From September 2017 to December 2017, gross job gains in Georgia totaled 255,553, while gross job losses numbered 205,236, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 50,317. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 3,425. (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 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. 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 255,553 gross job gains in Georgia in the fourth quarter of 2017 was the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2006. Georgia’s gross job losses numbered 205,236 in the fourth quarter of 2017, below the recent peak of 229,940 gross job losses in the second quarter of 2016. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 6.9 percent of private sector employment in Georgia in the fourth quarter of 2017; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.4 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) With few exceptions, Georgia’s rate of job gains has equaled or exceeded the U.S. rate since the series began in September 1992. Gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private sector employment in Georgia in the fourth quarter of 2017, matching the national rate of 5.5 percent.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in Georgia. Professional and business services created nearly 57,700 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, but lost approximately 46,000 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 11,677 jobs was the largest of any sector in the fourth quarter of 2017. In leisure and hospitality, approximately 42,700 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and about 34,400 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 8,318 jobs. The transportation and warehousing sector had a net gain of 6,826 jobs. Opening and expanding establishments in Georgia’s transportation and warehousing sector added nearly 14,200 jobs while closing and contracting establishments lost approximately 7,400 jobs. Four other industry sectors—education and health services, manufacturing, construction, and retail trade—each had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 2,000. (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 the First Quarter 2018 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 7, 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, Georgia, 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. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	239,884	230,965	229,623	224,926	255,553	6.6	6.3	6.2	6.1	6.9
At expanding establishments	192,401	179,747	184,537	181,574	203,475	5.3	4.9	5.0	4.9	5.5
At opening establishments	47,483	51,218	45,086	43,352	52,078	1.3	1.4	1.2	1.2	1.4
Gross job losses	211,569	212,760	225,490	228,351	205,236	5.8	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.5
At contracting establishments	164,163	171,301	178,100	184,833	159,827	4.5	4.7	4.8	5.0	4.3
At closing establishments	47,406	41,459	47,390	43,518	45,409	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.2
Net employment change (2)	28,315	18,205	4,133	-3,425	50,317	0.8	0.5	0.1	-0.1	1.4
Construction
Gross job gains	16,919	15,680	15,896	14,392	17,935	9.3	8.6	8.7	7.9	9.8
At expanding establishments	14,164	12,507	12,808	11,619	14,258	7.8	6.9	7.0	6.4	7.8
At opening establishments	2,755	3,173	3,088	2,773	3,677	1.5	1.7	1.7	1.5	2.0
Gross job losses	14,067	15,250	16,071	15,835	14,610	7.8	8.3	8.8	8.7	7.9
At contracting establishments	11,165	12,088	12,623	12,592	11,232	6.2	6.6	6.9	6.9	6.1
At closing establishments	2,902	3,162	3,448	3,243	3,378	1.6	1.7	1.9	1.8	1.8
Net employment change (2)	2,852	430	-175	-1,443	3,325	1.5	0.3	-0.1	-0.8	1.9
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	13,511	12,716	13,369	12,644	15,031	3.5	3.2	3.3	3.2	3.8
At expanding establishments	12,078	11,513	11,602	11,359	13,772	3.1	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.5
At opening establishments	1,433	1,203	1,767	1,285	1,259	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
Gross job losses	10,922	11,116	12,647	12,687	10,908	2.8	2.8	3.2	3.2	2.7
At contracting establishments	9,482	9,826	10,981	10,716	9,720	2.4	2.5	2.8	2.7	2.4
At closing establishments	1,440	1,290	1,666	1,971	1,188	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.3
Net employment change (2)	2,589	1,600	722	-43	4,123	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	1.1
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	10,652	10,577	11,035	11,038	11,034	4.8	4.8	5.0	5.0	5.0
At expanding establishments	9,043	8,671	9,472	9,514	9,453	4.1	3.9	4.3	4.3	4.3
At opening establishments	1,609	1,906	1,563	1,524	1,581	0.7	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	10,040	9,592	10,213	10,645	10,082	4.6	4.4	4.6	4.9	4.5
At contracting establishments	7,880	7,430	7,951	8,319	7,776	3.6	3.4	3.6	3.8	3.5
At closing establishments	2,160	2,162	2,262	2,326	2,306	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.0
