From March 2025 to June 2025, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in Montana were 35,948, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 32,645, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Jerome Watters noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment loss of 3,303 jobs in the private sector during the second quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 1,892. (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 losses

In the second quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 8.3 percent of private-sector employment in Montana; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 6.0 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) 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 26,793 jobs in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 1,560 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 9,155 jobs, an increase of 2,065 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job gains

In the second quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 7.7 percent of private-sector employment in Montana; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.7 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) 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 25,546 in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 1,446 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 7,099 jobs gained in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 124 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in 7 of the 10 published industry sectors in Montana in the second quarter of 2025. Retail trade had the largest over-the-quarter net job decrease, with a loss of 1,432 jobs. This was the result of 4,561 gross job losses and 3,129 gross job gains. Leisure and hospitality had a net loss of 1,044 jobs. Professional and business services showed a net gain of 528 jobs, the largest gain 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 Third Quarter 2025 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 29, 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.

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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)
	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	33,900	30,730	35,562	34,215	32,645	7.9	7.2	8.4	8.0	7.7
At expanding establishments	26,581	23,762	27,547	26,992	25,546	6.2	5.6	6.5	6.3	6.0
At opening establishments	7,319	6,968	8,015	7,223	7,099	1.7	1.6	1.9	1.7	1.7
Gross job losses	32,566	34,223	32,993	32,323	35,948	7.6	8.0	7.8	7.5	8.3
At contracting establishments	26,026	26,103	25,010	25,233	26,793	6.1	6.1	5.9	5.9	6.2
At closing establishments	6,540	8,120	7,983	7,090	9,155	1.5	1.9	1.9	1.6	2.1
Net employment change (2)	1,334	-3,493	2,569	1,892	-3,303	0.3	-0.8	0.6	0.5	-0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	4,037	3,541	4,650	4,518	4,099	10.6	9.9	12.7	11.8	10.9
At expanding establishments	3,013	2,717	3,344	3,455	3,077	7.9	7.6	9.1	9.0	8.2
At opening establishments	1,024	824	1,306	1,063	1,022	2.7	2.3	3.6	2.8	2.7
Gross job losses	4,735	4,500	3,834	4,083	4,418	12.5	12.5	10.5	10.6	11.7
At contracting establishments	3,700	3,433	2,853	3,060	3,129	9.8	9.5	7.8	7.9	8.3
At closing establishments	1,035	1,067	981	1,023	1,289	2.7	3.0	2.7	2.7	3.4
Net employment change (2)	-698	-959	816	435	-319	-1.9	-2.6	2.2	1.2	-0.8
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	1,064	962	1,069	1,033	946	4.9	4.5	5.0	4.9	4.5
At expanding establishments	903	748	831	830	777	4.2	3.5	3.9	3.9	3.7
At opening establishments	161	214	238	203	169	0.7	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	1,216	1,481	919	968	1,186	5.6	6.9	4.3	4.6	5.6
At contracting establishments	995	1,072	740	803	927	4.6	5.0	3.5	3.8	4.4
At closing establishments	221	409	179	165	259	1.0	1.9	0.8	0.8	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-152	-519	150	65	-240	-0.7	-2.4	0.7	0.3	-1.1
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	972	800	1,024	929	941	5.1	4.2	5.4	4.9	5.0
At expanding establishments	768	640	794	746	719	4.0	3.4	4.2	3.9	3.8
At opening establishments	204	160	230	183	222	1.1	0.8	1.2	1.0	1.2
Gross job losses	873	1,076	880	970	1,147	4.6	5.7	4.6	5.1	6.0
