From September 2023 to December 2023, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Alabama were 104,753, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 100,067, 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 gain of 4,686 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2023. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 771. (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 gains

In the fourth quarter of 2023, gross job gains represented 6.2 percent of private-sector employment in Alabama; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) 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 Alabama, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 84,859 in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 4,648 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 19,894 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of 111 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the fourth quarter of 2023, gross job losses represented 5.8 percent of private-sector employment in Alabama; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Alabama, contracting establishments lost 78,896 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of 2,021 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 21,171 jobs, an increase of 1,101 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 6 of the 10 industry sectors in Alabama in the fourth quarter of 2023. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 2,154 jobs. This was the result of 18,084 gross job gains and 15,930 gross job losses. The transportation and warehousing industry had a net gain of 2,092 jobs. Retail trade showed a net loss of 1,895 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state. Alabama’s education and health services industry sector had a net loss of 1,165 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 Home.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2024 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 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.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Dec. 2022	Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023	Dec. 2022	Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	111,392	107,346	100,702	100,216	104,753	6.6	6.4	5.9	5.9	6.2
At expanding establishments	87,297	83,816	80,324	80,211	84,859	5.2	5.0	4.7	4.7	5.0
At opening establishments	24,095	23,530	20,378	20,005	19,894	1.4	1.4	1.2	1.2	1.2
Gross job losses	101,269	92,757	95,939	100,987	100,067	6.1	5.5	5.7	6.0	5.8
At contracting establishments	79,922	75,213	79,792	80,917	78,896	4.8	4.5	4.7	4.8	4.6
At closing establishments	21,347	17,544	16,147	20,070	21,171	1.3	1.0	1.0	1.2	1.2
Net employment change (2)	10,123	14,589	4,763	-771	4,686	0.5	0.9	0.2	-0.1	0.4
Construction
Gross job gains	8,220	8,439	8,057	8,079	9,262	8.2	8.4	8.0	8.0	9.1
At expanding establishments	6,578	6,553	6,641	6,374	7,534	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.3	7.4
At opening establishments	1,642	1,886	1,416	1,705	1,728	1.6	1.9	1.4	1.7	1.7
Gross job losses	8,090	8,426	7,431	7,634	8,064	8.1	8.4	7.4	7.5	7.9
At contracting establishments	6,585	7,011	5,883	6,085	6,163	6.6	7.0	5.9	6.0	6.0
At closing establishments	1,505	1,415	1,548	1,549	1,901	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.9
Net employment change (2)	130	13	626	445	1,198	0.1	0.0	0.6	0.5	1.2
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	11,344	9,325	9,318	8,610	7,910	4.1	3.3	3.3	3.0	2.8
At expanding establishments	9,915	8,234	8,402	7,758	7,335	3.6	2.9	3.0	2.7	2.6
At opening establishments	1,429	1,091	916	852	575	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	9,206	7,743	8,188	8,684	7,835	3.3	2.7	2.9	3.1	2.8
At contracting establishments	7,887	7,085	7,334	7,499	7,051	2.8	2.5	2.6	2.7	2.5
At closing establishments	1,319	658	854	1,185	784	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.3
Net employment change (2)	2,138	1,582	1,130	-74	75	0.8	0.6	0.4	-0.1	0.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	4,171	4,181	3,588	3,758	4,105	5.4	5.3	4.6	4.8	5.2
At expanding establishments	3,315	3,448	2,989	2,881	3,252	4.3	4.4	3.8	3.7	4.1
At opening establishments	856	733	599	877	853	1.1	0.9	0.8	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	3,891	3,402	3,295	3,810	3,146	5.0	4.4	4.2	4.8	4.0
At contracting establishments	2,459	2,541	2,594	2,940	2,451	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.7	3.1
