6.7	6.2	6.5	5.4	5.6	5.5	5.8	5.7
South Dakota	6.5	6.2	6.9	6.3	6.4	5.7	6.3	6.0	6.1	6.0
Tennessee	5.6	5.5	6.3	5.4	5.6	5.3	5.3	4.7	5.3	5.0
Texas	5.8	6.0	6.1	5.9	6.0	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.1	4.9
Utah	7.0	6.9	7.4	6.5	7.0	6.5	6.4	6.1	6.0	6.6
Vermont	7.4	7.1	7.6	6.7	7.4	7.7	7.4	6.6	6.8	6.9
Virginia	5.6	5.9	5.7	5.3	6.2	5.6	5.9	5.6	5.5	5.5
Washington	7.3	7.0	6.9	6.6	7.3	6.1	6.6	6.3	5.9	5.5
West Virginia	6.2	6.0	6.5	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.4	6.4	6.7	6.4
Wisconsin	5.8	5.5	5.7	5.3	5.9	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.1	5.0
Wyoming	8.6	8.4	9.4	8.4	8.7	9.1	8.2	8.1	8.0	8.2
Puerto Rico	6.0	6.1	6.6	5.1	5.6	6.0	6.6	5.2	6.4	6.3
Virgin Islands	4.9	5.7	5.5	4.9	6.1	6.8	6.5	6.0	6.1	6.4
Footnotes: (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.