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Economic News Release
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BDM BDM Program Links

Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Wednesday, July 25, 2018                                  	USDL-18-1210

Technical Information:	(202) 691-6553  *  BDMInfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/bdm
Media Contact:	        (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FOURTH QUARTER 2017

From September 2017 to December 2017, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector 
establishments were 7.8 million, an increase of 537,000 jobs gained over the quarter, the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-
sector establishments were 6.8 million, a decrease of 602,000 jobs lost 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 999,000 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2017. (See tables A 
and 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment 
that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics 
track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter 
to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of 
gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See Technical Note.) The BED data series include 
gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, 
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by 
employer size class.

Gross Job Gains

In the fourth quarter of 2017, gross job gains represented 6.4 percent of private-sector employment. 
Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and 
the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 
6.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 426,000 compared to the previous quarter. 
Opening establishments accounted for 1.4 million of the jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2017, an 
increase of 111,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)

Gross Job Losses

In the fourth quarter of 2017, gross job losses represented 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. 
Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of 
jobs at closing establishments. Contracting establishments lost 5.5 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 
2017, a decrease of 576,000 jobs from the prior quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2017, closing 
establishments lost 1.3 million jobs, a decrease of 26,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See tables A, 
1, 2, and 3.)

Establishment Births and Deaths

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the number of establishment births (a subset of the openings data) 
increased by 4,000, to a total of 244,000 establishments. These new establishments accounted for 
849,000 jobs, an increase of 12,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Data for establishment deaths (a 
subset of the closings data) are available through the first quarter of 2017, when 660,000 jobs were lost 
at 202,000 establishments, a decrease of 69,000 jobs from the fourth quarter of 2016. (See Technical 
Note and table 8.)

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 12 of 13 industries in the fourth quarter of 2017. The 
service-providing industries experienced a net job increase of 802,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2017. 
Within service-providing industries, professional and business services had the largest over-the-quarter 
net job increase, with a gain of 175,000 jobs. The net job increase in professional and business services 
was the result of 1.5 million gross job gains and 1.3 million gross job losses. The utilities industry had 
the smallest net job increase over the quarter, with an increase of 1,000 jobs. The goods-producing 
industries experienced a net job increase of 197,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2017. Of the goods-
producing industries, construction added 105,000 jobs, manufacturing added 94,000 jobs, and natural 
resources and mining experienced a net decrease of 2,000 jobs. (See table 3.)

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |                  3 months ended                 
                 Category                 |    Dec. |    Mar. |    June |   Sept. |    Dec.
                                          |    2016 |    2017 |    2017 |    2017 |    2017
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |              Levels (in thousands)              
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
 Gross job gains......................... |   7,455 |   7,328 |   7,604 |   7,256 |   7,793
        At expanding establishments...... |   6,040 |   6,019 |   6,246 |   5,935 |   6,361
        At opening establishments........ |   1,415 |   1,309 |   1,358 |   1,321 |   1,432
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Gross job losses........................ |   7,065 |   6,674 |   7,128 |   7,396 |   6,794
        At contracting establishments.... |   5,760 |   5,521 |   5,879 |   6,082 |   5,506
        At closing establishments........ |   1,305 |   1,153 |   1,249 |   1,314 |   1,288
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Net employment change (1)............... |     390 |     654 |     476 |    -140 |     999
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
                                          |                 Rates (percent)                 
                                          |--------------------------------------------------
 Gross job gains......................... |     6.2 |     6.0 |     6.2 |     6.0 |     6.4
        At expanding establishments...... |     5.0 |     4.9 |     5.1 |     4.9 |     5.2
        At opening establishments........ |     1.2 |     1.1 |     1.1 |     1.1 |     1.2
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Gross job losses........................ |     5.9 |     5.4 |     5.8 |     6.1 |     5.5
        At contracting establishments.... |     4.8 |     4.5 |     4.8 |     5.0 |     4.5
        At closing establishments........ |     1.1 |     0.9 |     1.0 |     1.1 |     1.0
                                          |         |         |         |         |        
 Net employment change (1)............... |     0.3 |     0.6 |     0.4 |    -0.1 |     0.9
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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.

Firm Size

In the fourth quarter of 2017, firms with 1-49 employees had a net employment gain of 245,000. Firms 
with 50-249 employees had a net employment gain of 165,000. Firms with 250 or more employees had a 
net employment gain of 501,000. Of the 1.9 million net jobs created over the last four quarters, firms 
with 1-49 employees contributed 30.4 percent of net job growth, while firms with 50-249 employees 
contributed 24.0 percent, and firms with 250 or more employees contributed 45.6 percent. (See tables 4 
and 5.)

States

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 49 states and the District of Columbia in the fourth quarter 
of 2017. Alaska had the highest rate of gross job gains as a percent of employment at 9.4 percent, above 
the U.S. rate of 6.4 percent. Hawaii had the lowest rate of gross job gains as a percent of employment at 
5.1 percent. The Virgin Islands had the highest rate of gross job losses as a percent of employment at 
24.1 percent, above the national rate of 5.5 percent. Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee had the lowest 
rate of gross job losses as a percent of employment at 4.9 percent each. (See tables 6 and 7.) 

For More Information

Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm. 
This information includes data on the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by firm 
size, 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 can be obtained by emailing BDMinfo@bls.gov. 

_____________
The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2018 are scheduled to be released on 
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                                                          |
|                           Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data                           |
|                                                                                                          |
|                                                                                                          |
| Data in the next release, published on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, will incorporate annual revisions    |
| to the BED series. Annual revisions are published each year with the release of first quarter data.      |
| These revisions will cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and five years of      |
| seasonally adjusted data.                                                                                |
|                                                                                                          |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative 
program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are 
compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records. Most 
employers in the U.S. are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of 
workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW 
is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to the State Workforce 
Agencies (SWAs). These UI reports are supplemented by two additional BLS data collections to 
render administrative data into economic statistics. Together these data comprise the QCEW and 
form the basis of the Bureau’s establishment universe sampling frame.

These reports are used to produce the quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and 
the longitudinal BED data on gross job gains and losses. The QCEW is also the employment 
benchmark for the Current Employment Statistics (CES), Occupational Employment Statistics 
(OES), and Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) programs and is a major input to 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s Personal Income Accounts.

In the BED program, the quarterly QCEW records are linked across quarters to provide a 
longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net 
employment changes at the establishment level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained 
at opening and expanding units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures

The Bureau publishes three different establishment-based employment measures for any given 
quarter. Each of these measures—Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Business 
Employment Dynamics (BED), and Current Employment Statistics (CES)—makes use of the 
quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; however, 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 
employment change over time. It is important to understand program differences and the intended 
uses of the program products. (See table.) Additional information on each program can be obtained 
from the program websites 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- |  634,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 9.9   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million establish- |  submitted by 7.9    |
           |  ments              |  million private sec-|
           |                     |  tor establishments  |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and salary
           |  age:  all employers|  ing government, pri-|  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, 
           |                     |                      |  including railroads,
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
           |                     |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -6 months after the|  -7 months after the |  -—Usually the 3rd 
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   Friday after the end 
           |   ter               |                      |   of the week including 
           |                     |                      |   the 12th of the month
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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 to ann-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ually realign sample-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  based estimates to pop-
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  ulation counts (bench-
           |                     |  losses              |  marking)
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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,3-digit     |
           |                     |  NAICS, and by size  |
           |                     |  of firm, and at the |
           |                     |  state private-sector|
           |                     |  total level         |
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include        |
           |                     |  data with greater   |
           |                     |  industry 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 federal
           |   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 organizations, 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 certain small nonprofit organizations.

Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from longitudinal histories of 7.9 
million private sector employer reports out of 9.9 million total reports of employment and wages 
submitted by states to BLS in the first quarter of 2017. 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 employment in both previous and current 
quarters. Data from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also excluded from the national data. 
The table below shows, in millions of establishments, the number of establishments excluded from 
the national gross job gains and gross job losses data in the first quarter 2017.

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

 Total establishments QCEW program.................................................... 9.9

   Excluded: Public sector............................................................ 0.3
           Private households......................................................... 0.2
           Zero employment............................................................ 1.5

 Total establishments included in Business
 Employment Dynamics data............................................................. 7.9

Unit of analysis

Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by industry and firms are used in the 
tabulation of the BED size class statistics. 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 are 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 employment 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 employment in the previous quarter.

Expansions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and 
current quarters, with a net increase in employment over this period.

Closings. These are either units with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with 
no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and 
current quarters, with a net decrease in employment over this period.

Births. These are units with positive third month employment for the first time in the current 
quarter with no links to the prior quarter, or units with positive third month employment in the 
current quarter and zero employment in the third month of the previous four quarters. Births are a 
subset of openings not including re-openings of seasonal businesses.

Deaths. These are units with no employment or zero employment reported in the third month of 
four consecutive quarters following the last quarter with positive employment. Deaths are a subset 
of closings not including temporary shutdowns of seasonal businesses. A unit that closes during the 
quarter may be a death, but we wait three quarters to determine whether it is a permanent closing 
or a temporary shutdown. Therefore, there is always a lag of three quarters for the publication of 
death statistics.

All employment changes are measured from the third month of the previous quarter to the third 
month of the current quarter. Not all establishments and firms change their employment levels. 
Units with no change in employment count towards estimates of total employment, but not for 
levels of gross 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 quarters. 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.

Establishment Births and Deaths

For the purpose of BED statistics, births are defined as establishments that appear in the 
longitudinal database for the first time with positive employment in the third month of a quarter, or 
showed four consecutive quarters of zero employment in the third month followed by a quarter in 
which it shows positive employment in the third month. Similarly, deaths are defined as 
establishments that either drop out of the longitudinal database or an establishment that had 
positive employment in the third month of a given quarter followed by four consecutive quarters of 
showing zero employment in the third month. Although the data for establishment births and 
deaths are tabulated independently from the data for openings and closings, the concepts are not 
mutually exclusive. An establishment that is defined as a birth in a given quarter is necessarily an 
opening as well, and an establishment defined as a death in a quarter must also be a closing. Since 
openings include seasonal and other re-openings and closings include temporary shutdowns, the 
not seasonally adjusted values for births and deaths must be less than those for openings and 
closings. However, because some BED series do not have many re-openings or temporary 
shutdowns, as well as the fact that births and deaths are independently seasonally adjusted from 
openings and closings, there may be instances in which the seasonally adjusted value of the former 
is greater than the latter.

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 establishments' unique SWA identification numbers 
(SWA-ID). Between 95 and 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 records 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 establishment classification codes resulting from the verification process are 
introduced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year. Changes resulting 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 allocated 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.

Annual Data

The annual gross job gains and gross job losses measure the net change in employment at the 
establishment level from the third month of a quarter in the previous year to the third month of the 
same quarter in the current year. The BLS publishes annual BED data based on March-to-March 
changes once a year with the release of the first quarter BED data. The annual data based on over-
the-year changes for other quarters of the year are available upon request. The definitions and 
methodology in measuring annual gross job gains and gross job losses are similar to the quarterly 
measures. The linkage method considers all predecessor and successor relations that may come 
about due to changes in ownership and corporate restructuring over the entire year. At the 
establishment level, some of the quarterly job gains and job losses are offset during the estimation 
over the year. Therefore, the sum of four quarters of gross job gains and gross job losses are not 
equal to annual gross job gains and gross job losses. The net change in employment over the year, 
however, is equal to the sum of four quarterly net changes on a not seasonally adjusted basis.

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 variation 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 analyze changes in economic 
activity.

The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting units are 
independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated based on the difference between 
gross job gains and gross job losses. Similarly, 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 employment levels are independently 
seasonally adjusted to calculate the seasonally adjusted rates. Concurrent seasonal adjustment is 
run using X-13 ARIMA-SEATS. Seasonally adjusted data series for total private are the sum of 
seasonally adjusted data of all sectors including the unclassified sector, which is not separately 
published.

The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED component series will differ from 
the net employment change estimated from the seasonally adjusted 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 
particularly 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 administrative rather than 
sample data, there are no issues related to sampling error. Nonsampling error, however, still exists. 
Nonsampling errors can occur 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 distributed 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 
complications.

The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on corrections in QCEW records, 
updates on predecessors and successors information, and seasonal adjustment revisions.

Annual revisions are published each year with the release of the first quarter data. These revisions 
cover the last four quarters of not seasonally adjusted data and 5 years of seasonally adjusted data.

Additional statistics and other information

Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information. The QCEW program 
provides both quarterly and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed 
industry. News releases on quarterly county employment and wages and the annual bulletin also 
are available upon request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover 
(Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages), telephone (202) 691-6567; (www.bls.gov/cew/); 
(e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces monthly estimates of employment, its 
net change, hours, and earnings by detailed industry. These estimates are part of the Employment 
Situation report put out monthly by BLS.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides monthly measures of 
job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 
Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; TDD message referral phone 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

2007  March                584      7,815       6,331         1,484       7,231       5,894           1,337
      June                 132      7,647       6,205         1,442       7,515       6,084           1,431
      September           -209      7,376       5,870         1,506       7,585       6,190           1,395
      December             268      7,687       6,181         1,506       7,419       6,040           1,379

2008  March               -199      7,320       5,860         1,460       7,519       6,111           1,408
      June                -593      7,281       5,833         1,448       7,874       6,363           1,511
      September           -913      6,944       5,535         1,409       7,857       6,436           1,421
      December          -1,838      6,738       5,345         1,393       8,576       7,056           1,520

2009  March             -2,680      5,918       4,675         1,243       8,598       7,142           1,456
      June              -1,667      6,425       5,080         1,345       8,092       6,674           1,418
      September           -849      6,399       5,139         1,260       7,248       5,854           1,394
      December            -264      6,665       5,308         1,357       6,929       5,605           1,324

2010  March               -247      6,325       5,108         1,217       6,572       5,324           1,248
      June                 698      6,995       5,674         1,321       6,297       5,090           1,207
      September            237      6,741       5,438         1,303       6,504       5,231           1,273
      December             566      7,052       5,639         1,413       6,486       5,219           1,267

