From December 2016 to March 2017 gross job gains in Tennessee totaled 128,481, while gross job losses numbered 123,277, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 5,204. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 18,525. (See table 1.)

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.)

Tennessee’s gross job gains have remained above 120,000 each quarter since March 2010. The 128,481 gross job gains in March 2017 was the lowest since March 2015. Tennessee’s 123,277 gross job losses in March 2017 was lower than the recent peak of 132,811 gross job losses in June 2016. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.1 percent of private sector employment in Tennessee in the first quarter of 2017; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Tennessee’s rate of job gains has been below the U.S. rate since the series began in September 1992. Gross job losses accounted for 4.9 percent of private sector employment in Tennessee in the first quarter of 2017, lower than the national rate of 5.4 percent. Tennessee’s rates of gross job losses have been below the national average since March 2007.

During the first quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Tennessee. For example, leisure and hospitality added approximately 25,800 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, and lost 21,450 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 4,353 jobs was the largest of any sector in the state for the first quarter of 2017. In construction, nearly 10,450 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and about 7,800 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 2,651 jobs. Four other industry sectors—education and health services, retail trade, financial activities, and wholesale trade—each had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 1,100.

Professional and business services and transportation and warehousing were the only industry sectors in Tennessee in which gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in the first quarter of 2017. With more than 26,350 gross job gains in opening and expanding establishments, and over 32,050 job losses in closing and contracting establishments, professional and business services had a net loss of 5,701 jobs. Transportation and warehousing had approximately 5,300 gross job gains in opening and expanding establishments, and nearly 9,000 job losses in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net loss of 3,690 jobs. (See table 1.)

