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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 08-1715
                http://www.bls.gov/bdm/

                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media Contact:          (202) 691-5902     Thursday, November 20, 2008


          BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS:  FIRST QUARTER 2008          


   From December 2007 to March 2008, the number of job gains from opening
and expanding private sector establishments was 7.1 million, and the
number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was
7.4 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  (See tables A and 3.)
Over this period, firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced a
decline in their share of gross job gains with 15.2 percent, down from
19.1 percent in the prior quarter.  (See tables D and 4.)

   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.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------- 
   |           Changes to Business Employment Dynamics Data            |
   |                                                                   |
   | Data in this release incorporates annual revisions to the BED     |
   | series.  Annual revisions are published each year with the release|
   | of first quarter data.  These revisions cover the last four       | 
   | quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and 5 years of           |
   | seasonally adjusted data.                                         |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------


   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           
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  | Mar.  | June | Sept.| Dec. | Mar.    
           Category               | 2007  | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2008   
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |         Levels (in thousands)       
----------------------------------|-------------------------------------
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job gains...................|  7,627| 7,665| 7,323| 7,676| 7,130  
  At expanding establishments.....|  6,228| 6,250| 5,849| 6,220| 5,731  
  At opening establishments.......|  1,399| 1,415| 1,474| 1,456| 1,399  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|  7,157| 7,473| 7,564| 7,366| 7,400  
  At contracting establishments...|  5,872| 6,066| 6,209| 6,010| 6,047  
  At closing establishments.......|  1,285| 1,407| 1,355| 1,356| 1,353  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|    470|   192|  -241|   310|  -270  
                                  |-------------------------------------
                                  |           Rates (percent)           
                                  |-------------------------------------
Gross job gains...................|    6.7|   6.7|   6.4|   6.8|   6.2  
  At expanding establishments.....|    5.5|   5.5|   5.1|   5.5|   5.0  
  At opening establishments.......|    1.2|   1.2|   1.3|   1.3|   1.2  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Gross job losses..................|    6.3|   6.5|   6.7|   6.5|   6.5  
  At contracting establishments...|    5.2|   5.3|   5.5|   5.3|   5.3  
  At closing establishments.......|    1.1|   1.2|   1.2|   1.2|   1.2  
                                  |       |      |      |      |        
Net employment change (1).........|     .4|    .2|   -.3|    .3|   -.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
7.1 million jobs in the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 546,000
from the previous quarter.  Over the quarter, expanding establishments
added 5.7 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.4 million
jobs.

   Gross job losses totaled 7.4 million, an increase of 34,000 from the
previous quarter.  During the quarter, contracting establishments lost
6.0 million jobs, while closing establishments lost 1.4 million jobs.
(See tables A, 1, and 3.)

   The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number
of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of -270,000 jobs in the
private sector for first quarter 2008. This is the second time in the
past three quarters that there has been a net job loss.

   From December 2007 to March 2008, gross job gains represented 6.2
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 losses exceeded gross job gains in the following major
industry sectors: natural resources and mining, construction,
manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and
warehousing, financial activities, and professional and business
services.  Education and health services was the only sector that had
gross job gains noticeably higher than gross job losses.
(See tables B and 3.)

   Goods-producing.  Expanding and opening establishments in the goods-
producing sectors accounted for 1,493,000 jobs gained, and contracting
and closing establishments accounted for 1,758,000 jobs lost.  This
net loss of 265,000 jobs results in the seventh consecutive quarter of
net loss.

   Construction.  In construction, gross job gains fell over the quarter
to 763,000.  Although gross job losses also decreased slightly to
869,000, this sector lost a net of 106,000 jobs.  This sector
experienced net losses in seven of the previous eight quarters.

   Manufacturing.  Gross job gains declined to 456,000 while gross job
losses grew to 596,000.  This reverses the recent downward trend in
gross job losses.  This sector has experienced net losses in all but six
quarters since the beginning of 1998.



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        |-----------------------------|-----------------------------
                       |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. |Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. 
                       |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 
-----------------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
  Total private (1)....|7,627|7,665|7,323|7,676|7,130|7,157|7,473|7,564|7,366|7,400
 Goods-Producing.......|1,665|1,633|1,504|1,573|1,493|1,702|1,713|1,725|1,701|1,758
  Natural resources    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    and mining.........|  286|  290|  262|  292|  274|  288|  274|  274|  261|  293
  Construction ........|  867|  820|  772|  784|  763|  828|  865|  882|  875|  869
  Manufacturing .......|  512|  523|  470|  497|  456|  586|  574|  569|  565|  596
 Service-Providing (1).|5,962|6,032|5,819|6,103|5,637|5,455|5,760|5,839|5,665|5,642
  Wholesale trade......|  320|  321|  310|  321|  294|  297|  304|  308|  301|  306
  Retail trade ........|1,099|1,029|1,007|1,022|  954|  979|1,042|1,064|1,011|  979
    Transportation and |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
  warehousing..........|  234|  246|  224|  254|  208|  250|  223|  233|  229|  250
  Utilities............|   12|   15|   14|   15|   13|   11|   12|   12|   11|   10
  Information..........|  140|  161|  155|  145|  154|  136|  139|  154|  155|	153
  Financial activities.|  434|  433|  418|  432|  412|  423|  463|  479|  486|	436
  Professional and     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    business services..|1,310|1,403|1,316|1,440|1,239|1,254|1,347|1,339|1,337|1,358
  Education and        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    health services....|  818|  795|  810|  814|  785|  669|  696|  685|  666|	667
  Leisure and          |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     
    hospitality........|1,194|1,228|1,179|1,247|1,158|1,117|1,206|1,224|1,148|1,154
  Other services.......|  299|  308|  293|  296|  290|  283|  289|  307|  287|	289
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately.



