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Economic News Release
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Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release



Technical Information:  (202) 691-6467     USDL 08-1141
                http://www.bls.gov/bdm/

                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media Contact:          (202) 691-5902     Tuesday, August 12, 2008


          BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS:  FOURTH QUARTER 2007          


   From September to December 2007, the number of job gains from opening
and expanding private sector establishments was 7.7 million, and the
number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was
7.3 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  (See charts 1 and 2 and
table 3.)  Over this period, firms with 1,000 or more employees
experienced a significant increase in their share of gross job gains
(19.3 percent).  (See tables D and 4 and chart 3.)

   The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data series include gross job
gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by major
industry sector and 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.

   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 units 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 units and the addition of new
jobs at opening units.  Gross job losses are the result of
contractions in employment at existing units and the loss of jobs at
closing units.  The difference between the number of gross jobs gained
and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.
(See the Technical Note for more information.)



Table A.  Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses,
seasonally adjusted

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  |            3 months ended           
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  | Dec.  | Mar. | June | Sept.| Dec.   
           Category               | 2006  | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2007   
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |         Levels (in thousands)       
----------------------------------|-------------------------------------
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job gains...................|  7,809| 7,509| 7,644| 7,249| 7,650  
  At expanding establishments.....|  6,271| 6,158| 6,257| 5,821| 6,213  
  At opening establishments.......|  1,538| 1,351| 1,387| 1,428| 1,437  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|  7,297| 7,071| 7,403| 7,484| 7,333  
  At contracting establishments...|  5,943| 5,796| 6,008| 6,134| 5,985  
  At closing establishments.......|  1,354| 1,275| 1,395| 1,350| 1,348  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|    512|   438|   241|  -235|   317  
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |           Rates (percent)           
                                  |-------------------------------------
Gross job gains...................|    7.0|   6.6|   6.7|   6.4|   6.8  
  At expanding establishments.....|    5.6|   5.4|   5.5|   5.1|   5.5  
  At opening establishments.......|    1.4|   1.2|   1.2|   1.3|   1.3  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|    6.5|   6.2|   6.5|   6.6|   6.5  
  At contracting establishments...|    5.3|   5.1|   5.3|   5.4|   5.3  
  At closing establishments.......|    1.2|   1.1|   1.2|   1.2|   1.2  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|     .5|    .4|    .2|   -.2|    .3  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 The net employment change is the difference between total gross job
gains and total gross job losses.  See the Technical Note for further
information.



Private Sector Establishment-Level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses

   Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained
7.7 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2007, an increase of 401,000
from the previous quarter.  Over the quarter, expanding establishments
added 6.2 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.4 million
jobs.

   Gross job losses totaled 7.3 million, a decrease of 151,000 from the
previous quarter.  During the quarter, contracting establishments lost
6.0 million jobs, while closing establishments lost 1.3 million jobs.
(See tables A, 1, and 3, and chart 2.)

   The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number
of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of 317,000 jobs in the private
sector for fourth quarter 2007. This marks a return to positive net
job gains after a net job loss (-235,000) in third quarter 2007.

   From September to December 2007, gross job gains represented 6.8
percent of private sector employment, while gross job losses
represented 6.5 percent of private sector employment.
(See tables A and 2.)

Major Industry Sector Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses

   Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses at the following sectors:
natural resources and mining, wholesale trade, retail trade,
transportation and warehousing, utilities, professional and business
services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and
other services.  Gross job gains at expanding establishments increased
for all major industry sectors except information (117,000).  (See
tables B and 3.)

   Goods-producing.  Expanding and opening establishments in the goods-
producing sectors accounted for 1,561,000 jobs gained, and contracting
and closing establishments accounted for 1,690,000 jobs lost.  This
net loss of 129,000 jobs was the sixth consecutive quarter of net
loss.

   Construction.  In construction, gross job gains rose over the quarter
to 777,000 and gross job losses increased slightly to 870,000,
resulting in a net loss of 93,000 jobs.  This sector experienced net
losses in five of the previous six quarters including the record net
loss of -107,000 in the third quarter 2007.

   Manufacturing.  Gross job gains rose to 495,000 while gross job losses
fell slightly to 561,000.  Despite the recent downward trend in gross
job losses, this sector continues to experience a net loss of  -66,000
jobs, the sixth consecutive quarter of net job losses.




Table B.  Three-month private sector gross job gains and losses by industry,
seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       |       Gross job gains       |      Gross job losses       
                       |       (3 months ended)      |      (3 months ended)       
       Industry        |-----------------------------|-----------------------------
                       |Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. 
                       |2006 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2006 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 
-----------------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
  Total private (1)....|7,809|7,509|7,644|7,249|7,650|7,297|7,071|7,403|7,484|7,333
 Goods-Producing.......|1,636|1,629|1,622|1,486|1,561|1,719|1,682|1,691|1,703|1,690
  Natural resources    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    and mining.........|  287|  279|  286|  257|  289|  266|  287|  269|  270|  259
  Construction ........|  825|  850|  814|  762|  777|  845|  816|  855|  869|  870
  Manufacturing .......|  524|  500|  522|  467|  495|  608|  579|  567|  564|  561
 Service-Providing (1).|6,173|5,880|6,022|5,763|6,089|5,578|5,389|5,712|5,781|5,643
  Wholesale trade......|  322|  314|  318|  305|  320|  303|  296|  300|  303|  300
  Retail trade ........|1,081|1,087|1,023|  996|1,019|1,004|  971|1,028|1,055|1,007
  Transportation and   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    warehousing........|  269|  224|  242|  220|  252|  225|  245|  222|  228|  228
  Utilities............|   19|   11|   14|   13|   15|   18|   11|   12|   12|   10
  Information..........|  167|  138|  160|  153|  145|  146|  132|  137|  155|	155
  Financial activities.|  457|  421|  436|  408|  432|  444|  418|  467|  470|	486
  Professional and     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    business services..|1,427|1,276|1,389|1,301|1,438|1,313|1,242|1,322|1,315|1,327
  Education and        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    health services....|  795|  799|  785|  797|  810|  692|  655|  697|  684|	667
  Leisure and          |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    hospitality........|1,223|1,165|1,219|1,158|1,240|1,105|1,096|1,196|1,215|1,144
  Other services.......|  299|  292|  304|  288|  293|  291|  278|  287|  307|	285
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately.



   Service-providing.  In the service-providing sectors, gross job gains
increased to 6,089,000 and gross job losses decreased to 5,643,000.
Job gains at expanding establishments increased to 4,881,000 jobs,
while job losses at contracting establishments decreased to 4,567,000
jobs.

   Education and Health Services.  In the education and health services
sector, gross job gains increased to 810,000 jobs in the fourth
quarter.  Job gains at opening establishments decreased to 115,000
jobs, while job gains at expanding establishments increased to
695,000.  Gross job losses decreased to 667,000.  Gross job losses
have not been larger than gross job gains since this series began in
1992.

   Retail Trade.  In retail trade, gross job gains increased to
1,019,000; this is the first increase in gross gains since March 2007.
Gross job losses dropped to 1,007,000.

   Leisure and Hospitality.  The leisure and hospitality industry gained
1,240,000 jobs and lost 1,144,000 jobs.  The increase in job gains and
decrease in job losses returned this sector to positive net change
(96,000) in the fourth quarter of 2007.

   Financial Activities.  For the third consecutive quarter, gross job
losses (486,000) exceeded gross job gains (432,000).

Number of Establishments Gaining and Losing Employment

   Another way to look at the dynamics of business activities is to
monitor the number and proportion of business units that are growing
and declining.  In the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of
establishments gaining jobs exceeded the number of establishments
losing jobs.

   Out of 7.1 million active private-sector establishments, a total of
1,923,000 establishments lost jobs from September to December 2007.
(See table C.)  Of these establishments, 1,566,000 were contracting
establishments and 357,000 were closing establishments.  Of the
establishments gaining jobs, 1,556,000 establishments were expanding
and 380,000 establishments were opening, resulting in 1,936,000
establishments gaining jobs.

