From March 2019 to June 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Alabama were 93,715, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 97,277, 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 loss of 3,562 jobs in the private sector during the second quarter of 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 8,018. (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 Technical Note.)

The 93,715 gross job gains in the second quarter of 2019 followed the 96,841 gross job gains in the first quarter of 2019. Alabama’s gross job gains have exceeded 90,000 each quarter since the third quarter of 2017. (See chart 1.) Alabama’s gross job losses were 97,277 in the second quarter of 2019, the highest number of gross jobs losses since the third quarter of 2009.

In the second quarter of 2019, gross job gains represented 5.8 percent of private-sector employment in Alabama; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses represented 6.0 percent of private-sector employment in Alabama; nationally gross job losses accounted for 5.9 percent of private-sector employment in the second quarter of 2019.

During the second quarter of 2019, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 6 of the 10 industry sectors in Alabama. Education and health services gained 11,126 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, and lost 10,192 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 934 jobs was the largest gain of any sector in the state for the second quarter of 2019. Alabama’s financial activities industry had a net gain of 680 jobs. Net employment gains in the remaining four industries were less than 200. (See table 1.) 

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in four industry sectors in Alabama. Retail trade lost 14,541 jobs in closing and contracting establishments, and gained 12,828 jobs in opening and expanding establishments. The resulting net loss of 1,713 jobs was the largest loss of any sector in the state for the second quarter of 2019. Alabama’s manufacturing industry sector had a net loss of 1,673 jobs. In the two remaining industries with net job losses, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by less than 800.

Alabama was among the four states in the East South Central Census division. In the second quarter of 2019, Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi each had gross job losses that exceeded gross job gains. (See table A.) Alabama was among the three states in the division that had rates of gross job losses that were at or above the 5.9-percent national rate. Tennessee had a rate of job loss below the national rate. All four states in the division had rates of gross job gains that were below the 6.0-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, June 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	7,605,000	6.0	7,423,000	5.9	182,000	0.1
East South Central (1)	380,489	—	377,880	—	2,609	—
Alabama	93,715	5.8	97,277	6.0	-3,562	-0.2
Kentucky	91,694	5.8	94,999	5.9	-3,305	-0.1
Mississippi	52,288	5.8	54,217	6.0	-1,929	-0.2
Tennessee	142,792	5.5	131,387	5.0	11,405	0.5
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 Third Quarter 2019 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 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 units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.

