From June 2018 to September 2018, gross job gains in private-sector establishments in Florida totaled 517,791, while gross job losses numbered 435,454, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 82,337 in the private sector during the third quarter of 2018. In the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 27,370. (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 gains numbered 517,791 in the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 27,635 from the previous quarter. With one exception, Florida’s gross job gains have remained above 450,000 each quarter since the second quarter of 2016. Florida’s gross job losses numbered 435,454 in the third quarter of 2018, below the recent peak of 556,886 gross job losses in the third quarter of 2017. (See chart 1.)

Florida’s rate of gross job gains as a percent of private-sector employment was 6.7 percent in the third quarter of 2018; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses represented 5.7 percent of private sector employment in Florida, while nationally gross job losses accounted for 6.0 percent of private-sector employment in the third quarter of 2018.

During the third quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of 11 industry sectors in Florida. For example, the leisure and hospitality sector added 101,928 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, and lost 78,286 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 23,642 jobs was the largest of any Florida sector during the quarter. In education and health services, 65,124 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and 50,779 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 14,345 jobs. Opening and expanding establishments in Florida’s professional and business services added 104,409 jobs while closing and contracting establishments lost 91,035 jobs, resulting in a net gain of 13,374 jobs. Among the seven other sectors with net employment gains, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by less than 5,600. (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 2018 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 24, 2019.