   The number of opening establishments (380,000) increased while the
number of closing establishments (357,000) decreased, resulting in a
net addition of 23,000 establishments during the quarter.



Table C.  Number of private sector establishments by direction of
employment change, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  |             3 months ended           
                                  |--------------------------------------
             Category             |  Dec. |  Mar. | June | Sept.| Dec.   
                                  |  2006 |  2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2007   
----------------------------------|-------|-------|------|------|--------
Establishments gaining jobs.......|  1,954|  1,935| 1,907| 1,886| 1,936  
  Expanding establishments........|  1,562|  1,577| 1,555| 1,519| 1,556  
  Opening establishments..........|    392|    358|   352|   367|   380  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Establishments losing jobs........|  1,892|  1,900| 1,938| 1,944| 1,923  
  Contracting establishments......|  1,542|  1,545| 1,574| 1,585| 1,566  
  Closing establishments..........|    350|    355|   364|   359|   357  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Net establishment change (1)......|     42|      3|   -12|     8|    23  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 The net establishment change is the difference between the number of
opening establishments and the number of closing establishments.  See the
Technical Note for further information.



Table D.  Three-month private sector share (1) of gross job gains and losses by firm
size, seasonally adjusted

(Percent)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       |   Share of gross job gains   |   Share of gross job losses  
                       |        (3 months ended)      |        (3 months ended)      
       Firm size       |------------------------------|------------------------------
                       | Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. | Dec. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. 
                       | 2006 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 | 2006 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 
-----------------------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|------|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
   1  -   4 employees..| 15.8 | 15.7| 14.8| 16.0| 15.5|  15.9| 16.7| 16.2| 15.8| 16.1
   5  -   9 employees..| 11.6 | 12.3| 11.6| 12.1| 11.4|  12.4| 12.6| 12.4| 12.2| 12.3
  10  -  19 employees..| 11.7 | 12.5| 12.1| 12.2| 11.7|  12.4| 12.5| 12.5| 12.4| 12.4
  20  -  49 employees..| 13.8 | 14.6| 14.6| 14.3| 13.8|  14.4| 14.4| 14.3| 14.6| 14.5
  50  -  99 employees..|  8.7 |  9.0|  9.2|  8.9|  8.8|   8.9|  8.8|  8.7|  9.0|  9.0
 100  - 249 employees..|  9.2 |  9.4|  9.9|  9.3|  9.3|   9.3|  9.0|  8.8|  9.5|  9.1
 250  - 499 employees..|  5.5 |  5.5|  5.9|  5.6|  5.6|   5.8|  5.3|  5.3|  5.6|  5.4
 500  - 999 employees..|  4.5 |  4.5|  4.8|  4.7|  4.6|   4.6|  4.1|  4.4|  4.5|  4.5
1,000 or more employees| 19.2 | 16.5| 17.1| 16.9| 19.3|  16.3| 16.6| 17.4| 16.4| 16.7
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
   Total...............| 100.0|100.0|100.0|100.0|100.0| 100.0|100.0|100.0|100.0|100.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Share measures the percent of the category represented by firm size.



Firm-level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses by Size Class

   From September to December 2007, firms with 1,000 or more employees
accounted for the largest share of gross job gains (19.3 percent).
This was a significant increase in the share of gross job gains for
the largest size class over the fourth quarter.  Shares of gross job
gains fell or remained the same at all other size classes. (See tables
D and 4, and chart 3.)

   Firms with 1,000 or more employees had the largest share of gross job
losses (16.7 percent), followed by firms with 1 to 4 employees with
16.1 percent.


Gross Job Gains and Losses by State

   Over the fourth quarter, Nevada had the largest increase in rate of
gross job gains (7.6 percent, up from 6.1 percent in third quarter
2007), while Minnesota and Missouri saw the largest decreases in rate
of gross job gains.   (See table 6.)  Gross job gains increased in 42
states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, and gross
job losses decreased in 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands.  (See table 5.)

More Information

   Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses are
available at the Business Employment Dynamics Web page on the BLS Web
site at http://www.bls.gov/bdm.  This information includes data on the
levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by firm size,
the not seasonally adjusted data and other seasonally adjusted time
series not presented in this release, charts of gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry and firm size, and frequently asked
questions on firm-size data.  Additional information about the
Business Employment Dynamics data can be found in the Technical Note
of this release or may be obtained by e-mailing BDMinfo@bls.gov.


 ------------------------------------------------------------------
|     Comparing Business Employment Dynamics Data with Current     |
|     Employment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment     |
|                           and Wages Data                         |
|                                                                  |
|    The net change in employment from Business Employment         |
| Dynamics (BED) data series will not match the net change in      |
| employment from the monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES)  |
| survey.  The CES estimates are based on monthly surveys from a   |
| sample of establishments, while gross job gains and gross job    |
| losses are based on a quarterly census of administrative records.|
| In addition, the CES has a different coverage, excluding the     |
| agriculture sector but including establishments not covered by   |
| the unemployment insurance program.  The net over-the-quarter    |
| changes derived by aggregating component series in the BED data  |
| may be different from the net employment change estimated from   |
| the CES seasonally adjusted total employment series.  The in-    |
| tended use of the BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor    |
| market flows that underlie the net changes in aggregate employ-  |
| ment levels; data users who want to track net changes in aggre-  |
| gate employment levels over time should refer to CES data.       |
|                                                                  |
|    BED data have a more limited scope than the Quarterly Census  |
| of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data.  The data in this release,  |
| in contrast to the QCEW data, exclude government employees,      |
| private households (NAICS 814110), and establishments with zero  |
| employment.                                                      |
|                                                                  |
|    See the Technical Note for further information.               |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 


                                                                 
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 quarterly state unemployment
insurance (UI) records.  Most employers in the U.S. are required to file
quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI
laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes.  The quarterly UI reports are sent by
the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) to BLS and form the basis of the BLS 
establishment universe sampling frame.  These reports also are used to pro-
duce the quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitu-
dinal BED data on gross job gains and losses.  Other important BLS uses 
of the UI reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. 
(See table below for differences between QCEW, CES, and BED.)
                                     
   In the BED program, the quarterly UI 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 establish-
ments.

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures

   The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment mea-
sures for any given quarter.  Each of these measures--QCEW, BED, and CES--
makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; how-
ever, each measure has a somewhat different universe coverage, estimation 
procedure, and publication product.

   Differences in coverage and estimation methods can result in somewhat 
different measures of over-the-quarter employment change.  It is important to 
understand program differences and the intended uses of the program products.  
(See table below.)  Additional information on each program can be obtained 
from the program Web sites shown in the table.

				                                  
Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           |         QCEW        |         BED          |         CES
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Source     |--Count of UI admini-|--Count of longitudi- |--Sample survey: 
           |  strative records   |  nally-linked UI ad- |  400,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 9.1   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million employers  |  submitted by 7.1    |
           |                     |  million private sec-|
           |                     |  tor employers       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and sal-
           |  age:  all employers|  ing government, pri-|  ary jobs:
           |  subject to state   |  vate households, and|--UI Coverage, exclud-
           |  and federal UI Laws|  establishments with |  ing agriculture, pri-
           |                     |  zero employment     |  vate households, and
           |                     |                      |  self-employed workers
           |                     |                      |--Other employment, in-
           |                     |                      |  cluding railroads, 
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -7 months after the|  -8 months after the |  -Usually first Friday
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   of following month
           |   ter               |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Use of UI  |--Directly summarizes|--Links each new UI   |--Uses UI file as a sam-
file       |  and publishes each |  quarter to longitu- |  pling frame and annu-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ally realigns (bench-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  marks) sample esti-    
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  mates to first quar-  
           |                     |  losses              |  ter UI levels
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Provides a quarter-|--Provides quarterly  |--Provides current month-
products   |  ly and annual uni- |  employer dynamics   |  ly estimates of employ-
           |  verse count of es- |  data on establish-  |  ment, hours, and earn-
           |  tablishments, em-  |  ment openings, clos-|  ings at the MSA, state,
           |  ployment, and wages|  ings, expansions,   |  and national level by
           |  at the county, MSA,|  and contractions at |  industry
           |  state, and national|  the national level  |
           |  levels by detailed |  by NAICS super-     |
           |  industry           |  sectors and by size |
           |                     |  of firm, and at the |   
           |                     |  state private-sector|
           |                     |  total level         | 
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include data   |
           |                     |  with greater in-    |
           |                     |  dustry detail and   |
           |                     |  data at the county  |
           |                     |  and MSA level       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Major uses include:|--Major uses include: |--Major uses include:
uses       |  -Detailed locality |  -Business cycle     |  -Principal national
           |   data              |   analysis           |   economic indicator
           |  -Periodic universe |  -Analysis of employ-|  -Official time series 
           |   counts for bench- |   er dynamics under- |   for employment change
           |   marking sample    |   lying economic ex- |   measures
           |   survey estimates  |   pansions and con-  |  -Input into other ma-
           |  -Sample frame for  |   tractions          |   jor economic indi-
           |   BLS establishment |  -Analysis of employ-|   cators
           |   surveys           |   ment expansion and |
           |                     |   contraction by size|   
           |                     |   of firm            |
           |                     |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Program    |--www.bls.gov/cew/   |--www.bls.gov/bdm/    |--www.bls.gov/ces/
Web sites  |                     |                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               
                           
