From June 2017 to September 2017, gross job gains in Utah totaled 82,619, while gross job losses numbered 75,903, 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 6,716.  In the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 7,423.

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 September was higher than in June and exceeded 80,000 for the third consecutive quarter. Gross job losses increased by 1,899 for the 3-months ended in September 2017, and were higher than in the prior two quarters. Gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses in each quarter since June 2010. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 6.8 percent of private sector employment in Utah in the quarter ended September 2017, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) With one exception, 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. The rate of gross job losses in Utah was 6.3 percent compared to the national rate of 6.1 percent. Utah’s rate has generally exceeded the U.S. rate each quarter since December 1995.

During the third quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in eight industry sectors in Utah. For example, within professional and business services, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 3,254. While 16,355 jobs were created by opening and expanding establishments, 13,101 were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the 3 months ended in September 2017. In education and health services, approximately 9,000 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and more than 7,000 jobs lost in closing and contracting establishments. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in three industry sectors. Within manufacturing, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 678. Nearly 4,500 jobs were added by opening and expanding establishments, but over 5,000 were lost in closing and contracting 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 data for fourth quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

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 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	86,460	79,259	91,646	81,427	82,619	7.4	6.8	7.7	6.8	6.8
At expanding establishments	69,215	64,232	74,614	66,671	66,526	5.9	5.5	6.3	5.6	5.5
At opening establishments	17,245	15,027	17,032	14,756	16,093	1.5	1.3	1.4	1.2	1.3
Gross job losses	77,794	75,963	72,367	74,004	75,903	6.7	6.4	6.1	6.2	6.3
At contracting establishments	61,802	61,349	60,207	60,693	62,718	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.2
At closing establishments	15,992	14,614	12,160	13,311	13,185	1.4	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.1
Net employment change (2)	8,666	3,296	19,279	7,423	6,716	0.7	0.4	1.6	0.6	0.5
Construction
Gross job gains	8,499	9,324	11,772	9,559	8,358	9.3	10.2	12.3	9.7	8.6
At expanding establishments	6,571	7,340	9,687	7,889	6,343	7.2	8.0	10.1	8.0	6.5
At opening establishments	1,928	1,984	2,085	1,670	2,015	2.1	2.2	2.2	1.7	2.1
Gross job losses	8,912	8,172	6,849	8,819	8,152	9.8	9.0	7.1	9.0	8.4
At contracting establishments	7,460	6,560	5,393	6,784	6,820	8.2	7.2	5.6	6.9	7.0
At closing establishments	1,452	1,612	1,456	2,035	1,332	1.6	1.8	1.5	2.1	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-413	1,152	4,923	740	206	-0.5	1.2	5.2	0.7	0.2
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	4,674	4,569	5,233	4,687	4,495	3.7	3.7	4.1	3.7	3.5
At expanding establishments	4,239	4,106	4,791	3,975	3,982	3.4	3.3	3.8	3.1	3.1
At opening establishments	435	463	442	712	513	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.6	0.4
Gross job losses	3,632	3,874	4,021	4,008	5,173	2.9	3.1	3.1	3.1	4.0
At contracting establishments	3,233	3,264	3,618	3,365	3,734	2.6	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.9
At closing establishments	399	610	403	643	1,439	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.5	1.1
Net employment change (2)	1,042	695	1,212	679	-678	0.8	0.6	1.0	0.6	-0.5
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	2,558	2,536	2,858	2,859	2,435	5.1	5.0	5.7	5.6	4.8
At expanding establishments	2,096	2,115	2,262	2,248	2,047	4.2	4.2	4.5	4.4	4.0
At opening establishments	462	421	596	611	388	0.9	0.8	1.2	1.2	0.8
Gross job losses	2,267	2,477	2,188	2,534	2,317	4.6	4.9	4.4	5.0	4.5
At contracting establishments	1,793	1,808	1,734	1,887	1,907	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.7	3.7
At closing establishments	474	669	454	647	410	1.0	1.3	0.9	1.3	0.8
Net employment change (2)	291	59	670	325	118	0.5	0.1	1.3	0.6	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	12,138	10,010	11,730	10,180	10,854	7.3	6.0	7.1	6.0	6.4
