From December 2018 to March 2019, gross job gains in private sector establishments in Texas totaled 584,029, while gross job losses numbered 541,312 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 42,717 from December 2018 to March 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 114,830. (See chart 1 and table 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. 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 job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Technical Note for more information.)

The 584,029 gross job gains in the first quarter of 2019 were down from the series high of 652,219 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross job losses numbered 541,312, up from 537,389 in the fourth quarter of 2018. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.5 percent of private sector employment in Texas in the first quarter of 2019; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) The rate of gross job gains in Texas has been equal to or less than the national rate since the first quarter of 2009. The state’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the national rate of 5.5 percent. With the exception of the first quarter of 2016, the rate of gross job losses in Texas has remained below the U.S. rate since the first quarter of 2003.

During the first quarter of 2019, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 9 of the 11 industry sectors in Texas. For example, within construction, opening and expanding establishments added 59,322 jobs, while closing and contracting establishments lost 49,946 jobs. The resulting net gain of 9,376 jobs was the largest of any Texas sector in the first quarter of 2019. In leisure and hospitality, 96,218 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments and 88,108 were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net employment gain of 8,110, the second largest increase among the state’s sectors. Opening and expanding establishments in Texas’s education and health services sector added 70,400 jobs while losing 63,923 jobs at closing and contracting establishments, for a net gain of 6,477 jobs. (See table 1.)

Two industry sectors in Texas registered net job losses during the latest quarter. Transportation and warehousing saw a net loss of 4,327 jobs, as closing and contracting establishments lost 29,297 jobs, offsetting the 24,970 jobs at opening and expanding establishments. Retail trade had a net loss of 2,106 jobs during the quarter, as 70,618 gross job losses offset 68,512 gross job gains.

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 release for Second Quarter 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 10:00 am (EST).