Coverage                           

   Employment and wage data for workers covered by state UI and Unemployment 
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) laws are compiled from quarterly 
contribution reports submitted to the SWAs by employers.  In addition to the 
quarterly contribution reports, employers who operate multiple establishments 
within a state complete a questionnaire, called the "Multiple Worksite Report,"
which provides detailed information on the location of their establishments. 
These reports are based on place of employment rather than place of residence. 
UI and UCFE coverage is broad and basically comparable from state to state.
   
   Major exclusions from UI coverage are self-employed workers, religious or-
ganizations, most agricultural workers on small farms, all members of the 
Armed Forces, elected officials in most states, most employees of railroads, 
some domestic workers, most student workers at schools, and employees of cer-
tain small nonprofit organizations.
   
   Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from lon-
gitudinal histories of over 7.1 million private sector employer reports out 
of 9.1 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 
BLS in the third quarter of 2007.  Gross job gains and gross job losses data 
in this release do not report estimates for government employees or private 
households (NAICS 814110) and do not include establishments with zero employ-
ment in both previous and current quarters.  Data from Puerto Rico and the 
Virgin Islands also are excluded from the national data.  As an illustration, 
the table below shows, in millions of establishments, the number of establish-
ments excluded from the gross job gains and gross job losses data in the third 
quarter of 2007:


             Number of active establishments included in 
              Business Employment Dynamics data at the
                          national level

                                                                   Millions
                                                                       
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.1

    Excluded:  Public sector.........................................0.3 
               Private households....................................0.6
               Zero employment.......................................1.0      
               Establishments in Puerto Rico 
                 and the Virgin Islands..............................0.1 
         
Total establishments included in Business
Employment Dynamics data.............................................7.1

Unit of analysis
   
   Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by in-
dustry and firms are used in the tabulation of the BED size class sta-
tistics.  An establishment is defined as an economic unit that produces
goods or services, usually at a single physical location, and engages in
one or predominantly one activity.  A firm is a legal business, either
corporate or otherwise, and may consist of several establishments.  Firm-
level data are compiled based on an aggregation of establishments under
common ownership by a corporate parent using employer tax identification
numbers.  The firm-level aggregation, which is consistent with the role of
corporations as the economic decision makers, is used for the measurement
of the BED data elements by size class.
   
   Because of the difference in the unit of analysis, total gross job gains
and gross job losses by size class are lower than total gross job gains and
gross job losses by industry, as some establishment gains and losses within
a firm are offset during the aggregation process.  However, the total net
changes in employment are the same for not seasonally adjusted data and are
similar for seasonally adjusted data.
                                 
Concepts and methodology

   The Business Employment Dynamics data measure the net change in employ-
ment at the establishment or firm level.  These changes come about in one 
of four ways.  A net increase in employment can come from either opening 
units or expanding units.  A net decrease in employment can come from either 
closing units or contracting units.  Gross job gains include the sum of all
jobs added at either opening or expanding units.  Gross job losses include
the sum of all jobs lost in either closing or contracting units.  The net
change in employment is the difference between gross job gains and gross
job losses.
   
   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 em-
ployment 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 units with positive third-month employment in the pre-
vious 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.

   All establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third 
month of each quarter.  Not all establishments and firms change their em-
ployment levels.  Units with no change in employment count towards estimates
of total employment, but not for levels of gross employment job gains and 
gross job losses.

   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 quar-
ters.  This provides a symmetric growth rate.  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.

Linkage methodology

   Prior to the measurement of gross job gains and gross job losses, QCEW
records are linked across two quarters.  The linkage process matches esta-
blishments' unique SWA identification numbers (SWA-ID).  Between 95 to 97
percent of establishments identified as continuous from quarter to quarter
are matched by SWA-ID.  The rest are linked in one of three ways.  The first
method uses predecessor and successor information, identified by the states,
which relates records with different SWA-IDs across quarters.  Predecessor
and successor relations can come about for a variety of reasons, including
a change in ownership, a firm restructuring, or a UI account restructuring.
If a match cannot be attained in this manner, a probability-based match is
used.  This match attempts to identify two establishments with different SWA-
IDs as continuous.  The match is based upon comparisons such as the same
name, address, and phone number.  Third, an analyst examines unmatched re-
cords individually and makes a possible match.

   In order to ensure the highest possible quality of data, SWAs verify with 
employers and update, if necessary, the industry, location, and ownership 
classification of all establishments on a 3-year cycle.  Changes in establish-
ment classification codes resulting from the verification process are intro-
duced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year.  Changes re-
sulting from improved employer reporting also are introduced in the first 
quarter.   
                              
Sizing methodology
   
   The method of dynamic sizing is used in calculations for the BED size-
class data series.  Dynamic sizing allocates each firm's employment gain or
loss during a quarter to each respective size class in which the change
occurred.  For example, if a firm grew from 2 employees in quarter 1 to 38
employees in quarter 2, then, of the 36-employee increase, 2 would be al-
located to the first size class, 5 to the size class 5 to 9, 10 to size
class 10 to 19, and 19 to size class 20 to 49.
   
   Dynamic sizing provides symmetrical firm-size estimates and eliminates
any systematic effects which may be caused by the transitory and reverting
changes in firms' sizes over time.  Additionally, it allocates each job
gain or loss to the actual size class where it occurred.

Seasonal adjustment

   Over the course of a year, the levels of employment and the associated
job flows undergo sharp fluctuations due to such seasonal events as changes
in the weather, reduced or expanded production, harvests, major holidays,
and the opening and closing of schools.  The effect of such seasonal vari-
ation can be very large.

   Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each 
year, their influence can be eliminated by adjusting these statistics from 
quarter to quarter.  These adjustments make nonseasonal developments, such as 
declines in economic activity, easier to recognize.  For example, the large 
number of youths taking summer jobs is likely to obscure other changes that 
have taken place in June relative to March, making it difficult to determine 
if the level of economic activity has risen or declined.  However, because
the effect of students finishing school in previous years is known, the 
statistics for the current year can be adjusted to allow for a comparable 
change.  The adjusted figures provide a more useful tool with which to ana-
lyze changes in economic activity.

   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contract-
ing units are independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated
based on the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.  Simi-
larly, for industry data, the establishment counts data series for opening,
expanding, closing, and contracting establishments are independently adjusted,
and the net changes are calculated based on the difference between the number
of opening and closing establishments.  Additionally, establishment and em-
ployment levels are independently seasonally adjusted to calculate the sea-
sonally adjusted rates.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment is run using X-12
ARIMA.  Seasonally adjusted data series for the total private sector are cal-
culated by summing the seasonally adjusted data for all sectors, including
the unclassified sector, which is not published separately.
   