Tennessee was among the four states in the East South Central Census Division. In the first quarter of 2017, Tennessee along with two other states—Alabama and Kentucky—had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Three states, including Tennessee, had rates of gross job gains that were below the national rate of 6.0 percent. Alabama had a gross job gain that was above the national rate. Tennessee was among the three states in the division that had rates of gross job losses that was equal to or below the 5.4-percent national rate. Mississippi had a rate of gross job loss above the national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East South Central Division, and East South Central states, March 2017, 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	7,328,000	6.0	6,674,000	5.4	654,000	0.6
East South Central (1)	365,891	—	342,665	—	23,226	—
Alabama	95,018	6.1	81,340	5.2	13,678	0.9
Kentucky	90,878	5.7	85,832	5.4	5,046	0.3
Mississippi	51,514	5.7	52,216	5.9	-702	-0.2
Tennessee	128,481	5.1	123,277	4.9	5,204	0.2
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 Second Quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 24, 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 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, Tennessee, 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)
	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	132,274	141,910	147,480	144,675	128,481	5.4	5.8	5.9	5.8	5.1
At expanding establishments	115,477	122,669	126,490	123,713	113,022	4.7	5.0	5.1	5.0	4.5
At opening establishments	16,797	19,241	20,990	20,962	15,459	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.6
Gross job losses	128,616	132,811	130,083	126,150	123,277	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.1	4.9
At contracting establishments	114,189	117,467	114,061	111,256	112,439	4.6	4.8	4.6	4.5	4.5
At closing establishments	14,427	15,344	16,022	14,894	10,838	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4
Net employment change (2)	3,658	9,099	17,397	18,525	5,204	0.2	0.4	0.7	0.7	0.2
Construction
Gross job gains	9,821	9,665	10,900	10,256	10,446	8.5	8.4	9.5	8.8	8.7
At expanding establishments	7,968	8,440	9,278	8,972	9,157	6.9	7.3	8.1	7.7	7.6
At opening establishments	1,853	1,225	1,622	1,284	1,289	1.6	1.1	1.4	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	10,025	11,006	9,374	8,595	7,795	8.6	9.6	8.1	7.3	6.5
At contracting establishments	8,952	9,676	8,063	7,494	6,845	7.7	8.4	7.0	6.4	5.7
At closing establishments	1,073	1,330	1,311	1,101	950	0.9	1.2	1.1	0.9	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-204	-1,341	1,526	1,661	2,651	-0.1	-1.2	1.4	1.5	2.2
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	11,594	11,459	10,551	11,484	8,861	3.4	3.4	3.0	3.3	2.5
At expanding establishments	10,709	10,815	9,807	10,789	8,521	3.1	3.2	2.8	3.1	2.4
At opening establishments	885	644	744	695	340	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1
Gross job losses	8,556	9,838	9,253	8,656	8,358	2.5	2.9	2.6	2.5	2.4
At contracting establishments	7,897	8,962	8,746	8,122	8,022	2.3	2.6	2.5	2.3	2.3
At closing establishments	659	876	507	534	336	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.1
Net employment change (2)	3,038	1,621	1,298	2,828	503	0.9	0.5	0.4	0.8	0.1
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,219	5,331	5,931	5,429	5,164	4.3	4.5	4.9	4.5	4.3
At expanding establishments	4,491	4,641	4,989	4,549	4,478	3.7	3.9	4.1	3.8	3.7
At opening establishments	728	690	942	880	686	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.6
Gross job losses	5,028	4,760	5,087	4,732	4,009	4.1	4.0	4.2	3.9	3.3
At contracting establishments	4,148	4,034	3,958	4,010	3,327	3.4	3.4	3.3	3.3	2.7
At closing establishments	880	726	1,129	722	682	0.7	0.6	0.9	0.6	0.6
Net employment change (2)	191	571	844	697	1,155	0.2	0.5	0.7	0.6	1.0
Retail trade
Gross job gains	20,650	19,690	19,244	18,102	17,980	6.2	5.8	5.7	5.4	5.4
At expanding establishments	18,958	17,531	16,524	15,445	16,400	5.7	5.2	4.9	4.6	4.9
At opening establishments	1,692	2,159	2,720	2,657	1,580	0.5	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.5
Gross job losses	16,734	18,473	19,148	18,256	16,147	5.0	5.5	5.7	5.4	4.8
At contracting establishments	15,095	16,912	17,536	16,488	15,014	4.5	5.0	5.2	4.9	4.5
At closing establishments	1,639	1,561	1,612	1,768	1,133	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.3
Net employment change (2)	3,916	1,217	96	-154	1,833	1.2	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.6
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	5,464	6,439	6,316	8,924	5,291	3.5	4.2	4.0	5.7	3.3
At expanding establishments	4,710	6,011	5,691	8,041	4,786	3.0	3.9	3.6	5.1	3.0
At opening establishments	754	428	625	883	505	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.3
Gross job losses	7,216	5,424	5,674	5,720	8,981	4.7	3.4	3.7	3.6	5.7
At contracting establishments	6,813	5,049	5,101	5,271	8,607	4.4	3.2	3.3	3.3	5.5
At closing establishments	403	375	573	449	374	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-1,752	1,015	642	3,204	-3,690	-1.2	0.8	0.3	2.1	-2.4
Information
Gross job gains	1,872	4,130	3,026	1,800	2,130	4.2	9.2	6.6	4.0	4.8
At expanding establishments	1,457	3,811	2,397	1,497	1,837	3.3	8.5	5.2	3.3	4.1
At opening establishments	415	319	629	303	293	0.9	0.7	1.4	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	2,699	1,783	3,363	2,878	1,916	6.1	3.9	7.3	6.4	4.3
At contracting establishments	2,360	1,454	2,943	1,893	1,651	5.3	3.2	6.4	4.2	3.7
At closing establishments	339	329	420	985	265	0.8	0.7	0.9	2.2	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-827	2,347	-337	-1,078	214	-1.9	5.3	-0.7	-2.4	0.5
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,919	6,638	7,028	5,823	6,586	4.8	4.6	4.9	4.0	4.5
At expanding establishments	5,784	5,470	5,903	4,920	5,606	4.0	3.8	4.1	3.4	3.8
At opening establishments	1,135	1,168	1,125	903	980	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.6	0.7
Gross job losses	5,949	5,668	5,171	5,941	5,309	4.2	3.9	3.6	4.1	3.6
At contracting establishments	4,834	4,651	4,444	4,918	4,450	3.4	3.2	3.1	3.4	3.0
At closing establishments	1,115	1,017	727	1,023	859	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	970	970	1,857	-118	1,277	0.6	0.7	1.3	-0.1	0.9
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	26,153	31,031	31,311	32,877	26,358	6.5	7.7	7.7	8.1	6.4
At expanding establishments	23,488	26,758	27,256	28,880	22,924	5.8	6.6	6.7	7.1	5.6
At opening establishments	2,665	4,273	4,055	3,997	3,434	0.7	1.1	1.0	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	31,274	29,639	28,193	27,374	32,059	7.8	7.3	7.0	6.7	7.9
At contracting establishments	28,188	25,812	24,231	24,391	29,301	7.0	6.4	6.0	6.0	7.2
At closing establishments	3,086	3,827	3,962	2,983	2,758	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-5,121	1,392	3,118	5,503	-5,701	-1.3	0.4	0.7	1.4	-1.5
Education and health services
Gross job gains	14,243	16,054	18,691	15,557	14,176	3.5	4.0	4.6	3.8	3.5
At expanding establishments	12,752	14,127	16,712	13,542	13,103	3.1	3.5	4.1	3.3	3.2
At opening establishments	1,491	1,927	1,979	2,015	1,073	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.3
Gross job losses	14,067	14,848	14,379	14,658	12,279	3.4	3.7	3.5	3.5	3.0
At contracting establishments	12,649	13,412	12,349	12,801	11,150	3.1	3.3	3.0	3.1	2.7
At closing establishments	1,418	1,436	2,030	1,857	1,129	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.3
Net employment change (2)	176	1,206	4,312	899	1,897	0.1	0.3	1.1	0.3	0.5
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	24,563	25,191	28,007	28,457	25,803	7.7	7.9	8.8	8.7	7.8
At expanding establishments	20,276	19,792	22,376	21,867	21,508	6.4	6.2	7.0	6.7	6.5
At opening establishments	4,287	5,399	5,631	6,590	4,295	1.3	1.7	1.8	2.0	1.3
Gross job losses	21,449	25,123	24,776	23,633	21,450	6.7	7.8	7.7	7.3	6.5
At contracting establishments	18,525	21,810	21,762	20,959	19,685	5.8	6.8	6.8	6.5	6.0
At closing establishments	2,924	3,313	3,014	2,674	1,765	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.5
Net employment change (2)	3,114	68	3,231	4,824	4,353	1.0	0.1	1.1	1.4	1.3
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	4,332	4,992	5,002	4,555	4,543	6.5	7.5	7.5	6.7	6.7
At expanding establishments	3,667	4,152	4,467	3,993	3,812	5.5	6.2	6.7	5.9	5.6
At opening establishments	665	840	535	562	731	1.0	1.3	0.8	0.8	1.1
Gross job losses	4,068	4,345	4,427	4,151	3,973	6.1	6.5	6.6	6.1	5.8
At contracting establishments	3,464	3,860	3,895	3,725	3,494	5.2	5.8	5.8	5.5	5.1
At closing establishments	604	485	532	426	479	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	264	647	575	404	570	0.4	1.0	0.9	0.6	0.9
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.