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Gross job gains exceed gross job losses by 1.0 million in fourth quarter 2015

July 29, 2016

From September 2015 to December 2015, there were 7.8 million gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments, an increase of 530,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Over the same period, the number of gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments was 6.8 million, a decrease of 52,000 jobs from the previous quarter. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 1.0 million jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2015.

Quarterly gross job gains, gross job losses, and net employment change, December 2005–December 2015
Quarter Gross job gains Gross job losses Net change

Dec 2005

7,812,000 -7,345,000 467,000

Mar 2006

7,880,000 -6,984,000 896,000

Jun 2006

7,766,000 -7,424,000 342,000

Sep 2006

7,545,000 -7,453,000 92,000

Dec 2006

7,770,000 -7,339,000 431,000

Mar 2007

7,815,000 -7,231,000 584,000

Jun 2007

7,647,000 -7,515,000 132,000

Sep 2007

7,376,000 -7,585,000 -209,000

Dec 2007

7,687,000 -7,419,000 268,000

Mar 2008

7,320,000 -7,519,000 -199,000

Jun 2008

7,281,000 -7,874,000 -593,000

Sep 2008

6,944,000 -7,857,000 -913,000

Dec 2008

6,738,000 -8,576,000 -1,838,000

Mar 2009

5,918,000 -8,598,000 -2,680,000

Jun 2009

6,425,000 -8,092,000 -1,667,000

Sep 2009

6,399,000 -7,248,000 -849,000

Dec 2009

6,665,000 -6,929,000 -264,000

Mar 2010

6,325,000 -6,572,000 -247,000

Jun 2010

6,995,000 -6,297,000 698,000

Sep 2010

6,741,000 -6,504,000 237,000

Dec 2010

7,052,000 -6,486,000 566,000

Mar 2011

6,521,000 -6,206,000 315,000

Jun 2011

6,976,000 -6,381,000 595,000

Sep 2011

7,198,000 -6,365,000 833,000

Dec 2011

6,878,000 -6,528,000 350,000

Mar 2012

7,059,000 -6,126,000 933,000

Jun 2012

7,057,000 -6,439,000 618,000

Sep 2012

6,886,000 -6,631,000 255,000

Dec 2012

7,122,000 -6,414,000 708,000

Mar 2013

6,913,000 -6,369,000 544,000

Jun 2013

7,160,000 -6,494,000 666,000

Sep 2013

7,051,000 -6,578,000 473,000

Dec 2013

7,279,000 -6,551,000 728,000

Mar 2014

6,927,000 -6,504,000 423,000

Jun 2014

7,467,000 -6,584,000 883,000

Sep 2014

7,235,000 -6,710,000 525,000

Dec 2014

7,658,000 -6,563,000 1,095,000

Mar 2015

6,947,000 -6,721,000 226,000

Jun 2015

7,554,000 -6,725,000 829,000

Sep 2015

7,292,000 -6,874,000 418,000

Dec 2015

7,822,000 -6,822,000 1,000,000

Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 6.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 415,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 1.4 million jobs gained, an increase of 115,000 jobs from the previous quarter.

Contracting establishments lost 5.6 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2015. This was a decrease of 106,000 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 1.3 million jobs, an increase of 54,000 jobs from the previous quarter.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics program. To learn more, see "Business Employment Dynamics — Fourth Quarter 2015" (HTML) (PDF). Job gains and job losses by firm are lower than job gains and job losses by establishment, as some establishment gains and losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Gross job gains exceed gross job losses by 1.0 million in fourth quarter 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/gross-job-gains-exceed-gross-job-losses-by-1-million-in-fourth-quarter-2015.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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