At contracting establishments	720	837	675	760	760	3.8	4.4	3.5	4.0	4.0
At closing establishments	153	239	205	210	387	0.8	1.3	1.1	1.1	2.0
Net employment change (2)	99	-276	144	-41	-206	0.5	-1.5	0.8	-0.2	-1.0
Retail trade
Gross job gains	3,108	3,717	3,403	4,076	3,129	4.9	6.0	5.4	6.5	4.9
At expanding establishments	2,601	3,057	2,890	3,533	2,687	4.1	4.9	4.6	5.6	4.2
At opening establishments	507	660	513	543	442	0.8	1.1	0.8	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	3,917	3,540	3,671	2,671	4,561	6.2	5.6	5.8	4.2	7.2
At contracting establishments	3,550	2,881	3,076	2,323	3,680	5.6	4.6	4.9	3.7	5.8
At closing establishments	367	659	595	348	881	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.5	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-809	177	-268	1,405	-1,432	-1.3	0.4	-0.4	2.3	-2.3
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	1,744	871	1,508	1,043	1,079	12.9	6.4	11.1	7.6	7.9
At expanding establishments	1,519	639	1,082	727	787	11.2	4.7	8.0	5.3	5.8
At opening establishments	225	232	426	316	292	1.7	1.7	3.1	2.3	2.1
Gross job losses	1,023	1,504	960	1,237	1,223	7.5	11.0	7.1	9.0	9.0
At contracting establishments	733	1,203	721	961	827	5.4	8.8	5.3	7.0	6.1
At closing establishments	290	301	239	276	396	2.1	2.2	1.8	2.0	2.9
Net employment change (2)	721	-633	548	-194	-144	5.4	-4.6	4.0	-1.4	-1.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	1,470	1,386	1,505	1,553	1,475	6.3	5.8	6.4	6.5	6.3
At expanding establishments	913	1,049	967	1,005	1,127	3.9	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.8
At opening establishments	557	337	538	548	348	2.4	1.4	2.3	2.3	1.5
Gross job losses	1,249	1,324	1,539	1,671	1,399	5.3	5.6	6.4	7.1	5.9
At contracting establishments	954	870	982	1,157	937	4.0	3.7	4.1	4.9	4.0
At closing establishments	295	454	557	514	462	1.3	1.9	2.3	2.2	1.9
Net employment change (2)	221	62	-34	-118	76	1.0	0.2	0.0	-0.6	0.4
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	5,315	5,289	5,236	4,820	5,268	10.2	9.9	9.8	9.1	9.9
At expanding establishments	3,902	3,742	3,680	3,554	3,991	7.5	7.0	6.9	6.7	7.5
At opening establishments	1,413	1,547	1,556	1,266	1,277	2.7	2.9	2.9	2.4	2.4
Gross job losses	4,259	4,954	5,264	4,863	4,740	8.2	9.4	9.9	9.1	8.9
At contracting establishments	2,924	3,328	3,733	3,527	3,120	5.6	6.3	7.0	6.6	5.9
At closing establishments	1,335	1,626	1,531	1,336	1,620	2.6	3.1	2.9	2.5	3.0
Net employment change (2)	1,056	335	-28	-43	528	2.0	0.5	-0.1	0.0	1.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	3,816	3,491	4,428	3,826	3,827	4.8	4.3	5.5	4.7	4.7
At expanding establishments	3,001	2,914	3,639	3,232	3,080	3.8	3.6	4.5	4.0	3.8
At opening establishments	815	577	789	594	747	1.0	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.9
Gross job losses	3,258	3,284	3,246	3,663	3,708	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.5	4.6
At contracting establishments	2,553	2,619	2,366	2,854	2,909	3.2	3.3	2.9	3.5	3.6
At closing establishments	705	665	880	809	799	0.9	0.8	1.1	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	558	207	1,182	163	119	0.7	0.2	1.5	0.2	0.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	8,857	7,102	9,331	8,163	8,594	11.9	9.6	12.7	11.0	11.6
At expanding establishments	7,381	5,532	7,964	6,585	6,915	9.9	7.5	10.8	8.9	9.3
At opening establishments	1,476	1,570	1,367	1,578	1,679	2.0	2.1	1.9	2.1	2.3
Gross job losses	8,723	9,045	8,265	8,557	9,638	11.7	12.3	11.2	11.5	13.0
At contracting establishments	7,441	7,288	6,694	7,004	7,988	10.0	9.9	9.1	9.4	10.8
At closing establishments	1,282	1,757	1,571	1,553	1,650	1.7	2.4	2.1	2.1	2.2
Net employment change (2)	134	-1,943	1,066	-394	-1,044	0.2	-2.7	1.5	-0.5	-1.4
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	1,604	1,474	1,427	1,455	1,290	8.5	7.8	7.7	7.9	7.0
At expanding establishments	1,297	1,190	1,082	1,112	990	6.9	6.3	5.8	6.0	5.4
At opening establishments	307	284	345	343	300	1.6	1.5	1.9	1.9	1.6
Gross job losses	1,352	1,542	1,753	1,461	1,596	7.2	8.2	9.4	8.0	8.7
At contracting establishments	990	1,192	1,206	1,045	1,048	5.3	6.3	6.5	5.7	5.7
At closing establishments	362	350	547	416	548	1.9	1.9	2.9	2.3	3.0
Net employment change (2)	252	-68	-326	-6	-306	1.3	-0.4	-1.7	-0.1	-1.7