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), or the ES-202 program. 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 quarterly 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, Texas, 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	604,297	612,249	621,424	652,219	584,029	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.2	5.5
At expanding establishments	492,751	510,040	516,287	539,868	479,425	4.8	4.9	5.0	5.1	4.5
At opening establishments	111,546	102,209	105,137	112,351	104,604	1.1	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	530,142	548,504	565,749	537,389	541,312	5.1	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.2
At contracting establishments	445,920	452,613	470,477	437,416	461,422	4.3	4.4	4.5	4.2	4.4
At closing establishments	84,222	95,891	95,272	99,973	79,890	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.8
Net employment change (2)	74,155	63,745	55,675	114,830	42,717	0.8	0.6	0.6	1.0	0.3
Construction
Gross job gains	59,621	58,752	59,596	62,158	59,322	8.2	8.0	8.1	8.3	7.7
At expanding establishments	50,692	50,872	51,034	54,104	51,331	7.0	6.9	6.9	7.2	6.7
At opening establishments	8,929	7,880	8,562	8,054	7,991	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	52,656	51,256	57,035	48,548	49,946	7.2	7.0	7.7	6.5	6.6
At contracting establishments	45,212	43,834	49,347	40,936	43,167	6.2	6.0	6.7	5.5	5.7
At closing establishments	7,444	7,422	7,688	7,612	6,779	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	6,965	7,496	2,561	13,610	9,376	1.0	1.0	0.4	1.8	1.1
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	31,748	33,206	32,555	36,417	32,464	3.6	3.8	3.6	4.1	3.6
At expanding establishments	28,810	30,243	29,557	33,058	29,538	3.3	3.5	3.3	3.7	3.3
At opening establishments	2,938	2,963	2,998	3,359	2,926	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3
Gross job losses	25,091	24,315	26,587	27,195	27,170	2.9	2.8	3.0	3.1	3.0
At contracting establishments	21,759	21,001	23,283	23,060	24,395	2.5	2.4	2.6	2.6	2.7
At closing establishments	3,332	3,314	3,304	4,135	2,775	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.3
Net employment change (2)	6,657	8,891	5,968	9,222	5,294	0.7	1.0	0.6	1.0	0.6
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	27,346	29,297	27,796	27,230	25,670	4.6	4.9	4.7	4.5	4.3
At expanding establishments	23,145	25,110	23,121	22,499	20,927	3.9	4.2	3.9	3.7	3.5
At opening establishments	4,201	4,187	4,675	4,731	4,743	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	22,900	21,813	23,946	23,940	22,057	3.9	3.7	4.0	4.0	3.6
At contracting establishments	18,174	17,314	18,965	19,520	17,817	3.1	2.9	3.2	3.3	2.9
At closing establishments	4,726	4,499	4,981	4,420	4,240	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	4,446	7,484	3,850	3,290	3,613	0.7	1.2	0.7	0.5	0.7
Retail trade
Gross job gains	72,249	72,458	75,981	68,764	68,512	5.4	5.4	5.7	5.2	5.2
At expanding establishments	62,320	63,187	67,000	60,765	60,537	4.7	4.7	5.0	4.6	4.6
At opening establishments	9,929	9,271	8,981	7,999	7,975	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.6
Gross job losses	67,971	72,945	73,434	71,333	70,618	5.1	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.3
At contracting establishments	61,344	65,023	64,425	62,629	62,797	4.6	4.9	4.8	4.7	4.7
At closing establishments	6,627	7,922	9,009	8,704	7,821	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.6
Net employment change (2)	4,278	-487	2,547	-2,569	-2,106	0.3	-0.1	0.2	-0.2	-0.1
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	22,945	23,703	25,895	35,179	24,970	4.7	4.9	5.3	7.0	5.0
At expanding establishments	19,039	20,045	22,186	31,470	21,622	3.9	4.1	4.5	6.3	4.3
At opening establishments	3,906	3,658	3,709	3,709	3,348	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	27,755	19,651	21,939	21,496	29,297	5.7	4.0	4.5	4.3	5.8
At contracting establishments	25,133	16,026	18,724	17,356	26,832	5.2	3.3	3.8	3.5	5.3
At closing establishments	2,622	3,625	3,215	4,140	2,465	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-4,810	4,052	3,956	13,683	-4,327	-1.0	0.9	0.8	2.7	-0.8