2011  March                334      6,540       5,322         1,218       6,206       5,025           1,181
      June                 582      6,966       5,625         1,341       6,384       5,115           1,269
      September            841      7,205       5,810         1,395       6,364       5,172           1,192
      December             335      6,865       5,503         1,362       6,530       5,273           1,257

2012  March                948      7,080       5,746         1,334       6,132       5,005           1,127
      June                 616      7,051       5,724         1,327       6,435       5,266           1,169
      September            252      6,881       5,571         1,310       6,629       5,430           1,199
      December             695      7,110       5,753         1,357       6,415       5,225           1,190

2013  March                560      6,933       5,701         1,232       6,373       5,194           1,179
      June                 674      7,155       5,834         1,321       6,481       5,275           1,206
      September            476      7,048       5,708         1,340       6,572       5,425           1,147
      December             717      7,267       5,936         1,331       6,550       5,346           1,204

2014  March                433      6,947       5,680         1,267       6,514       5,365           1,149
      June                 884      7,459       6,118         1,341       6,575       5,355           1,220
      September            522      7,226       5,900         1,326       6,704       5,516           1,188
      December           1,084      7,642       6,268         1,374       6,558       5,323           1,235

2015  March                226      7,032       5,722         1,310       6,806       5,606           1,200
      June                 833      7,589       6,245         1,344       6,756       5,563           1,193
      September            414      7,324       5,964         1,360       6,910       5,695           1,215
      December           1,010      7,851       6,387         1,464       6,841       5,573           1,268

2016  March                256      7,139       5,855         1,284       6,883       5,685           1,198
      June                 296      7,453       6,083         1,370       7,157       5,847           1,310
      September            681      7,689       6,232         1,457       7,008       5,760           1,248
      December             390      7,455       6,040         1,415       7,065       5,760           1,305

2017  March                654      7,328       6,019         1,309       6,674       5,521           1,153
      June                 476      7,604       6,246         1,358       7,128       5,879           1,249
      September           -140      7,256       5,935         1,321       7,396       6,082           1,314
      December             999      7,793       6,361         1,432       6,794       5,506           1,288


(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

2007  March                 .5       6.9         5.6           1.3         6.4          5.2            1.2
      June                  .1       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.6          5.3            1.3
      September            -.2       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.6          5.4            1.2
      December              .2       6.7         5.4           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2

2008  March                -.1       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.5          5.3            1.2
      June                 -.5       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.9          5.6            1.3
      September            -.9       6.1         4.9           1.2         7.0          5.7            1.3
      December            -1.7       6.0         4.8           1.2         7.7          6.3            1.4

2009  March               -2.4       5.4         4.3           1.1         7.8          6.5            1.3
      June                -1.5       6.0         4.7           1.3         7.5          6.2            1.3
      September            -.8       6.0         4.8           1.2         6.8          5.5            1.3
      December             -.3       6.3         5.0           1.3         6.6          5.3            1.3

2010  March                -.2       6.0         4.8           1.2         6.2          5.0            1.2
      June                  .7       6.6         5.4           1.2         5.9          4.8            1.1
      September             .2       6.3         5.1           1.2         6.1          4.9            1.2
      December              .5       6.6         5.3           1.3         6.1          4.9            1.2

2011  March                 .3       6.1         5.0           1.1         5.8          4.7            1.1
      June                  .5       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.9          4.7            1.2
      September             .8       6.7         5.4           1.3         5.9          4.8            1.1
      December              .4       6.4         5.1           1.3         6.0          4.8            1.2

2012  March                 .8       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.6          4.6            1.0
      June                  .5       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.9          4.8            1.1
      September             .2       6.2         5.0           1.2         6.0          4.9            1.1
      December              .6       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.8          4.7            1.1

2013  March                 .5       6.2         5.1           1.1         5.7          4.6            1.1
      June                  .6       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.8          4.7            1.1
      September             .5       6.3         5.1           1.2         5.8          4.8            1.0
      December              .6       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.8          4.7            1.1

2014  March                 .4       6.1         5.0           1.1         5.7          4.7            1.0
      June                  .7       6.5         5.3           1.2         5.8          4.7            1.1
      September             .4       6.2         5.1           1.1         5.8          4.8            1.0
      December              .9       6.6         5.4           1.2         5.7          4.6            1.1

2015  March                 .2       6.0         4.9           1.1         5.8          4.8            1.0
      June                  .7       6.4         5.3           1.1         5.7          4.7            1.0
      September             .4       6.2         5.0           1.2         5.8          4.8            1.0
      December              .8       6.6         5.4           1.2         5.8          4.7            1.1

2016  March                 .3       6.0         4.9           1.1         5.7          4.7            1.0
      June                  .2       6.2         5.1           1.1         6.0          4.9            1.1
      September             .6       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.8          4.8            1.0
      December              .3       6.2         5.0           1.2         5.9          4.8            1.1

2017  March                 .6       6.0         4.9           1.1         5.4          4.5            0.9
      June                  .4       6.2         5.1           1.1         5.8          4.8            1.0
      September            -.1       6.0         4.9           1.1         6.1          5.0            1.1
      December              .9       6.4         5.2           1.2         5.5          4.5            1.0


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

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






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

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

    Category                                 3 months ended                      3 months ended

                                   Dec.    Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.   Dec.   Mar.   June   Sept.  Dec.
                                   2016    2017    2017    2017    2017   2016   2017   2017   2017   2017
Total private(1)

Gross job gains                   7,455   7,328   7,604   7,256   7,793    6.2    6.0    6.2    6.0    6.4
 At expanding establishments      6,040   6,019   6,246   5,935   6,361    5.0    4.9    5.1    4.9    5.2
 At opening establishments        1,415   1,309   1,358   1,321   1,432    1.2    1.1    1.1    1.1    1.2
Gross job losses                  7,065   6,674   7,128   7,396   6,794    5.9    5.4    5.8    6.1    5.5
 At contracting establishments    5,760   5,521   5,879   6,082   5,506    4.8    4.5    4.8    5.0    4.5
 At closing establishments        1,305   1,153   1,249   1,314   1,288    1.1    0.9    1.0    1.1    1.0
Net employment change               390     654     476    -140     999    0.3    0.6    0.4   -0.1    0.9

Goods-producing

Gross job gains                   1,319   1,394   1,394   1,257   1,419    6.3    6.6    6.6    5.9    6.6
 At expanding establishments      1,126   1,206   1,207   1,079   1,218    5.4    5.7    5.7    5.1    5.7
 At opening establishments          193     188     187     178     201    0.9    0.9    0.9    0.8    0.9
Gross job losses                  1,297   1,191   1,277   1,326   1,222    6.2    5.7    6.0    6.3    5.7
 At contracting establishments    1,101   1,009   1,081   1,121   1,032    5.3    4.8    5.1    5.3    4.8
 At closing establishments          196     182     196     205     190    0.9    0.9    0.9    1.0    0.9
Net employment change                22     203     117     -69     197    0.1    0.9    0.6   -0.4    0.9