   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting 
units for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are seasonally
adjusted at the total private level only.  The sum of the state series for
opening, expanding, closing, and contracting units will not necessarily be
equal to the national total private series because of the independent seasonal
adjustment of these series.
   
   The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED component series 
will differ from the net employment change estimated from the seasonally ad-
justed total private employment series from the CES program.  The intended use 
of BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor market changes that underlie 
the net employment change statistic.  As such, data users interested particu-
larly in the net employment change and not in the gross job flows underlying 
this change should refer to CES data for over-the-quarter net employment
changes.
   
Reliability of the data
   
   Since the data series on Business Employment Dynamics are based on admini-
strative rather than sample data, there are no issues related to sampling 
error.  Nonsampling error, however, still exists.  Nonsampling errors can oc-
cur for many reasons, such as the employer submitting corrected employment 
data after the end of the quarter or typographical errors made by businesses 
when providing information.  Such errors, however, are likely to be distri-
buted randomly throughout the dataset.
   
   Changes in administrative data sometimes create complications for the 
linkage process.  This can result in overstating openings and closings while 
understating expansions and contractions.  The BLS continues to refine methods 
for improving the linkage process to alleviate the effects of these compli-
cations.
   
   The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on correc-
tions in QCEW records, updates on predecessors and successors information, and
seasonal adjustment revisions.
                      
Additional statistics and other information
   
   Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information.  
The QCEW program, also known as the ES-202 program, provides both quarterly 
and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed industry. 
News releases on quarterly county employment and wages are available upon 
request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212; 
telephone 202-691-6567; (http://www.bls.gov/cew/); (e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).
                                     
   The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, its net change, 
and earnings by detailed industry.  These estimates are part of the Employ-
ment Situation report put out monthly by BLS.
                                     
   The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides month-
ly measures of job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired in-
dividuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral 
number: 1-800-877-8339.






Table 1.  Private sector gross job gains and job losses, seasonally adjusted

Total private

(In thousands)

                                                  Gross job gains                       Gross job losses
Year  3 months ended  Net change(1) Total     Expanding      Opening      Total     Contracting      Closing
                                           establishments establishments           establishments establishments

1992  September            599      7,329       5,688         1,641       6,730       5,308           1,422
      December             123      6,986       5,452         1,534       6,863       5,484           1,379

1993  March                288      7,117       5,404         1,713       6,829       5,364           1,465
      June                 734      7,275       5,782         1,493       6,541       5,155           1,386
      September            965      7,539       5,926         1,613       6,574       5,265           1,309
      December             603      7,375       5,822         1,553       6,772       5,411           1,361

1994  March                559      7,381       5,800         1,581       6,822       5,401           1,421
      June                 905      7,709       6,041         1,668       6,804       5,315           1,489
      September          1,288      8,002       6,277         1,725       6,714       5,426           1,288
      December             460      7,535       5,978         1,557       7,075       5,642           1,433

1995  March                758      7,787       6,124         1,663       7,029       5,652           1,377
      June                 358      7,666       6,006         1,660       7,308       5,840           1,468
      September            845      7,983       6,341         1,642       7,138       5,645           1,493
      December             378      7,830       6,140         1,690       7,452       5,929           1,523

1996  March                457      7,933       6,179         1,754       7,476       5,967           1,509
      June                 631      8,051       6,282         1,769       7,420       5,903           1,517
      September            704      8,177       6,373         1,804       7,473       5,942           1,531
      December             816      8,206       6,396         1,810       7,390       5,875           1,515

1997  March                784      8,214       6,407         1,807       7,430       5,886           1,544
      June                 584      8,055       6,330         1,725       7,471       5,931           1,540
      September            901      8,515       6,718         1,797       7,614       5,927           1,687
      December             708      8,617       6,697         1,920       7,909       6,024           1,885

1998  March                711      8,648       6,599         2,049       7,937       6,077           1,860
      June                 610      8,629       6,552         2,077       8,019       6,224           1,795
      September            742      8,508       6,607         1,901       7,766       6,093           1,673
      December             768      8,475       6,737         1,738       7,707       6,025           1,682

1999  March                353      8,585       6,626         1,959       8,232       6,395           1,837
      June                 644      8,539       6,661         1,878       7,895       6,210           1,685
      September            588      8,571       6,734         1,837       7,983       6,250           1,733
      December           1,005      8,749       6,956         1,793       7,744       6,076           1,668

2000  March                789      8,792       6,924         1,868       8,003       6,341           1,662
      June                 492      8,499       6,814         1,685       8,007       6,387           1,620
      September            296      8,506       6,728         1,778       8,210       6,483           1,727
      December             295      8,400       6,702         1,698       8,105       6,433           1,672

2001  March               -156      8,436       6,694         1,742       8,592       6,717           1,875
      June                -792      8,009       6,319         1,690       8,801       7,050           1,751
      September         -1,184      7,608       5,917         1,691       8,792       6,991           1,801
      December            -960      7,591       5,932         1,659       8,551       6,858           1,693

2002  March                -39      8,049       6,259         1,790       8,088       6,424           1,664
      June                 -38      7,890       6,164         1,726       7,928       6,290           1,638
      September           -171      7,608       6,015         1,593       7,779       6,248           1,531
      December            -198      7,522       5,960         1,562       7,720       6,171           1,549

2003  March               -420      7,423       5,901         1,522       7,843       6,306           1,537
      June                 -96      7,415       5,944         1,471       7,511       6,040           1,471
      September            180      7,369       5,898         1,471       7,189       5,828           1,361
      December             332      7,560       6,027         1,533       7,228       5,792           1,436

2004  March                439      7,669       6,174         1,495       7,230       5,796           1,434
      June                 636      7,771       6,251         1,520       7,135       5,651           1,484
      September            182      7,612       6,036         1,576       7,430       5,889           1,541
      December             797      7,883       6,268         1,615       7,086       5,655           1,431

2005  March                352      7,578       6,107         1,471       7,226       5,800           1,426
      June                 590      7,796       6,248         1,548       7,206       5,789           1,417
      September            651      7,943       6,362         1,581       7,292       5,846           1,446
      December             539      7,846       6,278         1,568       7,307       5,936           1,371

2006  March                774      7,679       6,261         1,418       6,905       5,633           1,272
      June                 416      7,811       6,292         1,519       7,395       6,015           1,380
      September             11      7,473       6,032         1,441       7,462       6,110           1,352
      December             512      7,809       6,271         1,538       7,297       5,943           1,354

2007  March                438      7,509       6,158         1,351       7,071       5,796           1,275
      June                 241      7,644       6,257         1,387       7,403       6,008           1,395
      September           -235      7,249       5,821         1,428       7,484       6,134           1,350
      December             317      7,650       6,213         1,437       7,333       5,985           1,348


(1) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Table 2.  Private sector gross job gains and losses, as a percent of employment(1), seasonally adjusted

Total private

(Percent)

                                                  Gross job gains                       Gross job losses
Year  3 months ended  Net change(2) Total     Expanding      Opening      Total     Contracting      Closing
                                           establishments establishments           establishments establishments

1992  September             .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          5.9            1.6
      December              .2       7.8         6.1           1.7         7.6          6.1            1.5

1993  March                 .3       7.9         6.0           1.9         7.6          6.0            1.6
      June                  .8       8.0         6.4           1.6         7.2          5.7            1.5
      September            1.1       8.3         6.5           1.8         7.2          5.8            1.4
      December              .6       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.4          5.9            1.5

1994  March                 .7       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                 1.0       8.3         6.5           1.8         7.3          5.7            1.6
      September            1.3       8.4         6.6           1.8         7.1          5.7            1.4
      December              .5       7.9         6.3           1.6         7.4          5.9            1.5

1995  March                 .8       8.1         6.4           1.7         7.3          5.9            1.4
      June                  .3       7.9         6.2           1.7         7.6          6.1            1.5
      September             .9       8.2         6.5           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      December              .3       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.7          6.1            1.6

