From December 2018 to March 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Tennessee were 138,640, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 124,279, 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 Tennessee yielded a net employment gain of 14,361 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2019. In the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 20,827. (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.)

Tennessee’s gross job gains totaled 138,640 in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 9,994 from the previous quarter. Tennessee’s gross job gains have been above 130,000 each quarter since the second quarter of 2015. Tennessee’s 124,279 gross job losses in the first quarter of 2019 were the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2015. (See chart 1.)

Tennessee’s rate of gross job gains as a percent of private sector employment was 5.4 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 4.8 percent of private sector employment in Tennessee; 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 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Tennessee. Retail trade created 20,192 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, but lost 15,700 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 4,492 jobs was the largest of any sector in Tennessee for the first quarter of 2019. In leisure and hospitality, 26,045 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and 22,644 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 3,401 jobs. Two other industry sectors—education and health services, and construction—each had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 2,100.

In contrast, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in two industries in Tennessee: professional and business services, and transportation and warehousing. Professional and business services had a net employment decrease of 1,767 jobs. Transportation and warehousing had a net employment loss of 711 jobs. (See table 1.)

Tennessee was among the four states in the East South Central Census Division. In the first quarter of 2019, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Alabama had a rate of gross job gains that was above the national rate of 5.9 percent. Tennessee had a rate of gross job losses that was below the 5.5 percent national rate; Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi had rates of gross job losses at or above the national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East South Central Division, and East South Central states, March 2019, 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	7,375,000	5.9	6,850,000	5.5	525,000	0.4
East South Central (1)	378,698	—	356,619	—	22,079	—
Alabama	96,841	6.0	88,823	5.5	8,018	0.5
Kentucky	92,536	5.8	88,220	5.5	4,316	0.3
Mississippi	50,681	5.7	55,297	6.2	-4,616	-0.5
Tennessee	138,640	5.4	124,279	4.8	14,361	0.6
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 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.

