From June 2017 to September 2017, gross job losses in private-sector establishments in Florida totaled 550,590, while gross job gains numbered 417,099, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 133,491. In the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 36,819. (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 Technical Note for more information.)

Florida’s gross job losses numbered 550,590 in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 99,603 from the previous quarter. Florida’s gross job losses in the third quarter of 2017 were at the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2008. Third quarter 2017 gross job gains in Florida (417,099) were at the lowest level since first quarter 2011. (See chart 1.)

Florida’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private-sector employment was 7.5 percent in the third quarter of 2017; nationally gross job losses accounted for 6.1 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private sector employment in Florida, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private-sector employment in the third quarter of 2017. This was the first time that Florida’s rate of gross job gains was lower than the national rate of gross job gains. 

Florida’s gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in 10 of 11 industries in the third quarter of 2017. The leisure and hospitality sector lost over 105,600 jobs at closing and contracting establishments, while opening and expanding establishments added about 75,100 jobs. The resulting net loss of 30,546 jobs was the largest of any Florida sector during the quarter. Professional and business services lost approximately 114,700 jobs at closing and contracting establishments, while gaining just over 87,300 at opening and expanding establishments, resulting in a net loss of 27,384 jobs. Within retail trade and construction, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 24,351 and 24,054, respectively. Among the six other sectors with net employment losses, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by less than 8,500. (See table 1.) 

