From June 2016 to September 2016 gross job gains in private sector establishments in Utah totaled 86,072, while gross job losses numbered 75,466, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 10,606. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that gross jobs gains exceeded gross job losses by 4,920 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 Utah increased by 7,706 from June 2016 to September 2016 and have been above 70,000 in 15 of the past 16 quarters. Gross job losses also increased for the 3-months ended in September 2016, up 2,020, and were at their highest level since the second quarter of 2009. Despite the increase in the number of gross job losses in this quarter, gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses in each quarter since June 2010. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 7.4 percent of private sector employment in Utah in the quarter ended September 2016, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.4 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) The rate of gross job gains in Utah has been above the U.S. rate in each quarter since data were first published in 1992, with the exception of the fourth quarter of 1997 when Utah’s rate matched the national rate. The rate of gross job losses in Utah has generally exceeded the U.S. rate each quarter since December 1995.

During the third quarter of 2016, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in Utah. For example, within education and health services, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 3,267. While 10,857 jobs in the industry were created by opening and expanding establishments, 7,590 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the 3-months ended in September 2016. In professional and business services, 16,613 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and 14,396 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by more than 1,000 in two other industry sectors—retail trade (1,175) and manufacturing (1,033). (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in the construction sector during the third quarter of 2016. The 8,943 jobs lost in contracting and closing establishments offset the 8,435 jobs created in expanding and opening establishments.

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 Fourth Quarter 2016 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 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). 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 quarterly 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, Utah, 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)
	Sept 2015	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Sept 2015	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	78,739	81,519	84,042	78,366	86,072	7.0	7.2	7.3	6.7	7.4
At expanding establishments	64,541	66,073	69,429	65,093	68,939	5.7	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.9
At opening establishments	14,198	15,446	14,613	13,273	17,133	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.1	1.5
Gross job losses	67,620	68,467	68,450	73,446	75,466	6.0	6.0	5.9	6.4	6.5
At contracting establishments	54,751	54,830	56,865	61,180	61,762	4.9	4.8	4.9	5.3	5.3
At closing establishments	12,869	13,637	11,585	12,266	13,704	1.1	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.2
Net employment change (2)	11,119	13,052	15,592	4,920	10,606	1.0	1.2	1.4	0.3	0.9
Construction
Gross job gains	8,555	10,516	10,990	8,840	8,435	10.2	12.1	12.0	9.6	9.3
At expanding establishments	6,956	8,610	8,992	7,311	6,518	8.3	9.9	9.8	7.9	7.2
At opening establishments	1,599	1,906	1,998	1,529	1,917	1.9	2.2	2.2	1.7	2.1
Gross job losses	7,902	6,899	7,485	9,411	8,943	9.4	8.0	8.1	10.2	9.9
At contracting establishments	6,157	5,375	5,892	7,876	7,489	7.3	6.2	6.4	8.5	8.3
At closing establishments	1,745	1,524	1,593	1,535	1,454	2.1	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.6
Net employment change (2)	653	3,617	3,505	-571	-508	0.8	4.1	3.9	-0.6	-0.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	4,278	4,770	4,279	3,949	4,658	3.5	3.9	3.5	3.1	3.8
At expanding establishments	3,768	4,290	3,925	3,527	4,218	3.1	3.5	3.2	2.8	3.4
At opening establishments	510	480	354	422	440	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4
Gross job losses	4,103	4,197	3,642	4,201	3,625	3.4	3.4	2.9	3.3	2.9
At contracting establishments	3,517	3,701	3,271	3,774	3,235	2.9	3.0	2.6	3.0	2.6
At closing establishments	586	496	371	427	390	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3
Net employment change (2)	175	573	637	-252	1,033	0.1	0.5	0.6	-0.2	0.9
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	2,564	2,537	2,657	2,393	2,542	5.1	5.0	5.3	4.8	5.1
At expanding establishments	2,096	1,979	2,212	1,929	2,088	4.2	3.9	4.4	3.9	4.2
At opening establishments	468	558	445	464	454	0.9	1.1	0.9	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	2,412	2,556	2,182	2,373	2,268	4.8	5.1	4.4	4.8	4.6
