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News Release Information

25-1250-BOS
Wednesday, August 06, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (646) 264-3600

Business Employment Dynamics in Rhode Island — Fourth Quarter 2024

From September 2024 to December 2024, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Rhode Island were 31,503, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 27,276, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 4,227 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2024. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,139. (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 fourth quarter of 2024, gross job gains represented 7.2 percent of private-sector employment in Rhode Island; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.8 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 Rhode Island, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 24,435 in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 4,744 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 7,068 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of 339 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the fourth quarter of 2024, gross job losses represented 6.3 percent of private-sector employment in Rhode Island; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.7 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 Rhode Island, contracting establishments lost 20,825 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of 1,173 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 6,541 jobs, an increase of 212 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 6 of the 8 published industry sectors in Rhode Island in the fourth quarter of 2024. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 1,994 jobs. This was the result of 8,152 gross job gains and 6,158 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 1,677 jobs. In contrast, retail trade had 2,635 gross job gains and 2,673 gross job losses, yielding a net loss of 38 jobs.

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 at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2025 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data

The release of First Quarter 2025 Business Employment Dynamics data, scheduled for October 29, 2025, will incorporate annual revisions in accordance with standard procedures. The revisions will include the previous four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and five years of seasonally adjusted data.


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, Rhode Island, seasonally adjusted
Category Gross job gains and losses
(3 months ended)
Gross job gains and losses
as a percent of employment
(3 months ended)
Dec.
2023
Mar.
2024
June
2024
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Dec.
2023
Mar.
2024
June
2024
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024

Total private (1)

Gross job gains

28,835 29,862 28,453 27,098 31,503 6.8 6.9 6.6 6.2 7.2

At expanding establishments

21,679 23,381 22,427 19,691 24,435 5.1 5.4 5.2 4.5 5.6

At opening establishments

7,156 6,481 6,026 7,407 7,068 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.7 1.6

Gross job losses

27,265 24,846 29,251 28,237 27,276 6.3 5.7 6.7 6.5 6.3

At contracting establishments

21,529 19,183 21,866 21,998 20,825 5.0 4.4 5.0 5.1 4.8

At closing establishments

5,736 5,663 7,385 6,239 6,451 1.3 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.5

Net employment change (2)

1,570 5,016 -798 -1,139 4,227 0.5 1.2 -0.1 -0.3 0.9

Construction

Gross job gains

2,383 3,170 2,070 2,580 2,531 11.3 14.2 9.2 11.7 11.5

At expanding establishments

1,485 2,142 1,557 1,652 1,810 7.0 9.6 6.9 7.5 8.2

At opening establishments

898 1,028 513 928 721 4.3 4.6 2.3 4.2 3.3

Gross job losses

2,222 1,746 2,294 2,414 2,483 10.6 7.9 10.2 11.0 11.2

At contracting establishments

1,577 1,199 1,669 1,770 1,684 7.5 5.4 7.4 8.1 7.6

At closing establishments

645 547 625 644 799 3.1 2.5 2.8 2.9 3.6

Net employment change (2)

161 1,424 -224 166 48 0.7 6.3 -1.0 0.7 0.3

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains

802 750 849 873 821 4.9 4.6 5.2 5.4 5.0

At expanding establishments

556 518 664 582 584 3.4 3.2 4.1 3.6 3.6

At opening establishments

246 232 185 291 237 1.5 1.4 1.1 1.8 1.4

Gross job losses

904 769 914 749 813 5.5 4.7 5.6 4.5 4.9

At contracting establishments

652 527 622 514 531 4.0 3.2 3.8 3.1 3.2

At closing establishments

252 242 292 235 282 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.4 1.7

Net employment change (2)

-102 -19 -65 124 8 -0.6 -0.1 -0.4 0.9 0.1

Retail trade

Gross job gains

2,526 2,606 2,734 2,420 2,635 5.4 5.5 5.7 5.1 5.5

At expanding establishments

2,062 2,202 2,251 2,030 2,234 4.4 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.7

At opening establishments

464 404 483 390 401 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.8

Gross job losses

2,567 2,379 2,796 2,829 2,673 5.5 5.0 5.8 6.0 5.6

At contracting establishments

2,140 1,978 2,363 2,410 2,190 4.6 4.2 4.9 5.1 4.6

At closing establishments

427 401 433 419 483 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0

Net employment change (2)

