From December 2018 to March 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in North Carolina totaled 237,488, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments numbered 188,107, 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 49,381 jobs in North Carolina’s private-sector during the first quarter of 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 51,279. (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.)

North Carolina’s gross jobs gains totaled 237,488 in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 11,271 from the previous quarter. With one exception, North Carolina’s gross job gains have been above 200,000 each quarter since the second quarter of 2010. North Carolina’s gross job losses totaled 188,107 in the first quarter of 2019, below the recent peak of 236,976 gross job losses in the third quarter of 2018. (Seechart 1.)

North Carolina’s rate of gross job gains as a percent of private sector employment was 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2019; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses represented 5.1 percent of private sector employment in North Carolina; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private sector employment in the first quarter of 2019.

During the first quarter of 2019, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in North Carolina. Leisure and hospitality created 45,610 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, but lost 34,603 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 11,007 jobs was the largest of any sector in North Carolina in the first quarter of 2019. In professional and business services, 47,741 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments, while 39,214 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 8,527 jobs. Education and health services added 28,066 jobs in opening and expanding establishments and lost 21,083 jobs in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 6,983 jobs. Within the retail trade and construction sectors, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 6,305 and 5,922, respectively. In each of the five other sectors with net employment gains, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by less than 2,800. (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 Second Quarter 2019 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 29, 2020.

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.