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains                     252     287     270     251     254   13.6   15.3   14.3   13.4   13.4
 At expanding establishments        220     253     238     219     222   11.9   13.5   12.6   11.7   11.7
 At opening establishments           32      34      32      32      32    1.7    1.8    1.7    1.7    1.7
Gross job losses                    269     232     258     240     256   14.6   12.4   13.7   12.8   13.5
 At contracting establishments      238     199     221     210     226   12.9   10.6   11.7   11.2   11.9
 At closing establishments           31      33      37      30      30    1.7    1.8    2.0    1.6    1.6
Net employment change               -17      55      12      11      -2   -1.0    2.9    0.6    0.6   -0.1

Construction

Gross job gains                     654     707     680     613     708    9.7   10.3    9.8    8.9   10.2
 At expanding establishments        533     584     562     501     577    7.9    8.5    8.1    7.3    8.3
 At opening establishments          121     123     118     112     131    1.8    1.8    1.7    1.6    1.9
Gross job losses                    635     582     634     662     603    9.5    8.5    9.1    9.6    8.7
 At contracting establishments      515     474     521     537     488    7.7    6.9    7.5    7.8    7.0
 At closing establishments          120     108     113     125     115    1.8    1.6    1.6    1.8    1.7
Net employment change                19     125      46     -49     105    0.2    1.8    0.7   -0.7    1.5

Manufacturing

Gross job gains                     413     400     444     393     457    3.3    3.3    3.6    3.2    3.7
 At expanding establishments        373     369     407     359     419    3.0    3.0    3.3    2.9    3.4
 At opening establishments           40      31      37      34      38    0.3    0.3    0.3    0.3    0.3
Gross job losses                    393     377     385     424     363    3.2    3.0    3.1    3.4    3.0
 At contracting establishments      348     336     339     374     318    2.8    2.7    2.7    3.0    2.6
 At closing establishments           45      41      46      50      45    0.4    0.3    0.4    0.4    0.4
Net employment change                20      23      59     -31      94    0.1    0.3    0.5   -0.2    0.7

Service-providing(1)

Gross job gains                   6,136   5,934   6,210   5,999   6,374    6.1    5.9    6.2    5.9    6.3
 At expanding establishments      4,914   4,813   5,039   4,856   5,143    4.9    4.8    5.0    4.8    5.1
 At opening establishments        1,222   1,121   1,171   1,143   1,231    1.2    1.1    1.2    1.1    1.2
Gross job losses                  5,768   5,483   5,851   6,070   5,572    5.8    5.5    5.8    6.0    5.5
 At contracting establishments    4,659   4,512   4,798   4,961   4,474    4.7    4.5    4.8    4.9    4.4
 At closing establishments        1,109     971   1,053   1,109   1,098    1.1    1.0    1.0    1.1    1.1
Net employment change               368     451     359     -71     802    0.3    0.4    0.4   -0.1    0.8

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains                     272     263     282     265     280    4.6    4.4    4.8    4.5    4.8
 At expanding establishments        225     220     236     223     235    3.8    3.7    4.0    3.8    4.0
 At opening establishments           47      43      46      42      45    0.8    0.7    0.8    0.7    0.8
Gross job losses                    256     249     246     268     247    4.3    4.2    4.2    4.5    4.2
 At contracting establishments      201     196     194     213     193    3.4    3.3    3.3    3.6    3.3
 At closing establishments           55      53      52      55      54    0.9    0.9    0.9    0.9    0.9
Net employment change                16      14      36      -3      33    0.3    0.2    0.6    0.0    0.6

Retail trade

Gross job gains                     895     927     920     875     899    5.6    5.9    5.8    5.5    5.7
 At expanding establishments        777     805     797     754     789    4.9    5.1    5.0    4.7    5.0
 At opening establishments          118     122     123     121     110    0.7    0.8    0.8    0.8    0.7
Gross job losses                    923     881     924     977     887    5.9    5.6    5.8    6.1    5.6
 At contracting establishments      803     775     799     849     774    5.1    4.9    5.0    5.3    4.9
 At closing establishments          120     106     125     128     113    0.8    0.7    0.8    0.8    0.7
Net employment change               -28      46      -4    -102      12   -0.3    0.3    0.0   -0.6    0.1

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains                     383     245     266     305     388    7.8    5.0    5.4    6.2    7.7
 At expanding establishments        339     215     231     266     343    6.9    4.4    4.7    5.4    6.8
 At opening establishments           44      30      35      39      45    0.9    0.6    0.7    0.8    0.9
Gross job losses                    232     323     253     232     228    4.8    6.6    5.2    4.6    4.5
 At contracting establishments      194     290     216     195     188    4.0    5.9    4.4    3.9    3.7
 At closing establishments           38      33      37      37      40    0.8    0.7    0.8    0.7    0.8
Net employment change               151     -78      13      73     160    3.0   -1.6    0.2    1.6    3.2

Utilities

Gross job gains                      12      11      12      11      12    2.2    2.0    2.2    2.0    2.2
 At expanding establishments         10      10      11      10      11    1.8    1.8    2.0    1.8    2.0
 At opening establishments            2       1       1       1       1    0.4    0.2    0.2    0.2    0.2
Gross job losses                     13      10      13      13      11    2.4    1.8    2.4    2.4    2.0
 At contracting establishments       11       9      12      12      10    2.0    1.6    2.2    2.2    1.8
 At closing establishments            2       1       1       1       1    0.4    0.2    0.2    0.2    0.2
Net employment change                -1       1      -1      -2       1   -0.2    0.2   -0.2   -0.4    0.2

Information

Gross job gains                     142     142     157     151     150    5.1    5.1    5.6    5.4    5.3
 At expanding establishments        115     120     132     125     124    4.1    4.3    4.7    4.5    4.4
 At opening establishments           27      22      25      26      26    1.0    0.8    0.9    0.9    0.9
Gross job losses                    150     139     191     153     142    5.3    4.9    6.8    5.5    5.1
 At contracting establishments      121     116     166     129     114    4.3    4.1    5.9    4.6    4.1
 At closing establishments           29      23      25      24      28    1.0    0.8    0.9    0.9    1.0
Net employment change                -8       3     -34      -2       8   -0.2    0.2   -1.2   -0.1    0.2

Financial activities

Gross job gains                     382     353     390     370     384    4.8    4.4    4.8    4.6    4.8
 At expanding establishments        298     289     315     298     298    3.7    3.6    3.9    3.7    3.7
 At opening establishments           84      64      75      72      86    1.1    0.8    0.9    0.9    1.1
Gross job losses                    356     336     343     362     368    4.4    4.2    4.2    4.5    4.6
 At contracting establishments      274     262     267     283     282    3.4    3.3    3.3    3.5    3.5
 At closing establishments           82      74      76      79      86    1.0    0.9    0.9    1.0    1.1
Net employment change                26      17      47       8      16    0.4    0.2    0.6    0.1    0.2