At closing establishments	1,432	861	701	870	695	1.8	1.1	0.9	1.1	0.9
Net employment change (2)	280	779	293	-52	959	0.4	0.9	0.4	0.0	1.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	13,858	13,423	13,710	13,551	12,378	5.9	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.2
At expanding establishments	11,601	10,584	11,819	11,692	10,469	4.9	4.5	4.9	4.9	4.4
At opening establishments	2,257	2,839	1,891	1,859	1,909	1.0	1.2	0.8	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	14,065	12,107	12,822	13,579	14,273	5.9	5.1	5.3	5.6	6.0
At contracting establishments	11,890	10,823	11,568	11,626	12,391	5.0	4.6	4.8	4.8	5.2
At closing establishments	2,175	1,284	1,254	1,953	1,882	0.9	0.5	0.5	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-207	1,316	888	-28	-1,895	0.0	0.6	0.4	0.1	-0.8
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	9,585	4,206	3,953	4,265	5,678	12.4	5.3	5.2	5.7	7.4
At expanding establishments	6,573	3,461	2,942	3,594	5,112	8.5	4.4	3.9	4.8	6.7
At opening establishments	3,012	745	1,011	671	566	3.9	0.9	1.3	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	3,578	7,229	5,372	4,648	3,586	4.7	9.2	7.1	6.2	4.7
At contracting establishments	2,765	6,460	4,547	3,953	2,695	3.6	8.2	6.0	5.3	3.5
At closing establishments	813	769	825	695	891	1.1	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.2
Net employment change (2)	6,007	-3,023	-1,419	-383	2,092	7.7	-3.9	-1.9	-0.5	2.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,377	6,428	5,310	5,159	5,737	6.4	6.4	5.2	5.1	5.7
At expanding establishments	4,924	4,515	4,048	4,084	4,660	4.9	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.6
At opening establishments	1,453	1,913	1,262	1,075	1,077	1.5	1.9	1.2	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	7,204	4,829	5,304	5,639	6,026	7.2	4.8	5.2	5.6	6.0
At contracting establishments	4,798	3,815	4,203	4,612	4,637	4.8	3.8	4.1	4.6	4.6
At closing establishments	2,406	1,014	1,101	1,027	1,389	2.4	1.0	1.1	1.0	1.4
Net employment change (2)	-827	1,599	6	-480	-289	-0.8	1.6	0.0	-0.5	-0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	20,133	20,885	18,998	18,994	20,828	7.6	7.9	7.1	7.1	7.8
At expanding establishments	15,285	15,888	15,147	14,607	16,252	5.8	6.0	5.7	5.5	6.1
At opening establishments	4,848	4,997	3,851	4,387	4,576	1.8	1.9	1.4	1.6	1.7
Gross job losses	19,532	18,266	19,026	20,219	19,108	7.4	6.8	7.2	7.6	7.1
At contracting establishments	14,781	14,707	15,675	15,968	15,329	5.6	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.7
At closing establishments	4,751	3,559	3,351	4,251	3,779	1.8	1.3	1.3	1.6	1.4
Net employment change (2)	601	2,619	-28	-1,225	1,720	0.2	1.1	-0.1	-0.5	0.7
Education and health services
Gross job gains	12,560	14,586	14,419	13,401	14,129	5.3	6.0	5.8	5.3	5.6
At expanding establishments	9,548	11,185	10,498	10,535	10,807	4.0	4.6	4.2	4.2	4.3
At opening establishments	3,012	3,401	3,921	2,866	3,322	1.3	1.4	1.6	1.1	1.3
Gross job losses	12,916	10,838	10,349	12,705	15,294	5.3	4.5	4.2	5.0	6.1
At contracting establishments	9,975	6,702	8,450	9,340	10,346	4.1	2.8	3.4	3.7	4.1
At closing establishments	2,941	4,136	1,899	3,365	4,948	1.2	1.7	0.8	1.3	2.0
Net employment change (2)	-356	3,748	4,070	696	-1,165	0.0	1.5	1.6	0.3	-0.5
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	17,834	18,822	16,772	18,036	18,084	9.0	9.3	8.2	8.8	8.8
At expanding establishments	14,071	15,047	12,692	13,981	14,228	7.1	7.4	6.2	6.8	6.9
At opening establishments	3,763	3,775	4,080	4,055	3,856	1.9	1.9	2.0	2.0	1.9
Gross job losses	15,626	13,581	17,726	17,430	15,930	7.9	6.7	8.7	8.5	7.7
At contracting establishments	13,074	11,055	14,470	14,159	12,832	6.6	5.5	7.1	6.9	6.2
At closing establishments	2,552	2,526	3,256	3,271	3,098	1.3	1.2	1.6	1.6	1.5
Net employment change (2)	2,208	5,241	-954	606	2,154	1.1	2.6	-0.5	0.3	1.1
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	3,393	3,898	3,270	3,803	3,309	7.4	8.5	7.1	8.2	7.0
At expanding establishments	2,599	2,755	2,425	2,834	2,600	5.7	6.0	5.3	6.1	5.5
At opening establishments	794	1,143	845	969	709	1.7	2.5	1.8	2.1	1.5
Gross job losses	3,890	3,174	2,913	3,230	3,711	8.5	7.0	6.3	6.9	7.9
At contracting establishments	3,018	2,359	2,224	2,263	2,772	6.6	5.2	4.8	4.8	5.9
At closing establishments	872	815	689	967	939	1.9	1.8	1.5	2.1	2.0
Net employment change (2)	-497	724	357	573	-402	-1.1	1.5	0.8	1.3	-0.9
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.