(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. (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)
	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025	June 2024	Sept. 2024	Dec. 2024	Mar. 2025	June 2025
United States(1)	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.4	6.0
Alabama	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.5	5.6	5.9	5.3	5.6	5.6
Alaska	10.2	8.0	10.3	10.0	9.9	9.6	9.6	9.5	8.1	10.3
Arizona	5.6	6.4	6.1	5.8	5.3	6.5	5.7	5.9	5.3	6.3
Arkansas	5.3	5.5	5.8	5.1	5.1	5.7	5.2	4.8	5.1	5.5
California	6.2	6.3	6.7	6.0	6.6	6.9	6.2	6.4	6.2	6.7
Colorado	6.6	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.4	5.8	6.4	6.5	6.8	7.1
Connecticut	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.8
Delaware	5.8	6.8	6.1	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.4	6.3	5.3	6.1
District of Columbia	5.1	4.9	5.0	4.8	5.7	5.4	5.0	5.5	5.8	5.9
Florida	6.1	6.5	6.0	5.8	5.7	5.8	5.7	6.2	5.5	5.8
Georgia	5.9	5.8	6.0	5.5	5.5	5.7	6.1	5.4	5.7	5.6
Hawaii	5.2	5.7	5.3	4.9	4.8	5.6	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.2
Idaho	7.5	7.1	8.2	7.3	7.7	7.2	7.5	6.8	7.3	7.2
Illinois	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.0	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.1	5.0	5.2
Indiana	5.2	5.3	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.5	5.3	5.1	5.2	5.6
Iowa	5.6	5.3	5.6	5.8	5.6	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.5	5.8
Kansas	5.9	5.3	5.9	5.5	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4	6.3
Kentucky	5.3	5.4	5.3	5.2	5.0	5.8	5.4	5.5	4.8	5.4
Louisiana	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.6	5.5	6.2	5.8	5.5	5.6	6.3
Maine	7.2	6.2	7.0	7.4	7.2	7.1	7.1	7.1	6.3	7.4
Maryland	7.1	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.7	5.9	6.1	5.9	5.7	6.2
Massachusetts	5.7	5.0	5.3	5.0	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.1	5.8
Michigan	5.7	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.8	5.9	5.3	5.5
Minnesota	5.7	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.2	5.8	5.1	5.5	5.5
Mississippi	5.7	6.3	6.3	5.7	6.3	6.3	5.7	6.2	6.1	6.5
Missouri	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.5	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.2	6.1
Montana	7.9	7.2	8.4	8.0	7.7	7.6	8.0	7.8	7.5	8.3
Nebraska	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.2	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.5
Nevada	5.8	6.2	6.1	5.4	6.2	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.9	6.3
New Hampshire	6.1	5.6	6.3	6.5	6.3	6.0	6.7	5.9	6.1	6.7
New Jersey	5.9	5.4	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.4	5.5
New Mexico	6.1	6.3	6.1	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.2	5.9	5.8	6.0
New York	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.6	5.9	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.0	7.0
North Carolina	5.6	5.5	6.1	5.4	5.6	5.5	5.8	5.5	5.5	5.4
North Dakota	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.7	6.4	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.7
Ohio	5.2	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.1	4.9	5.4
Oklahoma	5.7	6.1	6.0	5.5	5.5	6.4	5.5	5.5	5.3	6.2
Oregon	6.0	6.3	6.2	5.8	6.4	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.2	6.5
Pennsylvania	4.9	5.1	5.2	5.0	4.9	5.2	5.0	4.8	4.7	5.2
Rhode Island	6.6	6.2	7.3	6.6	6.3	6.7	6.4	6.3	5.9	6.7
South Carolina	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.5	6.6
South Dakota	6.0	5.9	6.7	6.2	6.0	6.2	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.1
Tennessee	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.4	5.1	5.6	5.7	6.2	5.1	5.9
Texas	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.4
Utah	6.5	6.8	6.8	6.6	6.6	6.9	6.2	6.3	6.0	6.6
Vermont	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.9	6.9	7.4	7.1	6.7	6.8	7.5
Virginia	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.5	5.1	5.8
Washington	5.9	5.8	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.5	5.4
West Virginia	7.0	5.9	6.5	6.4	5.5	6.7	6.6	6.1	5.7	6.3
Wisconsin	5.3	5.1	5.3	5.0	5.3	5.6	5.5	5.2	4.9	5.5
Wyoming	8.2	8.9	8.9	8.1	8.3	8.8	8.5	8.3	8.7	8.9
Puerto Rico	5.5	5.4	4.3	6.3	7.0	4.9	5.0	5.4	5.4	6.1
Virgin Islands	4.9	4.7	5.2	5.4	15.0	5.7	7.5	10.8	7.6	9.5
(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.