From December 2020 to March 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in the District of Columbia were 25,353, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 24,772, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 581 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2021. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,305. (See chart 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.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job gains represented 5.5 percent of private-sector employment in the District of Columbia; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 6.8 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) 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. In the District of Columbia, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 20,852 in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 2,400 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 4,501 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 1,919 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job losses represented 5.3 percent of private-sector employment in the District of Columbia; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In the District of Columbia, contracting establishments lost 20,348 jobs in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 665 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 4,424 jobs, a decrease of 358 jobs from the previous quarter. The total gross job loss of 24,772 is the lowest gross job loss amount for the District of Columbia in the last 5 years.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 2 of the 5 industry sectors in the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 2021. Leisure and hospitality had a net gain of 746 jobs. This was the result of 4,507 gross job gains and 3,761 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 683 jobs. Other services had a net loss of 792 jobs.

For more information

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. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2021 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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.

In the BED program, the 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.

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all businesses in the economy. BED statistics track these changes in employment at private business establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment from expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.

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. 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.

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.

The full Technical Note for the Business Employment Dynamics program, which includes information on coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the current quarterly news release online at www.bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, District of Columbia, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and job losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	28,354	16,282	37,965	24,490	25,353	5.3	3.3	8.2	5.3	5.5
At expanding establishments	22,559	11,965	29,645	18,452	20,852	4.2	2.4	6.4	4.0	4.5
At opening establishments	5,795	4,317	8,320	6,038	4,501	1.1	0.9	1.8	1.3	1.0
Gross job losses	28,885	111,741	26,667	25,795	24,772	5.4	22.3	5.7	5.5	5.3
At contracting establishments	23,579	94,547	21,453	21,013	20,348	4.4	18.9	4.6	4.5	4.4
At closing establishments	5,306	17,194	5,214	4,782	4,424	1.0	3.4	1.1	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-531	-95,459	11,298	-1,305	581	-0.1	-19.0	2.5	-0.2	0.2
Financial activities
Gross job gains	1,130	745	970	915	889	4.1	2.7	3.6	3.4	3.3
At expanding establishments	911	520	759	643	665	3.3	1.9	2.8	2.4	2.5
At opening establishments	219	225	211	272	224	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	1,157	1,687	993	1,232	1,073	4.2	6.2	3.7	4.7	4.1
At contracting establishments	803	1,482	809	953	838	2.9	5.4	3.0	3.6	3.2
At closing establishments	354	205	184	279	235	1.3	0.8	0.7	1.1	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-27	-942	-23	-317	-184	-0.1	-3.5	-0.1	-1.3	-0.8
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	10,569	6,823	11,493	8,923	8,666	6.1	4.1	7.1	5.4	5.3
At expanding establishments	8,316	5,199	9,257	6,905	7,164	4.8	3.1	5.7	4.2	4.4
At opening establishments	2,253	1,624	2,236	2,018	1,502	1.3	1.0	1.4	1.2	0.9
Gross job losses	9,247	21,915	8,548	9,670	7,983	5.3	13.1	5.2	5.9	4.8
At contracting establishments	7,566	19,129	6,729	7,959	6,478	4.3	11.4	4.1	4.9	3.9
At closing establishments	1,681	2,786	1,819	1,711	1,505	1.0	1.7	1.1	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	1,322	-15,092	2,945	-747	683	0.8	-9.0	1.9	-0.5	0.5
Education and health services
Gross job gains	4,341	2,570	4,469	4,547	5,163	3.7	2.3	4.0	4.1	4.7
At expanding establishments	3,635	1,816	3,759	3,284	4,509	3.1	1.6	3.4	3.0	4.1
At opening establishments	706	754	710	1,263	654	0.6	0.7	0.6	1.1	0.6
Gross job losses	3,081	10,264	5,323	2,987	5,360	2.7	9.0	4.9	2.7	4.8
At contracting establishments	2,540	9,267	4,577	2,493	4,983	2.2	8.1	4.2	2.3	4.5
At closing establishments	541	997	746	494	377	0.5	0.9	0.7	0.4	0.3
Net employment change (2)	1,260	-7,694	-854	1,560	-197	1.0	-6.7	-0.9	1.4	-0.1
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	4,431	1,367	10,729	4,132	4,507	5.6	2.4	29.1	10.8	11.9
At expanding establishments	3,238	755	7,924	3,072	3,813	4.1	1.3	21.5	8.0	10.1
At opening establishments	1,193	612	2,805	1,060	694	1.5	1.1	7.6	2.8	1.8
Gross job losses	8,839	55,945	5,160	4,981	3,761	11.1	99.2	14.0	13.0	9.9
At contracting establishments	7,399	46,549	3,877	3,838	2,819	9.3	82.5	10.5	10.0	7.4
At closing establishments	1,440	9,396	1,283	1,143	942	1.8	16.7	3.5	3.0	2.5
Net employment change (2)	-4,408	-54,578	5,569	-849	746	-5.5	-96.8	15.1	-2.2	2.0
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,597	1,611	3,754	2,170	2,051	3.7	2.4	5.9	3.4	3.3
At expanding establishments	2,188	1,281	2,680	1,721	1,635	3.1	1.9	4.2	2.7	2.6
At opening establishments	409	330	1,074	449	416	0.6	0.5	1.7	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	2,437	9,278	2,547	2,563	2,843	3.5	13.9	3.9	4.0	4.5
At contracting establishments	2,040	7,548	2,076	2,052	2,201	2.9	11.3	3.2	3.2	3.5
At closing establishments	397	1,730	471	511	642	0.6	2.6	0.7	0.8	1.0
Net employment change (2)	160	-7,667	1,207	-393	-792	0.2	-11.5	2.0	-0.6	-1.2
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further information. (3) Except public administration.