From December 2024 to March 2025, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Montana were 34,215, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 32,323, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 1,892 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 2,569. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 8.0 percent of private-sector employment in Montana; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In Montana, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 26,992 in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 555 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 7,223 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 792 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 7.5 percent of private-sector employment in Montana; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Montana, contracting establishments lost 25,233 jobs in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 223 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 7,090 jobs, a decrease of 893 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 4 of the 10 published industry sectors in Montana in the first quarter of 2025. Retail trade had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 1,405 jobs. This was the result of 4,076 gross job gains and 2,671 gross job losses. The construction industry had a net gain of 435 jobs. Leisure and hospitality showed a net loss of 394 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2025 are scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. (MT).

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.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Montana, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2024	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	Mar. 2024	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	34,433	33,900	30,730	35,562	34,215	8.1	7.9	7.2	8.4	8.0
At expanding establishments	26,847	26,581	23,762	27,547	26,992	6.3	6.2	5.6	6.5	6.3
At opening establishments	7,586	7,319	6,968	8,015	7,223	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.9	1.7
Gross job losses	32,493	32,566	34,223	32,993	32,323	7.6	7.6	8.0	7.8	7.5
At contracting establishments	24,598	26,026	26,103	25,010	25,233	5.8	6.1	6.1	5.9	5.9
At closing establishments	7,895	6,540	8,120	7,983	7,090	1.8	1.5	1.9	1.9	1.6
Net employment change (2)	1,940	1,334	-3,493	2,569	1,892	0.5	0.3	-0.8	0.6	0.5
Construction
Gross job gains	4,699	4,037	3,541	4,650	4,518	12.2	10.6	9.9	12.7	11.8
At expanding establishments	3,470	3,013	2,717	3,344	3,455	9.0	7.9	7.6	9.1	9.0
At opening establishments	1,229	1,024	824	1,306	1,063	3.2	2.7	2.3	3.6	2.8
Gross job losses	4,117	4,735	4,500	3,834	4,083	10.6	12.5	12.5	10.5	10.6
At contracting establishments	3,065	3,700	3,433	2,853	3,060	7.9	9.8	9.5	7.8	7.9
At closing establishments	1,052	1,035	1,067	981	1,023	2.7	2.7	3.0	2.7	2.7
Net employment change (2)	582	-698	-959	816	435	1.6	-1.9	-2.6	2.2	1.2
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	1,208	1,064	962	1,069	1,033	5.6	4.9	4.5	5.0	4.9
At expanding establishments	1,019	903	748	831	830	4.7	4.2	3.5	3.9	3.9
At opening establishments	189	161	214	238	203	0.9	0.7	1.0	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	1,095	1,216	1,481	919	968	5.0	5.6	6.9	4.3	4.6
At contracting establishments	922	995	1,072	740	803	4.2	4.6	5.0	3.5	3.8
At closing establishments	173	221	409	179	165	0.8	1.0	1.9	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	113	-152	-519	150	65	0.6	-0.7	-2.4	0.7	0.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	906	972	800	1,024	929	4.8	5.1	4.2	5.4	4.9
At expanding establishments	773	768	640	794	746	4.1	4.0	3.4	4.2	3.9
At opening establishments	133	204	160	230	183	0.7	1.1	0.8	1.2	1.0
Gross job losses	906	873	1,076	880	970	4.7	4.6	5.7	4.6	5.1
At contracting establishments	691	720	837	675	760	3.6	3.8	4.4	3.5	4.0
At closing establishments	215	153	239	205	210	1.1	0.8	1.3	1.1	1.1
Net employment change (2)	0	99	-276	144	-41	0.1	0.5	-1.5	0.8	-0.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	3,974	3,108	3,717	3,403	4,076	6.3	4.9	6.0	5.4	6.5