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 Fourth Quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 25, 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, Florida, 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)
	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	539,960	487,710	445,222	487,806	417,099	7.4	6.7	6.1	6.6	5.6
At expanding establishments	406,070	365,909	344,941	380,000	311,858	5.6	5.0	4.7	5.1	4.2
At opening establishments	133,890	121,801	100,281	107,806	105,241	1.8	1.7	1.4	1.5	1.4
Gross job losses	427,925	445,725	409,290	450,987	550,590	5.8	6.1	5.5	6.1	7.5
At contracting establishments	315,568	335,947	319,032	345,049	424,235	4.3	4.6	4.3	4.7	5.8
At closing establishments	112,357	109,778	90,258	105,938	126,355	1.5	1.5	1.2	1.4	1.7
Net employment change (2)	112,035	41,985	35,932	36,819	-133,491	1.6	0.6	0.6	0.5	-1.9
Construction
Gross job gains	51,289	45,858	46,831	47,836	36,622	10.8	9.5	9.4	9.5	7.4
At expanding establishments	35,729	33,874	35,066	35,347	25,138	7.5	7.0	7.0	7.0	5.1
At opening establishments	15,560	11,984	11,765	12,489	11,484	3.3	2.5	2.4	2.5	2.3
Gross job losses	40,596	40,141	37,567	44,111	60,676	8.5	8.2	7.5	8.7	12.3
At contracting establishments	27,156	27,919	27,028	32,302	42,384	5.7	5.7	5.4	6.4	8.6
At closing establishments	13,440	12,222	10,539	11,809	18,292	2.8	2.5	2.1	2.3	3.7
Net employment change (2)	10,693	5,717	9,264	3,725	-24,054	2.3	1.3	1.9	0.8	-4.9
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	17,404	16,715	15,823	16,515	13,016	4.9	4.7	4.4	4.6	3.6
At expanding establishments	13,378	12,851	12,471	14,035	10,280	3.8	3.6	3.5	3.9	2.8
At opening establishments	4,026	3,864	3,352	2,480	2,736	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	13,943	14,895	13,364	14,594	19,243	3.9	4.2	3.7	4.0	5.4
At contracting establishments	10,469	11,785	10,373	11,379	15,055	2.9	3.3	2.9	3.1	4.2
At closing establishments	3,474	3,110	2,991	3,215	4,188	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.9	1.2
Net employment change (2)	3,461	1,820	2,459	1,921	-6,227	1.0	0.5	0.7	0.6	-1.8
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	18,141	18,359	16,129	18,317	15,081	5.4	5.3	4.7	5.3	4.4
At expanding establishments	14,121	13,423	12,386	13,719	11,466	4.2	3.9	3.6	4.0	3.3
At opening establishments	4,020	4,936	3,743	4,598	3,615	1.2	1.4	1.1	1.3	1.1
Gross job losses	16,247	16,083	15,759	16,166	18,254	4.8	4.7	4.6	4.7	5.3
At contracting establishments	11,517	11,274	11,149	11,770	13,152	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.8
At closing establishments	4,730	4,809	4,610	4,396	5,102	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.5
Net employment change (2)	1,894	2,276	370	2,151	-3,173	0.6	0.6	0.1	0.6	-0.9
Retail trade
Gross job gains	73,538	66,310	61,231	64,373	55,257	6.6	6.0	5.5	5.7	5.0
At expanding establishments	58,000	54,209	49,669	54,056	41,809	5.2	4.9	4.5	4.8	3.8
At opening establishments	15,538	12,101	11,562	10,317	13,448	1.4	1.1	1.0	0.9	1.2
Gross job losses	63,322	61,914	62,932	62,561	79,608	5.7	5.5	5.7	5.6	7.2
At contracting establishments	50,236	50,432	53,974	52,224	67,939	4.5	4.5	4.9	4.7	6.1
At closing establishments	13,086	11,482	8,958	10,337	11,669	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	10,216	4,396	-1,701	1,812	-24,351	0.9	0.5	-0.2	0.1	-2.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	14,587	16,784	12,349	13,989	12,683	5.8	6.5	4.8	5.4	5.0
At expanding establishments	11,609	13,621	10,093	11,675	9,968	4.6	5.3	3.9	4.5	3.9
At opening establishments	2,978	3,163	2,256	2,314	2,715	1.2	1.2	0.9	0.9	1.1
Gross job losses	12,361	11,542	14,270	12,601	15,557	4.9	4.6	5.5	4.9	6.0
At contracting establishments	9,052	9,082	11,908	9,427	11,710	3.6	3.6	4.6	3.7	4.5
At closing establishments	3,309	2,460	2,362	3,174	3,847	1.3	1.0	0.9	1.2	1.5
Net employment change (2)	2,226	5,242	-1,921	1,388	-2,874	0.9	1.9	-0.7	0.5	-1.0
Information
Gross job gains	7,079	8,413	8,545	7,249	6,254	5.2	6.2	6.1	5.2	4.6
At expanding establishments	5,171	6,256	7,240	5,876	4,542	3.8	4.6	5.2	4.2	3.3
At opening establishments	1,908	2,157	1,305	1,373	1,712	1.4	1.6	0.9	1.0	1.3
Gross job losses	7,805	7,629	7,324	8,036	9,510	5.8	5.6	5.3	5.8	6.9
At contracting establishments	5,813	5,815	5,338	6,409	7,409	4.3	4.3	3.9	4.6	5.4
At closing establishments	1,992	1,814	1,986	1,627	2,101	1.5	1.3	1.4	1.2	1.5
Net employment change (2)	-726	784	1,221	-787	-3,256	-0.6	0.6	0.8	-0.6	-2.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	32,371	33,311	28,538	30,797	29,692	6.0	6.0	5.1	5.5	5.3
At expanding establishments	23,900	22,738	21,679	22,835	22,315	4.4	4.1	3.9	4.1	4.0
At opening establishments	8,471	10,573	6,859	7,962	7,377	1.6	1.9	1.2	1.4	1.3
Gross job losses	27,795	26,996	26,456	28,224	28,851	5.2	4.9	4.8	5.1	5.2
At contracting establishments	18,808	18,499	18,683	19,849	21,308	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.6	3.8
At closing establishments	8,987	8,497	7,773	8,375	7,543	1.7	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.4
Net employment change (2)	4,576	6,315	2,082	2,573	841	0.8	1.1	0.3	0.4	0.1
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	111,842	100,896	85,315	104,928	87,321	8.6	7.8	6.6	8.0	6.6
At expanding establishments	84,412	73,609	65,033	82,389	66,094	6.5	5.7	5.0	6.3	5.0
At opening establishments	27,430	27,287	20,282	22,539	21,227	2.1	2.1	1.6	1.7	1.6
Gross job losses	88,038	94,403	80,126	89,587	114,705	6.8	7.2	6.1	6.8	8.7
At contracting establishments	61,053	68,183	60,161	65,705	85,543	4.7	5.2	4.6	5.0	6.5
At closing establishments	26,985	26,220	19,965	23,882	29,162	2.1	2.0	1.5	1.8	2.2
Net employment change (2)	23,804	6,493	5,189	15,341	-27,384	1.8	0.6	0.5	1.2	-2.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains	67,516	60,858	55,825	57,863	52,146	5.5	4.9	4.4	4.6	4.2
At expanding establishments	52,590	46,814	45,581	46,112	40,910	4.3	3.8	3.6	3.7	3.3
At opening establishments	14,926	14,044	10,244	11,751	11,236	1.2	1.1	0.8	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	48,379	53,265	47,874	57,275	60,597	4.0	4.3	3.8	4.6	4.9
At contracting establishments	36,396	39,249	37,804	43,963	47,299	3.0	3.2	3.0	3.5	3.8
At closing establishments	11,983	14,016	10,070	13,312	13,298	1.0	1.1	0.8	1.1	1.1
Net employment change (2)	19,137	7,593	7,951	588	-8,451	1.5	0.6	0.6	0.0	-0.7
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	100,720	84,598	76,941	89,177	75,087	8.6	7.1	6.5	7.4	6.3
At expanding establishments	75,145	62,022	60,547	67,355	56,040	6.4	5.2	5.1	5.6	4.7
At opening establishments	25,575	22,576	16,394	21,822	19,047	2.2	1.9	1.4	1.8	1.6
Gross job losses	78,307	79,111	72,670	79,538	105,633	6.6	6.6	6.1	6.6	8.9
At contracting establishments	61,580	62,099	59,133	63,564	84,097	5.2	5.2	5.0	5.3	7.1
At closing establishments	16,727	17,012	13,537	15,974	21,536	1.4	1.4	1.1	1.3	1.8
Net employment change (2)	22,413	5,487	4,271	9,639	-30,546	2.0	0.5	0.4	0.8	-2.6
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	22,820	19,565	18,813	18,415	16,232	8.9	7.5	7.3	7.2	6.4
At expanding establishments	15,933	13,491	12,926	12,850	10,930	6.2	5.2	5.0	5.0	4.3
At opening establishments	6,887	6,074	5,887	5,565	5,302	2.7	2.3	2.3	2.2	2.1
Gross job losses	18,268	19,714	18,070	19,105	23,485	7.1	7.6	6.9	7.4	9.2
At contracting establishments	12,295	14,336	12,596	13,430	16,255	4.8	5.5	4.8	5.2	6.4
At closing establishments	5,973	5,378	5,474	5,675	7,230	2.3	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.8
Net employment change (2)	4,552	-149	743	-690	-7,253	1.8	-0.1	0.4	-0.2	-2.8
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.