Net employment change (2)	612	985	822	393	952	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.5
Retail trade
Gross job gains	29,930	29,461	27,676	25,753	28,626	6.1	5.9	5.6	5.2	5.8
At expanding establishments	25,694	24,781	23,789	22,390	24,860	5.2	5.0	4.8	4.5	5.0
At opening establishments	4,236	4,680	3,887	3,363	3,766	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	27,197	27,858	30,230	30,575	26,330	5.5	5.6	6.1	6.2	5.3
At contracting establishments	23,228	24,365	25,464	26,654	22,833	4.7	4.9	5.1	5.4	4.6
At closing establishments	3,969	3,493	4,766	3,921	3,497	0.8	0.7	1.0	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	2,733	1,603	-2,554	-4,822	2,296	0.6	0.3	-0.5	-1.0	0.5
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	15,086	9,329	9,551	11,232	14,179	7.9	4.8	5.0	5.7	7.0
At expanding establishments	14,018	8,091	8,483	10,374	12,694	7.3	4.2	4.4	5.3	6.3
At opening establishments	1,068	1,238	1,068	858	1,485	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.7
Gross job losses	6,641	11,803	8,782	8,166	7,353	3.5	6.0	4.5	4.2	3.7
At contracting establishments	5,509	10,561	7,363	7,247	5,976	2.9	5.4	3.8	3.7	3.0
At closing establishments	1,132	1,242	1,419	919	1,377	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.7
Net employment change (2)	8,445	-2,474	769	3,066	6,826	4.4	-1.2	0.5	1.5	3.3
Information
Gross job gains	5,529	8,231	8,375	5,799	7,143	5.0	7.3	7.2	5.1	6.2
At expanding establishments	4,488	7,027	6,265	4,107	6,009	4.1	6.2	5.4	3.6	5.2
At opening establishments	1,041	1,204	2,110	1,692	1,134	0.9	1.1	1.8	1.5	1.0
Gross job losses	7,551	5,006	8,336	6,788	6,551	6.9	4.4	7.1	5.9	5.7
At contracting establishments	5,779	4,054	7,021	5,986	5,175	5.3	3.6	6.0	5.2	4.5
At closing establishments	1,772	952	1,315	802	1,376	1.6	0.8	1.1	0.7	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-2,022	3,225	39	-989	592	-1.9	2.9	0.1	-0.8	0.5
Financial activities
Gross job gains	13,143	12,032	12,052	12,241	13,374	5.7	5.2	5.1	5.3	5.7
At expanding establishments	10,109	9,074	9,453	9,743	9,852	4.4	3.9	4.0	4.2	4.2
At opening establishments	3,034	2,958	2,599	2,498	3,522	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.1	1.5
Gross job losses	13,020	11,187	11,651	11,775	12,605	5.7	4.9	5.0	5.1	5.3
At contracting establishments	9,179	7,808	8,490	8,351	9,016	4.0	3.4	3.6	3.6	3.8
At closing establishments	3,841	3,379	3,161	3,424	3,589	1.7	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.5
Net employment change (2)	123	845	401	466	769	0.0	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.4
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	50,369	47,846	49,399	48,709	57,672	7.6	7.2	7.4	7.3	8.6
At expanding establishments	40,544	38,533	40,422	40,867	47,157	6.1	5.8	6.1	6.1	7.0
At opening establishments	9,825	9,313	8,977	7,842	10,515	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.2	1.6
Gross job losses	45,836	48,832	47,010	50,420	45,995	6.9	7.3	7.1	7.6	6.8
At contracting establishments	33,800	39,261	37,056	39,905	34,409	5.1	5.9	5.6	6.0	5.1
At closing establishments	12,036	9,571	9,954	10,515	11,586	1.8	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7
Net employment change (2)	4,533	-986	2,389	-1,711	11,677	0.7	-0.1	0.3	-0.3	1.8
Education and health services
Gross job gains	26,237	26,163	24,732	24,411	27,480	4.9	4.8	4.6	4.4	5.0
At expanding establishments	19,895	20,216	21,116	20,358	20,586	3.7	3.7	3.9	3.7	3.7
At opening establishments	6,342	5,947	3,616	4,053	6,894	1.2	1.1	0.7	0.7	1.3
Gross job losses	23,604	21,991	24,622	23,527	22,331	4.4	4.1	4.5	4.3	4.0
At contracting establishments	17,040	16,038	19,383	18,841	17,209	3.2	3.0	3.5	3.4	3.1
At closing establishments	6,564	5,953	5,239	4,686	5,122	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,633	4,172	110	884	5,149	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.1	1.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	40,038	37,497	39,599	39,540	42,715	8.5	7.9	8.3	8.3	8.9
At expanding establishments	31,073	27,669	30,074	31,308	33,067	6.6	5.8	6.3	6.6	6.9
At opening establishments	8,965	9,828	9,525	8,232	9,648	1.9	2.1	2.0	1.7	2.0
Gross job losses	36,765	34,637	38,706	41,962	34,397	7.8	7.3	8.1	8.8	7.1
At contracting establishments	30,065	29,039	30,077	34,665	27,003	6.4	6.1	6.3	7.3	5.6
At closing establishments	6,700	5,598	8,629	7,297	7,394	1.4	1.2	1.8	1.5	1.5
Net employment change (2)	3,273	2,860	893	-2,422	8,318	0.7	0.6	0.2	-0.5	1.8
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	7,857	7,551	9,245	7,344	7,994	7.8	7.4	9.0	7.1	7.8
At expanding establishments	6,163	5,906	7,418	5,340	5,811	6.1	5.8	7.2	5.2	5.7
At opening establishments	1,694	1,645	1,827	2,004	2,183	1.7	1.6	1.8	1.9	2.1
Gross job losses	7,080	7,734	7,871	9,239	8,258	7.0	7.6	7.6	8.9	8.1
At contracting establishments	5,344	5,831	5,776	7,467	6,355	5.3	5.7	5.6	7.2	6.2
At closing establishments	1,736	1,903	2,095	1,772	1,903	1.7	1.9	2.0	1.7	1.9
Net employment change (2)	777	-183	1,374	-1,895	-264	0.8	-0.2	1.4	-1.8	-0.3
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.