At expanding establishments	3,550	2,601	3,057	2,890	3,533	5.6	4.1	4.9	4.6	5.6
At opening establishments	424	507	660	513	543	0.7	0.8	1.1	0.8	0.9
Gross job losses	3,330	3,917	3,540	3,671	2,671	5.3	6.2	5.6	5.8	4.2
At contracting establishments	2,819	3,550	2,881	3,076	2,323	4.5	5.6	4.6	4.9	3.7
At closing establishments	511	367	659	595	348	0.8	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.5
Net employment change (2)	644	-809	177	-268	1,405	1.0	-1.3	0.4	-0.4	2.3
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	974	1,744	871	1,508	1,043	7.3	12.9	6.4	11.1	7.6
At expanding establishments	750	1,519	639	1,082	727	5.6	11.2	4.7	8.0	5.3
At opening establishments	224	225	232	426	316	1.7	1.7	1.7	3.1	2.3
Gross job losses	1,296	1,023	1,504	960	1,237	9.8	7.5	11.0	7.1	9.0
At contracting establishments	1,022	733	1,203	721	961	7.7	5.4	8.8	5.3	7.0
At closing establishments	274	290	301	239	276	2.1	2.1	2.2	1.8	2.0
Net employment change (2)	-322	721	-633	548	-194	-2.5	5.4	-4.6	4.0	-1.4
Financial activities
Gross job gains	1,444	1,470	1,386	1,505	1,553	6.2	6.3	5.8	6.4	6.5
At expanding establishments	1,005	913	1,049	967	1,005	4.3	3.9	4.4	4.1	4.2
At opening establishments	439	557	337	538	548	1.9	2.4	1.4	2.3	2.3
Gross job losses	1,399	1,249	1,324	1,539	1,671	5.9	5.3	5.6	6.4	7.1
At contracting establishments	899	954	870	982	1,157	3.8	4.0	3.7	4.1	4.9
At closing establishments	500	295	454	557	514	2.1	1.3	1.9	2.3	2.2
Net employment change (2)	45	221	62	-34	-118	0.3	1.0	0.2	0.0	-0.6
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	4,896	5,315	5,289	5,236	4,820	9.5	10.2	9.9	9.8	9.1
At expanding establishments	3,448	3,902	3,742	3,680	3,554	6.7	7.5	7.0	6.9	6.7
At opening establishments	1,448	1,413	1,547	1,556	1,266	2.8	2.7	2.9	2.9	2.4
Gross job losses	4,888	4,259	4,954	5,264	4,863	9.5	8.2	9.4	9.9	9.1
At contracting establishments	3,101	2,924	3,328	3,733	3,527	6.0	5.6	6.3	7.0	6.6
At closing establishments	1,787	1,335	1,626	1,531	1,336	3.5	2.6	3.1	2.9	2.5
Net employment change (2)	8	1,056	335	-28	-43	0.0	2.0	0.5	-0.1	0.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	3,689	3,816	3,491	4,428	3,826	4.6	4.8	4.3	5.5	4.7
At expanding establishments	3,189	3,001	2,914	3,639	3,232	4.0	3.8	3.6	4.5	4.0
At opening establishments	500	815	577	789	594	0.6	1.0	0.7	1.0	0.7
Gross job losses	3,490	3,258	3,284	3,246	3,663	4.4	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.5
At contracting establishments	2,641	2,553	2,619	2,366	2,854	3.3	3.2	3.3	2.9	3.5
At closing establishments	849	705	665	880	809	1.1	0.9	0.8	1.1	1.0
Net employment change (2)	199	558	207	1,182	163	0.2	0.7	0.2	1.5	0.2
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	8,717	8,857	7,102	9,331	8,163	11.7	11.9	9.6	12.7	11.0
At expanding establishments	6,934	7,381	5,532	7,964	6,585	9.3	9.9	7.5	10.8	8.9
At opening establishments	1,783	1,476	1,570	1,367	1,578	2.4	2.0	2.1	1.9	2.1
Gross job losses	8,275	8,723	9,045	8,265	8,557	11.1	11.7	12.3	11.2	11.5
At contracting establishments	6,632	7,441	7,288	6,694	7,004	8.9	10.0	9.9	9.1	9.4
At closing establishments	1,643	1,282	1,757	1,571	1,553	2.2	1.7	2.4	2.1	2.1
Net employment change (2)	442	134	-1,943	1,066	-394	0.6	0.2	-2.7	1.5	-0.5
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	1,725	1,604	1,474	1,427	1,455	9.3	8.5	7.8	7.7	7.9
At expanding establishments	1,276	1,297	1,190	1,082	1,112	6.9	6.9	6.3	5.8	6.0
At opening establishments	449	307	284	345	343	2.4	1.6	1.5	1.9	1.9
Gross job losses	1,365	1,352	1,542	1,753	1,461	7.4	7.2	8.2	9.4	8.0
At contracting establishments	983	990	1,192	1,206	1,045	5.3	5.3	6.3	6.5	5.7
At closing establishments	382	362	350	547	416	2.1	1.9	1.9	2.9	2.3
Net employment change (2)	360	252	-68	-326	-6	1.9	1.3	-0.4	-1.7	-0.1
(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

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2024	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	Mar. 2024	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025
United States(1)	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.5	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.4
