From September 2016 to December 2016 gross job gains in Mississippi totaled 56,564, while gross job losses numbered 50,563, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,001. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,118.

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 Mississippi rose by more than 1,100 in the three months ended in December 2016 after increasing by over 5,300 in September 2016. (See chart 1.) Mississippi’s gross job losses rose by more than 1,200 in the fourth quarter of 2016, after dropping by more than 8,700 in the previous quarter.

Mississippi’s rate of gross job gains as a percent of private sector employment was 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.2 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses represented 5.7 percent of private sector employment in Mississippi, while nationally gross job losses accounted for 5.8 percent of private sector employment in the fourth quarter of 2016.

During the fourth quarter of 2016, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 10 industry sectors in Mississippi. Transportation and warehousing services added over 4,400 jobs at opening and expanding establishments, while closing and contracting establishments lost more than 2,100 jobs. The resulting net gain of 2,342 jobs was the largest of any Mississippi sector in the fourth quarter of 2016. Professional and business services created more than 10,800 jobs at opening and expanding establishments, but 8,800 jobs were lost at closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 2,060 jobs. Net employment gains in the other seven sectors were under 550. (See table 1.) 

Leisure and hospitality was the only industry sector in Mississippi in which gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in the fourth quarter of 2016. With approximately 8,900 gross jobs gains in opening and expanding establishments, and about 9,700 jobs losses in closing and contracting establishments, leisure and hospitality had a net loss of 752 jobs.

Mississippi was among the four states in the East South Central Census division. In the fourth quarter of 2016, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all four states. (See table A.)  Mississippi was the only state in the division with a rate of job gains higher than the 6.2-percent national rate in December 2016. All four states in the division had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.8-percent nationwide rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East South Central Division, and East South Central states, December 2016, seasonally adjusted

Area	Gross job gains		Gross job losses		Net change	Net change as a percent of total employment
	Total	As a percent of total employment	Total	As a percent of total employment
United States	7,465,000	6.2	7,089,000	5.8	376,000	0.4
East South Central (1)	386,368	—	352,354	—	34,014	—
Alabama	91,192	5.8	89,343	5.7	1,849	0.1
Kentucky	94,712	6.0	87,660	5.6	7,052	0.4
Mississippi	56,564	6.3	50,563	5.7	6,001	0.6
Tennessee	143,900	5.7	124,788	5.0	19,112	0.7
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for states located in the East South Central Census Division.
Note: Dash indicates data not available.

 

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 for First Quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 8, 2017.