1996  March                 .5       8.1         6.3           1.8         7.6          6.1            1.5
      June                  .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          6.0            1.5
      September             .7       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.5          6.0            1.5
      December              .8       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.4          5.9            1.5

1997  March                 .9       8.2         6.4           1.8         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                  .6       7.9         6.2           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September            1.0       8.4         6.6           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December              .8       8.4         6.5           1.9         7.6          5.8            1.8

1998  March                 .7       8.4         6.4           2.0         7.7          5.9            1.8
      June                  .6       8.3         6.3           2.0         7.7          6.0            1.7
      September             .7       8.1         6.3           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December              .7       8.0         6.4           1.6         7.3          5.7            1.6

1999  March                 .3       8.0         6.2           1.8         7.7          6.0            1.7
      June                  .6       8.0         6.2           1.8         7.4          5.8            1.6
      September             .6       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.4          5.8            1.6
      December             1.0       8.1         6.4           1.7         7.1          5.6            1.5

2000  March                 .7       8.0         6.3           1.7         7.3          5.8            1.5
      June                  .4       7.7         6.2           1.5         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September             .2       7.7         6.1           1.6         7.5          5.9            1.6
      December              .3       7.6         6.1           1.5         7.3          5.8            1.5

2001  March                -.1       7.7         6.1           1.6         7.8          6.1            1.7
      June                 -.8       7.2         5.7           1.5         8.0          6.4            1.6
      September           -1.2       6.9         5.4           1.5         8.1          6.4            1.7
      December             -.9       7.0         5.5           1.5         7.9          6.3            1.6

2002  March                 .0       7.5         5.8           1.7         7.5          6.0            1.5
      June                  .0       7.3         5.7           1.6         7.3          5.8            1.5
      September            -.1       7.1         5.6           1.5         7.2          5.8            1.4
      December              .0       7.1         5.6           1.5         7.1          5.7            1.4

2003  March                -.4       6.9         5.5           1.4         7.3          5.9            1.4
      June                 -.1       7.0         5.6           1.4         7.1          5.7            1.4
      September             .1       6.9         5.5           1.4         6.8          5.5            1.3
      December              .3       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3

2004  March                 .4       7.1         5.7           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3
      June                  .6       7.2         5.8           1.4         6.6          5.2            1.4
      September             .3       7.1         5.6           1.5         6.8          5.4            1.4
      December              .8       7.3         5.8           1.5         6.5          5.2            1.3

2005  March                 .3       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.6          5.3            1.3
      June                  .5       7.1         5.7           1.4         6.6          5.3            1.3
      September             .6       7.2         5.8           1.4         6.6          5.3            1.3
      December              .6       7.1         5.7           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2

2006  March                 .8       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.1          5.0            1.1
      June                  .4       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September             .1       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .5       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2

2007  March                 .4       6.6         5.4           1.2         6.2          5.1            1.1
      June                  .2       6.7         5.5           1.2         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September            -.2       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .3       6.8         5.5           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2


(1) The rates measure gross job gains and gross job losses as a percentage
    of the previous and current quarter employment levels.

(2) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Table 3: Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted

                                      Gross job gains and job losses      Gross job gains and job losses
                                           (in thousands)                   as a percent of employment

    Category                                 3 months ended                      3 months ended

                                   Dec.    March   June    Sept.   Dec.   Dec.   March  June   Sept.  Dec.  
                                   2006    2007    2007    2007    2007   2006   2007   2007   2007   2007
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,809   7,509   7,644   7,249   7,650    7.0    6.6    6.7    6.4    6.8
 At expanding establishments      6,271   6,158   6,257   5,821   6,213    5.6    5.4    5.5    5.1    5.5
 At opening establishments        1,538   1,351   1,387   1,428   1,437    1.4    1.2    1.2    1.3    1.3
Gross job losses                  7,297   7,071   7,403   7,484   7,333    6.5    6.2    6.5    6.6    6.5
 At contracting establishments    5,943   5,796   6,008   6,134   5,985    5.3    5.1    5.3    5.4    5.3
 At closing establishments        1,354   1,275   1,395   1,350   1,348    1.2    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2
Net employment change               512     438     241    -235     317     .5     .4     .2    -.2     .3

Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,636   1,629   1,622   1,486   1,561    7.0    6.9    6.9    6.4    6.8
 At expanding establishments      1,381   1,398   1,385   1,256   1,332    5.9    5.9    5.9    5.4    5.8
 At opening establishments          255     231     237     230     229    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.0    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,719   1,682   1,691   1,703   1,690    7.3    7.1    7.2    7.3    7.3
 At contracting establishments    1,452   1,421   1,415   1,436   1,418    6.2    6.0    6.0    6.2    6.1
 At closing establishments          267     261     276     267     272    1.1    1.1    1.2    1.1    1.2
Net employment change               -83     -53     -69    -217    -129    -.3    -.2    -.3    -.9    -.5

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     287     279     286     257     289   15.9   15.3   15.7   14.2   15.6
 At expanding establishments        245     241     248     221     248   13.6   13.2   13.6   12.2   13.4
 At opening establishments           42      38      38      36      41    2.3    2.1    2.1    2.0    2.2
Gross job losses                    266     287     269     270     259   14.7   15.6   14.7   14.9   14.0
 At contracting establishments      230     248     230     230     223   12.7   13.5   12.6   12.7   12.1
 At closing establishments           36      39      39      40      36    2.0    2.1    2.1    2.2    1.9
Net employment change                21      -8      17     -13      30    1.2    -.3    1.0    -.7    1.6

Construction

Gross job gains                     825     850     814     762     777   10.8   11.1   10.6   10.1   10.3
 At expanding establishments        663     699     658     614     632    8.7    9.1    8.6    8.1    8.4
 At opening establishments          162     151     156     148     145    2.1    2.0    2.0    2.0    1.9
Gross job losses                    845     816     855     869     870   11.1   10.6   11.2   11.5   11.6
 At contracting establishments      683     655     688     704     699    9.0    8.5    9.0    9.3    9.3
 At closing establishments          162     161     167     165     171    2.1    2.1    2.2    2.2    2.3
Net employment change               -20      34     -41    -107     -93    -.3     .5    -.6   -1.4   -1.3

Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     524     500     522     467     495    3.8    3.6    3.7    3.3    3.6
 At expanding establishments        473     458     479     421     452    3.4    3.3    3.4    3.0    3.3
 At opening establishments           51      42      43      46      43     .4     .3     .3     .3     .3
Gross job losses                    608     579     567     564     561    4.3    4.1    4.1    4.0    4.1
 At contracting establishments      539     518     497     502     496    3.8    3.7    3.6    3.6    3.6
 At closing establishments           69      61      70      62      65     .5     .4     .5     .4     .5
Net employment change               -84     -79     -45     -97     -66    -.5    -.5    -.4    -.7    -.5

Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   6,173   5,880   6,022   5,763   6,089    6.9    6.5    6.7    6.3    6.7
 At expanding establishments      4,890   4,760   4,872   4,565   4,881    5.5    5.3    5.4    5.0    5.4
 At opening establishments        1,283   1,120   1,150   1,198   1,208    1.4    1.2    1.3    1.3    1.3
Gross job losses                  5,578   5,389   5,712   5,781   5,643    6.2    6.0    6.3    6.4    6.2
 At contracting establishments    4,491   4,375   4,593   4,698   4,567    5.0    4.9    5.1    5.2    5.0
 At closing establishments        1,087   1,014   1,119   1,083   1,076    1.2    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2
Net employment change               595     491     310     -18     446     .7     .5     .4    -.1     .5

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     322     314     318     305     320    5.4    5.3    5.3    5.1    5.3
 At expanding establishments        262     256     264     245     263    4.4    4.3    4.4    4.1    4.4
 At opening establishments           60      58      54      60      57    1.0    1.0     .9    1.0     .9
Gross job losses                    303     296     300     303     300    5.1    5.0    5.1    5.0    4.9
 At contracting establishments      236     230     231     240     231    4.0    3.9    3.9    4.0    3.8
 At closing establishments           67      66      69      63      69    1.1    1.1    1.2    1.0    1.1
Net employment change                19      18      18       2      20     .3     .3     .2     .1     .4