Professional and business services

Gross job gains                   1,395   1,285   1,437   1,363   1,480    7.0    6.3    7.0    6.7    7.2
 At expanding establishments      1,121   1,058   1,185   1,120   1,206    5.6    5.2    5.8    5.5    5.9
 At opening establishments          274     227     252     243     274    1.4    1.1    1.2    1.2    1.3
Gross job losses                  1,359   1,265   1,331   1,390   1,305    6.7    6.3    6.6    6.8    6.4
 At contracting establishments    1,075   1,026   1,074   1,117   1,022    5.3    5.1    5.3    5.5    5.0
 At closing establishments          284     239     257     273     283    1.4    1.2    1.3    1.3    1.4
Net employment change                36      20     106     -27     175    0.3    0.0    0.4   -0.1    0.8

Education and health services

Gross job gains                     966     948     983     981     980    4.4    4.3    4.5    4.5    4.4
 At expanding establishments        774     786     812     814     802    3.5    3.6    3.7    3.7    3.6
 At opening establishments          192     162     171     167     178    0.9    0.7    0.8    0.8    0.8
Gross job losses                    905     813     901     903     861    4.1    3.7    4.1    4.1    3.8
 At contracting establishments      709     656     729     724     676    3.2    3.0    3.3    3.3    3.0
 At closing establishments          196     157     172     179     185    0.9    0.7    0.8    0.8    0.8
Net employment change                61     135      82      78     119    0.3    0.6    0.4    0.4    0.6

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains                   1,308   1,321   1,333   1,277   1,371    8.4    8.4    8.4    8.0    8.6
 At expanding establishments      1,016   1,054   1,054   1,003   1,085    6.5    6.7    6.6    6.3    6.8
 At opening establishments          292     267     279     274     286    1.9    1.7    1.8    1.7    1.8
Gross job losses                  1,240   1,149   1,324   1,424   1,212    8.0    7.2    8.3    9.0    7.6
 At contracting establishments    1,027     955   1,106   1,187     993    6.6    6.0    6.9    7.5    6.2
 At closing establishments          213     194     218     237     219    1.4    1.2    1.4    1.5    1.4
Net employment change                68     172       9    -147     159    0.4    1.2    0.1   -1.0    1.0

Other services

Gross job gains                     281     286     306     278     292    6.8    6.9    7.4    6.7    7.1
 At expanding establishments        219     228     243     220     231    5.3    5.5    5.9    5.3    5.6
 At opening establishments           62      58      63      58      61    1.5    1.4    1.5    1.4    1.5
Gross job losses                    293     272     281     304     272    7.1    6.6    6.8    7.3    6.6
 At contracting establishments      231     212     220     238     210    5.6    5.1    5.3    5.7    5.1
 At closing establishments           62      60      61      66      62    1.5    1.5    1.5    1.6    1.5
Net employment change               -12      14      25     -26      20   -0.3    0.3    0.6   -0.6    0.5


(1) Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately






Table 4.  Private sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)

                      Total private by firm(1)       Firm size 1 - 49 employees      Firm size 50 - 249 employees      Firm size 250 or more employees
Year  3 months        Net        Gross job            Net          Gross job          Net           Gross job           Net           Gross job
        ended      change(2,3)  gains   losses       change      gains   losses      change       gains   losses       change       gains   losses

2007  March            478      6,333    5,855         173       3,445    3,272         98        1,158    1,060         207        1,730    1,523
      June             163      6,239    6,076         -33       3,330    3,363         99        1,171    1,072          97        1,738    1,641
      September       -215      5,920    6,135        -116       3,263    3,379        -34        1,079    1,113         -65        1,578    1,643
      December         270      6,251    5,981          10       3,317    3,307         56        1,139    1,083         204        1,795    1,591

2008  March           -274      5,831    6,105        -152       3,235    3,387        -11        1,079    1,090        -111        1,517    1,628
      June            -548      5,850    6,398        -287       3,174    3,461        -44        1,090    1,134        -217        1,586    1,803
      September       -956      5,532    6,488        -343       3,051    3,394       -140        1,020    1,160        -473        1,461    1,934
      December      -1,886      5,338    7,224        -689       2,910    3,599       -375          947    1,322        -822        1,481    2,303

2009  March         -2,638      4,617    7,255        -983       2,721    3,704       -616          810    1,426      -1,039        1,086    2,125
      June          -1,763      5,169    6,932        -474       2,946    3,420       -281          950    1,231      -1,008        1,273    2,281
      September       -906      5,164    6,070        -372       2,826    3,198       -110          932    1,042        -424        1,406    1,830
      December        -317      5,403    5,720        -159       2,940    3,099        -45          962    1,007        -113        1,501    1,614

2010  March           -234      5,115    5,349        -195       2,863    3,058         -2          914      916         -37        1,338    1,375
      June             664      5,805    5,141         235       3,093    2,858        204        1,071      867         225        1,641    1,416
      September        226      5,525    5,299          26       2,946    2,920         87          998      911         113        1,581    1,468
      December         502      5,781    5,279          92       3,051    2,959         92        1,034      942         318        1,696    1,378

2011  March            340      5,375    5,035          99       2,983    2,884        122          971      849         119        1,421    1,302
      June             537      5,746    5,209         190       3,073    2,883        169        1,063      894         178        1,610    1,432
      September        852      5,974    5,122         272       3,137    2,865        171        1,066      895         409        1,771    1,362
      December         297      5,585    5,288          45       2,970    2,925         44          981      937         208        1,634    1,426

2012  March            972      5,904    4,932         388       3,173    2,785        220        1,054      834         364        1,677    1,313
      June             612      5,828    5,216         174       3,039    2,865        158        1,074      916         280        1,715    1,435
      September        226      5,581    5,355          55       2,963    2,908         54        1,006      952         117        1,612    1,495
      December         637      5,779    5,142         180       3,025    2,845         94        1,014      920         363        1,740    1,377

2013  March            588      5,743    5,155         221       3,078    2,857        155        1,027      872         212        1,638    1,426
      June             649      5,912    5,263         221       3,084    2,863        137        1,074      937         291        1,754    1,463
      September        439      5,748    5,309         208       3,054    2,846         62        1,017      955         169        1,677    1,508
      December         651      5,894    5,243         131       3,026    2,895        108        1,036      928         412        1,832    1,420

2014  March            459      5,662    5,203         248       3,077    2,829        153        1,034      881          58        1,551    1,493
      June             888      6,142    5,254         299       3,179    2,880        216        1,123      907         373        1,840    1,467
      September        502      5,845    5,343         168       3,051    2,883        102        1,058      956         232        1,736    1,504
      December         987      6,166    5,179         225       3,111    2,886        157        1,087      930         605        1,968    1,363

2015  March            237      5,664    5,427         181       3,102    2,921         79        1,022      943         -23        1,540    1,563
      June             834      6,256    5,422         316       3,197    2,881        189        1,135      946         329        1,924    1,595
      September        381      5,884    5,503         113       3,038    2,925         59        1,038      979         209        1,808    1,599
      December         895      6,270    5,375         250       3,183    2,933        101        1,078      977         544        2,009    1,465

2016  March            273      5,743    5,470         220       3,124    2,904         60        1,015      955          -7        1,604    1,611
      June             300      6,051    5,751          64       3,125    3,061        116        1,109      993         120        1,817    1,697
      September        665      6,229    5,564         147       3,135    2,988         80        1,080    1,000         438        2,014    1,576
      December         326      5,920    5,594          88       3,076    2,988         52        1,033      981         186        1,811    1,625

2017  March            686      5,952    5,266         369       3,206    2,837        197        1,077      880         120        1,669    1,549
      June             511      6,193    5,682         143       3,135    2,992        153        1,133      980         215        1,925    1,710
      September       -197      5,786    5,983        -176       2,948    3,124        -57        1,010    1,067          36        1,828    1,792
      December         911      6,214    5,303         245       3,174    2,929        165        1,094      929         501        1,946    1,445


(1) Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower than total gross job gains and gross job losses by establishment, as some 
    establishment gains and losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process.
(2) Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.
(3) Net change totals for firm-level data shown differ from the establishment-level data due to independent seasonal adjustment of the series.

