From December 2025 to March 2026, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in North Carolina were 243,032, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 226,278, 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 16,754 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 39,826. (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 first quarter of 2026, gross job gains represented 5.8 percent of private-sector employment in North Carolina; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.5 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 North Carolina, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 185,598 in the first quarter of 2026, a decrease of 11,196 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 57,434 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 1,211 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2026, gross job losses represented 5.3 percent of private-sector employment in North Carolina; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 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 North Carolina, contracting establishments lost 178,179 jobs in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 4,892 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 48,099 jobs, an increase of 8,195 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 6 of the 11 published industry sectors in North Carolina in the first quarter of 2026. Education and health services had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 11,892 jobs. This was the result of 41,778 gross job gains and 29,886 gross job losses. The retail trade industry had a net gain of 5,033 jobs. Transportation and warehousing showed a net loss of 5,330 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state.

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, North Carolina, 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	236,230	237,455	227,915	253,017	243,032	5.6	5.7	5.4	6.0	5.8
At expanding establishments	186,097	187,637	177,736	196,794	185,598	4.4	4.5	4.2	4.7	4.4
At opening establishments	50,133	49,818	50,179	56,223	57,434	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.4
Gross job losses	229,658	228,662	238,956	213,191	226,278	5.5	5.4	5.7	5.0	5.3
At contracting establishments	183,875	185,506	185,274	173,287	178,179	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.1	4.2
At closing establishments	45,783	43,156	53,682	39,904	48,099	1.1	1.0	1.3	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	6,572	8,793	-11,041	39,826	16,754	0.1	0.3	-0.3	1.0	0.5
Construction
Gross job gains	20,486	18,337	18,124	21,186	20,760	7.4	6.6	6.5	7.5	7.3
At expanding establishments	15,735	14,275	13,762	15,796	16,273	5.7	5.1	4.9	5.6	5.7
At opening establishments	4,751	4,062	4,362	5,390	4,487	1.7	1.5	1.6	1.9	1.6
Gross job losses	15,802	17,053	19,085	16,419	17,045	5.7	6.1	6.9	5.8	6.0
At contracting establishments	11,798	13,358	13,499	12,121	12,464	4.3	4.8	4.9	4.3	4.4
At closing establishments	4,004	3,695	5,586	4,298	4,581	1.4	1.3	2.0	1.5	1.6
Net employment change (2)	4,684	1,284	-961	4,767	3,715	1.7	0.5	-0.4	1.7	1.3
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	13,445	13,127	11,474	13,891	13,586	2.9	2.8	2.5	3.0	3.0
At expanding establishments	12,263	11,977	9,935	12,410	12,678	2.6	2.6	2.2	2.7	2.8
At opening establishments	1,182	1,150	1,539	1,481	908	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	14,533	14,863	15,236	13,624	14,828	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.0	3.2
At contracting establishments	12,644	13,379	13,426	12,363	13,286	2.7	2.9	2.9	2.7	2.9
At closing establishments	1,889	1,484	1,810	1,261	1,542	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
Net employment change (2)	-1,088	-1,736	-3,762	267	-1,242	-0.2	-0.4	-0.8	0.0	-0.2
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	9,322	9,567	8,812	9,163	8,924	4.5	4.6	4.2	4.4	4.3
At expanding establishments	7,601	7,408	7,157	7,102	7,025	3.7	3.6	3.4	3.4	3.4
At opening establishments	1,721	2,159	1,655	2,061	1,899	0.8	1.0	0.8	1.0	0.9
Gross job losses	8,739	8,869	8,958	7,810	8,353	4.2	4.2	4.4	3.8	4.0
At contracting establishments	6,359	6,752	6,768	6,220	6,191	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.0	3.0
At closing establishments	2,380	2,117	2,190	1,590	2,162	1.1	1.0	1.1	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	583	698	-146	1,353	571	0.3	0.4	-0.2	0.6	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	28,765	27,481	26,908	24,640	27,937	5.5	5.1	5.1	4.7	5.3
At expanding establishments	24,005	22,994	22,575	20,843	23,774	4.6	4.3	4.3	4.0	4.5
At opening establishments	4,760	4,487	4,333	3,797	4,163	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.8