   Service-providing.  In the service-providing sectors, gross job gains
decreased to 5,637,000 and gross job losses decreased to 5,642,000.
Job gains at expanding establishments decreased to 4,473,000 jobs,
while job losses at contracting establishments decreased to 4,566,000
jobs.

   Education and Health Services.  In the education and health services
sector, gross job gains decreased to 785,000 jobs in the first
quarter, while gross job losses remained virtually unchanged at 667,000.
Gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses every quarter since this
series began in 1992.

   Retail Trade.  In retail trade, gross job gains decreased to
954,000.  This is only the second quarter since the series began in 1992
that gross job gains for this sector have been less than one million.

   Leisure and Hospitality.  Despite the decrease in gross job gains in
first quarter, the leisure and hospitality industry managed to show net
job growth.  Other than the four quarters in 2001, this sector has
experienced a net job loss in only two quarters since 1992.

   Financial Activities.  For the fourth consecutive quarter gross job
losses exceeded gross job gains in this sector.  The number of gross job
losses declined to 436,000, and the number of gross job gains also
decreased to 412,000.

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 first quarter of 2008, the number of
establishments losing jobs exceeded the number of establishments
gaining jobs.

   Out of 7.3 million active private-sector establishments, a total of
1,976,000 establishments lost jobs from December 2007 to March 2008.
(See table C.)  Of these establishments, 1,596,000 were contracting
establishments and 380,000 were closing establishments.  Of the
establishments gaining jobs, 1,517,000 establishments were expanding
and 357,000 establishments were opening, resulting in 1,874,000
establishments gaining jobs.

   The number of closing establishments exceeded the number of opening
establishments, resulting in a net loss of 23,000 private sector
establishments during the quarter.



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

(In thousands)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  |             3 months ended           
                                  |--------------------------------------
             Category             |  Mar. |  June | Sept.| Dec. | Mar.   
                                  |  2007 |  2007 | 2007 | 2007 | 2008   
----------------------------------|-------|-------|------|------|--------
Establishments gaining jobs.......|  1,950|  1,919| 1,901| 1,940| 1,874  
  Expanding establishments........|  1,582|  1,559| 1,525| 1,558| 1,517  
  Opening establishments..........|    368|    360|   376|   382|   357  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Establishments losing jobs........|  1,914|  1,952| 1,956| 1,935| 1,976  
  Contracting establishments......|  1,552|  1,582| 1,595| 1,575| 1,596  
  Closing establishments..........|    362|    370|   361|   360|   380  
                                  |       |       |      |      |        
Net establishment change (1)......|      6|    -10|    15|    22|   -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.


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

   From December 2007 to March 2008, firms with 1 to 4 employees
accounted for the largest share of gross job gains at 16.2 percent.
Firms with 1,000 or more employees had the highest share of gross job
losses with 16.8 percent, followed closely by firms with 1 to 4
employees with 16.7 percent.  (See tables D and 4.)


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       |------------------------------|------------------------------
                       | Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. | Mar. |June |Sept.|Dec. |Mar. 
                       | 2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 | 2007 |2007 |2007 |2007 |2008 
-----------------------|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|------|-----|-----|-----|-----
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
   1  -   4 employees..|  15.9| 14.9| 16.2| 15.6| 16.2|  16.7| 16.1| 15.8| 16.0| 16.7
   5  -   9 employees..|  12.2| 11.6| 12.2| 11.4| 12.4|  12.5| 12.3| 12.1| 12.3| 12.4
  10  -  19 employees..|  12.4| 12.1| 12.2| 11.6| 12.6|  12.5| 12.3| 12.3| 12.4| 12.4
  20  -  49 employees..|  14.5| 14.5| 14.3| 13.8| 14.7|  14.3| 14.3| 14.5| 14.4| 14.3
  50  -  99 employees..|   8.9|  9.1|  8.9|  8.7|  9.1|   8.8|  8.6|  8.9|  8.9|  8.7
 100  - 249 employees..|   9.4|  9.8|  9.2|  9.3|  9.4|   9.0|  8.9|  9.4|  9.1|  8.9
 250  - 499 employees..|   5.5|  5.9|  5.6|  5.5|  5.6|   5.3|  5.2|  5.5|  5.3|  5.3
 500  - 999 employees..|   4.5|  4.7|  4.6|  4.5|  4.4|   4.0|  4.4|  4.5|  4.5|  4.2
1,000 or more employees|  16.4| 16.9| 16.4| 19.1| 15.2|  16.5| 17.4| 16.6| 16.7| 16.8
                       |      |     |     |     |     |      |     |     |     |     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1 Shares measure the percent of the category represented by firm size,
     and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.



