From December 2025 to March 2026, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in Kentucky were 90,166, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 87,844, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment loss of 2,322 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2026. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 3,865. (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 Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2026, gross job losses represented 5.3 percent of private-sector employment in Kentucky; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Kentucky, contracting establishments lost 74,559 jobs in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 2,561 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 15,607 jobs, an increase of 1,350 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2026, gross job gains represented 5.2 percent of private-sector employment in Kentucky; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In Kentucky, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 70,453 in the first quarter of 2026, a decrease of 3,758 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 17,391 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 1,482 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in 5 of the 11 published industry sectors in Kentucky in the first quarter of 2026. Manufacturing industry had the largest over-the-quarter net job decrease, with a loss of 3,455 jobs. This was the result of 9,719 gross job losses and 6,264 gross job gains. Construction showed a net increase of 1,476 jobs, the largest gain of any sector in the state. Kentucky’s retail trade industry sector had a net gain of 1,428 jobs.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2026 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 27, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

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Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Kentucky, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	June 2025	Sept. 2025	Dec. 2025	Mar. 2026
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	89,945	85,828	90,144	90,120	87,844	5.3	5.0	5.3	5.3	5.2
At expanding establishments	74,326	70,091	71,365	74,211	70,453	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.4	4.2
At opening establishments	15,619	15,737	18,779	15,909	17,391	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	82,712	90,350	93,622	86,255	90,166	4.9	5.3	5.6	5.1	5.3
At contracting establishments	69,294	75,298	75,765	71,998	74,559	4.1	4.4	4.5	4.3	4.4
At closing establishments	13,418	15,052	17,857	14,257	15,607	0.8	0.9	1.1	0.8	0.9
Net employment change (2)	7,233	-4,522	-3,478	3,865	-2,322	0.4	-0.3	-0.3	0.2	-0.1
Construction
Gross job gains	7,198	7,073	7,814	8,143	8,606	7.7	7.6	8.4	8.7	8.9
At expanding establishments	5,812	5,686	6,398	6,665	7,021	6.2	6.1	6.9	7.1	7.3
At opening establishments	1,386	1,387	1,416	1,478	1,585	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.6
Gross job losses	7,092	7,236	6,975	6,833	7,130	7.6	7.8	7.5	7.3	7.4
At contracting establishments	5,894	5,961	5,362	5,648	5,704	6.3	6.4	5.8	6.0	5.9
At closing establishments	1,198	1,275	1,613	1,185	1,426	1.3	1.4	1.7	1.3	1.5
Net employment change (2)	106	-163	839	1,310	1,476	0.1	-0.2	0.9	1.4	1.5
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,465	5,592	5,771	5,865	6,264	2.6	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.6
At expanding establishments	5,797	5,081	4,824	5,099	5,580	2.3	2.0	1.9	2.0	2.3
At opening establishments	668	511	947	766	684	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.3
Gross job losses	6,241	7,632	8,471	7,378	9,719	2.4	3.0	3.4	2.9	3.9
At contracting establishments	5,865	6,784	7,329	6,768	9,256	2.3	2.7	2.9	2.7	3.7
At closing establishments	376	848	1,142	610	463	0.1	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	224	-2,040	-2,700	-1,513	-3,455	0.2	-0.8	-1.1	-0.6	-1.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	4,335	3,070	3,187	3,140	2,901	5.3	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.6
At expanding establishments	3,653	2,671	2,631	2,814	2,583	4.5	3.3	3.2	3.5	3.2
At opening establishments	682	399	556	326	318	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.4
Gross job losses	3,107	3,339	3,385	2,815	2,808	3.9	4.1	4.1	3.5	3.5
At contracting establishments	2,643	2,753	2,694	2,344	2,397	3.3	3.4	3.3	2.9	3.0
At closing establishments	464	586	691	471	411	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,228	-269	-198	325	93	1.4	-0.3	-0.2	0.4	0.1
Retail trade
Gross job gains	11,910	10,663	12,683	9,809	11,055	5.6	5.1	6.0	4.6	5.3
At expanding establishments	10,423	9,063	10,835	8,455	9,471	4.9	4.3	5.1	4.0	4.5
