From September 2015 to December 2015, gross job gains in private sector establishments in Kansas totaled 70,654, while gross job losses numbered 62,682, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 7,972. During the previous quarter, gross jobs losses exceeded gross job gains 1,060.

  

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 number of gross job gains in Kansas rose from 63,082 in September 2015 to 70,654 in December 2015, an increase of 7,572. This is the first time gross job gains have exceeded 70,000 since March 2012. Gross job losses decreased by 1,460 in the three months ended in December 2015, the third consecutive quarterly decline. (See chart 1.) Gross job losses have been below 70,000 since September 2009.

Gross job gains represented 6.2 percent of private sector employment in Kansas in the quarter ended December 2015, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.6 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Generally, the rate of gross job gains in Kansas has been below the U.S. rate since March 2009. Kansas’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the national rate of 5.8 percent. With few exceptions, the state’s rate of gross job losses has been below the U.S. rate in each quarter since June 2008.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 10 published industry sectors in Kansas. For example, within professional and business services, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 1,864. While 14,970 jobs in the industry were created by opening and expanding establishments, 13,106 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the three months ended in December 2015. In education and health services, 8,773 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments while 6,918 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. Two additional industries had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 1,000: construction (1,626) and transportation and warehousing (1,233). (See table 1.)

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 website at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2016 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).