Gross Job Gains and Losses by State

   In the first quarter, 19 states, the District of Columbia and the
Virgin Islands had net employment growth.  However, 31 states and
Puerto Rico experienced net job losses.  Although the number of gross
job gains in Texas declined from fourth quarter, it had the largest net
job growth with 51,572.  This is the ninth consecutive quarter that Texas
has had the highest net job gains.  After experiencing high net job
growth from third quarter 2003 to third quarter 2006, Florida and Arizona
have had net job losses in five of the past seven quarters.  Gross job
gains in California are at the lowest level in the history of the data
series spanning back to 1992.  (See table 5.)  Connecticut had the
lowest rate of gross job losses and Wyoming had the highest rate of
gross job gains.  (See table 6.)


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 9.2   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million employers  |  submitted by 7.3    |
           |                     |  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 7.3 million private sector employer reports out 
of 9.2 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 
BLS in the first quarter of 2008.  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 first 
quarter of 2008:


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

                                                                   Millions
                                                                       
Total establishments QCEW program....................................9.2

    Excluded:  Public sector.........................................0.3 
               Private households....................................0.6
               Zero employment.......................................0.9      
               Establishments in Puerto Rico 
                 and the Virgin Islands..............................0.1 
         
Total establishments included in Business
Employment Dynamics data.............................................7.3

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               -412      7,439       5,917         1,522       7,851       6,311           1,540
      June                -104      7,401       5,928         1,473       7,505       6,040           1,465
      September            204      7,383       5,918         1,465       7,179       5,818           1,361
      December             309      7,549       6,016         1,533       7,240       5,802           1,438

2004  March                450      7,683       6,189         1,494       7,233       5,799           1,434
      June                 631      7,760       6,234         1,526       7,129       5,648           1,481
      September            215      7,630       6,057         1,573       7,415       5,877           1,538
      December             781      7,872       6,256         1,616       7,091       5,660           1,431

2005  March                363      7,595       6,123         1,472       7,232       5,806           1,426
      June                 585      7,783       6,231         1,552       7,198       5,785           1,413
      September            680      7,962       6,387         1,575       7,282       5,834           1,448
      December             516      7,833       6,263         1,570       7,317       5,945           1,372

2006  March                787      7,697       6,278         1,419       6,910       5,635           1,275
      June                 410      7,795       6,274         1,521       7,385       6,009           1,376
      September             36      7,488       6,052         1,436       7,452       6,099           1,353
      December             492      7,801       6,262         1,539       7,309       5,953           1,356

2007  March                470      7,627       6,228         1,399       7,157       5,872           1,285
      June                 192      7,665       6,250         1,415       7,473       6,066           1,407
      September           -241      7,323       5,849         1,474       7,564       6,209           1,355
      December             310      7,676       6,220         1,456       7,366       6,010           1,356

2008  March               -270      7,130       5,731         1,399       7,400       6,047           1,353

(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             .2       6.9         5.5           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3
      December              .3       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.7          5.4            1.3

2004  March                 .5       7.2         5.8           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              .7       7.2         5.7           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              .4       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.6          5.4            1.2

2006  March                 .8       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.1          5.0            1.1
      June                  .5       7.0         5.6           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September             .1       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .4       6.9         5.5           1.4         6.5          5.3            1.2

2007  March                 .4       6.7         5.5           1.2         6.3          5.2            1.1
      June                  .2       6.7         5.5           1.2         6.5          5.3            1.2
      September            -.3       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.7          5.5            1.2
      December              .3       6.8         5.5           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2008  March                -.3       6.2         5.0           1.2         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

                                   Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.    Mar.   Mar.   June   Sept.  Dec.   Mar. 
                                   2007    2007    2007    2007    2008   2007   2007   2007   2007   2008
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,627   7,665   7,323   7,676   7,130    6.7    6.7    6.4    6.8    6.2
 At expanding establishments      6,228   6,250   5,849   6,220   5,731    5.5    5.5    5.1    5.5    5.0
 At opening establishments        1,399   1,415   1,474   1,456   1,399    1.2    1.2    1.3    1.3    1.2
Gross job losses                  7,157   7,473   7,564   7,366   7,400    6.3    6.5    6.7    6.5    6.5
 At contracting establishments    5,872   6,066   6,209   6,010   6,047    5.2    5.3    5.5    5.3    5.3
 At closing establishments        1,285   1,407   1,355   1,356   1,353    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2
Net employment change               470     192    -241     310    -270     .4     .2    -.3     .3    -.3

Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,665   1,633   1,504   1,573   1,493    7.1    7.0    6.4    6.8    6.5
 At expanding establishments      1,416   1,386   1,262   1,337   1,258    6.0    5.9    5.4    5.8    5.5
 At opening establishments          249     247     242     236     235    1.1    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.0
Gross job losses                  1,702   1,713   1,725   1,701   1,758    7.2    7.3    7.5    7.4    7.6
 At contracting establishments    1,437   1,433   1,455   1,424   1,481    6.1    6.1    6.3    6.2    6.4
 At closing establishments          265     280     270     277     277    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2
Net employment change               -37     -80    -221    -128    -265    -.1    -.3   -1.1    -.6   -1.1

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     286     290     262     292     274   15.6   15.8   14.4   15.8   14.5
 At expanding establishments        246     251     224     250     234   13.4   13.7   12.3   13.5   12.4
 At opening establishments           40      39      38      42      40    2.2    2.1    2.1    2.3    2.1
Gross job losses                    288     274     274     261     293   15.7   14.9   15.1   14.1   15.5
 At contracting establishments      248     233     233     224     251   13.5   12.7   12.8   12.1   13.3
 At closing establishments           40      41      41      37      42    2.2    2.2    2.3    2.0    2.2
Net employment change                -2      16     -12      31     -19    -.1     .9    -.7    1.7   -1.0

