From December 2017 to March 2018, gross job gains in private sector establishments in Missouri totaled 128,761, while gross job losses numbered 122,569, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,192. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that during the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 4,994.

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 Missouri decreased by 5,430 in the three months ended in March 2018 and were at their lowest level since March 2015. The number of gross job losses also declined, down 6,628 from December 2017 to March 2018. Gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses for 14 consecutive quarters. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.4 percent of private sector employment in Missouri in the quarter ended March 2018, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.)  Missouri’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018, lower than the national rate of 5.4 percent. Generally, the state’s rates of gross job gains and gross job losses have been equal to or below the U.S. rate in each quarter since the series began in 1992.

During the first quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Missouri. For example, within leisure and hospitality, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 2,522. While 24,613 jobs in the industry were created by opening and expanding establishments, 22,091 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the three months ended in March 2018. Manufacturing experienced a net gain of 1,331 jobs. The professional and businesses services industry had a net gain of 1,304 jobs.  (See table 1.)

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 release for second quarter 2018 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

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, Missouri, 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)
	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	138,795	134,103	140,341	134,191	128,761	5.9	5.6	5.9	5.7	5.4
At expanding establishments	111,511	109,648	112,171	110,578	104,671	4.7	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.4
At opening establishments	27,284	24,455	28,170	23,613	24,090	1.2	1.0	1.2	1.0	1.0
Gross job losses	117,736	133,913	139,943	129,197	122,569	5.0	5.6	5.9	5.5	5.2
At contracting establishments	100,716	109,255	111,104	101,795	101,596	4.3	4.6	4.7	4.3	4.3
At closing establishments	17,020	24,658	28,839	27,402	20,973	0.7	1.0	1.2	1.2	0.9
Net employment change (2)	21,059	190	398	4,994	6,192	0.9	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2
Construction
Gross job gains	11,878	11,054	10,979	11,998	11,585	9.5	8.9	9.0	9.7	9.3
At expanding establishments	9,481	9,105	8,898	9,973	9,142	7.6	7.3	7.3	8.1	7.3
At opening establishments	2,397	1,949	2,081	2,025	2,443	1.9	1.6	1.7	1.6	2.0
Gross job losses	11,293	11,040	11,710	10,857	11,114	9.1	8.9	9.5	8.8	8.9
At contracting establishments	9,532	8,903	9,005	8,664	9,000	7.7	7.2	7.3	7.0	7.2
At closing establishments	1,761	2,137	2,705	2,193	2,114	1.4	1.7	2.2	1.8	1.7
Net employment change (2)	585	14	-731	1,141	471	0.4	0.0	-0.5	0.9	0.4
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	7,030	8,578	7,451	7,600	7,833	2.6	3.2	2.8	2.9	2.9
At expanding establishments	6,491	8,072	6,909	7,087	7,292	2.4	3.0	2.6	2.7	2.7
At opening establishments	539	506	542	513	541	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Gross job losses	7,069	7,132	7,472	7,210	6,502	2.6	2.7	2.8	2.7	2.4
At contracting establishments	6,417	6,416	6,680	6,526	5,916	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.4	2.2
At closing establishments	652	716	792	684	586	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-39	1,446	-21	390	1,331	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.2	0.5
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,655	5,401	5,825	5,804	4,927	4.7	4.4	4.8	4.8	4.1
At expanding establishments	4,638	4,515	4,889	4,878	4,135	3.9	3.7	4.0	4.0	3.4
At opening establishments	1,017	886	936	926	792	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	4,489	4,759	5,877	5,215	4,881	3.7	3.9	4.8	4.3	4.0
At contracting establishments	3,540	3,629	4,417	3,890	4,007	2.9	3.0	3.6	3.2	3.3
At closing establishments	949	1,130	1,460	1,325	874	0.8	0.9	1.2	1.1	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,166	642	-52	589	46	1.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	0.1
Retail trade
Gross job gains	18,865	16,790	16,098	16,652	16,900	6.0	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.3
At expanding establishments	16,147	14,562	14,011	14,499	14,561	5.1	4.6	4.5	4.6	4.6