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, Kansas, 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)
	Dec. 2014	Mar. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015	Dec. 2014	Mar. 2015	June 2015	Sept. 2015	Dec. 2015
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	69,883	63,109	66,653	63,082	70,654	6.2	5.7	6.0	5.7	6.2
At expanding establishments	57,570	52,413	55,720	52,208	56,773	5.1	4.7	5.0	4.7	5.0
At opening establishments	12,313	10,696	10,933	10,874	13,881	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.2
Gross job losses	59,565	65,217	64,933	64,142	62,682	5.4	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.6
At contracting establishments	48,764	54,973	53,137	53,498	51,367	4.4	4.9	4.7	4.8	4.6
At closing establishments	10,801	10,244	11,796	10,644	11,315	1.0	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.0
Net employment change (2)	10,318	-2,108	1,720	-1,060	7,972	0.8	-0.1	0.2	0.0	0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	6,869	7,694	5,964	6,667	7,495	11.5	12.6	9.8	11.1	12.1
At expanding establishments	5,548	6,344	4,925	5,396	5,560	9.3	10.4	8.1	9.0	9.0
At opening establishments	1,321	1,350	1,039	1,271	1,935	2.2	2.2	1.7	2.1	3.1
Gross job losses	6,062	6,137	7,482	5,995	5,869	10.2	10.0	12.3	10.0	9.5
At contracting establishments	4,921	4,976	6,037	4,879	4,644	8.3	8.1	9.9	8.1	7.5
At closing establishments	1,141	1,161	1,445	1,116	1,225	1.9	1.9	2.4	1.9	2.0
Net employment change (2)	807	1,557	-1,518	672	1,626	1.3	2.6	-2.5	1.1	2.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	5,302	3,778	4,693	4,044	4,962	3.3	2.3	2.9	2.5	3.0
At expanding establishments	4,845	3,626	4,173	3,739	4,400	3.0	2.2	2.6	2.3	2.7
At opening establishments	457	152	520	305	562	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.3
Gross job losses	4,066	4,757	5,228	4,613	4,918	2.5	2.9	3.2	2.9	3.0
At contracting establishments	3,634	4,455	4,662	4,365	4,265	2.2	2.7	2.9	2.7	2.6
At closing establishments	432	302	566	248	653	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.4
Net employment change (2)	1,236	-979	-535	-569	44	0.8	-0.6	-0.3	-0.4	0.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	3,178	2,775	3,007	2,584	3,230	5.2	4.6	5.0	4.3	5.3
At expanding establishments	2,519	2,150	2,546	2,212	2,447	4.1	3.6	4.2	3.7	4.0
At opening establishments	659	625	461	372	783	1.1	1.0	0.8	0.6	1.3
Gross job losses	2,678	2,719	2,647	2,820	2,705	4.3	4.5	4.4	4.7	4.5
At contracting establishments	2,032	2,185	2,141	2,177	2,117	3.3	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.5
At closing establishments	646	534	506	643	588	1.0	0.9	0.8	1.1	1.0
Net employment change (2)	500	56	360	-236	525	0.9	0.1	0.6	-0.4	0.8
Retail trade
Gross job gains	8,990	8,245	10,738	7,467	8,430	6.1	5.6	7.2	5.0	5.7
At expanding establishments	7,928	7,068	9,271	6,430	7,251	5.4	4.8	6.2	4.3	4.9
At opening establishments	1,062	1,177	1,467	1,037	1,179	0.7	0.8	1.0	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	7,837	8,159	8,079	8,893	8,671	5.3	5.5	5.4	5.9	5.9
At contracting establishments	6,743	7,231	7,079	7,955	7,671	4.6	4.9	4.7	5.3	5.2
At closing establishments	1,094	928	1,000	938	1,000	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,153	86	2,659	-1,426	-241	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.9	-0.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,251	2,183	2,145	3,222	3,479	7.3	5.0	4.9	7.4	7.7
At expanding establishments	2,965	1,889	1,920	2,893	3,180	6.7	4.3	4.4	6.6	7.0
At opening establishments	286	294	225	329	299	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	2,007	3,267	2,659	2,045	2,246	4.5	7.3	6.1	4.6	5.0
At contracting establishments	1,695	3,071	2,402	1,633	1,880	3.8	6.9	5.5	3.7	4.2
At closing establishments	312	196	257	412	366	0.7	0.4	0.6	0.9	0.8
Net employment change (2)	1,244	-1,084	-514	1,177	1,233	2.8	-2.3	-1.2	2.8	2.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,828	3,433	3,471	3,388	4,235	5.3	4.6	4.7	4.6	5.8
At expanding establishments	2,882	2,736	2,782	2,725	3,237	4.0	3.7	3.8	3.7	4.4
At opening establishments	946	697	689	663	998	1.3	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.4
Gross job losses	3,421	3,186	3,306	3,477	3,554	4.8	4.3	4.5	4.7	4.8
At contracting establishments	2,648	2,517	2,570	2,528	2,646	3.7	3.4	3.5	3.4	3.6
At closing establishments	773	669	736	949	908	1.1	0.9	1.0	1.3	1.2
Net employment change (2)	407	247	165	-89	681	0.5	0.3	0.2	-0.1	1.0
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	14,758	11,438	13,374	13,143	14,970	8.6	6.4	7.6	7.3	8.2
At expanding establishments	11,685	9,333	11,316	10,777	12,005	6.8	5.2	6.4	6.0	6.6
At opening establishments	3,073	2,105	2,058	2,366	2,965	1.8	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.6
Gross job losses	11,630	14,095	12,762	12,390	13,106	6.7	7.9	7.2	6.9	7.3
At contracting establishments	9,337	11,836	9,358	9,911	10,446	5.4	6.6	5.3	5.5	5.8
At closing establishments	2,293	2,259	3,404	2,479	2,660	1.3	1.3	1.9	1.4	1.5
Net employment change (2)	3,128	-2,657	612	753	1,864	1.9	-1.5	0.4	0.4	0.9
Education and health services
Gross job gains	7,484	7,367	7,991	7,500	8,773	4.0	4.0	4.3	3.9	4.6
At expanding establishments	6,330	6,299	6,516	6,288	6,871	3.4	3.4	3.5	3.3	3.6
At opening establishments	1,154	1,068	1,475	1,212	1,902	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.6	1.0
Gross job losses	6,618	7,532	7,254	7,888	6,918	3.5	4.1	3.8	4.2	3.6
At contracting establishments	5,456	5,762	6,082	6,586	5,745	2.9	3.1	3.2	3.5	3.0
At closing establishments	1,162	1,770	1,172	1,302	1,173	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	866	-165	737	-388	1,855	0.5	-0.1	0.5	-0.3	1.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	10,120	11,059	10,703	10,268	10,349	8.2	8.8	8.5	8.2	8.2
At expanding establishments	7,803	8,660	8,465	7,913	8,069	6.3	6.9	6.7	6.3	6.4
At opening establishments	2,317	2,399	2,238	2,355	2,280	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.9	1.8
Gross job losses	9,435	9,044	10,325	10,750	9,554	7.7	7.3	8.2	8.6	7.6
At contracting establishments	7,611	7,595	8,547	9,161	7,785	6.2	6.1	6.8	7.3	6.2
At closing establishments	1,824	1,449	1,778	1,589	1,769	1.5	1.2	1.4	1.3	1.4
Net employment change (2)	685	2,015	378	-482	795	0.5	1.5	0.3	-0.4	0.6
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,679	2,624	2,212	2,283	2,370	8.1	7.8	7.0	7.2	7.4
At expanding establishments	2,089	2,176	1,830	1,792	1,827	6.3	6.5	5.8	5.7	5.7
At opening establishments	590	448	382	491	543	1.8	1.3	1.2	1.5	1.7
Gross job losses	2,574	2,497	2,141	2,206	2,237	7.8	7.5	6.8	7.0	7.0
At contracting establishments	1,922	2,115	1,772	1,681	1,778	5.8	6.4	5.6	5.3	5.6
At closing establishments	652	382	369	525	459	2.0	1.1	1.2	1.7	1.4
Net employment change (2)	105	127	71	77	133	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.4
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. (3) Except public administration.