Construction

Gross job gains                     867     820     772     784     763   11.3   10.7   10.2   10.5   10.2
 At expanding establishments        704     657     616     634     614    9.2    8.6    8.1    8.5    8.2
 At opening establishments          163     163     156     150     149    2.1    2.1    2.1    2.0    2.0
Gross job losses                    828     865     882     875     869   10.7   11.3   11.7   11.7   11.7
 At contracting establishments      665     696     715     702     698    8.6    9.1    9.5    9.4    9.4
 At closing establishments          163     169     167     173     171    2.1    2.2    2.2    2.3    2.3
Net employment change                39     -45    -110     -91    -106     .6    -.6   -1.5   -1.2   -1.5

Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     512     523     470     497     456    3.6    3.7    3.3    3.6    3.3
 At expanding establishments        466     478     422     453     410    3.3    3.4    3.0    3.3    3.0
 At opening establishments           46      45      48      44      46     .3     .3     .3     .3     .3
Gross job losses                    586     574     569     565     596    4.1    4.1    4.1    4.1    4.4
 At contracting establishments      524     504     507     498     532    3.7    3.6    3.7    3.6    3.9
 At closing establishments           62      70      62      67      64     .4     .5     .4     .5     .5
Net employment change               -74     -51     -99     -68    -140    -.5    -.4    -.8    -.5   -1.1

Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   5,962   6,032   5,819   6,103   5,637    6.6    6.7    6.5    6.7    6.2
 At expanding establishments      4,812   4,864   4,587   4,883   4,473    5.3    5.4    5.1    5.4    4.9
 At opening establishments        1,150   1,168   1,232   1,220   1,164    1.3    1.3    1.4    1.3    1.3
Gross job losses                  5,455   5,760   5,839   5,665   5,642    6.0    6.3    6.4    6.3    6.2
 At contracting establishments    4,435   4,633   4,754   4,586   4,566    4.9    5.1    5.2    5.1    5.0
 At closing establishments        1,020   1,127   1,085   1,079   1,076    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.2    1.2
Net employment change               507     272     -20     438      -5     .6     .4     .1     .4     .0

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     320     321     310     321     294    5.3    5.4    5.1    5.4    4.9
 At expanding establishments        259     264     248     263     238    4.3    4.4    4.1    4.4    4.0
 At opening establishments           61      57      62      58      56    1.0    1.0    1.0    1.0     .9
Gross job losses                    297     304     308     301     306    5.0    5.1    5.2    5.0    5.1
 At contracting establishments      232     233     244     232     239    3.9    3.9    4.1    3.9    4.0
 At closing establishments           65      71      64      69      67    1.1    1.2    1.1    1.1    1.1
Net employment change                23      17       2      20     -12     .3     .3    -.1     .4    -.2

Retail trade

Gross job gains                   1,099   1,029   1,007   1,022     954    7.1    6.6    6.5    6.6    6.2
 At expanding establishments        944     871     821     870     804    6.1    5.6    5.3    5.6    5.2
 At opening establishments          155     158     186     152     150    1.0    1.0    1.2    1.0    1.0
Gross job losses                    979   1,042   1,064   1,011     979    6.3    6.7    6.8    6.5    6.3
 At contracting establishments      835     905     926     871     846    5.4    5.8    5.9    5.6    5.4
 At closing establishments          144     137     138     140     133     .9     .9     .9     .9     .9
Net employment change               120     -13     -57      11     -25     .8    -.1    -.3     .1    -.1

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     234     246     224     254     208    5.4    5.7    5.2    5.8    4.8
 At expanding establishments        199     209     190     219     177    4.6    4.8    4.4    5.0    4.1
 At opening establishments           35      37      34      35      31     .8     .9     .8     .8     .7
Gross job losses                    250     223     233     229     250    5.8    5.2    5.4    5.3    5.8
 At contracting establishments      214     185     194     189     216    5.0    4.3    4.5    4.4    5.0
 At closing establishments           36      38      39      40      34     .8     .9     .9     .9     .8
Net employment change               -16      23      -9      25     -42    -.4     .5    -.2     .5   -1.0

Utilities

Gross job gains                      12      15      14      15      13    2.2    2.8    2.6    2.8    2.4
 At expanding establishments         11      14      13      13      11    2.0    2.6    2.4    2.4    2.0
 At opening establishments            1       1       1       2       2     .2     .2     .2     .4     .4
Gross job losses                     11      12      12      11      10    2.0    2.2    2.2    2.0    1.8
 At contracting establishments       10      10      10      10       9    1.8    1.8    1.8    1.8    1.6
 At closing establishments            1       2       2       1       1     .2     .4     .4     .2     .2
Net employment change                 1       3       2       4       3     .2     .6     .4     .8     .6

Information

Gross job gains                     140     161     155     145     154    4.6    5.3    5.1    4.7    5.1
 At expanding establishments        119     137     127     117     129    3.9    4.5    4.2    3.8    4.3
 At opening establishments           21      24      28      28      25     .7     .8     .9     .9     .8
Gross job losses                    136     139     154     155     153    4.5    4.6    5.0    5.1    5.1
 At contracting establishments      112     113     129     126     123    3.7    3.7    4.2    4.1    4.1
 At closing establishments           24      26      25      29      30     .8     .9     .8    1.0    1.0
Net employment change                 4      22       1     -10       1     .1     .7     .1    -.4     .0

