Job gains exceed job losses for first time since December 2007

In the second quarter of 2010, the number of gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments increased to 6.9 million; the number of gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments was 6.2 million.

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The net change in employment in the second quarter of 2010 was 728,000. This represents the first positive net employment change since the recession began in December 2007 and the largest since March 2006.

Job losses have steadily decreased from a recent high of 8.5 million in December 2008 to the lowest level since the series began in September 1992.

Gross job gains represented 6.6 percent of private sector employment in the second quarter of 2010, while gross job losses represented 5.9 percent of private sector employment.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program. 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. To learn more, see "Business Employment Dynamics – Second Quarter 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0126.