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 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	June 2018	Sept 2018	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	June 2018	Sept 2018
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	423,467	610,728	461,699	490,156	517,791	5.8	8.2	6.1	6.5	6.7
At expanding establishments	316,100	469,625	358,052	372,320	407,472	4.3	6.3	4.7	4.9	5.3
At opening establishments	107,367	141,103	103,647	117,836	110,319	1.5	1.9	1.4	1.6	1.4
Gross job losses	556,886	396,998	415,301	462,786	435,454	7.5	5.3	5.5	6.1	5.7
At contracting establishments	429,767	291,390	330,775	351,965	338,821	5.8	3.9	4.4	4.6	4.4
At closing establishments	127,119	105,608	84,526	110,821	96,633	1.7	1.4	1.1	1.5	1.3
Net employment change (2)	-133,419	213,730	46,398	27,370	82,337	-1.7	2.9	0.6	0.4	1.0
Construction
Gross job gains	37,058	70,293	52,758	48,771	46,805	7.5	14.1	9.9	9.0	8.6
At expanding establishments	25,174	50,396	39,443	34,809	34,090	5.1	10.1	7.4	6.4	6.3
At opening establishments	11,884	19,897	13,315	13,962	12,715	2.4	4.0	2.5	2.6	2.3
Gross job losses	61,410	35,773	37,594	44,242	43,955	12.4	7.1	7.1	8.2	8.1
At contracting establishments	43,074	24,252	27,354	31,069	31,332	8.7	4.8	5.2	5.8	5.8
At closing establishments	18,336	11,521	10,240	13,173	12,623	3.7	2.3	1.9	2.4	2.3
Net employment change (2)	-24,352	34,520	15,164	4,529	2,850	-4.9	7.0	2.8	0.8	0.5
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	13,138	21,878	15,380	15,837	18,025	3.7	6.0	4.2	4.3	4.8
At expanding establishments	10,350	17,541	12,794	13,216	14,876	2.9	4.8	3.5	3.6	4.0
At opening establishments	2,788	4,337	2,586	2,621	3,149	0.8	1.2	0.7	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	19,528	13,220	13,800	14,043	14,743	5.4	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.9
At contracting establishments	15,313	9,382	10,747	10,501	11,683	4.2	2.6	2.9	2.8	3.1
At closing establishments	4,215	3,838	3,053	3,542	3,060	1.2	1.1	0.8	1.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-6,390	8,658	1,580	1,794	3,282	-1.7	2.3	0.5	0.5	0.9
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	15,138	19,169	16,928	17,117	17,138	4.4	5.6	5.0	5.0	4.9
At expanding establishments	11,462	14,698	13,254	13,094	13,240	3.3	4.3	3.9	3.8	3.8
At opening establishments	3,676	4,471	3,674	4,023	3,898	1.1	1.3	1.1	1.2	1.1
Gross job losses	18,341	15,084	14,975	15,737	15,138	5.4	4.4	4.3	4.5	4.3
At contracting establishments	13,306	10,857	10,759	11,148	10,894	3.9	3.2	3.1	3.2	3.1
At closing establishments	5,035	4,227	4,216	4,589	4,244	1.5	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-3,203	4,085	1,953	1,380	2,000	-1.0	1.2	0.7	0.5	0.6
Retail trade
Gross job gains	56,177	82,704	62,630	64,914	66,530	5.0	7.4	5.5	5.7	5.8
At expanding establishments	42,532	70,017	53,663	53,685	56,204	3.8	6.3	4.7	4.7	4.9
At opening establishments	13,645	12,687	8,967	11,229	10,326	1.2	1.1	0.8	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	80,746	53,932	60,990	67,135	64,692	7.3	4.8	5.4	5.9	5.7
At contracting establishments	68,829	44,939	52,970	55,266	56,017	6.2	4.0	4.7	4.9	4.9
At closing establishments	11,917	8,993	8,020	11,869	8,675	1.1	0.8	0.7	1.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-24,569	28,772	1,640	-2,221	1,838	-2.3	2.6	0.1	-0.2	0.1
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	12,896	22,474	15,601	17,051	18,217	5.0	8.5	5.8	6.2	6.5
At expanding establishments	10,155	17,109	12,765	14,028	15,355	3.9	6.5	4.7	5.1	5.5
At opening establishments	2,741	5,365	2,836	3,023	2,862	1.1	2.0	1.1	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	15,702	11,054	15,479	12,721	12,619	6.1	4.2	5.7	4.7	4.5
At contracting establishments	11,763	8,229	13,261	9,986	9,735	4.6	3.1	4.9	3.7	3.5
At closing establishments	3,939	2,825	2,218	2,735	2,884	1.5	1.1	0.8	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	-2,806	11,420	122	4,330	5,598	-1.1	4.3	0.1	1.5	2.0
Information
Gross job gains	6,203	9,220	7,680	7,448	7,269	4.6	6.7	5.5	5.4	5.2
At expanding establishments	4,458	7,152	6,255	5,807	5,578	3.3	5.2	4.5	4.2	4.0
At opening establishments	1,745	2,068	1,425	1,641	1,691	1.3	1.5	1.0	1.2	1.2
Gross job losses	9,556	5,906	7,379	7,990	7,983	7.0	4.3	5.2	5.7	5.8
At contracting establishments	7,481	4,117	6,057	6,460	5,920	5.5	3.0	4.3	4.6	4.3
At closing establishments	2,075	1,789	1,322	1,530	2,063	1.5	1.3	0.9	1.1	1.5
Net employment change (2)	-3,353	3,314	301	-542	-714	-2.4	2.4	0.3	-0.3	-0.6
Financial activities
Gross job gains	30,084	35,783	28,372	29,938	29,585	5.5	6.4	5.0	5.3	5.2
At expanding establishments	22,542	25,866	21,470	22,075	22,267	4.1	4.6	3.8	3.9	3.9
At opening establishments	7,542	9,917	6,902	7,863	7,318	1.4	1.8	1.2	1.4	1.3
Gross job losses	29,247	29,157	26,213	28,258	26,453	5.3	5.2	4.6	5.0	4.6
At contracting establishments	21,549	20,341	18,634	19,661	19,026	3.9	3.6	3.3	3.5	3.3
At closing establishments	7,698	8,816	7,579	8,597	7,427	1.4	1.6	1.3	1.5	1.3
Net employment change (2)	837	6,626	2,159	1,680	3,132	0.2	1.2	0.4	0.3	0.6
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	89,908	126,643	88,938	107,024	104,409	6.8	9.6	6.6	7.9	7.6
At expanding establishments	67,580	97,251	66,059	79,914	82,180	5.1	7.4	4.9	5.9	6.0
At opening establishments	22,328	29,392	22,879	27,110	22,229	1.7	2.2	1.7	2.0	1.6
Gross job losses	116,486	83,773	85,422	95,600	91,035	8.8	6.3	6.4	7.1	6.7
At contracting establishments	87,319	57,445	65,634	68,486	68,383	6.6	4.3	4.9	5.1	5.0
At closing establishments	29,167	26,328	19,788	27,114	22,652	2.2	2.0	1.5	2.0	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-26,578	42,870	3,516	11,424	13,374	-2.0	3.3	0.2	0.8	0.9
Education and health services
Gross job gains	53,150	69,601	57,103	58,606	65,124	4.2	5.5	4.5	4.6	5.1
At expanding establishments	41,685	55,393	46,980	46,340	53,570	3.3	4.4	3.7	3.6	4.2
At opening establishments	11,465	14,208	10,123	12,266	11,554	0.9	1.1	0.8	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	61,084	45,038	48,218	59,006	50,779	4.8	3.6	3.8	4.6	4.0
At contracting establishments	47,997	32,639	38,508	47,123	39,335	3.8	2.6	3.0	3.7	3.1
At closing establishments	13,087	12,399	9,710	11,883	11,444	1.0	1.0	0.8	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-7,934	24,563	8,885	-400	14,345	-0.6	1.9	0.7	0.0	1.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	75,755	111,655	80,498	83,182	101,928	6.4	9.4	6.7	6.9	8.3
At expanding establishments	56,396	84,382	61,594	62,817	80,758	4.8	7.1	5.1	5.2	6.6
At opening establishments	19,359	27,273	18,904	20,365	21,170	1.6	2.3	1.6	1.7	1.7
Gross job losses	106,420	71,527	75,814	83,273	78,286	8.9	6.0	6.2	6.8	6.3
At contracting establishments	84,494	56,036	64,880	66,987	64,222	7.1	4.7	5.3	5.5	5.2
At closing establishments	21,926	15,491	10,934	16,286	14,064	1.8	1.3	0.9	1.3	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-30,665	40,128	4,684	-91	23,642	-2.5	3.4	0.5	0.1	2.0
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	16,552	25,792	18,285	19,732	19,891	6.5	10.0	7.0	7.5	7.5
At expanding establishments	11,080	18,814	12,638	13,904	14,821	4.4	7.3	4.8	5.3	5.6
At opening establishments	5,472	6,978	5,647	5,828	5,070	2.1	2.7	2.2	2.2	1.9
Gross job losses	23,719	15,969	16,820	19,881	18,031	9.3	6.3	6.4	7.6	6.9
At contracting establishments	16,418	10,163	11,769	13,908	12,783	6.4	4.0	4.5	5.3	4.9
At closing establishments	7,301	5,806	5,051	5,973	5,248	2.9	2.3	1.9	2.3	2.0
Net employment change (2)	-7,167	9,823	1,465	-149	1,860	-2.8	3.7	0.6	-0.1	0.6
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.