NOTE: See http://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmfirmsize.htm for additional firm size class data.






Table 5. Components of private sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted

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

    Category                                 3 months ended                      3 months ended

                                   Dec.    Mar.    June    Sept.   Dec.   Dec.   Mar.   June   Sept.  Dec.  
                                   2016    2017    2017    2017    2017   2016   2017   2017   2017   2017
Total private by firm(1)

Gross job gains                   5,920   5,952   6,193   5,786   6,214    4.9    4.9    5.0    4.7    5.1
 At expanding firms               4,976   5,026   5,302   4,933   5,261    4.1    4.1    4.3    4.0    4.3
 At opening firms                   944     926     891     853     953    0.8    0.8    0.7    0.7    0.8

Gross job losses                  5,594   5,266   5,682   5,983   5,303    4.6    4.4    4.7    4.9    4.3
 At contracting firms             4,734   4,442   4,847   5,083   4,434    3.9    3.7    4.0    4.2    3.6
 At closing firms                   860     824     835     900     869    0.7    0.7    0.7    0.7    0.7

Net employment change               326     686     511    -197     911    0.3    0.5    0.3   -0.2    0.8


Firm size 1 to 49 employees

Gross job gains                   3,076   3,206   3,135   2,948   3,174    9.1    9.4    9.2    8.7    9.3
 At expanding firms               2,171   2,316   2,288   2,131   2,258    6.4    6.8    6.7    6.3    6.6
 At opening firms                   905     890     847     817     916    2.7    2.6    2.5    2.4    2.7

Gross job losses                  2,988   2,837   2,992   3,124   2,929    8.8    8.3    8.8    9.2    8.6
 At contracting firms             2,163   2,042   2,187   2,260   2,096    6.4    6.0    6.4    6.7    6.2
 At closing firms                   825     795     805     864     833    2.4    2.3    2.4    2.5    2.4

Net employment change                88     369     143    -176     245    0.3    1.1    0.4   -0.5    0.7


Firm size 50 to 249 employees

Gross job gains                   1,033   1,077   1,133   1,010   1,094    4.8    4.9    5.2    4.5    4.9
 At expanding firms                 997   1,046   1,095     978   1,061    4.6    4.8    5.0    4.4    4.8
 At opening firms                    36      31      38      32      33    0.2    0.1    0.2    0.1    0.1

Gross job losses                    981     880     980   1,067     929    4.5    4.0    4.4    4.8    4.2
 At contracting firms               951     854     954   1,037     897    4.4    3.9    4.3    4.7    4.1
 At closing firms                    30      26      26      30      32    0.1    0.1    0.1    0.1    0.1

Net employment change                52     197     153     -57     165    0.3    0.9    0.8   -0.3    0.7


Firm size 250 or more employees

Gross job gains                   1,811   1,669   1,925   1,828   1,946    2.8    2.5    2.9    2.8    2.9
 At expanding firms               1,808   1,664   1,919   1,824   1,942    2.8    2.5    2.9    2.8    2.9
 At opening firms                     3       5       6       4       4    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0

Gross job losses                  1,625   1,549   1,710   1,792   1,445    2.5    2.4    2.6    2.7    2.2
 At contracting firms             1,620   1,546   1,706   1,786   1,441    2.5    2.4    2.6    2.7    2.2
 At closing firms                     5       3       4       6       4    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0    0.0

Net employment change               186     120     215      36     501    0.3    0.1    0.3    0.1    0.7


(1) Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower than total gross job gains and gross job 
    losses by establishment, as some establishment gains and losses within a firm are offset during the 
    aggregation process.






Table 6.  Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

                                         Gross job gains                                          Gross job losses
State                                    (3 months ended)                                         (3 months ended)
                        Dec.       Mar.       June        Sept.     Dec.       Dec.         Mar.       June        Sept.     Dec. 
                        2016       2017       2017        2017      2017       2016         2017       2017        2017      2017

United States(1)...  7,455,000  7,328,000  7,604,000   7,256,000  7,793,000  7,065,000   6,674,000   7,128,000  7,396,000  6,794,000

Alabama.....            91,681     95,018     87,409      94,500     94,535     90,287      81,340      88,801     91,500     85,499
Alaska.....             24,029     23,211     27,146      21,147     23,051     24,699      24,169      24,590     26,106     25,087
Arizona.....           138,291    136,971    145,129     156,480    150,080    126,313     126,704     134,184    124,785    126,790
Arkansas.....           58,062     56,151     52,890      56,574     59,343     53,892      50,773      56,758     54,500     50,039
California.....        980,183    962,840  1,008,489     945,420  1,012,893    910,192     872,313     963,220    921,087    878,611
Colorado.....          143,107    147,416    154,090     146,525    150,388    140,926     133,241     138,475    142,005    134,785
Connecticut.....        72,719     79,177     82,321      75,866     75,860     75,033      73,288      73,239     81,660     73,737
Delaware.....           23,338     24,976     25,141      24,514     27,053     23,351      22,313      26,277     25,233     24,440
District of Columbia    28,788     29,705     29,308      28,084     29,872     28,695      24,377      28,802     27,580     25,951
Florida.....           487,710    445,222    487,806     417,099    601,026    445,725     409,290     450,987    550,590    386,654

Georgia.....           239,884    230,965    229,623     224,926    255,553    211,569     212,760     225,490    228,351    205,236
Hawaii.....             26,673     27,379     27,647      28,750     27,120     26,775      25,523      28,656     28,034     26,110
Idaho.....              42,845     45,963     43,250      39,216     44,067     38,897      37,152      39,124     39,172     37,931
Illinois.....          309,191    298,256    295,556     287,491    310,581    290,285     276,590     283,177    309,665    274,431
Indiana.....           142,574    149,579    148,779     143,839    152,373    137,206     131,859     143,482    144,972    133,787
Iowa.....               73,955     78,764     73,448      70,162     76,283     76,993      71,324      73,959     73,416     68,723
Kansas.....             67,413     66,295     61,932      70,689     68,399     64,801      63,041      74,435     64,182     59,348
Kentucky.....           95,679     90,878     95,401      92,556     93,898     90,662      85,832      94,425     91,789     86,067
Louisiana.....          94,259    102,536     98,856      97,543     98,516    103,469      93,274     104,081     96,361     95,548
Maine.....              37,196     36,582     39,612      32,989     36,310     35,905      32,852      39,786     38,313     34,280