At expanding establishments	10,017	8,831	10,123	8,923	9,002	6.0	5.3	6.1	5.3	5.3
At opening establishments	2,121	1,179	1,607	1,257	1,852	1.3	0.7	1.0	0.7	1.1
Gross job losses	10,843	11,443	9,215	9,960	9,857	6.5	6.9	5.5	5.9	5.9
At contracting establishments	9,287	9,667	7,897	8,328	8,411	5.6	5.8	4.7	4.9	5.0
At closing establishments	1,556	1,776	1,318	1,632	1,446	0.9	1.1	0.8	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	1,295	-1,433	2,515	220	997	0.8	-0.9	1.6	0.1	0.5
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,189	3,546	3,755	3,002	3,084	6.2	6.8	7.0	5.6	5.7
At expanding establishments	2,645	3,307	3,323	2,572	2,679	5.1	6.3	6.2	4.8	5.0
At opening establishments	544	239	432	430	405	1.1	0.5	0.8	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	2,636	2,567	3,143	2,629	2,427	5.2	5.0	5.9	4.9	4.5
At contracting establishments	2,248	2,122	2,777	2,262	2,081	4.4	4.1	5.2	4.2	3.9
At closing establishments	388	445	366	367	346	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	553	979	612	373	657	1.0	1.8	1.1	0.7	1.2
Information
Gross job gains	2,378	3,287	2,713	2,280	3,248	6.8	9.4	7.4	6.1	8.7
At expanding establishments	1,883	1,475	2,028	1,988	2,135	5.4	4.2	5.5	5.3	5.7
At opening establishments	495	1,812	685	292	1,113	1.4	5.2	1.9	0.8	3.0
Gross job losses	3,831	2,169	2,114	2,481	3,102	10.9	6.2	5.7	6.7	8.3
At contracting establishments	1,383	1,723	1,890	2,049	2,530	3.9	4.9	5.1	5.5	6.8
At closing establishments	2,448	446	224	432	572	7.0	1.3	0.6	1.2	1.5
Net employment change (2)	-1,453	1,118	599	-201	146	-4.1	3.2	1.7	-0.6	0.4
Financial activities
Gross job gains	5,337	4,812	4,860	5,457	4,651	6.5	5.8	5.8	6.5	5.4
At expanding establishments	4,003	3,425	3,661	4,256	3,586	4.9	4.1	4.4	5.1	4.2
At opening establishments	1,334	1,387	1,199	1,201	1,065	1.6	1.7	1.4	1.4	1.2
Gross job losses	4,451	4,580	4,262	4,202	4,657	5.4	5.6	5.1	5.0	5.5
At contracting establishments	3,316	3,366	3,254	3,249	3,675	4.0	4.1	3.9	3.9	4.3
At closing establishments	1,135	1,214	1,008	953	982	1.4	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.2
Net employment change (2)	886	232	598	1,255	-6	1.1	0.2	0.7	1.5	-0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	16,934	15,266	17,749	15,769	16,355	8.4	7.6	8.8	7.7	8.0
At expanding establishments	13,115	11,872	13,415	12,479	13,213	6.5	5.9	6.7	6.1	6.5
At opening establishments	3,819	3,394	4,334	3,290	3,142	1.9	1.7	2.1	1.6	1.5
Gross job losses	14,480	15,637	16,291	14,148	13,101	7.2	7.8	8.1	6.9	6.4
At contracting establishments	11,677	11,664	12,905	10,885	10,436	5.8	5.8	6.4	5.3	5.1
At closing establishments	2,803	3,973	3,386	3,263	2,665	1.4	2.0	1.7	1.6	1.3
Net employment change (2)	2,454	-371	1,458	1,621	3,254	1.2	-0.2	0.7	0.8	1.6
Education and health services
Gross job gains	10,762	7,986	9,701	8,957	9,041	6.2	4.5	5.4	5.0	5.0
At expanding establishments	8,561	6,746	7,749	7,304	7,429	4.9	3.8	4.3	4.1	4.1
At opening establishments	2,201	1,240	1,952	1,653	1,612	1.3	0.7	1.1	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	7,661	7,504	7,019	8,392	7,216	4.4	4.2	3.9	4.7	4.0
At contracting establishments	6,083	6,189	5,865	7,123	6,033	3.5	3.5	3.3	4.0	3.3
At closing establishments	1,578	1,315	1,154	1,269	1,183	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	3,101	482	2,682	565	1,825	1.8	0.3	1.5	0.3	1.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	15,360	13,989	16,865	14,201	16,052	11.0	10.0	11.9	9.9	11.2
At expanding establishments	12,482	11,894	14,079	11,511	12,928	8.9	8.5	9.9	8.0	9.0
At opening establishments	2,878	2,095	2,786	2,690	3,124	2.1	1.5	2.0	1.9	2.2
Gross job losses	14,632	13,398	13,893	13,255	15,242	10.5	9.6	9.8	9.2	10.5
At contracting establishments	11,973	11,619	12,065	11,781	13,337	8.6	8.3	8.5	8.2	9.2
At closing establishments	2,659	1,779	1,828	1,474	1,905	1.9	1.3	1.3	1.0	1.3
Net employment change (2)	728	591	2,972	946	810	0.5	0.4	2.1	0.7	0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,947	2,721	2,732	3,017	2,521	8.8	8.1	8.1	8.7	7.4
At expanding establishments	2,219	2,212	2,114	2,416	1,881	6.6	6.6	6.3	7.0	5.5
At opening establishments	728	509	618	601	640	2.2	1.5	1.8	1.7	1.9
Gross job losses	2,726	2,624	2,221	2,387	3,167	8.2	7.8	6.6	6.9	9.3
At contracting establishments	2,134	2,082	1,813	1,894	2,457	6.4	6.2	5.4	5.5	7.2
At closing establishments	592	542	408	493	710	1.8	1.6	1.2	1.4	2.1
Net employment change (2)	221	97	511	630	-646	0.6	0.3	1.5	1.8	-1.9
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. See the Technical Note for further information. (3) Except public administration.