-41 227 -62 -409 -38 -0.1 0.5 -0.1 -0.9 -0.1

Financial activities

Gross job gains

1,749 1,265 1,597 1,469 1,311 5.5 4.0 5.0 4.6 4.2

At expanding establishments

1,366 990 1,175 980 976 4.3 3.1 3.7 3.1 3.1

At opening establishments

383 275 422 489 335 1.2 0.9 1.3 1.5 1.1

Gross job losses

1,702 1,401 1,465 1,575 1,334 5.4 4.4 4.6 4.9 4.2

At contracting establishments

1,326 993 1,062 1,216 1,083 4.2 3.1 3.3 3.8 3.4

At closing establishments

376 408 403 359 251 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.1 0.8

Net employment change (2)

47 -136 132 -106 -23 0.1 -0.4 0.4 -0.3 0.0

Professional and business services

Gross job gains

5,471 4,688 5,647 5,731 7,487 7.9 6.8 8.2 8.3 10.7

At expanding establishments

3,606 3,260 4,089 3,383 5,884 5.2 4.7 5.9 4.9 8.4

At opening establishments

1,865 1,428 1,558 2,348 1,603 2.7 2.1 2.3 3.4 2.3

Gross job losses

5,566 5,060 5,700 5,679 5,810 8.0 7.3 8.3 8.2 8.2

At contracting establishments

3,969 3,546 3,503 3,901 3,874 5.7 5.1 5.1 5.6 5.5

At closing establishments

1,597 1,514 2,197 1,778 1,936 2.3 2.2 3.2 2.6 2.7

Net employment change (2)

-95 -372 -53 52 1,677 -0.1 -0.5 -0.1 0.1 2.5

Education and health services

Gross job gains

4,519 5,498 4,827 4,917 4,444 4.3 5.2 4.5 4.6 4.1

At expanding establishments

3,808 4,911 4,055 4,091 3,654 3.6 4.6 3.8 3.8 3.4

At opening establishments

711 587 772 826 790 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.7

Gross job losses

4,087 3,321 3,982 3,777 4,161 3.9 3.1 3.8 3.5 3.8

At contracting establishments

3,475 2,748 2,848 3,186 3,502 3.3 2.6 2.7 3.0 3.2

At closing establishments

612 573 1,134 591 659 0.6 0.5 1.1 0.5 0.6

Net employment change (2)

432 2,177 845 1,140 283 0.4 2.1 0.7 1.1 0.3

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains

6,799 7,698 6,624 5,293 8,152 11.4 12.6 10.8 8.7 13.4

At expanding establishments

5,202 5,823 5,281 4,120 6,023 8.7 9.5 8.6 6.8 9.9

At opening establishments

1,597 1,875 1,343 1,173 2,129 2.7 3.1 2.2 1.9 3.5

Gross job losses

6,381 6,063 7,710 6,848 6,158 10.6 9.9 12.6 11.4 10.1

At contracting establishments

5,333 4,892 6,246 5,424 4,976 8.9 8.0 10.2 9.0 8.2

At closing establishments

1,048 1,171 1,464 1,424 1,182 1.7 1.9 2.4 2.4 1.9

Net employment change (2)

418 1,635 -1,086 -1,555 1,994 0.8 2.7 -1.8 -2.7 3.3

Other services (3)

Gross job gains

1,518 1,346 1,579 1,331 1,418 8.8 7.9 9.1 7.6 8.2

At expanding establishments

1,123 1,075 1,211 958 1,073 6.5 6.3 7.0 5.5 6.2

At opening establishments

395 271 368 373 345 2.3 1.6 2.1 2.1 2.0

Gross job losses

1,263 1,304 1,492 1,390 1,293 7.3 7.6 8.6 8.0 7.4

At contracting establishments

967 984 1,124 1,153 995 5.6 5.7 6.5 6.6 5.7

At closing establishments

296 320 368 237 298 1.7 1.9 2.1 1.4 1.7

Net employment change (2)

255 42 87 -59 125 1.5 0.3 0.5 -0.4 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.

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)
Dec.
2023
Mar.
2024
June
2024
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024
Dec.
2023
Mar.
2024
June
2024
Sept.
2024
Dec.
2024

United States(1)