Financial activities

Gross job gains                     434     433     418     432     412    5.3    5.3    5.1    5.3    5.1
 At expanding establishments        342     346     322     332     324    4.2    4.2    3.9    4.1    4.0
 At opening establishments           92      87      96     100      88    1.1    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.1
Gross job losses                    423     463     479     486     436    5.1    5.6    5.8    6.0    5.4
 At contracting establishments      324     354     362     368     323    3.9    4.3    4.4    4.5    4.0
 At closing establishments           99     109     117     118     113    1.2    1.3    1.4    1.5    1.4
Net employment change                11     -30     -61     -54     -24     .2    -.3    -.7    -.7    -.3

Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,310   1,403   1,316   1,440   1,239    7.4    7.8    7.4    8.0    6.8
 At expanding establishments      1,080   1,148   1,053   1,158     998    6.1    6.4    5.9    6.4    5.5
 At opening establishments          230     255     263     282     241    1.3    1.4    1.5    1.6    1.3
Gross job losses                  1,254   1,347   1,339   1,337   1,358    7.0    7.5    7.5    7.5    7.6
 At contracting establishments    1,004   1,041   1,075   1,072   1,094    5.6    5.8    6.0    6.0    6.1
 At closing establishments          250     306     264     265     264    1.4    1.7    1.5    1.5    1.5
Net employment change                56      56     -23     103    -119     .4     .3    -.1     .5    -.8

Education and health services

Gross job gains                     818     795     810     814     785    4.8    4.6    4.7    4.6    4.4
 At expanding establishments        688     676     678     695     661    4.0    3.9    3.9    3.9    3.7
 At opening establishments          130     119     132     119     124     .8     .7     .8     .7     .7
Gross job losses                    669     696     685     666     667    3.9    4.0    3.9    3.7    3.8
 At contracting establishments      555     577     568     552     551    3.2    3.3    3.2    3.1    3.1
 At closing establishments          114     119     117     114     116     .7     .7     .7     .6     .7
Net employment change               149      99     125     148     118     .9     .6     .8     .9     .6

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,194   1,228   1,179   1,247   1,158    9.0    9.2    8.9    9.3    8.6
 At expanding establishments        914     939     891     961     879    6.9    7.0    6.7    7.2    6.5
 At opening establishments          280     289     288     286     279    2.1    2.2    2.2    2.1    2.1
Gross job losses                  1,117   1,206   1,224   1,148   1,154    8.4    9.0    9.1    8.5    8.6
 At contracting establishments      918     975     993     931     930    6.9    7.3    7.4    6.9    6.9
 At closing establishments          199     231     231     217     224    1.5    1.7    1.7    1.6    1.7
Net employment change                77      22     -45      99       4     .6     .2    -.2     .8     .0

Other services

Gross job gains                     299     308     293     296     290    7.7    7.9    7.5    7.6    7.5
 At expanding establishments        241     247     230     238     233    6.2    6.3    5.9    6.1    6.0
 At opening establishments           58      61      63      58      57    1.5    1.6    1.6    1.5    1.5
Gross job losses                    283     289     307     287     289    7.3    7.4    7.8    7.3    7.4
 At contracting establishments      221     227     243     224     224    5.7    5.8    6.2    5.7    5.7
 At closing establishments           62      62      64      63      65    1.6    1.6    1.6    1.6    1.7
Net employment change                16      19     -14       9       1     .4     .5    -.3     .3     .1

(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

                              Mar.  2007     June  2007      Sept. 2007      Dec.  2007      Mar.  2008

Firm size 1 - 4 employees

Gross job gains...............   15.9            14.9            16.2            15.6            16.2
   Expanding firms............    7.4             7.1             7.5             7.2             7.7
   Opening firms..............   60.0            58.4            59.4            61.5            58.9
Gross job losses..............   16.7            16.1            15.8            16.0            16.7
   Contracting firms..........    8.2             7.9             7.7             8.0             8.1
   Closing firms..............   60.5            59.6            60.1            59.6            60.9

Firm size 5 - 9 employees

Gross job gains...............   12.2            11.6            12.2            11.4            12.4
   Expanding firms............   11.4            10.8            11.3            10.7            11.6
   Opening firms..............   16.6            16.5            16.4            15.5            16.5
Gross job losses..............   12.5            12.3            12.1            12.3            12.4
   Contracting firms..........   11.9            11.6            11.3            11.5            11.7
   Closing firms..............   15.6            16.1            16.1            16.2            15.9

Firm size 10 - 19 employees

Gross job gains...............   12.4            12.1            12.2            11.6            12.6
   Expanding firms............   12.7            12.2            12.5            11.9            12.9
   Opening firms..............   10.8            11.4            10.7            10.1            11.0
Gross job losses..............   12.5            12.3            12.3            12.4            12.4
   Contracting firms..........   12.9            12.7            12.7            12.6            12.8
   Closing firms..............   10.1            10.5            10.5            10.8            10.2