At opening establishments	1,487	1,600	1,848	1,354	1,584	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.6	0.8
Gross job losses	10,111	13,395	11,101	11,782	9,627	4.8	6.4	5.2	5.6	4.6
At contracting establishments	8,426	11,547	9,526	10,424	8,401	4.0	5.5	4.5	5.0	4.0
At closing establishments	1,685	1,848	1,575	1,358	1,226	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.6
Net employment change (2)	1,799	-2,732	1,582	-1,973	1,428	0.8	-1.3	0.8	-1.0	0.7
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,910	4,261	4,523	6,964	5,960	3.8	3.3	3.6	5.6	4.8
At expanding establishments	4,289	3,693	3,723	6,514	4,732	3.3	2.9	3.0	5.2	3.8
At opening establishments	621	568	800	450	1,228	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.4	1.0
Gross job losses	6,359	6,496	6,035	5,586	6,583	4.9	5.1	4.8	4.4	5.3
At contracting establishments	5,806	5,864	5,156	4,931	5,844	4.5	4.6	4.1	3.9	4.7
At closing establishments	553	632	879	655	739	0.4	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.6
Net employment change (2)	-1,449	-2,235	-1,512	1,378	-623	-1.1	-1.8	-1.2	1.2	-0.5
Information
Gross job gains	971	1,027	1,211	986	855	4.7	5.0	6.0	4.9	4.2
At expanding establishments	747	783	709	712	556	3.6	3.8	3.5	3.5	2.7
At opening establishments	224	244	502	274	299	1.1	1.2	2.5	1.4	1.5
Gross job losses	1,124	1,295	1,393	1,027	987	5.4	6.3	6.8	5.1	4.8
At contracting establishments	855	855	1,039	670	764	4.1	4.2	5.1	3.3	3.7
At closing establishments	269	440	354	357	223	1.3	2.1	1.7	1.8	1.1
Net employment change (2)	-153	-268	-182	-41	-132	-0.7	-1.3	-0.8	-0.2	-0.6
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,874	4,329	4,056	3,849	4,660	4.1	4.6	4.2	4.1	4.9
At expanding establishments	2,987	3,321	3,070	2,902	3,286	3.2	3.5	3.2	3.1	3.5
At opening establishments	887	1,008	986	947	1,374	0.9	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.4
Gross job losses	3,803	3,658	4,219	3,953	4,160	4.0	3.8	4.5	4.1	4.4
At contracting establishments	2,929	2,773	3,207	3,051	3,108	3.1	2.9	3.4	3.2	3.3
At closing establishments	874	885	1,012	902	1,052	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	71	671	-163	-104	500	0.1	0.8	-0.3	0.0	0.5
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	17,902	16,915	17,826	15,050	15,192	8.0	7.5	7.9	6.7	6.7
At expanding establishments	14,925	13,554	13,418	12,002	11,962	6.7	6.0	5.9	5.3	5.3
At opening establishments	2,977	3,361	4,408	3,048	3,230	1.3	1.5	2.0	1.4	1.4
Gross job losses	13,747	16,436	17,586	16,023	15,180	6.2	7.3	7.8	7.1	6.8
At contracting establishments	11,106	13,331	13,782	13,240	12,315	5.0	5.9	6.1	5.9	5.5
At closing establishments	2,641	3,105	3,804	2,783	2,865	1.2	1.4	1.7	1.2	1.3
Net employment change (2)	4,155	479	240	-973	12	1.8	0.2	0.1	-0.4	-0.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains	12,456	13,328	13,324	13,536	11,455	4.0	4.3	4.2	4.3	3.7
At expanding establishments	9,980	10,615	10,377	10,908	9,087	3.2	3.4	3.3	3.5	2.9
At opening establishments	2,476	2,713	2,947	2,628	2,368	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	10,422	11,300	13,193	11,934	12,356	3.4	3.7	4.2	3.8	4.0
At contracting establishments	8,099	8,897	10,375	8,842	9,283	2.6	2.9	3.3	2.8	3.0
At closing establishments	2,323	2,403	2,818	3,092	3,073	0.8	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.0
Net employment change (2)	2,034	2,028	131	1,602	-901	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.5	-0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	14,922	14,794	14,858	17,692	15,576	7.1	7.1	7.2	8.5	7.4
At expanding establishments	12,141	12,046	11,730	14,563	12,410	5.8	5.8	5.7	7.0	5.9
At opening establishments	2,781	2,748	3,128	3,129	3,166	1.3	1.3	1.5	1.5	1.5
Gross job losses	16,125	14,918	16,334	14,159	16,908	7.7	7.2	7.9	6.8	8.1
At contracting establishments	13,958	12,751	13,609	12,308	14,017	6.7	6.2	6.6	5.9	6.7
At closing establishments	2,167	2,167	2,725	1,851	2,891	1.0	1.0	1.3	0.9	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-1,203	-124	-1,476	3,533	-1,332	-0.6	-0.1	-0.7	1.7	-0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	3,422	3,295	3,466	3,202	3,321	7.3	7.1	7.4	6.8	7.1
At expanding establishments	2,493	2,608	2,725	2,437	2,526	5.3	5.6	5.8	5.2	5.4
At opening establishments	929	687	741	765	795	2.0	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.7
Gross job losses	3,104	3,286	3,464	3,310	3,245	6.6	7.0	7.4	7.1	6.9
At contracting establishments	2,547	2,663	2,612	2,674	2,430	5.4	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.2
At closing establishments	557	623	852	636	815	1.2	1.3	1.8	1.4	1.7
Net employment change (2)	318	9	2	-108	76	0.7	0.1	0.0	-0.3	0.2
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. (3) Except public administration.