Maryland.....          140,769    131,540    137,552     133,359    135,848    131,349     126,358     133,284    134,027    132,634
Massachusetts.....     171,192    168,627    190,672     169,666    179,395    165,880     156,939     161,748    174,731    171,782
Michigan.....          204,720    211,095    214,607     196,743    209,001    200,138     184,414     198,700    221,387    204,433
Minnesota.....         140,520    142,651    140,705     131,688    143,126    138,963     117,302     129,066    140,788    137,173
Mississippi.....        56,611     51,514     52,591      51,045     57,005     50,218      52,216      53,075     52,367     48,701
Missouri.....          134,067    138,174    133,946     140,239    133,861    133,207     116,324     132,611    138,472    126,736
Montana.....            29,076     30,348     29,692      26,807     31,827     27,842      26,801      29,106     29,737     27,761
Nebraska.....           46,158     48,350     45,258      47,480     50,417     49,989      42,036      48,966     47,756     44,572
Nevada.....             71,548     75,922     73,628      73,242     77,451     64,782      59,528      69,752     68,063     61,756
New Hampshire.....      35,405     32,723     37,609      31,928     37,577     33,335      32,020      34,154     37,103     33,658

New Jersey.....        217,599    191,080    231,222     207,174    227,504    200,514     198,940     187,345    213,365    194,773
New Mexico.....         41,275     40,142     42,206      40,887     39,989     40,739      39,132      39,683     39,637     37,870
New York.....          472,712    482,960    512,229     488,700    483,363    461,337     446,567     452,251    485,909    457,296
North Carolina.....    225,601    222,190    228,495     215,246    229,058    205,302     199,056     214,667    218,341    200,335
North Dakota.....       23,021     26,128     23,242      23,088     23,360     26,535      22,998      23,826     23,383     23,106
Ohio.....              260,009    260,122    266,532     239,333    260,248    249,754     236,913     248,853    262,346    240,136
Oklahoma.....           81,574     78,427     82,854      81,713     80,947     78,496      81,448      74,136     75,734     74,095
Oregon.....            103,156    108,577    103,951     102,766    107,905     96,506      89,507      94,764     99,294     95,339
Pennsylvania.....      274,781    268,559    281,457     279,310    280,880    260,840     254,346     263,822    264,139    250,985
Rhode Island.....       23,989     26,217     27,377      24,892     27,480     23,904      24,785      24,775     26,563     25,372

South Carolina.....    108,676    100,891    102,376      96,040    116,023     90,148      92,823      99,787    106,344     85,962
South Dakota.....       21,044     22,209     21,870      19,852     22,384     21,233      20,656      21,953     20,797     20,129
Tennessee.....         144,675    128,481    136,278     134,472    147,416    126,150     123,277     129,537    128,703    123,782
Texas.....             588,802    580,416    588,070     595,615    641,177    538,726     519,376     539,188    579,631    537,456
Utah.....               79,259     91,646     81,427      82,619     84,690     75,963      72,367      74,004     75,903     70,508
Vermont.....            17,998     16,827     20,084      17,066     18,651     17,636      17,258      17,430     20,080     16,545
Virginia.....          194,325    186,996    196,028     182,441    196,190    180,449     172,727     183,875    193,605    170,840
Washington.....        191,782    185,519    193,086     172,479    188,287    179,259     152,983     167,385    170,855    160,099
West Virginia.....      34,777     34,065     35,135      37,743     34,247     33,887      34,690      35,391     35,798     33,151
Wisconsin.....         134,052    143,931    139,680     122,392    136,582    131,290     116,833     136,434    140,307    121,569

Wyoming.....            17,940     17,837     17,344      17,516     17,948     17,692      16,484      18,378     16,028     17,149
Puerto Rico.....        38,952     34,349     34,820      27,179     45,987     36,267      38,301      35,043     41,788     76,402
Virgin Islands.....      1,644      1,463      1,707       1,132      2,055      1,665       1,497       1,285      2,266      5,918


The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.

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






Table 7.  Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

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

                        Dec.    Mar.     June     Sept.   Dec.        Dec.     Mar.      June    Sept.    Dec.
                        2016    2017     2017     2017    2017        2016     2017      2017    2017     2017

United States1.....      6.2     6.0      6.2      6.0     6.4         5.9      5.4       5.8      6.1     5.5

Alabama.....             5.8     6.1      5.5      6.0     6.0         5.8      5.2       5.6      5.8     5.4
Alaska.....              9.8     9.4     11.0      8.5     9.4        10.0      9.8       9.9     10.5    10.2
Arizona.....             6.0     5.8      6.2      6.6     6.2         5.5      5.4       5.7      5.3     5.3
Arkansas.....            5.9     5.6      5.2      5.7     5.9         5.4      5.0       5.6      5.5     5.0
California.....          6.9     6.7      6.9      6.5     6.9         6.3      6.0       6.6      6.4     6.0
Colorado.....            6.6     6.8      7.1      6.6     6.8         6.5      6.2       6.3      6.4     6.1
Connecticut.....         5.1     5.5      5.7      5.2     5.3         5.2      5.1       5.1      5.7     5.1
Delaware.....            6.2     6.6      6.6      6.5     7.1         6.2      5.9       7.0      6.6     6.4
District of Columbia..   5.6     5.7      5.7      5.4     5.7         5.6      4.7       5.6      5.3     5.0
Florida.....             6.7     6.1      6.6      5.6     8.1         6.1      5.5       6.1      7.5     5.2

Georgia.....             6.6     6.3      6.2      6.1     6.9         5.8      5.8       6.1      6.2     5.5
Hawaii.....              5.0     5.1      5.2      5.4     5.1         5.0      4.8       5.4      5.3     4.9
Idaho.....               7.5     7.9      7.3      6.7     7.4         6.7      6.3       6.6      6.6     6.4
Illinois.....            6.1     5.8      5.7      5.6     6.0         5.6      5.4       5.5      6.0     5.3
Indiana.....             5.4     5.7      5.7      5.5     5.7         5.2      5.1       5.5      5.5     5.1
Iowa.....                5.7     6.1      5.6      5.4     5.9         5.9      5.5       5.7      5.7     5.3
Kansas.....              5.9     5.8      5.5      6.3     6.1         5.7      5.6       6.6      5.7     5.2
Kentucky.....            6.1     5.7      6.1      5.9     6.0         5.8      5.4       5.9      5.8     5.4
Louisiana.....           5.9     6.4      6.2      6.1     6.2         6.5      5.9       6.5      6.1     6.0
Maine.....               7.4     7.2      7.7      6.5     7.1         7.1      6.4       7.7      7.5     6.7