Firm size 20 - 49 employees

Gross job gains...............   14.5            14.5            14.3            13.8            14.7
   Expanding firms............   15.8            15.6            15.6            14.9            16.1
   Opening firms..............    7.7             8.6             7.7             7.7             7.8
Gross job losses..............   14.3            14.3            14.5            14.4            14.3
   Contracting firms..........   15.6            15.5            15.7            15.6            15.6
   Closing firms..............    7.6             8.0             7.9             8.0             7.5

Firm size 50 - 99 employees

Gross job gains...............    8.9             9.1             8.9             8.7             9.1
   Expanding firms............   10.1            10.2            10.1             9.8            10.4
   Opening firms..............    2.4             2.9             2.8             2.8             2.7
Gross job losses..............    8.8             8.6             8.9             8.9             8.7
   Contracting firms..........    9.9             9.7            10.0            10.0             9.9
   Closing firms..............    2.9             2.8             2.7             2.9             2.8

Firm size 100 - 249 employees

Gross job gains...............    9.4             9.8             9.2             9.3             9.4
   Expanding firms............   11.0            11.3            10.8            10.7            11.1
   Opening firms..............    1.0             1.3             1.5             1.3             1.3
Gross job losses..............    9.0             8.9             9.4             9.1             8.9
   Contracting firms..........   10.4            10.2            10.8            10.4            10.3
   Closing firms..............    1.7             1.6             1.6             1.6             1.5

Firm size 250 - 499 employees

Gross job gains...............    5.5             5.9             5.6             5.5             5.6
   Expanding firms............    6.5             6.9             6.6             6.5             6.6
   Opening firms..............     .2              .4              .5              .3              .4
Gross job losses..............    5.3             5.2             5.5             5.3             5.3
   Contracting firms..........    6.2             6.1             6.4             6.2             6.2
   Closing firms..............     .6              .6              .5              .5              .4

Firm size 500 - 999 employees

Gross job gains...............    4.5             4.7             4.6             4.5             4.4
   Expanding firms............    5.3             5.5             5.5             5.3             5.2
   Opening firms..............     .1              .2              .2              .2              .3
Gross job losses..............    4.0             4.4             4.5             4.5             4.2
   Contracting firms..........    4.8             5.2             5.3             5.3             4.9
   Closing firms..............     .3              .3              .2              .1              .2

Firm size 1,000 or more employees

Gross job gains...............   16.4            16.9            16.4            19.1            15.2
   Expanding firms............   19.4            20.0            19.6            22.6            18.1
   Opening firms..............     .4              .1              .5              .2              .7
Gross job losses..............   16.5            17.4            16.6            16.7            16.8
   Contracting firms..........   19.6            20.7            19.7            19.8            20.1
   Closing firms..............     .3              .2              .0              .0              .2


(1) Shares measure the percent of the category represented by each firm size class,
    and rates may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.

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)
                        Mar.       June       Sept.       Dec.      Mar.       Mar.         June       Sept.       Dec.      Mar.
                        2007       2007       2007        2007      2008       2007         2007       2007        2007      2008

United States1.....  7,627,000  7,665,000  7,323,000   7,676,000  7,130,000  7,157,000   7,473,000   7,564,000  7,366,000  7,400,000

Alabama.....           112,149    100,808    101,828     107,871     96,431     91,401     108,221     103,535    104,544    102,216
Alaska.....             24,548     28,101     22,638      24,875     24,026     22,824      24,267      26,359     26,209     21,293
Arizona.....           160,293    155,009    157,479     157,454    131,093    152,998     159,271     159,009    173,557    157,425
Arkansas.....           61,217     55,197     56,555      60,518     57,573     54,033      62,063      57,918     57,447     55,687
California.....        963,848    945,317    914,523     991,318    883,486    932,494     971,930     946,834    917,701    970,184
Colorado.....          146,568    150,850    148,802     147,704    144,403    132,118     136,425     145,775    142,396    139,549
Connecticut.....        77,458     90,055     78,985      84,896     75,774     82,572      77,009      83,429     82,717     75,913
Delaware.....           30,549     25,134     23,562      26,057     22,843     28,620      23,614      27,512     23,286     23,490
District of Columbia    28,832     27,860     26,552      26,858     27,668     23,433      26,521      28,084     26,855     24,968
Florida.....           472,508    496,973    495,029     503,784    462,893    459,346     531,335     557,640    557,019    508,941

Georgia.....           249,873    243,842    244,518     246,217    241,910    229,628     251,328     242,518    257,581    248,694
Hawaii.....             28,081     29,787     26,953      27,626     27,444     26,641      26,976      30,063     26,283     28,861
Idaho.....              48,321     44,611     42,078      46,957     43,825     40,588      45,016      45,607     42,462     47,387
Illinois.....          283,118    298,205    269,396     289,963    257,263    272,637     273,666     289,684    284,241    277,394
Indiana.....           146,991    154,286    145,385     147,408    128,823    141,285     148,037     154,035    152,272    151,313
Iowa.....               73,884     80,645     74,297      76,423     75,913     74,944      72,946      76,519     72,570     75,739
Kansas.....             75,841     71,588     74,748      72,455     85,756     66,638      75,089      67,156     72,803     76,089
Kentucky.....          103,007     96,967     87,033      98,760     89,802     96,129      93,881      96,077     91,580     94,167
Louisiana.....         122,183    110,681    110,325     114,566    105,843     99,834     113,637     107,897    102,061    101,310
Maine.....              37,953     40,256     37,699      39,812     35,386     37,735      38,603      40,136     36,533     38,311