6.0 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.4 5.9 5.8 5.7

Alabama

6.2 5.7 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.6 5.9 5.3

Alaska

10.2 10.5 10.2 7.9 10.3 9.9 8.6 9.6 9.7 9.6

Arizona

6.5 8.4 5.6 6.3 6.1 6.6 6.4 6.8 6.5 6.0

Arkansas

6.2 5.6 5.2 5.2 5.8 5.0 5.2 5.8 5.2 4.8

California

6.4 5.8 6.1 6.4 6.6 6.4 5.6 6.8 6.1 6.4

Colorado

8.2 6.4 6.5 6.3 6.1 7.6 7.7 6.2 6.7 6.7

Connecticut

5.6 5.6 5.8 5.5 5.5 5.7 5.2 5.6 5.7 5.6

Delaware

6.1 6.0 5.9 6.8 6.1 5.8 5.1 6.5 6.4 6.4

District of Columbia

5.2 5.1 5.1 4.9 5.0 5.6 4.9 6.0 5.0 5.5

Florida

6.1 5.8 6.0 6.6 6.0 5.9 5.4 5.9 5.7 6.2

Georgia

6.2 6.0 5.7 5.7 6.0 5.7 5.7 5.7 6.1 5.4

Hawaii

6.1 5.4 5.1 5.6 5.3 5.0 5.1 5.4 5.0 4.9

Idaho

8.5 7.9 7.5 7.2 8.2 5.8 8.3 7.4 7.6 6.8

Illinois

5.0 5.1 5.2 5.0 5.1 5.1 4.8 5.3 5.1 5.2

Indiana

5.5 5.3 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.0 5.5 5.4 5.2

Iowa

6.1 6.1 5.5 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.7 6.0 5.6

Kansas

5.8 5.7 5.8 5.3 5.9 5.3 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.2

Kentucky

5.7 5.7 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.0 5.9 5.5 5.5

Louisiana

6.3 6.2 5.7 6.1 6.2 5.8 5.7 6.3 5.8 5.4

Maine

7.4 7.2 7.3 6.2 6.7 7.0 6.1 7.0 7.0 7.0

Maryland

6.2 5.8 7.2 6.1 6.0 5.8 5.7 6.5 6.1 5.9

Massachusetts

5.5 5.2 5.7 4.9 5.3 5.5 5.1 5.6 5.8 5.6

Michigan

5.5 5.4 5.7 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.2 5.6 5.8 6.0

Minnesota

6.9 5.8 5.7 5.1 5.5 6.9 5.7 5.4 5.9 5.1

Mississippi

6.1 5.7 5.8 6.1 6.3 5.7 6.1 6.3 5.7 6.4

Missouri

6.0 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.3 5.8 5.8 5.3

Montana

8.8 8.1 7.9 7.3 8.4 7.2 7.5 7.6 8.1 7.8

Nebraska

5.9 5.8 5.4 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.1 5.6 5.6 5.5

Nevada

6.7 5.9 5.8 6.1 6.2 5.4 6.2 5.7 5.9 5.8

New Hampshire

6.2 6.5 6.1 5.5 6.3 5.9 5.8 6.0 6.7 5.9

New Jersey

5.9 5.5 5.9 5.3 6.0 5.8 5.4 5.4 5.8 5.3

New Mexico

6.9 6.0 6.0 6.2 5.8 5.8 6.0 6.3 6.3 5.9

New York

5.7 5.9 5.9 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.0 5.5 5.7 5.5

North Carolina

6.3 5.4 5.6 5.6 6.1 4.9 5.5 5.7 6.1 5.5

North Dakota

6.7 6.9 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.3 6.1 6.6 6.6 6.7

Ohio

5.4 5.5 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.2 4.8 5.4 5.4 5.1

Oklahoma

6.1 5.6 5.6 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.2 6.4 5.6 5.4

Oregon

6.2 6.4 6.0 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.4 6.6 6.8

Pennsylvania

5.2 5.1 4.9 5.1 5.2 4.8 4.6 5.1 5.1 4.8

Rhode Island

6.8 6.9 6.6 6.2 7.2 6.3 5.7 6.7 6.5 6.3

South Carolina

6.2 6.4 5.9 6.2 6.5 5.3 6.3 6.4 5.9 6.0

South Dakota

6.6 6.3 6.0 5.9 6.7 5.8 5.8 6.3 5.9 5.9

Tennessee

6.2 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.5 4.9 5.7 5.8 5.0

Texas

5.7 5.4 5.4 5.6 5.8 5.2 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.1

Utah

6.6 6.7 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.0 6.6 6.1 6.2

Vermont

7.3 7.2 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.6 6.3 7.5 7.3 6.8

Virginia

5.9 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.5 5.2 5.6 5.5 5.5

Washington

6.0 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3

West Virginia

6.5 6.9 6.6 5.8 6.4 5.8 5.7 6.8 6.6 6.1

Wisconsin

5.5 5.5 5.3 5.0 5.3 5.2 4.8 5.5 5.4 5.0

Wyoming

8.9 8.4 8.2 8.6 8.8 8.4 8.3 9.0 9.0 8.4

Puerto Rico

4.9 5.4 5.6 5.4 4.4 4.8 4.6 4.9 5.1 5.5

Virgin Islands

6.0 5.6 4.3 4.4 4.0 5.9 4.5 5.1 6.1 12.6

Footnotes
(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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, August 06, 2025