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Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, North Carolina, 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. 2018	June 2018	Sept. 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	Mar. 2018	June 2018	Sept. 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	228,106	228,178	209,963	248,759	237,488	6.2	6.1	5.7	6.7	6.3
At expanding establishments	182,261	185,987	170,969	204,005	193,195	5.0	5.0	4.6	5.5	5.1
At opening establishments	45,845	42,191	38,994	44,754	44,293	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2
Gross job losses	193,957	212,847	236,976	197,480	188,107	5.3	5.7	6.4	5.3	5.1
At contracting establishments	162,599	167,090	195,414	159,115	156,112	4.4	4.5	5.3	4.3	4.2
At closing establishments	31,358	45,757	41,562	38,365	31,995	0.9	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	34,149	15,331	-27,013	51,279	49,381	0.9	0.4	-0.7	1.4	1.2
Construction
Gross job gains	18,410	18,616	17,320	22,152	20,630	8.5	8.4	7.8	9.9	9.0
At expanding establishments	14,102	14,575	13,268	17,055	15,822	6.5	6.6	6.0	7.6	6.9
At opening establishments	4,308	4,041	4,052	5,097	4,808	2.0	1.8	1.8	2.3	2.1
Gross job losses	14,388	15,969	17,113	16,077	14,708	6.7	7.3	7.8	7.2	6.4
At contracting establishments	10,988	11,374	13,110	12,365	11,668	5.1	5.2	6.0	5.5	5.1
At closing establishments	3,400	4,595	4,003	3,712	3,040	1.6	2.1	1.8	1.7	1.3
Net employment change (2)	4,022	2,647	207	6,075	5,922	1.8	1.1	0.0	2.7	2.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	14,710	15,692	14,740	15,683	13,501	3.1	3.3	3.1	3.2	2.8
At expanding establishments	13,615	14,335	13,926	14,493	12,645	2.9	3.0	2.9	3.0	2.6
At opening establishments	1,095	1,357	814	1,190	856	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Gross job losses	13,154	13,613	14,200	14,089	13,237	2.8	2.9	3.0	2.9	2.8
At contracting establishments	12,108	11,891	12,733	12,625	12,027	2.6	2.5	2.7	2.6	2.5
At closing establishments	1,046	1,722	1,467	1,464	1,210	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3
Net employment change (2)	1,556	2,079	540	1,594	264	0.3	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	9,052	9,446	8,728	9,168	9,826	5.0	5.1	4.8	5.1	5.4
At expanding establishments	7,116	7,532	6,803	7,406	7,871	3.9	4.1	3.7	4.1	4.3
At opening establishments	1,936	1,914	1,925	1,762	1,955	1.1	1.0	1.1	1.0	1.1
Gross job losses	7,524	8,680	8,678	7,065	7,082	4.1	4.8	4.8	3.9	3.8
At contracting establishments	5,849	6,147	6,689	5,501	5,375	3.2	3.4	3.7	3.0	2.9
At closing establishments	1,675	2,533	1,989	1,564	1,707	0.9	1.4	1.1	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	1,528	766	50	2,103	2,744	0.9	0.3	0.0	1.2	1.6
Retail trade
Gross job gains	30,627	29,043	27,883	28,345	32,202	6.1	5.8	5.6	5.7	6.4
At expanding establishments	26,034	24,526	24,417	25,023	27,970	5.2	4.9	4.9	5.0	5.6
At opening establishments	4,593	4,517	3,466	3,322	4,232	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	27,023	30,234	35,482	25,809	25,897	5.4	6.0	7.1	5.2	5.2
At contracting establishments	24,202	25,551	30,987	22,345	22,537	4.8	5.1	6.2	4.5	4.5
At closing establishments	2,821	4,683	4,495	3,464	3,360	0.6	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	3,604	-1,191	-7,599	2,536	6,305	0.7	-0.2	-1.5	0.5	1.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	6,622	6,939	8,651	12,199	9,104	5.0	5.2	6.5	8.9	6.5
At expanding establishments	5,283	5,992	7,502	10,712	7,896	4.0	4.5	5.6	7.8	5.6
At opening establishments	1,339	947	1,149	1,487	1,208	1.0	0.7	0.9	1.1	0.9
Gross job losses	7,848	7,185	6,188	5,822	9,158	5.9	5.5	4.6	4.2	6.5
At contracting establishments	7,004	5,762	5,061	4,670	8,389	5.3	4.4	3.8	3.4	6.0
At closing establishments	844	1,423	1,127	1,152	769	0.6	1.1	0.8	0.8	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-1,226	-246	2,463	6,377	-54	-0.9	-0.3	1.9	4.7	0.0
Information
Gross job gains	4,177	3,879	3,712	3,489	4,595	5.3	4.9	4.7	4.4	6.1
At expanding establishments	3,573	3,165	3,019	2,880	3,373	4.5	4.0	3.8	3.6	4.5
At opening establishments	604	714	693	609	1,222	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8	1.6
Gross job losses	3,037	2,857	4,436	3,800	3,748	3.8	3.6	5.6	4.8	5.0
At contracting establishments	2,531	2,083	3,655	2,752	3,246	3.2	2.6	4.6	3.5	4.3
At closing establishments	506	774	781	1,048	502	0.6	1.0	1.0	1.3	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,140	1,022	-724	-311	847	1.5	1.3	-0.9	-0.4	1.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	11,913	13,632	11,736	13,492	11,449	5.1	5.8	5.0	5.8	4.8
At expanding establishments	9,263	10,514	8,986	10,428	8,897	4.0	4.5	3.8	4.5	3.7
At opening establishments	2,650	3,118	2,750	3,064	2,552	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.1
Gross job losses	9,635	11,370	12,810	11,170	9,779	4.2	4.9	5.5	4.8	4.1
At contracting establishments	6,835	8,291	9,789	8,337	7,421	3.0	3.6	4.2	3.6	3.1
At closing establishments	2,800	3,079	3,021	2,833	2,358	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.0
Net employment change (2)	2,278	2,262	-1,074	2,322	1,670	0.9	0.9	-0.5	1.0	0.7
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	45,889	48,691	46,106	50,459	47,741	7.3	7.7	7.2	8.0	7.4
At expanding establishments	35,990	38,614	37,659	40,553	38,799	5.7	6.1	5.9	6.4	6.0
At opening establishments	9,899	10,077	8,447	9,906	8,942	1.6	1.6	1.3	1.6	1.4
Gross job losses	42,061	42,225	44,525	44,653	39,214	6.7	6.7	7.0	6.9	6.1
At contracting establishments	35,029	33,294	36,090	35,438	31,990	5.6	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.0
At closing establishments	7,032	8,931	8,435	9,215	7,224	1.1	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	3,828	6,466	1,581	5,806	8,527	0.6	1.0	0.2	1.1	1.3
Education and health services
Gross job gains	27,633	26,434	24,263	29,214	28,066	4.7	4.5	4.1	4.9	4.7
At expanding establishments	22,377	22,152	20,036	24,458	23,255	3.8	3.8	3.4	4.1	3.9
At opening establishments	5,256	4,282	4,227	4,756	4,811	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	21,025	23,877	26,961	22,154	21,083	3.6	4.0	4.6	3.7	3.5
At contracting establishments	18,012	18,360	22,484	17,325	17,045	3.1	3.1	3.8	2.9	2.8
At closing establishments	3,013	5,517	4,477	4,829	4,038	0.5	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	6,608	2,557	-2,698	7,060	6,983	1.1	0.5	-0.5	1.2	1.2
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	45,364	44,063	36,629	50,622	45,610	9.0	8.7	7.4	10.2	8.9
At expanding establishments	34,244	35,433	27,292	40,640	35,573	6.8	7.0	5.5	8.2	6.9
At opening establishments	11,120	8,630	9,337	9,982	10,037	2.2	1.7	1.9	2.0	2.0
Gross job losses	37,045	43,364	53,329	36,353	34,603	7.4	8.6	10.8	7.3	6.8
At contracting establishments	31,237	34,261	44,491	29,678	28,440	6.2	6.8	9.0	6.0	5.6
At closing establishments	5,808	9,103	8,838	6,675	6,163	1.2	1.8	1.8	1.3	1.2
Net employment change (2)	8,319	699	-16,700	14,269	11,007	1.6	0.1	-3.4	2.9	2.1
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	8,492	8,221	7,488	9,849	9,273	8.4	8.1	7.5	9.7	8.9
At expanding establishments	6,327	6,055	5,785	7,171	6,915	6.3	6.0	5.8	7.1	6.6
At opening establishments	2,165	2,166	1,703	2,678	2,358	2.1	2.1	1.7	2.6	2.3
Gross job losses	7,877	8,214	8,312	7,408	6,495	7.8	8.1	8.2	7.3	6.2
At contracting establishments	5,919	5,849	6,286	5,520	5,214	5.9	5.8	6.2	5.4	5.0
At closing establishments	1,958	2,365	2,026	1,888	1,281	1.9	2.3	2.0	1.9	1.2
Net employment change (2)	615	7	-824	2,441	2,778	0.6	0.0	-0.7	2.4	2.7
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.