Maryland.....          131,236    129,968    136,821     133,972    129,204    125,403     129,484     138,112    137,186    132,403
Massachusetts.....     159,703    180,726    167,840     163,903    156,011    158,570     151,899     175,531    169,769    152,572
Michigan.....          221,823    240,220    225,991     226,325    207,642    233,213     230,565     246,215    249,067    242,937
Minnesota.....         141,667    151,593    151,427     140,089    139,026    136,583     143,597     140,365    143,481    142,695
Mississippi.....        61,490     60,017     62,592      65,791     57,582     63,164      66,956      58,456     57,571     58,523
Missouri.....          150,073    142,046    146,395     138,451    137,642    136,739     145,375     144,782    141,379    139,452
Montana.....            32,425     30,040     29,111      32,517     30,702     26,528      30,769      29,363     28,468     30,160
Nebraska.....           46,978     48,148     48,569      47,931     46,332     43,157      44,493      44,276     47,536     42,107
Nevada.....             79,393     74,132     69,323      85,876     76,077     71,397      77,618      82,736     77,350     85,232
New Hampshire.....      36,686     40,806     36,282      39,237     35,433     37,465      37,485      39,787     38,422     37,137

New Jersey.....        203,113    242,733    216,092     227,637    202,756    218,590     217,207     234,703    218,322    213,561
New Mexico.....         47,065     45,581     46,822      47,752     44,333     40,068      49,069      47,911     44,620     41,459
New York.....          444,928    496,723    447,389     492,874    435,576    445,975     448,036     463,652    439,494    450,588
North Carolina.....    243,136    231,964    224,225     233,942    222,100    204,976     230,720     223,101    217,800    221,137
North Dakota.....       19,515     19,319     19,566      20,281     21,771     17,900      18,632      17,948     17,305     17,438
Ohio.....              267,559    286,268    253,718     270,727    243,918    264,922     271,389     282,838    274,342    283,287
Oklahoma.....           86,317     85,967     82,213      80,007     86,731     74,900      86,659      76,306     77,962     72,919
Oregon.....            106,161    101,500    102,187     107,206     97,406     97,176     105,123     100,470    103,814    100,289
Pennsylvania.....      287,665    303,250    269,675     289,282    267,831    273,284     277,287     288,146    275,587    274,187
Rhode Island.....       25,072     28,775     23,395      25,807     23,562     27,331      26,609      29,596     28,218     26,635

South Carolina.....    115,876    103,434     99,461     103,048     99,070    100,386     105,915     100,979    105,799    100,963
South Dakota.....       21,216     21,945     20,782      21,382     21,942     19,283      19,784      20,340     20,270     19,382
Tennessee.....         150,304    144,880    142,360     141,888    133,791    144,881     145,002     141,564    133,361    138,012
Texas.....             560,923    554,057    538,336     568,802    535,846    475,593     489,940     504,337    487,640    484,274
Utah.....               81,628     77,649     74,231      81,880     71,826     63,774      71,533      76,234     75,317     71,419
Vermont.....            17,815     19,069     19,066      20,368     17,728     18,608      19,040      20,052     18,694     19,372
Virginia.....          195,693    191,902    178,420     184,806    186,117    176,361     186,930     191,182    186,717    181,561
Washington.....        189,869    183,218    169,948     185,367    185,681    155,510     166,579     175,505    164,540    167,911
West Virginia.....      38,985     37,553     36,543      40,109     36,735     38,044      37,981      38,839     36,420     37,112
Wisconsin.....         145,965    147,543    129,879     136,739    133,678    141,622     134,549     144,564    135,453    136,642

Wyoming.....            22,594     19,121     21,394      23,500     23,351     18,381      21,843      19,945     18,010     19,803
Puerto Rico.....        45,975     49,080     52,534      49,548     43,097     55,885      50,962      50,788     49,977     56,195
Virgin Islands.....      2,245      3,594      2,401       2,261      2,193      2,427       2,401       3,189      2,234      2,157

(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)

                        Mar.    June     Sept.    Dec.    Mar.        Mar.     June      Sept.   Dec.     Mar.
                        2007    2007     2007     2007    2008        2007     2007      2007    2007     2008

United States1.....      6.7     6.7      6.4      6.8     6.2         6.3      6.5       6.7      6.5     6.5

Alabama.....             7.1     6.3      6.3      6.8     6.0         5.8      6.8       6.5      6.5     6.5
Alaska.....             10.5    11.9      9.6     10.6    10.2         9.8     10.3      11.3     11.2     9.0
Arizona.....             7.1     6.9      7.0      7.0     5.9         6.8      7.0       7.0      7.7     7.1
Arkansas.....            6.3     5.6      5.8      6.2     5.8         5.5      6.3       5.9      5.8     5.7
California.....          7.4     7.2      7.0      7.7     6.8         7.2      7.5       7.3      7.0     7.5
Colorado.....            7.6     7.8      7.7      7.6     7.4         6.9      7.0       7.5      7.3     7.1
Connecticut.....         5.4     6.3      5.5      5.9     5.3         5.8      5.4       5.8      5.7     5.3
Delaware.....            8.3     6.9      6.5      7.1     6.2         7.8      6.4       7.6      6.4     6.4
District of Columbia..   6.5     6.3      6.0      6.0     6.2         5.2      5.9       6.3      6.1     5.6
Florida.....             6.8     7.2      7.1      7.4     6.8         6.7      7.7       8.1      8.1     7.5