At contracting establishments	1,897	1,885	1,705	1,887	1,792	3.8	3.8	3.4	3.8	3.6
At closing establishments	515	671	477	486	476	1.0	1.3	1.0	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	152	-19	475	20	274	0.3	-0.1	0.9	0.0	0.5
Retail trade
Gross job gains	10,807	9,884	12,918	10,347	12,063	6.8	6.2	8.0	6.2	7.3
At expanding establishments	9,076	8,656	10,870	9,158	9,951	5.7	5.4	6.7	5.5	6.0
At opening establishments	1,731	1,228	2,048	1,189	2,112	1.1	0.8	1.3	0.7	1.3
Gross job losses	8,789	8,915	8,243	9,951	10,888	5.5	5.6	5.0	5.9	6.6
At contracting establishments	7,398	7,546	7,190	8,876	9,277	4.6	4.7	4.4	5.3	5.6
At closing establishments	1,391	1,369	1,053	1,075	1,611	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.6	1.0
Net employment change (2)	2,018	969	4,675	396	1,175	1.3	0.6	3.0	0.3	0.7
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,074	3,574	2,826	2,808	3,136	6.2	7.1	5.5	5.5	6.1
At expanding establishments	2,658	3,154	2,451	2,449	2,600	5.4	6.3	4.8	4.8	5.1
At opening establishments	416	420	375	359	536	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0
Gross job losses	2,196	2,284	2,989	2,381	2,609	4.4	4.6	5.9	4.7	5.1
At contracting establishments	1,834	1,933	2,586	2,027	2,217	3.7	3.9	5.1	4.0	4.3
At closing establishments	362	351	403	354	392	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.8
Net employment change (2)	878	1,290	-163	427	527	1.8	2.5	-0.4	0.8	1.0
Information
Gross job gains	2,514	2,484	2,156	1,987	2,420	7.5	7.3	6.2	5.6	6.7
At expanding establishments	1,932	2,001	1,807	1,756	1,951	5.8	5.9	5.2	4.9	5.4
At opening establishments	582	483	349	231	469	1.7	1.4	1.0	0.7	1.3
Gross job losses	1,736	1,694	1,659	1,797	1,878	5.2	5.0	4.8	5.1	5.3
At contracting establishments	1,354	1,368	1,377	1,456	1,349	4.1	4.0	4.0	4.1	3.8
At closing establishments	382	326	282	341	529	1.1	1.0	0.8	1.0	1.5
Net employment change (2)	778	790	497	190	542	2.3	2.3	1.4	0.5	1.4
Financial activities
Gross job gains	4,574	4,739	4,951	4,834	5,311	5.7	5.9	6.2	5.9	6.5
At expanding establishments	3,669	3,461	4,025	3,741	4,003	4.6	4.3	5.0	4.6	4.9
At opening establishments	905	1,278	926	1,093	1,308	1.1	1.6	1.2	1.3	1.6
Gross job losses	3,616	4,016	3,957	3,644	4,416	4.5	5.0	4.9	4.5	5.4
At contracting establishments	2,721	2,789	2,996	2,659	3,288	3.4	3.5	3.7	3.3	4.0
At closing establishments	895	1,227	961	985	1,128	1.1	1.5	1.2	1.2	1.4
Net employment change (2)	958	723	994	1,190	895	1.2	0.9	1.3	1.4	1.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	15,569	16,237	15,151	15,855	16,613	8.1	8.4	7.7	8.0	8.3
At expanding establishments	12,505	12,020	11,655	12,743	13,039	6.5	6.2	5.9	6.4	6.5
At opening establishments	3,064	4,217	3,496	3,112	3,574	1.6	2.2	1.8	1.6	1.8
Gross job losses	14,643	13,538	14,241	14,802	14,396	7.5	6.9	7.2	7.4	7.2
At contracting establishments	11,273	10,596	11,354	11,545	11,663	5.8	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.8
At closing establishments	3,370	2,942	2,887	3,257	2,733	1.7	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.4
Net employment change (2)	926	2,699	910	1,053	2,217	0.6	1.5	0.5	0.6	1.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains	9,380	8,799	8,633	9,018	10,857	5.6	5.2	5.0	5.2	6.1
At expanding establishments	7,640	6,987	7,060	7,645	8,504	4.6	4.1	4.1	4.4	4.8
At opening establishments	1,740	1,812	1,573	1,373	2,353	1.0	1.1	0.9	0.8	1.3
Gross job losses	6,100	7,420	6,326	7,748	7,590	3.7	4.4	3.7	4.4	4.3
At contracting establishments	4,817	5,400	5,125	6,300	6,127	2.9	3.2	3.0	3.6	3.5
At closing establishments	1,283	2,020	1,201	1,448	1,463	0.8	1.2	0.7	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	3,280	1,379	2,307	1,270	3,267	1.9	0.8	1.3	0.8	1.8
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	13,691	13,934	15,553	14,193	15,327	10.2	10.2	11.3	10.2	11.0
At expanding establishments	11,384	11,718	13,523	11,788	12,431	8.5	8.6	9.8	8.5	8.9
At opening establishments	2,307	2,216	2,030	2,405	2,896	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.7	2.1
Gross job losses	11,887	12,988	13,982	12,479	14,472	8.8	9.6	10.2	9.0	10.4
At contracting establishments	10,266	11,144	12,338	10,949	11,993	7.6	8.2	9.0	7.9	8.6
At closing establishments	1,621	1,844	1,644	1,530	2,479	1.2	1.4	1.2	1.1	1.8
Net employment change (2)	1,804	946	1,571	1,714	855	1.4	0.6	1.1	1.2	0.6
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,504	2,804	2,471	2,724	2,967	7.7	8.5	7.4	8.2	8.9
At expanding establishments	1,954	2,212	1,898	2,162	2,233	6.0	6.7	5.7	6.5	6.7
At opening establishments	550	592	573	562	734	1.7	1.8	1.7	1.7	2.2
Gross job losses	2,554	2,342	2,215	2,522	2,705	7.8	7.1	6.6	7.5	8.1
At contracting establishments	2,091	1,801	1,773	1,976	2,114	6.4	5.5	5.3	5.9	6.3
At closing establishments	463	541	442	546	591	1.4	1.6	1.3	1.6	1.8
Net employment change (2)	-50	462	256	202	262	-0.1	1.4	0.8	0.7	0.8
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.