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 units 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 units 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 units with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions.  These are units 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, Alabama, 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)
	June 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	June 2018	Sept 2018	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	93,553	95,605	100,816	96,841	93,715	5.8	6.0	6.3	6.0	5.8
At expanding establishments	77,237	80,674	83,484	79,184	77,977	4.8	5.1	5.2	4.9	4.8
At opening establishments	16,316	14,931	17,332	17,657	15,738	1.0	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	90,394	94,075	85,914	88,823	97,277	5.7	5.9	5.3	5.5	6.0
At contracting establishments	76,520	78,061	72,423	75,844	81,188	4.8	4.9	4.5	4.7	5.0
At closing establishments	13,874	16,014	13,491	12,979	16,089	0.9	1.0	0.8	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	3,159	1,530	14,902	8,018	-3,562	0.1	0.1	1.0	0.5	-0.2
Construction
Gross job gains	7,892	8,267	8,765	10,047	8,295	8.9	9.2	9.7	10.9	8.9
At expanding establishments	6,410	7,296	7,325	8,389	7,024	7.2	8.1	8.1	9.1	7.5
At opening establishments	1,482	971	1,440	1,658	1,271	1.7	1.1	1.6	1.8	1.4
Gross job losses	7,190	7,397	7,344	8,076	8,268	8.1	8.3	8.1	8.7	8.9
At contracting establishments	6,143	5,978	6,242	7,023	7,166	6.9	6.7	6.9	7.6	7.7
At closing establishments	1,047	1,419	1,102	1,053	1,102	1.2	1.6	1.2	1.1	1.2
Net employment change (2)	702	870	1,421	1,971	27	0.8	0.9	1.6	2.2	0.0
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	8,151	9,458	9,204	7,871	7,575	3.0	3.5	3.4	2.9	2.8
At expanding establishments	7,313	8,823	8,630	7,248	7,186	2.7	3.3	3.2	2.7	2.7
At opening establishments	838	635	574	623	389	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1
Gross job losses	7,994	8,236	7,222	8,230	9,248	3.0	3.1	2.7	3.1	3.5
At contracting establishments	7,009	7,340	6,721	7,722	8,543	2.6	2.8	2.5	2.9	3.2
At closing establishments	985	896	501	508	705	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3
Net employment change (2)	157	1,222	1,982	-359	-1,673	0.0	0.4	0.7	-0.2	-0.7
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	3,536	3,356	3,560	3,721	3,604	4.8	4.5	4.8	5.0	4.9
At expanding establishments	2,878	2,838	2,912	3,138	3,092	3.9	3.8	3.9	4.2	4.2
At opening establishments	658	518	648	583	512	0.9	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.7
Gross job losses	3,438	3,327	3,453	3,191	3,464	4.6	4.5	4.6	4.3	4.6
At contracting establishments	2,662	2,641	2,756	2,716	2,759	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.7
At closing establishments	776	686	697	475	705	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.9
Net employment change (2)	98	29	107	530	140	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.7	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	13,586	13,541	12,183	14,418	12,828	5.9	5.9	5.3	6.2	5.5
At expanding establishments	11,314	11,780	10,523	12,302	10,984	4.9	5.1	4.6	5.3	4.7
At opening establishments	2,272	1,761	1,660	2,116	1,844	1.0	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.8
Gross job losses	14,800	14,465	12,662	12,464	14,541	6.4	6.3	5.5	5.4	6.3
At contracting establishments	12,269	12,481	10,966	10,854	12,477	5.3	5.4	4.8	4.7	5.4
At closing establishments	2,531	1,984	1,696	1,610	2,064	1.1	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-1,214	-924	-479	1,954	-1,713	-0.5	-0.4	-0.2	0.8	-0.8
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	3,419	4,028	5,381	3,270	3,168	5.9	6.8	9.0	5.4	5.2
At expanding establishments	2,954	3,532	4,618	2,623	2,657	5.1	6.0	7.7	4.3	4.4
At opening establishments	465	496	763	647	511	0.8	0.8	1.3	1.1	0.8
Gross job losses	3,435	3,419	2,737	3,997	3,606	5.9	5.8	4.6	6.5	5.9
At contracting establishments	3,029	2,703	2,335	3,613	3,177	5.2	4.6	3.9	5.9	5.2
At closing establishments	406	716	402	384	429	0.7	1.2	0.7	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-16	609	2,644	-727	-438	0.0	1.0	4.4	-1.1	-0.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	4,201	5,131	4,455	4,247	4,801	4.5	5.4	4.7	4.5	5.1
At expanding establishments	3,358	4,273	3,439	3,377	3,671	3.6	4.5	3.6	3.6	3.9
At opening establishments	843	858	1,016	870	1,130	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.2
Gross job losses	4,130	4,351	5,192	4,172	4,121	4.4	4.6	5.4	4.4	4.4
At contracting establishments	3,306	3,374	4,202	3,315	3,214	3.5	3.6	4.4	3.5	3.4
At closing establishments	824	977	990	857	907	0.9	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0
Net employment change (2)	71	780	-737	75	680	0.1	0.8	-0.7	0.1	0.7
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	18,246	17,776	22,417	18,157	18,912	7.5	7.3	9.0	7.2	7.6
At expanding establishments	15,316	14,805	17,866	14,820	15,515	6.3	6.1	7.2	5.9	6.2
At opening establishments	2,930	2,971	4,551	3,337	3,397	1.2	1.2	1.8	1.3	1.4
Gross job losses	17,509	18,394	16,681	16,846	18,828	7.2	7.5	6.8	6.8	7.5
At contracting establishments	14,886	14,868	13,783	13,905	15,220	6.1	6.1	5.6	5.6	6.1
At closing establishments	2,623	3,526	2,898	2,941	3,608	1.1	1.4	1.2	1.2	1.4
Net employment change (2)	737	-618	5,736	1,311	84	0.3	-0.2	2.2	0.4	0.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains	11,740	10,106	10,838	11,125	11,126	5.1	4.4	4.6	4.7	4.7
At expanding establishments	9,947	8,795	9,122	9,030	9,410	4.3	3.8	3.9	3.8	4.0
At opening establishments	1,793	1,311	1,716	2,095	1,716	0.8	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	9,224	10,513	9,837	10,232	10,192	3.9	4.5	4.2	4.3	4.3
At contracting establishments	8,007	8,609	8,002	8,549	7,981	3.4	3.7	3.4	3.6	3.4
At closing establishments	1,217	1,904	1,835	1,683	2,211	0.5	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,516	-407	1,001	893	934	1.2	-0.1	0.4	0.4	0.4
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	16,732	17,487	17,098	17,055	17,397	8.1	8.6	8.3	8.2	8.3
At expanding establishments	12,964	13,454	13,571	12,839	13,656	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.2	6.5
At opening establishments	3,768	4,033	3,527	4,216	3,741	1.8	2.0	1.7	2.0	1.8
Gross job losses	16,970	17,676	14,868	15,877	18,148	8.2	8.6	7.2	7.6	8.7
At contracting establishments	14,428	14,976	12,563	13,324	15,213	7.0	7.3	6.1	6.4	7.3
At closing establishments	2,542	2,700	2,305	2,553	2,935	1.2	1.3	1.1	1.2	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-238	-189	2,230	1,178	-751	-0.1	0.0	1.1	0.6	-0.4
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	3,337	3,386	3,359	3,217	3,161	7.8	7.9	7.8	7.5	7.3
At expanding establishments	2,532	2,589	2,577	2,668	2,506	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.2	5.8
At opening establishments	805	797	782	549	655	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.3	1.5
Gross job losses	2,881	3,182	3,135	2,789	3,003	6.7	7.4	7.3	6.5	6.9
At contracting establishments	2,397	2,501	2,531	2,281	2,424	5.6	5.8	5.9	5.3	5.6
At closing establishments	484	681	604	508	579	1.1	1.6	1.4	1.2	1.3
Net employment change (2)	456	204	224	428	158	1.1	0.5	0.5	1.0	0.4
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.