Georgia.....             7.4     7.1      7.2      7.3     7.1         6.8      7.4       7.1      7.5     7.3
Hawaii.....              5.5     5.9      5.3      5.4     5.4         5.3      5.3       5.9      5.2     5.7
Idaho.....               8.8     8.1      7.6      8.5     8.0         7.4      8.2       8.3      7.7     8.6
Illinois.....            5.6     5.9      5.3      5.7     5.0         5.4      5.4       5.7      5.6     5.4
Indiana.....             5.9     6.1      5.8      5.9     5.2         5.6      5.9       6.1      6.0     6.1
Iowa.....                6.0     6.4      5.9      6.1     6.0         6.0      5.8       6.1      5.8     6.0
Kansas.....              6.9     6.5      6.7      6.5     7.7         6.0      6.8       6.1      6.6     6.7
Kentucky.....            6.9     6.5      5.8      6.6     5.9         6.4      6.2       6.4      6.1     6.3
Louisiana.....           8.0     7.2      7.3      7.4     6.9         6.5      7.4       7.0      6.7     6.5
Maine.....               7.5     8.0      7.5      8.0     7.0         7.5      7.7       8.0      7.3     7.6

Maryland.....            6.3     6.3      6.5      6.4     6.2         6.0      6.2       6.7      6.6     6.4
Massachusetts.....       5.8     6.5      6.0      5.9     5.6         5.6      5.4       6.3      6.1     5.5
Michigan.....            6.2     6.7      6.3      6.4     5.9         6.5      6.5       6.9      7.0     6.9
Minnesota.....           6.2     6.6      6.5      6.0     6.0         5.9      6.2       6.1      6.2     6.1
Mississippi.....         6.8     6.7      7.0      7.3     6.3         7.0      7.5       6.5      6.4     6.5
Missouri.....            6.5     6.2      6.4      6.0     6.0         5.9      6.3       6.3      6.2     6.1
Montana.....             9.1     8.4      8.2      9.0     8.5         7.5      8.6       8.2      8.0     8.4
Nebraska.....            6.3     6.4      6.4      6.3     6.0         5.7      5.9       5.8      6.2     5.5
Nevada.....              7.0     6.5      6.1      7.6     6.7         6.3      6.8       7.3      6.8     7.6
New Hampshire.....       6.7     7.5      6.6      7.2     6.5         6.9      6.9       7.3      7.1     6.8

New Jersey.....          6.0     7.2      6.4      6.8     6.1         6.5      6.4       7.0      6.5     6.3
New Mexico.....          7.4     7.2      7.3      7.5     6.9         6.3      7.7       7.5      7.0     6.5
New York.....            6.3     7.0      6.3      6.9     6.1         6.3      6.3       6.5      6.2     6.3
North Carolina.....      7.2     6.9      6.6      6.8     6.5         6.0      6.8       6.6      6.4     6.5
North Dakota.....        7.1     7.0      7.1      7.2     7.7         6.5      6.7       6.5      6.2     6.1
Ohio.....                5.9     6.2      5.5      6.0     5.4         5.8      5.9       6.2      6.1     6.3
Oklahoma.....            7.1     7.0      6.8      6.5     7.0         6.2      7.1       6.2      6.4     5.9
Oregon.....              7.3     6.9      7.0      7.3     6.7         6.7      7.2       6.9      7.1     6.9
Pennsylvania.....        5.8     6.1      5.5      5.8     5.4         5.5      5.6       5.8      5.6     5.6
Rhode Island.....        6.0     6.8      5.6      6.2     5.7         6.5      6.3       7.0      6.8     6.4

South Carolina.....      7.5     6.6      6.3      6.6     6.3         6.5      6.7       6.5      6.7     6.5
South Dakota.....        6.6     6.8      6.4      6.6     6.7         6.0      6.1       6.3      6.2     5.9
Tennessee.....           6.4     6.2      6.1      6.1     5.7         6.2      6.2       6.0      5.7     5.8
Texas.....               6.7     6.5      6.3      6.7     6.1         5.6      5.8       5.9      5.6     5.6
Utah.....                8.0     7.6      7.2      7.9     7.0         6.3      7.0       7.4      7.3     6.9
Vermont.....             7.0     7.6      7.6      8.2     7.0         7.4      7.6       8.0      7.5     7.7
Virginia.....            6.5     6.4      6.0      6.1     6.2         5.9      6.3       6.3      6.2     6.0
Washington.....          8.0     7.6      7.1      7.7     7.6         6.5      6.9       7.3      6.8     7.0
West Virginia.....       6.8     6.6      6.4      7.0     6.4         6.7      6.6       6.8      6.3     6.5
Wisconsin.....           6.1     6.2      5.4      5.7     5.6         5.9      5.6       6.0      5.7     5.7

Wyoming.....            10.4     8.8      9.9     10.8    10.5         8.5     10.1       9.3      8.2     8.9
Puerto Rico.....         6.1     6.6      7.1      6.7     5.9         7.4      6.9       6.9      6.8     7.6
Virgin Islands.....      6.8    10.8      7.3      6.8     6.6         7.3      7.2       9.5      6.8     6.5

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

Last Modified Date: November 20, 2008