From June 2019 to September 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Idaho were 43,343, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 42,680, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 663 jobs in the private sector during the third quarter of 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 3,324. (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 Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the third quarter of 2019, gross job gains represented 6.9 percent of private-sector employment in Idaho; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 5.8 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 Idaho, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 34,255 in the third quarter of 2019, a decrease of 1,863 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 9,088 jobs gained in the third quarter of 2019, an increase of 55 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the third quarter of 2019, gross job losses represented 6.8 percent of private-sector employment in Idaho; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.8 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 Idaho, contracting establishments lost 35,342 jobs in the third quarter of 2019, an increase of 823 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 7,338 jobs, an increase of 30 jobs from the previous quarter.

  

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 5 of the 11 industry sectors in Idaho in the third quarter of 2019. Education and health services had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 907 jobs. This was the result of 6,002 gross job gains and 5,095 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 434 jobs. Leisure and hospitality showed a net loss of 664 jobs, the largest loss of any sector in the state. Idaho’s retail trade industry sector had a net loss of 648 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 www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Fourth Quarter 2019 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 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.

The full Technical Note for the Business Employment Dynamics program, which includes information on coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the current quarterly news release online at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.htm.

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.