From September 2018 to December 2018, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Mississippi totaled 57,676, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments numbered 46,751, 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 in Mississippi yielded a net employment gain of 10,925 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2018. In the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 1,210. (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.)

Mississippi’s gross job gains numbered 57,676 in the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of 5,587 from the previous quarter. This was Mississippi’s largest over-the-quarter gross jobs gain since the fourth quarter of 2015. (Seechart 1.) Mississippi’s gross job losses numbered 46,751 in the fourth quarter of 2018, the lowest level of gross job losses in the series history. 

In the fourth quarter of 2018, Mississippi’s rate of gross job gains represented 6.4 percent of private-sector employment; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.1 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses accounted for 5.2 percent of private-sector employment in Mississippi in the fourth quarter of 2018, while nationally gross job losses accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment in the fourth quarter of 2018.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 7 of the 10 industry sectors in Mississippi. Professional and business services added 11,803 jobs at opening and expanding establishments, while closing and contracting establishments lost 7,855 jobs. The resulting net gain of 3,948 jobs was the largest of any Mississippi sector in the fourth quarter of 2018. Manufacturing created 5,915 jobs at opening and expanding establishments, while 3,229 jobs were lost at closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 2,686 jobs. Mississippi’s transportation and warehousing sector had a net gain of 2,679 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2018. Among the four other sectors with net employment gains, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by less than 560. (See table 1.)

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in three industry sectors in Mississippi in the fourth quarter of 2018: education and health services, retail trade, and other services. Net employment losses in each of these three industries were less than 260.  