Information
Gross job gains	9,031	10,672	9,137	9,370	9,864	4.4	5.2	4.5	4.6	4.8
At expanding establishments	7,526	8,987	7,685	8,063	8,585	3.7	4.4	3.8	4.0	4.2
At opening establishments	1,505	1,685	1,452	1,307	1,279	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.6
Gross job losses	9,186	9,109	11,110	9,209	7,981	4.5	4.5	5.5	4.5	3.8
At contracting establishments	7,677	7,774	9,577	7,769	6,889	3.8	3.8	4.7	3.8	3.3
At closing establishments	1,509	1,335	1,533	1,440	1,092	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-155	1,563	-1,973	161	1,883	-0.1	0.7	-1.0	0.1	1.0
Financial activities
Gross job gains	35,031	36,403	38,775	37,547	34,420	4.6	4.8	5.2	4.9	4.5
At expanding establishments	27,187	28,679	29,940	29,157	26,857	3.6	3.8	4.0	3.8	3.5
At opening establishments	7,844	7,724	8,835	8,390	7,563	1.0	1.0	1.2	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	32,853	33,182	34,118	34,478	30,534	4.4	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.0
At contracting establishments	26,072	25,187	26,328	25,471	23,599	3.5	3.3	3.5	3.3	3.1
At closing establishments	6,781	7,995	7,790	9,007	6,935	0.9	1.1	1.0	1.2	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,178	3,221	4,657	3,069	3,886	0.2	0.4	0.7	0.4	0.5
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	119,240	121,833	122,370	127,383	111,292	7.0	7.1	7.0	7.3	6.4
At expanding establishments	96,687	101,737	99,774	103,311	90,733	5.7	5.9	5.7	5.9	5.2
At opening establishments	22,553	20,096	22,596	24,072	20,559	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.2
Gross job losses	100,838	108,431	109,858	106,089	109,056	6.0	6.3	6.3	6.0	6.2
At contracting establishments	81,166	87,356	87,754	84,922	91,331	4.8	5.1	5.0	4.8	5.2
At closing establishments	19,672	21,075	22,104	21,167	17,725	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.0
Net employment change (2)	18,402	13,402	12,512	21,294	2,236	1.0	0.8	0.7	1.3	0.2
Education and health services
Gross job gains	72,657	76,186	75,454	80,783	70,400	4.5	4.7	4.6	4.9	4.2
At expanding establishments	60,408	63,876	61,477	66,557	58,583	3.7	3.9	3.7	4.0	3.5
At opening establishments	12,249	12,310	13,977	14,226	11,817	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.7
Gross job losses	61,826	67,152	68,816	64,835	63,923	3.8	4.1	4.2	4.0	3.9
At contracting establishments	51,381	51,743	56,204	50,756	52,708	3.2	3.2	3.4	3.1	3.2
At closing establishments	10,445	15,409	12,612	14,079	11,215	0.6	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	10,831	9,034	6,638	15,948	6,477	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.9	0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	100,410	97,082	103,935	113,812	96,218	7.5	7.2	7.6	8.3	6.9
At expanding establishments	76,787	76,698	83,031	89,547	75,259	5.7	5.7	6.1	6.5	5.4
At opening establishments	23,623	20,384	20,904	24,265	20,959	1.8	1.5	1.5	1.8	1.5
Gross job losses	89,069	97,731	97,124	87,911	88,108	6.7	7.2	7.2	6.5	6.3
At contracting establishments	76,101	82,670	81,973	70,802	76,869	5.7	6.1	6.1	5.2	5.5
At closing establishments	12,968	15,061	15,151	17,109	11,239	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.3	0.8
Net employment change (2)	11,341	-649	6,811	25,901	8,110	0.8	0.0	0.4	1.8	0.6
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	22,599	22,681	24,152	24,393	21,928	7.4	7.4	7.8	7.8	7.0
At expanding establishments	17,414	18,149	19,623	19,642	16,651	5.7	5.9	6.3	6.3	5.3
At opening establishments	5,185	4,532	4,529	4,751	5,277	1.7	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.7
Gross job losses	21,261	21,410	21,743	20,915	20,190	6.9	6.9	7.0	6.7	6.4
At contracting establishments	17,155	16,948	17,359	16,530	16,167	5.6	5.5	5.6	5.3	5.1
At closing establishments	4,106	4,462	4,384	4,385	4,023	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.3
Net employment change (2)	1,338	1,271	2,409	3,478	1,738	0.5	0.5	0.8	1.1	0.6
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.

Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

State	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross 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
United States (1)	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.3	5.9	5.5	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.5
Alabama	6.1	5.8	6.0	6.3	6.0	5.4	5.7	5.9	5.3	5.5
Alaska	10.1	10.9	8.9	11.0	10.0	8.9	10.7	10.7	9.8	9.0
Arizona	6.0	6.0	6.6	6.2	5.6	5.3	5.9	5.1	5.1	5.5
Arkansas	5.4	5.0	6.1	5.9	5.2	5.2	5.7	5.6	5.0	5.1
California	6.4	6.7	6.5	6.9	6.3	6.0	6.4	6.2	5.9	6.2
Colorado	6.8	6.8	6.6	6.8	6.6	6.0	6.1	6.8	6.0	6.3
Connecticut	5.1	5.8	5.3	5.3	5.2	5.3	5.1	5.7	4.9	5.7
Delaware	7.1	6.4	5.7	6.6	6.4	5.9	6.0	6.5	5.6	5.5
District of Columbia	6.0	5.6	5.3	5.6	5.4	4.9	5.6	5.5	5.1	4.9
Florida	6.2	6.4	6.8	6.4	6.1	5.5	6.1	5.8	6.1	5.6
Georgia	6.5	6.3	6.7	6.3	6.8	5.7	6.4	6.1	5.8	5.7
Hawaii	5.1	5.3	5.1	5.8	5.4	4.7	5.4	5.4	5.1	5.9
Idaho	7.9	7.3	6.8	7.4	7.5	6.1	6.8	6.9	6.3	6.1
Illinois	5.7	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.2	5.2	5.6	5.8	5.6	5.1
Indiana	5.7	5.5	5.2	5.6	5.9	5.1	5.5	5.4	5.0	4.8
Iowa	5.6	5.7	5.3	5.8	5.1	5.3	5.4	5.7	5.3	5.4
Kansas	5.3	5.7	5.9	6.1	5.4	5.4	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.7
Kentucky	6.2	5.9	5.8	6.1	5.8	5.9	5.7	6.0	5.4	5.5
Louisiana	6.7	6.2	6.3	6.2	5.9	5.9	6.5	6.3	5.8	5.9
Maine	7.0	8.0	6.1	7.3	7.2	7.0	7.1	7.5	6.7	6.4
Maryland	6.3	6.1	6.3	6.8	6.4	5.8	5.8	6.6	6.4	5.7
Massachusetts	5.7	6.1	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.2	5.5	6.1	5.3	5.2
Michigan	5.6	5.5	5.0	5.6	5.1	4.6	5.2	6.2	5.2	4.6
Minnesota	5.4	5.8	5.5	5.7	5.2	5.1	5.2	5.7	5.4	5.1
Mississippi	5.5	5.7	5.9	6.5	5.7	6.0	6.0	5.9	5.3	6.2
Missouri	5.5	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.4	5.2	5.7	6.0	5.4	5.3
Montana	7.9	8.0	7.2	8.9	7.6	7.1	7.8	7.9	7.2	8.0
Nebraska	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	5.7	5.6	5.8	5.9	5.7	5.6
Nevada	6.5	6.1	6.7	6.6	6.0	5.5	5.8	5.7	5.5	5.4
New Hampshire	6.1	6.7	5.7	6.6	6.3	6.0	6.2	6.8	5.7	5.7
New Jersey	5.7	6.5	6.0	6.4	5.7	6.1	5.8	6.4	5.7	5.6
New Mexico	6.5	6.7	6.4	6.8	6.4	5.7	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.8
New York	6.3	6.3	6.1	6.3	6.0	5.6	5.8	6.4	5.7	5.3
North Carolina	6.2	6.1	5.7	6.7	6.3	5.3	5.7	6.4	5.3	5.1
North Dakota	7.1	6.7	6.6	6.8	7.1	6.3	6.2	6.6	6.2	6.4
Ohio	5.6	5.6	5.4	5.6	5.5	5.1	5.4	5.8	5.3	5.1
Oklahoma	6.2	6.4	6.7	6.5	5.8	5.7	6.3	6.1	6.1	5.8
Oregon	8.0	6.2	6.2	6.7	6.3	5.8	6.3	6.3	6.0	5.8
Pennsylvania	5.3	5.3	5.4	5.3	5.1	4.9	5.1	5.2	4.8	4.8
Rhode Island	6.4	6.3	6.2	6.4	5.8	6.1	6.1	6.4	5.7	5.6
South Carolina	6.3	7.5	5.8	7.4	6.4	5.1	6.7	6.5	5.4	6.0
South Dakota	6.4	6.1	6.0	6.3	5.7	5.9	6.1	5.7	5.8	6.4
Tennessee	5.1	5.5	5.8	5.8	5.4	4.9	5.3	5.3	4.9	4.8
Texas	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.2	5.5	5.1	5.3	5.4	5.2	5.2
Utah	7.5	6.9	7.3	6.9	7.3	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.2
Vermont	6.5	7.2	6.9	7.4	6.7	7.0	7.1	7.6	6.8	6.3
Virginia	6.0	6.2	5.7	6.3	6.4	5.4	5.8	6.3	5.6	5.5
Washington	7.2	7.3	6.2	6.4	6.2	6.2	6.5	6.5	5.6	5.6
West Virginia	6.9	6.8	7.0	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.6
Wisconsin	5.6	5.5	5.1	5.4	5.1	4.7	5.5	5.9	5.0	4.8
Wyoming	8.6	8.4	8.3	10.0	8.6	8.0	8.4	8.4	7.8	7.8
Puerto Rico	8.5	7.9	7.2	6.0	7.1	6.9	6.2	5.8	6.8	5.1
Virgin Islands	13.3	13.2	12.8	7.9	11.9	18.6	7.0	5.9	7.1	7.4
Footnotes: (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.