Gross job losses	23,898	27,047	27,508	28,510	22,904	4.6	5.1	5.2	5.4	4.3
At contracting establishments	20,402	23,362	23,115	25,314	19,122	3.9	4.4	4.4	4.8	3.6
At closing establishments	3,496	3,685	4,393	3,196	3,782	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.7
Net employment change (2)	4,867	434	-600	-3,870	5,033	0.9	0.0	-0.1	-0.7	1.0
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	6,939	10,201	10,098	14,574	8,310	3.8	5.6	5.6	7.8	4.5
At expanding establishments	5,683	8,656	8,167	12,686	6,909	3.1	4.8	4.5	6.8	3.7
At opening establishments	1,256	1,545	1,931	1,888	1,401	0.7	0.8	1.1	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	13,536	9,828	10,276	9,215	13,640	7.3	5.4	5.7	5.0	7.3
At contracting establishments	12,066	8,486	8,855	7,560	12,286	6.5	4.7	4.9	4.1	6.6
At closing establishments	1,470	1,342	1,421	1,655	1,354	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	-6,597	373	-178	5,359	-5,330	-3.5	0.2	-0.1	2.8	-2.8
Information
Gross job gains	3,857	4,075	3,769	4,354	3,729	4.4	4.7	4.3	5.0	4.3
At expanding establishments	2,810	3,215	2,464	3,219	2,826	3.2	3.7	2.8	3.7	3.3
At opening establishments	1,047	860	1,305	1,135	903	1.2	1.0	1.5	1.3	1.0
Gross job losses	3,945	4,017	4,658	4,262	4,050	4.6	4.6	5.4	4.9	4.6
At contracting establishments	3,010	2,804	3,570	3,193	3,241	3.5	3.2	4.1	3.7	3.7
At closing establishments	935	1,213	1,088	1,069	809	1.1	1.4	1.3	1.2	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-88	58	-889	92	-321	-0.2	0.1	-1.1	0.1	-0.3
Financial activities
Gross job gains	12,571	14,188	13,374	15,781	11,468	4.1	4.6	4.3	5.1	3.7
At expanding establishments	9,463	10,795	9,881	11,327	8,575	3.1	3.5	3.2	3.7	2.8
At opening establishments	3,108	3,393	3,493	4,454	2,893	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.4	0.9
Gross job losses	11,908	13,853	13,250	10,728	13,598	3.9	4.6	4.3	3.5	4.4
At contracting establishments	8,633	9,713	9,257	7,882	10,217	2.8	3.2	3.0	2.6	3.3
At closing establishments	3,275	4,140	3,993	2,846	3,381	1.1	1.4	1.3	0.9	1.1
Net employment change (2)	663	335	124	5,053	-2,130	0.2	0.0	0.0	1.6	-0.7
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	49,733	50,043	50,105	51,670	48,896	6.7	6.8	6.8	7.0	6.6
At expanding establishments	37,826	39,021	38,775	39,867	37,847	5.1	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.1
At opening establishments	11,907	11,022	11,330	11,803	11,049	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.5
Gross job losses	48,928	51,642	50,096	47,595	45,530	6.6	7.0	6.8	6.5	6.2
At contracting establishments	38,318	42,068	36,389	37,528	33,988	5.2	5.7	4.9	5.1	4.6
At closing establishments	10,610	9,574	13,707	10,067	11,542	1.4	1.3	1.9	1.4	1.6
Net employment change (2)	805	-1,599	9	4,075	3,366	0.1	-0.2	0.0	0.5	0.4
Education and health services
Gross job gains	35,340	33,551	32,898	33,707	41,778	5.1	4.8	4.7	4.7	5.9
At expanding establishments	28,377	25,899	26,689	26,322	24,836	4.1	3.7	3.8	3.7	3.5
At opening establishments	6,963	7,652	6,209	7,385	16,942	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.0	2.4
Gross job losses	28,951	28,819	29,190	27,105	29,886	4.2	4.1	4.1	3.8	4.1
At contracting establishments	22,077	22,987	21,934	21,596	22,546	3.2	3.3	3.1	3.0	3.1
At closing establishments	6,874	5,832	7,256	5,509	7,340	1.0	0.8	1.0	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	6,389	4,732	3,708	6,602	11,892	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.9	1.8
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	42,675	45,641	40,393	51,049	44,959	7.8	8.5	7.4	9.3	8.1
At expanding establishments	32,767	35,050	29,903	37,722	35,628	6.0	6.5	5.5	6.9	6.4
At opening establishments	9,908	10,591	10,490	13,327	9,331	1.8	2.0	1.9	2.4	1.7
Gross job losses	47,376	39,318	48,589	37,564	45,041	8.7	7.2	9.1	6.9	8.1
At contracting establishments	39,265	32,221	39,666	31,548	36,535	7.2	5.9	7.4	5.8	6.6
At closing establishments	8,111	7,097	8,923	6,016	8,506	1.5	1.3	1.7	1.1	1.5
Net employment change (2)	-4,701	6,323	-8,196	13,485	-82	-0.9	1.3	-1.7	2.4	0.0
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	9,634	9,046	9,602	9,502	9,765	7.8	7.3	7.8	7.7	7.8
At expanding establishments	6,923	6,462	6,659	6,650	6,856	5.6	5.2	5.4	5.4	5.5
At opening establishments	2,711	2,584	2,943	2,852	2,909	2.2	2.1	2.4	2.3	2.3
Gross job losses	9,081	9,628	8,992	8,598	8,717	7.4	7.8	7.3	7.0	6.9
At contracting establishments	6,784	7,370	6,383	6,519	6,166	5.5	6.0	5.2	5.3	4.9
At closing establishments	2,297	2,258	2,609	2,079	2,551	1.9	1.8	2.1	1.7	2.0
Net employment change (2)	553	-582	610	904	1,048	0.4	-0.5	0.5	0.7	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. (3) Except public administration.