Maryland.....            6.6     6.1      6.4      6.1     6.2         6.2      5.9       6.2      6.2     6.2
Massachusetts.....       5.6     5.5      6.1      5.5     5.7         5.4      5.1       5.2      5.6     5.6
Michigan.....            5.5     5.6      5.7      5.3     5.6         5.4      5.0       5.3      6.0     5.5
Minnesota.....           5.7     5.8      5.7      5.4     5.8         5.7      4.7       5.3      5.7     5.6
Mississippi.....         6.3     5.7      5.9      5.7     6.3         5.6      5.9       6.0      5.9     5.5
Missouri.....            5.7     5.9      5.6      5.9     5.6         5.6      4.9       5.6      5.9     5.4
Montana.....             7.8     8.1      7.9      7.2     8.5         7.5      7.1       7.7      8.0     7.4
Nebraska.....            5.7     5.9      5.6      5.9     6.2         6.2      5.2       6.1      5.9     5.5
Nevada.....              6.2     6.6      6.3      6.3     6.5         5.6      5.2       6.0      5.8     5.2
New Hampshire.....       6.3     5.7      6.6      5.6     6.6         5.9      5.6       5.9      6.5     5.9

New Jersey.....          6.4     5.5      6.7      6.0     6.5         5.9      5.8       5.5      6.2     5.6
New Mexico.....          6.6     6.4      6.7      6.5     6.3         6.5      6.2       6.3      6.3     6.0
New York.....            6.1     6.2      6.5      6.2     6.1         5.9      5.7       5.7      6.1     5.8
North Carolina.....      6.3     6.2      6.3      6.0     6.3         5.7      5.5       5.9      6.0     5.5
North Dakota.....        6.7     7.6      6.8      6.7     6.8         7.7      6.7       6.9      6.8     6.7
Ohio.....                5.7     5.7      5.8      5.1     5.6         5.4      5.1       5.4      5.6     5.2
Oklahoma.....            6.5     6.3      6.6      6.5     6.4         6.3      6.5       5.9      6.0     5.8
Oregon.....              6.6     6.9      6.5      6.5     6.8         6.3      5.7       5.9      6.3     6.0
Pennsylvania.....        5.4     5.2      5.5      5.4     5.5         5.1      5.0       5.2      5.2     4.9
Rhode Island.....        5.7     6.3      6.5      5.9     6.6         5.8      5.9       5.9      6.3     6.0

South Carolina.....      6.5     6.0      6.1      5.7     6.9         5.4      5.6       6.0      6.4     5.1
South Dakota.....        6.0     6.4      6.3      5.7     6.4         6.1      5.9       6.3      6.0     5.7
Tennessee.....           5.8     5.1      5.4      5.4     5.8         5.1      4.9       5.1      5.2     4.9
Texas.....               5.9     5.8      5.8      5.9     6.3         5.4      5.2       5.4      5.7     5.3
Utah.....                6.8     7.7      6.8      6.8     7.0         6.4      6.1       6.2      6.3     5.8
Vermont.....             7.0     6.6      7.9      6.7     7.2         7.0      6.8       6.8      7.8     6.4
Virginia.....            6.2     6.0      6.2      5.8     6.3         5.9      5.6       5.9      6.2     5.5
Washington.....          7.1     6.8      7.1      6.3     6.9         6.7      5.6       6.1      6.3     5.8
West Virginia.....       6.4     6.3      6.4      6.9     6.3         6.2      6.4       6.5      6.5     6.1
Wisconsin.....           5.5     5.9      5.6      5.0     5.6         5.3      4.8       5.5      5.7     5.0

Wyoming.....             8.8     8.8      8.5      8.7     8.8         8.7      8.1       9.0      7.9     8.3
Puerto Rico.....         5.8     5.1      5.2      4.1     7.1         5.4      5.7       5.2      6.2    11.7
Virgin Islands.....      6.0     5.3      6.2      4.2     8.4         6.0      5.5       4.7      8.3    24.1


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






Table 8.  Private sector establishment births and deaths, seasonally adjusted

Total private

(Levels in thousands)

                              Number of Establishments                     Employment
                             Births             Deaths(1)            Births             Deaths
Year  3 months ended     Level    Rate(2)   Level    Rate       Level      Rate    Level      Rate

2007  March               232      3.2       205     2.8          918       0.8      787       0.7
      June                225      3.1       215     3.0          898       0.8      859       0.8
      September           233      3.2       216     3.0          952       0.8      845       0.7
      December            228      3.1       218     3.0          922       0.8      836       0.7

2008  March               226      3.1       224     3.1          919       0.8      832       0.7
      June                221      3.0       238     3.3          876       0.8      913       0.8
      September           216      3.0       233     3.2          849       0.8      881       0.8
      December            211      2.9       253     3.5          819       0.7      951       0.9

2009  March               197      2.7       247     3.4          738       0.7      869       0.8
      June                201      2.8       238     3.3          767       0.7      837       0.8
      September           192      2.7       227     3.2          725       0.7      793       0.7
      December            202      2.8       218     3.1          728       0.7      749       0.7

2010  March               193      2.7       211     3.0          706       0.7      687       0.7
      June                193      2.7       202     2.9          730       0.7      665       0.6
      September           207      2.9       204     2.9          754       0.7      701       0.7
      December            216      3.0       201     2.8          805       0.8      700       0.7

2011  March               204      2.9       200     2.8          715       0.7      632       0.6
      June                210      2.9       205     2.9          767       0.7      689       0.6
      September           206      2.9       196     2.7          794       0.7      675       0.6
      December            214      3.0       198     2.8          800       0.7      700       0.6

2012  March               236      3.3       188     2.6          787       0.7      614       0.6
      June                217      3.0       194     2.7          799       0.7      673       0.6
      September           210      2.9       196     2.7          804       0.7      692       0.6
      December            218      3.0       183     2.5          809       0.7      673       0.6

2013  March               205      2.8       192     2.6          748       0.7      646       0.6
      June                222      3.0       215     2.9          791       0.7      696       0.6
      September           219      2.9       195     2.6          823       0.7      678       0.6
      December            216      2.9       187     2.5          804       0.7      670       0.6

2014  March               221      2.9       189     2.5          782       0.7      633       0.6
      June                220      2.9       205     2.7          806       0.7      718       0.6
      September           224      3.0       200     2.6          828       0.7      706       0.6
      December            223      2.9       197     2.6          837       0.7      708       0.6

2015  March               234      3.1       206     2.7          814       0.7      691       0.6
      June                234      3.1       212     2.8          839       0.7      732       0.6
      September           242      3.1       207     2.7          880       0.7      704       0.6
      December            246      3.2       208     2.7          894       0.8      732       0.6

2016  March               236      3.0       202     2.6          787       0.7      660       0.6
      June                242      3.1       214     2.7          838       0.7      724       0.6
      September           240      3.1       215     2.7          872       0.7      749       0.6
      December            239      3.0       217     2.8          868       0.7      729       0.6

2017  March               240      3.0       202     2.5          800       0.7      660       0.5
      June                239      3.0       N/A     N/A          846       0.7      N/A       N/A
      September           240      3.0       N/A     N/A          837       0.7      N/A       N/A
      December            244      3.0       N/A     N/A          849       0.7      N/A       N/A


(1) Values for deaths are not available for the most recent three quarters by definition. See the
    Technical Note for more information.

(2) The rates measure births and deaths as a percentage of the average of the previous and current
    quarter employment levels or total number of establishments.






Last Modified Date: July 25, 2018