Retail trade

Gross job gains                   1,081   1,087   1,023     996   1,019    7.0    7.0    6.6    6.3    6.6
 At expanding establishments        898     941     872     817     869    5.8    6.1    5.6    5.2    5.6
 At opening establishments          183     146     151     179     150    1.2     .9    1.0    1.1    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,004     971   1,028   1,055   1,007    6.5    6.2    6.6    6.8    6.5
 At contracting establishments      857     827     890     918     867    5.5    5.3    5.7    5.9    5.6
 At closing establishments          147     144     138     137     140    1.0     .9     .9     .9     .9
Net employment change                77     116      -5     -59      12     .5     .8     .0    -.5     .1

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     269     224     242     220     252    6.3    5.2    5.6    5.0    5.8
 At expanding establishments        231     192     208     188     219    5.4    4.5    4.8    4.3    5.0
 At opening establishments           38      32      34      32      33     .9     .7     .8     .7     .8
Gross job losses                    225     245     222     228     228    5.2    5.7    5.2    5.3    5.2
 At contracting establishments      185     211     185     190     188    4.3    4.9    4.3    4.4    4.3
 At closing establishments           40      34      37      38      40     .9     .8     .9     .9     .9
Net employment change                44     -21      20      -8      24    1.1    -.5     .4    -.3     .6

Utilities

Gross job gains                      19      11      14      13      15    3.5    2.0    2.6    2.4    2.8
 At expanding establishments         13      10      13      12      13    2.4    1.8    2.4    2.2    2.4
 At opening establishments            6       1       1       1       2    1.1     .2     .2     .2     .4
Gross job losses                     18      11      12      12      10    3.3    2.0    2.2    2.2    1.8
 At contracting establishments       13      10      10      10       9    2.4    1.8    1.8    1.8    1.6
 At closing establishments            5       1       2       2       1     .9     .2     .4     .4     .2
Net employment change                 1       0       2       1       5     .2     .0     .4     .2    1.0

Information

Gross job gains                     167     138     160     153     145    5.5    4.6    5.3    5.1    4.8
 At expanding establishments        138     118     137     127     117    4.5    3.9    4.5    4.2    3.9
 At opening establishments           29      20      23      26      28    1.0     .7     .8     .9     .9
Gross job losses                    146     132     137     155     155    4.7    4.4    4.6    5.1    5.1
 At contracting establishments      114     108     111     130     125    3.7    3.6    3.7    4.3    4.1
 At closing establishments           32      24      26      25      30    1.0     .8     .9     .8    1.0
Net employment change                21       6      23      -2     -10     .8     .2     .7     .0    -.3

Financial activities

Gross job gains                     457     421     436     408     432    5.5    5.1    5.3    5.0    5.3
 At expanding establishments        347     335     353     318     332    4.2    4.1    4.3    3.9    4.1
 At opening establishments          110      86      83      90     100    1.3    1.0    1.0    1.1    1.2
Gross job losses                    444     418     467     470     486    5.4    5.1    5.7    5.7    6.0
 At contracting establishments      338     320     360     354     368    4.1    3.9    4.4    4.3    4.5
 At closing establishments          106      98     107     116     118    1.3    1.2    1.3    1.4    1.5
Net employment change                13       3     -31     -62     -54     .1     .0    -.4    -.7    -.7

Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,427   1,276   1,389   1,301   1,438    8.1    7.2    7.7    7.3    8.0
 At expanding establishments      1,149   1,064   1,148   1,054   1,159    6.5    6.0    6.4    5.9    6.4
 At opening establishments          278     212     241     247     279    1.6    1.2    1.3    1.4    1.6
Gross job losses                  1,313   1,242   1,322   1,315   1,327    7.4    7.0    7.4    7.3    7.4
 At contracting establishments    1,057     996   1,022   1,056   1,065    6.0    5.6    5.7    5.9    5.9
 At closing establishments          256     246     300     259     262    1.4    1.4    1.7    1.4    1.5
Net employment change               114      34      67     -14     111     .7     .2     .3     .0     .6

Education and health services

Gross job gains                     795     799     785     797     810    4.7    4.6    4.5    4.6    4.6
 At expanding establishments        666     678     673     674     695    3.9    3.9    3.9    3.9    3.9
 At opening establishments          129     121     112     123     115     .8     .7     .6     .7     .7
Gross job losses                    692     655     697     684     667    4.1    3.8    4.0    3.9    3.8
 At contracting establishments      558     540     579     563     552    3.3    3.1    3.3    3.2    3.1
 At closing establishments          134     115     118     121     115     .8     .7     .7     .7     .7
Net employment change               103     144      88     113     143     .6     .8     .5     .7     .8

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,223   1,165   1,219   1,158   1,240    9.3    8.8    9.1    8.7    9.2
 At expanding establishments        932     903     940     884     959    7.1    6.8    7.0    6.6    7.1
 At opening establishments          291     262     279     274     281    2.2    2.0    2.1    2.1    2.1
Gross job losses                  1,105   1,096   1,196   1,215   1,144    8.4    8.3    8.9    9.1    8.5
 At contracting establishments      892     902     965     983     928    6.8    6.8    7.2    7.4    6.9
 At closing establishments          213     194     231     232     216    1.6    1.5    1.7    1.7    1.6
Net employment change               118      69      23     -57      96     .9     .5     .2    -.4     .7

Other services

Gross job gains                     299     292     304     288     293    7.8    7.6    7.8    7.4    7.5
 At expanding establishments        238     239     247     229     237    6.2    6.2    6.3    5.9    6.1
 At opening establishments           61      53      57      59      56    1.6    1.4    1.5    1.5    1.4
Gross job losses                    291     278     287     307     285    7.5    7.2    7.3    7.9    7.3
 At contracting establishments      228     217     224     242     223    5.9    5.6    5.7    6.2    5.7
 At closing establishments           63      61      63      65      62    1.6    1.6    1.6    1.7    1.6
Net employment change                 8      14      17     -19       8     .3     .4     .5    -.5     .2

(1) Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately

Table 4.  Private sector percentage share (1) of gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted

(Percent)

                                                         3 months ended

                              Dec.  2006     March 2007      June  2007      Sept. 2007      Dec.  2007

Total private.................
Gross job gains...............  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0
   Expanding firms............  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0
   Opening firms..............  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0
Gross job losses..............  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0
   Contracting firms..........  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0
   Closing firms..............  100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0           100.0

Firm size 1 - 4 employees

Gross job gains...............   15.8            15.7            14.8            16.0            15.5
   Expanding firms............    7.2             7.4             7.1             7.5             7.2
   Opening firms..............   60.6            60.4            58.8            59.8            61.8
Gross job losses..............   15.9            16.7            16.2            15.8            16.1
   Contracting firms..........    8.0             8.2             7.9             7.8             8.0
   Closing firms..............   58.5            60.6            59.6            59.7            59.8

Firm size 5 - 9 employees

Gross job gains...............   11.6            12.3            11.6            12.1            11.4
   Expanding firms............   10.8            11.5            10.8            11.3            10.7
   Opening firms..............   15.8            16.6            16.6            16.4            15.5
Gross job losses..............   12.4            12.6            12.4            12.2            12.3
   Contracting firms..........   11.7            11.9            11.6            11.4            11.6
   Closing firms..............   16.1            15.9            16.6            16.3            16.4

Firm size 10 - 19 employees

Gross job gains...............   11.7            12.5            12.1            12.2            11.7
   Expanding firms............   12.0            12.8            12.2            12.4            11.9
   Opening firms..............   10.3            10.8            11.3            10.6            10.1
Gross job losses..............   12.4            12.5            12.5            12.4            12.4
   Contracting firms..........   12.8            12.9            12.8            12.8            12.7
   Closing firms..............   10.6            10.3            10.9            10.7            10.8