Alabama	5.9	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.6	5.6	5.9	5.3	5.6
Alaska	10.7	10.2	8.0	10.3	10.0	8.5	9.6	9.6	9.5	8.1
Arizona	8.2	5.6	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.5	6.5	5.7	5.9	5.3
Arkansas	5.6	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.1	5.2	5.7	5.2	4.8	5.1
California	6.0	6.2	6.3	6.7	6.0	5.7	6.9	6.2	6.4	6.2
Colorado	6.4	6.6	6.3	6.2	6.2	7.4	5.8	6.4	6.5	6.8
Connecticut	5.8	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.2	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.3
Delaware	6.2	5.8	6.8	6.1	5.9	5.0	6.5	6.4	6.3	5.3
District of Columbia	5.1	5.1	4.9	5.0	4.8	5.0	5.4	5.0	5.5	5.8
Florida	5.8	6.1	6.5	6.0	5.8	5.5	5.8	5.7	6.2	5.5
Georgia	6.1	5.9	5.8	6.0	5.5	5.7	5.7	6.1	5.4	5.7
Hawaii	5.6	5.2	5.7	5.3	4.9	5.1	5.6	5.0	5.0	5.0
Idaho	7.9	7.5	7.1	8.2	7.3	8.1	7.2	7.5	6.8	7.3
Illinois	5.2	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.0	4.8	5.1	5.0	5.1	5.0
Indiana	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.5	5.4	5.1	5.5	5.3	5.1	5.2
Iowa	6.2	5.6	5.3	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.5
Kansas	5.9	5.9	5.3	5.9	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4
Kentucky	5.9	5.3	5.4	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.8	5.4	5.5	4.8
Louisiana	6.3	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.6	5.6	6.2	5.8	5.5	5.6
Maine	7.4	7.2	6.2	7.0	7.4	6.3	7.1	7.1	7.1	6.3
Maryland	6.1	7.1	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.5	5.9	6.1	5.9	5.7
Massachusetts	5.3	5.7	5.0	5.3	5.0	5.1	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.1
Michigan	5.5	5.7	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.2	5.4	5.8	5.9	5.3
Minnesota	6.1	5.7	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.8	5.1	5.5
Mississippi	6.0	5.7	6.3	6.3	5.7	5.8	6.3	5.7	6.2	6.1
Missouri	5.9	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.4	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.2
Montana	8.1	7.9	7.2	8.4	8.0	7.6	7.6	8.0	7.8	7.5
Nebraska	5.9	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.1	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.3
Nevada	6.0	5.8	6.2	6.1	5.4	6.1	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.9
New Hampshire	6.4	6.1	5.6	6.3	6.5	5.8	6.0	6.7	5.9	6.1
New Jersey	5.5	5.9	5.4	6.0	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.4
New Mexico	6.4	6.1	6.3	6.1	5.9	6.1	6.5	6.2	5.9	5.8
New York	6.0	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.6	5.0	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.0
North Carolina	5.5	5.6	5.5	6.1	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.5
North Dakota	6.9	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.7	6.0	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.5
Ohio	5.5	5.2	5.2	5.4	5.2	4.8	5.3	5.4	5.1	4.9
Oklahoma	5.8	5.7	6.1	6.0	5.5	5.3	6.4	5.5	5.5	5.3
Oregon	6.6	6.0	6.3	6.2	5.8	5.9	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.2
Pennsylvania	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.2	5.0	4.6	5.2	5.0	4.8	4.7
Rhode Island	6.8	6.6	6.2	7.3	6.6	5.7	6.7	6.4	6.3	5.9
South Carolina	6.5	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.1	6.3	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.5
South Dakota	6.4	6.0	5.9	6.7	6.2	5.8	6.2	5.9	5.9	6.5
Tennessee	5.7	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.6	5.7	6.2	5.1
Texas	5.5	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.1	5.1	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.1
Utah	6.9	6.5	6.8	6.8	6.6	6.3	6.9	6.2	6.3	6.0
Vermont	7.5	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.9	6.3	7.4	7.1	6.7	6.8
Virginia	5.8	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.6	5.3	5.7	5.7	5.5	5.1
Washington	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.7	6.2	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.5
West Virginia	7.1	7.0	5.9	6.5	6.4	6.1	6.7	6.6	6.1	5.7
Wisconsin	5.7	5.3	5.1	5.3	5.0	4.9	5.6	5.5	5.2	4.9
Wyoming	8.4	8.2	8.9	8.9	8.1	8.4	8.8	8.5	8.3	8.7
Puerto Rico	5.3	5.5	5.4	4.3	6.3	4.7	4.9	5.0	5.4	5.4
Virgin Islands	6.4	4.9	4.7	5.2	5.4	5.3	5.7	7.5	10.8	7.6
(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.