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 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, Mississippi, 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)
	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Dec. 2015	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	62,596	51,367	50,079	55,451	56,564	7.1	5.7	5.7	6.3	6.3
At expanding establishments	52,809	42,158	41,393	45,721	45,715	6.0	4.7	4.7	5.2	5.1
At opening establishments	9,787	9,209	8,686	9,730	10,849	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.2
Gross job losses	47,996	54,142	58,052	49,333	50,563	5.4	6.1	6.5	5.6	5.7
At contracting establishments	39,915	46,299	50,777	40,587	42,284	4.5	5.2	5.7	4.6	4.8
At closing establishments	8,081	7,843	7,275	8,746	8,279	0.9	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	14,600	-2,775	-7,973	6,118	6,001	1.7	-0.4	-0.8	0.7	0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	4,828	5,665	4,035	4,782	4,937	10.4	12.1	9.0	11.0	11.3
At expanding establishments	3,928	4,698	3,320	3,956	3,675	8.5	10.0	7.4	9.1	8.4
At opening establishments	900	967	715	826	1,262	1.9	2.1	1.6	1.9	2.9
Gross job losses	4,798	5,064	7,316	4,353	4,780	10.3	10.8	16.2	10.0	10.9
At contracting establishments	3,899	4,255	6,395	3,612	4,047	8.4	9.1	14.2	8.3	9.2
At closing establishments	899	809	921	741	733	1.9	1.7	2.0	1.7	1.7
Net employment change (2)	30	601	-3,281	429	157	0.1	1.3	-7.2	1.0	0.4
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	4,290	4,152	3,956	4,562	3,908	3.1	2.9	2.8	3.2	2.7
At expanding establishments	4,075	3,915	3,708	4,151	3,604	2.9	2.7	2.6	2.9	2.5
At opening establishments	215	237	248	411	304	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	3,983	3,476	5,756	3,599	3,541	2.8	2.5	4.0	2.5	2.4
At contracting establishments	3,749	3,245	5,517	3,253	3,221	2.6	2.3	3.8	2.3	2.2
At closing establishments	234	231	239	346	320	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	307	676	-1,800	963	367	0.3	0.4	-1.2	0.7	0.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	1,882	1,585	1,693	1,797	1,917	5.4	4.6	4.9	5.3	5.5
At expanding establishments	1,627	1,378	1,371	1,435	1,558	4.7	4.0	4.0	4.2	4.5
At opening establishments	255	207	322	362	359	0.7	0.6	0.9	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	1,640	1,824	1,688	1,502	1,473	4.7	5.3	5.0	4.4	4.3
At contracting establishments	1,298	1,470	1,389	1,228	1,243	3.7	4.3	4.1	3.6	3.6
At closing establishments	342	354	299	274	230	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	242	-239	5	295	444	0.7	-0.7	-0.1	0.9	1.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	8,915	8,845	7,704	8,655	8,305	6.5	6.3	5.5	6.1	5.9
At expanding establishments	7,312	7,167	6,871	7,379	7,168	5.3	5.1	4.9	5.2	5.1
At opening establishments	1,603	1,678	833	1,276	1,137	1.2	1.2	0.6	0.9	0.8
Gross job losses	7,235	8,105	8,280	7,791	7,770	5.2	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.5
At contracting establishments	6,487	7,391	7,413	6,710	6,857	4.7	5.3	5.3	4.8	4.9
At closing establishments	748	714	867	1,081	913	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.8	0.6
Net employment change (2)	1,680	740	-576	864	535	1.3	0.5	-0.4	0.5	0.4
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,231	2,622	2,672	2,704	4,464	9.6	5.9	6.0	6.0	9.6
At expanding establishments	3,865	2,270	2,386	2,278	4,133	8.8	5.1	5.4	5.1	8.9
At opening establishments	366	352	286	426	331	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	1,955	3,435	2,148	2,524	2,122	4.4	7.7	4.9	5.6	4.6
At contracting establishments	1,469	3,084	1,766	2,205	1,720	3.3	6.9	4.0	4.9	3.7
At closing establishments	486	351	382	319	402	1.1	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,276	-813	524	180	2,342	5.2	-1.8	1.1	0.4	5.0
Financial activities
Gross job gains	2,414	1,936	1,862	2,021	2,181	5.6	4.5	4.4	4.7	5.1
At expanding establishments	1,926	1,558	1,495	1,598	1,628	4.5	3.6	3.5	3.7	3.8
At opening establishments	488	378	367	423	553	1.1	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.3
Gross job losses	1,860	2,063	1,975	1,986	2,159	4.3	4.8	4.6	4.6	5.0
At contracting establishments	1,436	1,651	1,563	1,497	1,764	3.3	3.8	3.6	3.5	4.1
At closing establishments	424	412	412	489	395	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.1	0.9
Net employment change (2)	554	-127	-113	35	22	1.3	-0.3	-0.2	0.1	0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	13,336	8,031	7,846	9,989	10,860	12.4	7.3	7.3	9.4	10.1
At expanding establishments	11,711	6,732	6,431	8,136	9,228	10.9	6.1	6.0	7.7	8.6
At opening establishments	1,625	1,299	1,415	1,853	1,632	1.5	1.2	1.3	1.7	1.5
Gross job losses	7,970	11,280	12,395	8,484	8,800	7.5	10.1	11.6	8.0	8.1
At contracting establishments	6,394	9,816	10,795	6,926	6,936	6.0	8.8	10.1	6.5	6.4
At closing establishments	1,576	1,464	1,600	1,558	1,864	1.5	1.3	1.5	1.5	1.7
Net employment change (2)	5,366	-3,249	-4,549	1,505	2,060	4.9	-2.8	-4.3	1.4	2.0
Education and health services
Gross job gains	6,617	6,307	7,558	6,320	6,546	4.8	4.6	5.5	4.6	4.7
At expanding establishments	5,509	5,375	5,910	5,514	5,029	4.0	3.9	4.3	4.0	3.6
At opening establishments	1,108	932	1,648	806	1,517	0.8	0.7	1.2	0.6	1.1
Gross job losses	5,588	6,579	5,473	6,097	6,260	4.1	4.8	3.9	4.4	4.5
At contracting establishments	4,687	5,473	4,613	4,888	5,088	3.4	4.0	3.3	3.5	3.7
At closing establishments	901	1,106	860	1,209	1,172	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.9	0.8
Net employment change (2)	1,029	-272	2,085	223	286	0.7	-0.2	1.6	0.2	0.2
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	11,377	8,402	8,848	10,564	8,943	8.6	6.4	6.7	7.9	6.6
At expanding establishments	9,609	6,180	6,962	7,876	6,484	7.3	4.7	5.3	5.9	4.8
At opening establishments	1,768	2,222	1,886	2,688	2,459	1.3	1.7	1.4	2.0	1.8
Gross job losses	8,567	8,344	8,571	8,886	9,695	6.6	6.3	6.4	6.7	7.3
At contracting establishments	7,440	6,616	7,583	7,183	8,375	5.7	5.0	5.7	5.4	6.3
At closing establishments	1,127	1,728	988	1,703	1,320	0.9	1.3	0.7	1.3	1.0
Net employment change (2)	2,810	58	277	1,678	-752	2.0	0.1	0.3	1.2	-0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	1,571	1,360	1,258	1,474	1,538	7.6	6.8	6.3	7.4	7.6
At expanding establishments	1,264	1,036	997	1,196	1,289	6.1	5.2	5.0	6.0	6.4
At opening establishments	307	324	261	278	249	1.5	1.6	1.3	1.4	1.2
Gross job losses	1,264	1,234	1,451	1,336	1,282	6.2	6.1	7.3	6.7	6.3
At contracting establishments	1,006	1,029	1,228	1,035	1,053	4.9	5.1	6.2	5.2	5.2
At closing establishments	258	205	223	301	229	1.3	1.0	1.1	1.5	1.1
Net employment change (2)	307	126	-193	138	256	1.4	0.7	-1.0	0.7	1.3
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.