At opening establishments	2,718	2,228	2,087	2,153	2,339	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	16,915	18,584	18,390	16,561	16,015	5.4	5.9	5.8	5.3	5.1
At contracting establishments	15,081	16,094	15,731	14,081	14,242	4.8	5.1	5.0	4.5	4.5
At closing establishments	1,834	2,490	2,659	2,480	1,773	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.6
Net employment change (2)	1,950	-1,794	-2,292	91	885	0.6	-0.6	-0.6	0.0	0.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	6,401	4,367	4,899	6,392	5,613	7.0	4.8	5.3	7.0	6.1
At expanding establishments	5,773	3,652	4,062	5,389	4,807	6.3	4.0	4.4	5.9	5.2
At opening establishments	628	715	837	1,003	806	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.1	0.9
Gross job losses	5,721	5,270	4,872	4,951	5,366	6.2	5.7	5.3	5.4	5.8
At contracting establishments	5,238	4,343	3,876	4,073	4,808	5.7	4.7	4.2	4.4	5.2
At closing establishments	483	927	996	878	558	0.5	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.6
Net employment change (2)	680	-903	27	1,441	247	0.8	-0.9	0.0	1.6	0.3
Information
Gross job gains	2,514	2,485	2,516	1,858	2,079	5.3	5.1	5.2	3.9	4.4
At expanding establishments	1,953	2,223	2,057	1,471	1,704	4.1	4.6	4.3	3.1	3.6
At opening establishments	561	262	459	387	375	1.2	0.5	0.9	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	1,741	2,740	2,572	2,387	1,991	3.7	5.6	5.3	5.0	4.1
At contracting establishments	1,426	2,442	2,045	1,831	1,691	3.0	5.0	4.2	3.8	3.5
At closing establishments	315	298	527	556	300	0.7	0.6	1.1	1.2	0.6
Net employment change (2)	773	-255	-56	-529	88	1.6	-0.5	-0.1	-1.1	0.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	7,241	7,405	6,978	6,954	6,519	4.5	4.5	4.2	4.3	4.0
At expanding establishments	5,835	5,867	5,457	5,649	5,123	3.6	3.6	3.3	3.5	3.1
At opening establishments	1,406	1,538	1,521	1,305	1,396	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.9
Gross job losses	5,706	6,228	7,684	7,221	6,555	3.5	3.8	4.7	4.4	4.1
At contracting establishments	4,680	4,819	5,566	5,768	5,332	2.9	2.9	3.4	3.5	3.3
At closing establishments	1,026	1,409	2,118	1,453	1,223	0.6	0.9	1.3	0.9	0.8
Net employment change (2)	1,535	1,177	-706	-267	-36	1.0	0.7	-0.5	-0.1	-0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	23,134	24,662	28,667	23,197	23,510	6.1	6.5	7.4	6.1	6.1
At expanding establishments	18,305	19,793	22,837	18,750	19,380	4.8	5.2	5.9	4.9	5.0
At opening establishments	4,829	4,869	5,830	4,447	4,130	1.3	1.3	1.5	1.2	1.1
Gross job losses	21,295	22,828	25,264	25,335	22,476	5.6	6.0	6.6	6.6	5.9
At contracting establishments	17,928	17,668	19,395	19,854	18,243	4.7	4.6	5.1	5.2	4.8
At closing establishments	3,367	5,160	5,869	5,481	4,233	0.9	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	1,839	1,834	3,403	-2,138	1,034	0.5	0.5	0.8	-0.5	0.2
Education and health services
Gross job gains	20,509	20,321	21,752	20,324	18,585	4.6	4.5	4.8	4.5	4.1
At expanding establishments	14,094	14,507	15,921	15,477	13,621	3.2	3.2	3.5	3.4	3.0
At opening establishments	6,415	5,814	5,831	4,847	4,964	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	16,796	19,483	19,126	18,749	18,939	3.8	4.4	4.3	4.1	4.2
At contracting establishments	13,709	14,251	13,299	11,803	13,705	3.1	3.2	3.0	2.6	3.0
At closing establishments	3,087	5,232	5,827	6,946	5,234	0.7	1.2	1.3	1.5	1.2
Net employment change (2)	3,713	838	2,626	1,575	-354	0.8	0.1	0.5	0.4	-0.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	28,680	25,539	28,307	26,126	24,613	9.5	8.4	9.4	8.6	8.0
At expanding establishments	23,346	21,403	22,026	21,506	19,750	7.7	7.0	7.3	7.1	6.4
At opening establishments	5,334	4,136	6,281	4,620	4,863	1.8	1.4	2.1	1.5	1.6
Gross job losses	20,481	29,255	29,382	24,064	22,091	6.7	9.5	9.7	7.9	7.2
At contracting establishments	18,072	25,475	25,305	20,200	19,318	5.9	8.3	8.4	6.6	6.3
At closing establishments	2,409	3,780	4,077	3,864	2,773	0.8	1.2	1.3	1.3	0.9
Net employment change (2)	8,199	-3,716	-1,075	2,062	2,522	2.8	-1.1	-0.3	0.7	0.8
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	5,069	5,870	5,216	4,945	5,025	7.0	8.0	7.2	6.8	6.9
At expanding establishments	3,914	4,529	3,845	3,841	3,867	5.4	6.2	5.3	5.3	5.3
At opening establishments	1,155	1,341	1,371	1,104	1,158	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.5	1.6
Gross job losses	4,729	4,988	5,883	5,199	4,769	6.5	6.9	8.1	7.2	6.5
At contracting establishments	3,767	3,852	4,371	3,901	3,718	5.2	5.3	6.0	5.4	5.1
At closing establishments	962	1,136	1,512	1,298	1,051	1.3	1.6	2.1	1.8	1.4
Net employment change (2)	340	882	-667	-254	256	0.5	1.1	-0.9	-0.4	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.