Firm size 20 - 49 employees

Gross job gains...............   13.8            14.6            14.6            14.3            13.8
   Expanding firms............   14.9            15.9            15.6            15.6            14.9
   Opening firms..............    7.9             7.7             8.5             7.7             7.7
Gross job losses..............   14.4            14.4            14.3            14.6            14.5
   Contracting firms..........   15.6            15.7            15.5            15.8            15.7
   Closing firms..............    8.0             7.5             7.9             7.9             8.0

Firm size 50 - 99 employees

Gross job gains...............    8.7             9.0             9.2             8.9             8.8
   Expanding firms............    9.8            10.2            10.3            10.1             9.8
   Opening firms..............    3.0             2.5             2.9             2.8             2.8
Gross job losses..............    8.9             8.8             8.7             9.0             9.0
   Contracting firms..........   10.0            10.0             9.8            10.1            10.1
   Closing firms..............    3.1             2.9             2.7             2.7             3.0

Firm size 100 - 249 employees

Gross job gains...............    9.2             9.4             9.9             9.3             9.3
   Expanding firms............   10.6            11.0            11.4            10.8            10.8
   Opening firms..............    1.5             1.0             1.3             1.5             1.4
Gross job losses..............    9.3             9.0             8.8             9.5             9.1
   Contracting firms..........   10.6            10.5            10.3            10.9            10.5
   Closing firms..............    1.9             1.7             1.3             1.7             1.6

Firm size 250 - 499 employees

Gross job gains...............    5.5             5.5             5.9             5.6             5.6
   Expanding firms............    6.4             6.4             6.9             6.6             6.6
   Opening firms..............     .5              .3              .3              .5              .3
Gross job losses..............    5.8             5.3             5.3             5.6             5.4
   Contracting firms..........    6.8             6.3             6.2             6.5             6.3
   Closing firms..............     .6              .5              .5              .5              .4

Firm size 500 - 999 employees

Gross job gains...............    4.5             4.5             4.8             4.7             4.6
   Expanding firms............    5.4             5.3             5.6             5.6             5.3
   Opening firms..............     .2              .2              .2              .2              .2
Gross job losses..............    4.6             4.1             4.4             4.5             4.5
   Contracting firms..........    5.3             4.8             5.2             5.3             5.3
   Closing firms..............     .4              .3              .3              .2              .0

Firm size 1,000 or more employees

Gross job gains...............   19.2            16.5            17.1            16.9            19.3
   Expanding firms............   22.9            19.5            20.1            20.1            22.8
   Opening firms..............     .2              .5              .1              .5              .2
Gross job losses..............   16.3            16.6            17.4            16.4            16.7
   Contracting firms..........   19.2            19.7            20.7            19.4            19.8
   Closing firms..............     .8              .3              .2              .3              .0


(1) Share measures the percent of the category represented by each firm size class,

Table 5.  Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

                                         Gross job gains                                          Gross job losses
State                                    (3 months ended)                                         (3 months ended)
                        Dec.       March      June        Sept.     Dec.       Dec.         March      June        Sept.     Dec. 
                        2006       2007       2007        2007      2007       2006         2007       2007        2007      2007

United States1.....  7,809,000  7,509,000  7,644,000   7,249,000  7,650,000  7,297,000   7,071,000   7,403,000  7,484,000  7,333,000

Alabama.....           106,892    112,765     99,726      99,906    106,935    104,477      89,364     105,984    101,198    103,084
Alaska.....             25,702     24,244     27,957      22,188     24,268     26,432      22,400      23,632     26,070     25,897
Arizona.....           161,693    156,804    154,110     155,205    156,784    165,067     153,133     158,011    160,904    174,361
Arkansas.....           62,275     60,704     54,946      56,127     60,268     58,778      52,796      61,452     56,475     54,450
California.....        982,478    947,540    932,830     906,739    989,695    907,888     912,613     966,693    923,409    914,766
Colorado.....          150,220    146,688    150,523     148,053    147,148    138,889     131,774     135,876    144,857    141,826
Connecticut.....        85,126     75,957     89,363      77,587     84,140     77,497      81,107      75,883     82,650     82,026
Delaware.....           26,159     29,733     24,896      23,502     26,209     23,392      28,414      23,872     27,334     23,363
District of Columbia    25,599     28,423     27,543      26,296     26,904     26,443      23,213      26,428     28,871     26,392
Florida.....           501,285    464,050    493,122     490,069    494,010    522,827     451,580     513,917    542,595    544,863

Georgia.....           263,872    249,091    243,732     242,926    246,373    252,232     227,479     250,468    240,332    257,344
Hawaii.....             27,446     27,483     29,341      25,956     27,454     26,250      26,630      27,098     30,711     25,968
Idaho.....              47,395     48,396     44,803      41,792     47,040     40,019      40,735      44,881     45,176     42,319
Illinois.....          293,431    281,177    301,138     269,429    290,715    281,099     268,855     270,862    286,551    280,876
Indiana.....           153,325    145,342    153,439     142,702    144,790    148,985     140,603     146,834    152,980    151,153
Iowa.....               79,518     72,577     79,866      71,751     76,126     73,886      73,448      72,256     74,880     72,411
Kansas.....             85,024     78,808     71,219      75,069     73,972     68,067      67,661      76,280     67,646     72,379
Kentucky.....          106,958    101,623     96,978      86,047     97,881     90,552      95,549      92,980     95,032     91,282
Louisiana.....         123,095    121,990    109,826     107,177    114,733    104,159      99,462     113,176    104,800    102,114
Maine.....              40,832     37,283     40,238      37,722     39,901     37,567      37,189      38,294     39,681     36,462

Maryland.....          136,491    130,873    129,262     136,177    134,499    130,083     125,994     128,857    138,351    137,877
Massachusetts.....     166,346    154,124    180,439     164,658    163,995    163,458     157,024     148,702    174,134    169,981
Michigan.....          229,109    216,604    239,038     225,219    226,442    261,024     234,035     229,300    248,071    247,917
Minnesota.....         146,430    140,915    151,477     149,125    140,424    147,210     133,393     144,135    139,939    143,325
Mississippi.....        67,302     60,198     59,332      62,205     65,130     58,428      62,486      65,842     58,290     57,107
Missouri.....          151,637    148,426    142,012     144,851    138,731    144,042     133,861     144,000    144,113    141,257
Montana.....            32,922     32,066     30,014      28,913     32,494     26,893      26,215      30,643     29,185     28,385
Nebraska.....           47,973     44,773     48,229      48,216     47,532     45,236      41,131      43,827     43,706     47,190
Nevada.....             80,115     79,439     74,310      69,465     86,004     77,068      70,468      76,036     82,366     76,866
New Hampshire.....      39,715     36,043     40,902      35,921     39,868     37,503      37,188      37,071     39,656     39,078

New Jersey.....        226,397    200,823    242,670     214,184    228,531    221,251     216,208     212,994    227,208    218,752
New Mexico.....         49,483     45,658     43,638      45,901     47,199     45,992      39,391      47,327     46,835     43,715
New York.....          491,296    439,880    501,731     444,186    494,696    436,426     450,887     469,097    469,763    443,240
North Carolina.....    271,718    238,694    230,301     221,288    233,494    209,905     203,669     223,702    219,644    219,845
North Dakota.....       19,077     19,613     19,321      19,514     20,244     18,029      17,877      18,673     17,975     17,314
Ohio.....              273,486    259,261    283,177     249,393    270,264    285,789     260,711     266,721    276,817    273,512
Oklahoma.....           87,109     85,616     85,428      82,042     79,894     80,850      73,657      89,207     78,243     78,478
Oregon.....            107,374    104,745    101,225     100,856    106,709     97,684      96,037     104,666     98,132    103,121
Pennsylvania.....      286,900    282,273    302,265     266,822    289,362    278,568     266,506     270,874    285,414    275,582
Rhode Island.....       28,621     25,073     28,796      23,339     25,527     28,374      27,137      26,256     29,513     27,565