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, Tennessee, 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	130,419	141,283	149,585	148,634	138,640	5.1	5.5	5.8	5.8	5.4
At expanding establishments	114,610	120,667	125,302	128,655	121,172	4.5	4.7	4.9	5.0	4.7
At opening establishments	15,809	20,616	24,283	19,979	17,468	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	125,868	135,300	135,764	127,807	124,279	4.9	5.3	5.3	4.9	4.8
At contracting establishments	112,045	113,254	118,584	111,690	110,615	4.4	4.4	4.6	4.3	4.3
At closing establishments	13,823	22,046	17,180	16,117	13,664	0.5	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	4,551	5,983	13,821	20,827	14,361	0.2	0.2	0.5	0.9	0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	10,097	10,326	10,961	10,717	11,190	8.1	8.3	8.8	8.5	8.6
At expanding establishments	8,725	8,844	9,389	9,385	9,632	7.0	7.1	7.5	7.4	7.4
At opening establishments	1,372	1,482	1,572	1,332	1,558	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.1	1.2
Gross job losses	8,793	9,219	9,439	9,865	9,069	7.1	7.4	7.6	7.8	7.0
At contracting establishments	7,766	7,808	8,111	8,723	7,945	6.3	6.3	6.5	6.9	6.1
At closing establishments	1,027	1,411	1,328	1,142	1,124	0.8	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	1,304	1,107	1,522	852	2,121	1.0	0.9	1.2	0.7	1.6
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	9,546	10,461	12,662	11,810	10,512	2.7	3.0	3.6	3.3	3.0
At expanding establishments	8,892	9,840	11,960	11,063	9,942	2.5	2.8	3.4	3.1	2.8
At opening establishments	654	621	702	747	570	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Gross job losses	8,848	9,379	9,217	10,022	8,547	2.5	2.7	2.6	2.8	2.4
At contracting establishments	8,021	8,727	8,541	9,608	8,172	2.3	2.5	2.4	2.7	2.3
At closing establishments	827	652	676	414	375	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1
Net employment change (2)	698	1,082	3,445	1,788	1,965	0.2	0.3	1.0	0.5	0.6
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,003	5,892	5,483	5,615	5,044	4.2	4.9	4.5	4.7	4.2
At expanding establishments	4,211	5,043	4,608	4,761	4,432	3.5	4.2	3.8	4.0	3.7
At opening establishments	792	849	875	854	612	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.5
Gross job losses	4,681	4,871	5,230	4,212	4,380	4.0	4.1	4.3	3.5	3.6
At contracting establishments	3,771	3,910	4,364	3,408	3,659	3.2	3.3	3.6	2.8	3.0
At closing establishments	910	961	866	804	721	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	322	1,021	253	1,403	664	0.2	0.8	0.2	1.2	0.6
Retail trade
Gross job gains	18,849	18,437	18,041	17,384	20,192	5.6	5.4	5.3	5.2	6.0
At expanding establishments	17,247	16,179	15,895	15,489	18,062	5.1	4.7	4.7	4.6	5.4
At opening establishments	1,602	2,258	2,146	1,895	2,130	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.6
Gross job losses	16,501	18,398	20,894	17,712	15,700	4.9	5.4	6.1	5.3	4.7
At contracting establishments	14,769	16,337	18,440	15,621	13,980	4.4	4.8	5.4	4.7	4.2
At closing establishments	1,732	2,061	2,454	2,091	1,720	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	2,348	39	-2,853	-328	4,492	0.7	0.0	-0.8	-0.1	1.3
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	6,089	6,887	8,672	12,519	7,602	3.7	4.3	5.3	7.5	4.4
At expanding establishments	5,391	6,088	8,047	11,419	6,878	3.3	3.8	4.9	6.8	4.0
At opening establishments	698	799	625	1,100	724	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.4
Gross job losses	7,423	7,193	5,861	5,592	8,313	4.6	4.4	3.6	3.3	4.9
At contracting establishments	7,010	6,334	5,202	5,182	8,004	4.3	3.9	3.2	3.1	4.7
At closing establishments	413	859	659	410	309	0.3	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	-1,334	-306	2,811	6,927	-711	-0.9	-0.1	1.7	4.2	-0.5
Information
Gross job gains	2,213	4,289	3,215	2,126	2,976	4.9	9.3	7.1	4.8	6.8
At expanding establishments	1,774	3,862	2,228	1,719	2,528	3.9	8.4	4.9	3.9	5.8
At opening establishments	439	427	987	407	448	1.0	0.9	2.2	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	2,208	3,169	4,122	3,747	2,456	4.9	6.9	9.0	8.4	5.7
At contracting establishments	1,820	2,861	3,782	2,863	2,111	4.0	6.2	8.3	6.4	4.9
At closing establishments	388	308	340	884	345	0.9	0.7	0.7	2.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	5	1,120	-907	-1,621	520	0.0	2.4	-1.9	-3.6	1.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,380	6,919	7,469	6,911	6,024	4.3	4.6	5.0	4.5	3.8
At expanding establishments	5,531	5,849	6,141	5,513	5,046	3.7	3.9	4.1	3.6	3.2
At opening establishments	849	1,070	1,328	1,398	978	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.6
Gross job losses	5,611	5,892	6,018	5,997	5,518	3.7	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.5
At contracting establishments	4,838	4,611	5,083	4,716	4,592	3.2	3.1	3.4	3.1	2.9
At closing establishments	773	1,281	935	1,281	926	0.5	0.9	0.6	0.8	0.6
Net employment change (2)	769	1,027	1,451	914	506	0.6	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	25,257	29,154	28,930	30,115	26,259	6.1	7.0	6.9	7.2	6.2
At expanding establishments	22,305	24,940	24,698	26,098	23,214	5.4	6.0	5.9	6.2	5.5
At opening establishments	2,952	4,214	4,232	4,017	3,045	0.7	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.7
Gross job losses	29,610	26,196	27,596	25,839	28,026	7.2	6.3	6.6	6.2	6.6
At contracting establishments	26,327	22,557	23,986	22,534	25,210	6.4	5.4	5.7	5.4	5.9
At closing establishments	3,283	3,639	3,610	3,305	2,816	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-4,353	2,958	1,334	4,276	-1,767	-1.1	0.7	0.3	1.0	-0.4
Education and health services
Gross job gains	14,602	16,120	18,782	15,065	16,364	3.5	3.8	4.4	3.5	3.8
At expanding establishments	13,330	14,043	14,906	13,271	14,908	3.2	3.3	3.5	3.1	3.5
At opening establishments	1,272	2,077	3,876	1,794	1,456	0.3	0.5	0.9	0.4	0.3
Gross job losses	13,499	17,676	14,838	15,067	14,184	3.3	4.2	3.5	3.6	3.3
At contracting establishments	12,407	12,641	12,817	12,942	12,379	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	2.9
At closing establishments	1,092	5,035	2,021	2,125	1,805	0.3	1.2	0.5	0.5	0.4
Net employment change (2)	1,103	-1,556	3,944	-2	2,180	0.2	-0.4	0.9	-0.1	0.5
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	25,952	25,962	28,371	29,581	26,045	7.7	7.6	8.4	8.7	7.5
At expanding establishments	21,812	20,431	21,826	24,244	21,210	6.5	6.0	6.5	7.1	6.1
At opening establishments	4,140	5,531	6,545	5,337	4,835	1.2	1.6	1.9	1.6	1.4
Gross job losses	22,814	26,781	26,519	23,321	22,644	6.8	8.0	7.8	6.8	6.5
At contracting establishments	20,213	22,144	23,096	20,777	19,866	6.0	6.6	6.8	6.1	5.7
At closing establishments	2,601	4,637	3,423	2,544	2,778	0.8	1.4	1.0	0.7	0.8
Net employment change (2)	3,138	-819	1,852	6,260	3,401	0.9	-0.4	0.6	1.9	1.0
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	4,861	5,430	5,590	4,879	4,742	6.9	7.7	7.8	6.8	6.6
At expanding establishments	4,172	4,432	4,666	4,109	3,980	5.9	6.3	6.5	5.7	5.5
At opening establishments	689	998	924	770	762	1.0	1.4	1.3	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	4,488	4,714	4,690	5,041	4,210	6.4	6.7	6.6	7.0	5.9
At contracting establishments	3,926	3,873	3,970	4,295	3,590	5.6	5.5	5.6	6.0	5.0
At closing establishments	562	841	720	746	620	0.8	1.2	1.0	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	373	716	900	-162	532	0.5	1.0	1.2	-0.2	0.7
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.