Mississippi was among the four states in the East South Central Census division. In the fourth quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all four states. (See table A.) Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi each had rates of gross job gains that were at or above the national rate of 6.1 percent. Tennessee had a rate of gross job gains below the national rate. All four states in the division had rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.6-percent national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East South Central Division, and East South Central states, December 2018, 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	7,729,000	6.1	6,915,000	5.6	814,000	0.5
East South Central (1)	404,730	—	344,873	—	59,857	—
Alabama	100,130	6.3	85,072	5.3	15,058	1.0
Kentucky	97,409	6.1	87,136	5.5	10,273	0.6
Mississippi	57,676	6.4	46,751	5.2	10,925	1.2
Tennessee	149,515	5.8	125,914	4.9	23,601	0.9
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 the First Quarter 2019 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 30, 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, 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. 2017	Mar. 2018	June 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	June 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	57,247	49,047	51,181	52,089	57,676	6.3	5.5	5.7	5.8	6.4
At expanding establishments	47,913	40,894	42,991	43,386	46,806	5.3	4.6	4.8	4.8	5.2
At opening establishments	9,334	8,153	8,190	8,703	10,870	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.2
Gross job losses	48,680	52,670	53,851	50,879	46,751	5.4	5.8	6.0	5.7	5.2
At contracting establishments	40,398	46,212	46,577	43,172	38,731	4.5	5.1	5.2	4.8	4.3
At closing establishments	8,282	6,458	7,274	7,707	8,020	0.9	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	8,567	-3,623	-2,670	1,210	10,925	0.9	-0.3	-0.3	0.1	1.2
Construction
Gross job gains	4,596	5,166	4,411	4,230	4,283	10.6	11.7	10.0	9.7	9.8
At expanding establishments	3,741	4,229	3,552	3,497	3,537	8.6	9.6	8.1	8.0	8.1
At opening establishments	855	937	859	733	746	2.0	2.1	1.9	1.7	1.7
Gross job losses	4,614	4,473	4,928	4,420	3,839	10.6	10.2	11.2	10.1	8.7
At contracting establishments	3,774	3,789	4,041	3,755	3,082	8.7	8.6	9.2	8.6	7.0
At closing establishments	840	684	887	665	757	1.9	1.6	2.0	1.5	1.7
Net employment change (2)	-18	693	-517	-190	444	0.0	1.5	-1.2	-0.4	1.1
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	4,649	3,547	3,805	3,958	5,915	3.2	2.5	2.6	2.7	4.1
At expanding establishments	4,326	3,288	3,514	3,627	4,279	3.0	2.3	2.4	2.5	3.0
At opening establishments	323	259	291	331	1,636	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.1
Gross job losses	3,641	3,873	3,912	4,168	3,229	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.9	2.3
At contracting establishments	3,104	3,574	3,769	3,790	2,867	2.1	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.0
At closing establishments	537	299	143	378	362	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.3
Net employment change (2)	1,008	-326	-107	-210	2,686	0.7	-0.2	-0.1	-0.2	1.8
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	1,767	1,543	1,611	1,720	1,758	5.1	4.5	4.7	5.1	5.2
At expanding establishments	1,531	1,234	1,368	1,391	1,465	4.4	3.6	4.0	4.1	4.3
At opening establishments	236	309	243	329	293	0.7	0.9	0.7	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	1,412	1,612	1,573	1,675	1,377	4.1	4.7	4.6	4.9	4.0
At contracting establishments	1,170	1,362	1,266	1,218	1,090	3.4	4.0	3.7	3.6	3.2
At closing establishments	242	250	307	457	287	0.7	0.7	0.9	1.3	0.8
Net employment change (2)	355	-69	38	45	381	1.0	-0.2	0.1	0.2	1.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	7,556	7,265	7,099	7,673	7,299	5.4	5.2	5.1	5.6	5.4
At expanding establishments	6,679	6,414	6,321	6,630	6,542	4.8	4.6	4.5	4.8	4.8
At opening establishments	877	851	778	1,043	757	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.6
Gross job losses	8,169	7,582	8,418	8,446	7,521	5.8	5.4	6.0	6.1	5.5
At contracting establishments	7,218	6,867	7,465	7,379	6,473	5.1	4.9	5.3	5.3	4.7
At closing establishments	951	715	953	1,067	1,048	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-613	-317	-1,319	-773	-222	-0.4	-0.2	-0.9	-0.5	-0.1
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,644	2,312	2,871	2,589	4,844	9.7	4.7	6.0	5.4	9.7
At expanding establishments	4,307	2,100	2,539	2,221	4,241	9.0	4.3	5.3	4.6	8.5
At opening establishments	337	212	332	368	603	0.7	0.4	0.7	0.8	1.2
Gross job losses	1,916	3,514	2,490	2,594	2,165	4.0	7.2	5.2	5.3	4.3
At contracting establishments	1,678	3,326	2,264	2,288	1,897	3.5	6.8	4.7	4.7	3.8
At closing establishments	238	188	226	306	268	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	2,728	-1,202	381	-5	2,679	5.7	-2.5	0.8	0.1	5.4
Financial activities
Gross job gains	1,811	2,125	2,015	2,070	1,886	4.2	4.9	4.7	4.8	4.4
At expanding establishments	1,419	1,692	1,596	1,517	1,420	3.3	3.9	3.7	3.5	3.3
At opening establishments	392	433	419	553	466	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.3	1.1
Gross job losses	1,916	1,940	2,090	2,027	1,782	4.5	4.5	4.9	4.7	4.1
At contracting establishments	1,528	1,504	1,587	1,473	1,394	3.6	3.5	3.7	3.4	3.2
At closing establishments	388	436	503	554	388	0.9	1.0	1.2	1.3	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-105	185	-75	43	104	-0.3	0.4	-0.2	0.1	0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	11,952	8,031	9,254	10,998	11,803	11.0	7.2	8.5	10.1	10.5
At expanding establishments	10,250	6,657	7,615	9,021	9,646	9.4	6.0	7.0	8.3	8.6
At opening establishments	1,702	1,374	1,639	1,977	2,157	1.6	1.2	1.5	1.8	1.9
Gross job losses	7,295	10,467	10,623	7,687	7,855	6.7	9.5	9.8	7.0	7.0
At contracting establishments	5,585	9,151	9,126	6,468	6,251	5.1	8.3	8.4	5.9	5.6
At closing establishments	1,710	1,316	1,497	1,219	1,604	1.6	1.2	1.4	1.1	1.4
Net employment change (2)	4,657	-2,436	-1,369	3,311	3,948	4.3	-2.3	-1.3	3.1	3.5
Education and health services
Gross job gains	6,117	5,895	6,926	6,171	5,911	4.3	4.1	4.8	4.2	4.1
At expanding establishments	5,085	5,037	5,737	5,390	5,129	3.6	3.5	4.0	3.7	3.6
At opening establishments	1,032	858	1,189	781	782	0.7	0.6	0.8	0.5	0.5
Gross job losses	6,895	6,361	5,405	6,158	6,165	4.8	4.4	3.8	4.3	4.3
At contracting establishments	5,626	5,743	4,858	5,349	4,913	3.9	4.0	3.4	3.7	3.4
At closing establishments	1,269	618	547	809	1,252	0.9	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-778	-466	1,521	13	-254	-0.5	-0.3	1.0	-0.1	-0.2
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	9,522	8,930	8,863	9,035	9,466	7.1	6.6	6.6	6.7	7.0
At expanding establishments	7,148	6,867	7,439	7,259	7,356	5.3	5.1	5.5	5.4	5.4
At opening establishments	2,374	2,063	1,424	1,776	2,110	1.8	1.5	1.1	1.3	1.6
Gross job losses	8,794	8,578	9,601	9,319	8,908	6.6	6.4	7.1	6.9	6.6
At contracting establishments	7,506	7,543	8,459	8,007	7,744	5.6	5.6	6.3	5.9	5.7
At closing establishments	1,288	1,035	1,142	1,312	1,164	1.0	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	728	352	-738	-284	558	0.5	0.2	-0.5	-0.2	0.4
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	1,541	1,550	1,529	1,489	1,400	7.7	7.7	7.6	7.4	7.0
At expanding establishments	1,144	1,270	1,171	1,193	1,106	5.7	6.3	5.8	5.9	5.5
At opening establishments	397	280	358	296	294	2.0	1.4	1.8	1.5	1.5
Gross job losses	1,411	1,401	1,441	1,491	1,410	7.0	6.9	7.2	7.3	7.0
At contracting establishments	1,229	1,038	1,183	1,120	1,147	6.1	5.1	5.9	5.5	5.7
At closing establishments	182	363	258	371	263	0.9	1.8	1.3	1.8	1.3
Net employment change (2)	130	149	88	-2	-10	0.7	0.8	0.4	0.1	0.0
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.