South Carolina.....    109,561    113,532    105,523      99,544    102,716     97,192      98,842     107,074    100,422    105,746
South Dakota.....       22,548     21,003     21,989      20,788     21,362     19,873      19,153      19,784     20,345     20,244
Tennessee.....         156,388    148,938    142,856     140,708    142,406    157,013     144,012     139,122    139,828    133,511
Texas.....             566,668    542,825    553,947     538,651    565,452    476,908     461,745     485,096    497,118    487,925
Utah.....               79,960     80,804     77,611      73,755     81,749     64,989      62,978      70,542     74,169     74,736
Vermont.....            18,861     16,966     19,085      18,877     20,353     18,099      18,899      19,073     20,024     18,596
Virginia.....          193,009    192,908    192,077     176,798    178,978    181,525     174,760     184,266    190,227    178,683
Washington.....        184,842    190,639    183,840     168,602    185,315    166,948     154,634     165,511    174,458    164,349
West Virginia.....      40,697     38,687     37,037      35,591     39,570     36,849      37,621      37,733     38,633     35,928
Wisconsin.....         146,759    144,613    146,916     127,659    136,751    143,350     141,179     134,163    144,918    135,457

Wyoming.....            22,692     22,362     18,932      20,910     23,028     16,482      18,199      21,853     19,706     18,058
Puerto Rico.....        56,039     43,159     47,784      51,566     49,868     47,988      55,059      50,761     50,852     49,473
Virgin Islands.....      2,358      2,091      3,531       2,119      2,192      1,980       2,501       2,376      3,282      2,193

(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 6.  Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

                        Gross job gains as a percent of employment    Gross job losses as a percent of employment
State                              (3 months ended)                               (3 months ended)

                        Dec.    March    June     Sept.   Dec.        Dec.     March     June    Sept.    Dec. 
                        2006    2007     2007     2007    2007        2006     2007      2007    2007     2007

United States1.....      7.0     6.6      6.7      6.4     6.8         6.5      6.2       6.5      6.6     6.5

Alabama.....             6.8     7.1      6.2      6.3     6.7         6.7      5.7       6.7      6.3     6.5
Alaska.....             11.0    10.3     11.9      9.4    10.4        11.4      9.5      10.0     11.1    11.1
Arizona.....             7.2     7.0      6.8      6.9     7.0         7.3      6.8       7.0      7.1     7.7
Arkansas.....            6.4     6.2      5.6      5.7     6.2         6.0      5.4       6.3      5.8     5.5
California.....          7.6     7.3      7.2      7.0     7.7         7.0      7.0       7.4      7.1     7.0
Colorado.....            7.9     7.6      7.8      7.7     7.5         7.3      6.8       7.0      7.4     7.3
Connecticut.....         6.0     5.3      6.2      5.4     5.9         5.4      5.7       5.3      5.8     5.7
Delaware.....            7.2     8.1      6.8      6.5     7.2         6.4      7.7       6.6      7.5     6.4
District of Columbia..   5.9     6.4      6.1      6.0     6.0         6.0      5.2       5.9      6.5     5.9
Florida.....             7.3     6.7      7.1      7.1     7.2         7.5      6.6       7.4      7.8     8.0

Georgia.....             7.8     7.3      7.1      7.1     7.3         7.4      6.7       7.3      7.1     7.6
Hawaii.....              5.4     5.5      5.8      5.1     5.4         5.2      5.2       5.4      6.0     5.1
Idaho.....               8.7     8.8      8.1      7.6     8.5         7.4      7.4       8.1      8.2     7.7
Illinois.....            5.8     5.5      5.9      5.3     5.7         5.6      5.4       5.3      5.7     5.5
Indiana.....             6.1     5.8      6.1      5.7     5.8         6.0      5.6       5.8      6.1     6.0
Iowa.....                6.4     5.8      6.4      5.7     6.1         5.9      5.9       5.8      6.0     5.8
Kansas.....              7.8     7.1      6.4      6.8     6.6         6.2      6.1       6.9      6.1     6.5
Kentucky.....            7.2     6.8      6.4      5.7     6.5         6.1      6.4       6.2      6.3     6.1
Louisiana.....           8.2     8.0      7.2      7.0     7.5         7.0      6.5       7.4      6.8     6.7
Maine.....               8.2     7.4      8.0      7.6     8.0         7.5      7.4       7.6      7.9     7.3

Maryland.....            6.6     6.3      6.2      6.5     6.4         6.3      6.1       6.1      6.6     6.6
Massachusetts.....       6.0     5.6      6.4      5.9     5.9         5.8      5.6       5.3      6.2     6.1
Michigan.....            6.4     6.1      6.7      6.3     6.4         7.2      6.5       6.4      6.9     7.0
Minnesota.....           6.4     6.1      6.5      6.4     6.1         6.4      5.8       6.2      6.0     6.2
Mississippi.....         7.5     6.7      6.6      7.0     7.2         6.5      7.0       7.3      6.5     6.3
Missouri.....            6.6     6.5      6.2      6.3     6.0         6.3      5.8       6.3      6.3     6.2
Montana.....             9.4     9.0      8.4      8.1     9.0         7.7      7.4       8.6      8.2     7.9
Nebraska.....            6.4     6.0      6.3      6.3     6.2         6.0      5.4       5.8      5.8     6.2
Nevada.....              7.1     6.9      6.5      6.1     7.6         6.8      6.2       6.7      7.3     6.8
New Hampshire.....       7.3     6.6      7.5      6.6     7.3         6.9      6.8       6.8      7.2     7.2

New Jersey.....          6.8     6.0      7.2      6.4     6.8         6.6      6.4       6.3      6.8     6.5
New Mexico.....          7.9     7.1      6.8      7.2     7.4         7.3      6.2       7.3      7.3     6.9
New York.....            7.0     6.2      7.0      6.2     7.0         6.2      6.3       6.6      6.6     6.2
North Carolina.....      8.1     7.1      6.8      6.6     6.8         6.3      6.1       6.6      6.5     6.4
North Dakota.....        7.0     7.0      7.0      7.0     7.2         6.6      6.5       6.8      6.5     6.2
Ohio.....                6.0     5.7      6.2      5.5     6.0         6.3      5.7       5.8      6.0     6.1
Oklahoma.....            7.2     7.0      7.0      6.7     6.5         6.8      6.1       7.3      6.4     6.4
Oregon.....              7.4     7.1      6.9      6.9     7.3         6.8      6.5       7.1      6.7     7.1
Pennsylvania.....        5.8     5.7      6.1      5.4     5.9         5.7      5.4       5.5      5.7     5.6
Rhode Island.....        6.8     5.9      6.8      5.6     6.1         6.7      6.4       6.2      7.0     6.6

South Carolina.....      7.1     7.3      6.7      6.3     6.6         6.2      6.3       6.9      6.4     6.7
South Dakota.....        7.1     6.5      6.8      6.4     6.6         6.2      5.9       6.1      6.3     6.2
Tennessee.....           6.7     6.4      6.1      6.0     6.1         6.7      6.1       6.0      6.0     5.7
Texas.....               6.8     6.4      6.5      6.3     6.5         5.7      5.5       5.7      5.8     5.7
Utah.....                8.0     8.0      7.6      7.2     7.9         6.5      6.2       6.9      7.2     7.3
Vermont.....             7.6     6.8      7.6      7.5     8.1         7.3      7.6       7.7      8.0     7.4
Virginia.....            6.5     6.5      6.3      5.9     6.0         6.1      5.9       6.1      6.3     5.9
Washington.....          7.9     8.0      7.7      7.0     7.7         7.1      6.5       6.9      7.3     6.8
West Virginia.....       7.2     6.8      6.5      6.2     6.9         6.5      6.6       6.6      6.8     6.3
Wisconsin.....           6.2     6.0      6.1      5.4     5.7         6.0      5.9       5.6      6.0     5.7

Wyoming.....            10.7    10.2      8.8      9.8    10.5         7.8      8.4      10.0      9.1     8.2
Puerto Rico.....         7.5     5.8      6.4      7.0     6.8         6.4      7.4       6.9      6.9     6.7
Virgin Islands.....      7.1     6.4     10.6      6.4     6.6         6.0      7.6       7.2      9.8     6.6

(1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Last Modified Date: August 12, 2008