From September 2017 to December 2017, gross job gains in Iowa totaled 76,283, while gross job losses numbered 68,723, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 7,560. During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 3,254.

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. Business Employment Dynamics (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 job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Technical Note for more information.)

The 76,283 gross job gains in the three-month period ended in December 2017 were more than the 70,162 gross job gains in the previous three-month period. Iowa’s gross job gains have been above 70,000 since June 2011. Gross job losses in December 2017 totaled 68,723 in the state, a decrease from 73,416 in the previous quarter. Iowa’s gross job losses have trended downwards since June 2016, when losses were 81,142. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private sector employment in Iowa in the quarter ended December 2017, compared to the national gross job gains rate of 6.4 percent. Since the series began in 1992, Iowa’s rate of gross job gains has generally been below the national rate. Gross job losses represented 5.3 percent of private sector employment in Iowa in the quarter ended December 2017, while nationally gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Since the series inception, the rate of gross job losses in Iowa has generally been below the U.S. rate.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 8 of the 10 industry sectors in Iowa. For example, within manufacturing, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 2,961. While more than 4,800 jobs were lost by closing and contracting establishments in the industry, almost 7,800 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments in the three-months ended in December 2017. Two other industry sectors—transportation and warehousing and education and health services— had net employment gains of more than 1,500 jobs. (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in two industry sectors. Within professional and business services, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,181. Retail trade had net employment losses of less than 400 jobs from the previous year.

Iowa was among the seven states in the West North Central Division. All seven states in the division had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) Iowa was among the five states in the division that had rates of gross job gains below the 6.4-percent national rate. South Dakota had a rate of gross job gains that was equal to the national rate, and North Dakota had a rate of gross job gains that was higher than the national rate. Three states, including Iowa, had rates of gross job losses that were lower than the 5.5-percent national rate. Nebraska had a rate of gross job losses that was equal to the national rate, while three states had rates of gross job losses that were greater than the national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, West North Central Division, and West North Central states, December 2017, seasonally adjusted

Area	Gross job gains		Gross job losses		Net change	Net change as a percent of total employment
	Total	As a percent of total employment	Total	As a percent of total employment
United States	7,793,000	6.4	6,794,000	5.5	999,000	0.9
West North Central (1)	517,830	—	479,787	—	38,043	—
Iowa	76,283	5.9	68,723	5.3	7,560	0.6
Kansas	68,399	6.1	59,348	5.2	9,051	0.9
Minnesota	143,126	5.8	137,173	5.6	5,953	0.2
Missouri	133,861	5.6	126,736	5.4	7,125	0.2
Nebraska	50,417	6.2	44,572	5.5	5,845	0.7
North Dakota	23,360	6.8	23,106	6.7	254	0.1
South Dakota	22,384	6.4	20,129	5.7	2,255	0.7
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for states located in the West North Central Census Division.
Note: Dash indicates data not available.

Additional statistics and other information

BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. For more information on the Business Employment Dynamics data, visit the BED web site at www.bls.gov/bdm.

The Business Employment Dynamics release for first quarter 2018 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 7, 2018.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), or the ES-202 program. The BED data are compiled from existing QCEW records. The QCEW reports are sent by the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) to BLS and form the basis of the Bureau’s QCEW program and establishment universe sampling frame. These reports are also used to produce the QCEW data on total employment and wages. Other important Bureau uses of the QCEW reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, net changes, and earnings by detailed industry.

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 establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.

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 establishments 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 establishments 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 establishments with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

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

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

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Iowa, 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)
	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	73,955	78,764	73,448	70,162	76,283	5.7	6.1	5.6	5.4	5.9
At expanding establishments	60,823	66,164	61,704	57,852	64,479	4.7	5.1	4.7	4.5	5.0
At opening establishments	13,132	12,600	11,744	12,310	11,804	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	76,993	71,324	73,959	73,416	68,723	5.9	5.5	5.7	5.7	5.3
At contracting establishments	66,440	60,567	63,780	63,509	58,496	5.1	4.7	4.9	4.9	4.5
At closing establishments	10,553	10,757	10,179	9,907	10,227	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-3,038	7,440	-511	-3,254	7,560	-0.2	0.6	-0.1	-0.3	0.6
Construction
Gross job gains	9,062	10,617	7,995	7,947	8,570	11.3	13.3	10.2	10.7	11.4
At expanding establishments	7,368	8,607	6,490	6,452	6,855	9.2	10.8	8.3	8.7	9.1
At opening establishments	1,694	2,010	1,505	1,495	1,715	2.1	2.5	1.9	2.0	2.3
Gross job losses	11,190	9,928	11,177	9,001	8,019	14.0	12.4	14.4	12.1	10.7
At contracting establishments	9,685	8,488	9,482	7,364	6,609	12.1	10.6	12.2	9.9	8.8
At closing establishments	1,505	1,440	1,695	1,637	1,410	1.9	1.8	2.2	2.2	1.9
Net employment change (2)	-2,128	689	-3,182	-1,054	551	-2.7	0.9	-4.2	-1.4	0.7
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	6,291	6,578	6,639	6,579	7,795	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.0	3.6
At expanding establishments	5,738	6,203	6,010	6,307	7,561	2.7	2.9	2.8	2.9	3.5
At opening establishments	553	375	629	272	234	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1
Gross job losses	5,972	5,977	4,926	5,531	4,834	2.8	2.8	2.3	2.5	2.3
At contracting establishments	5,623	5,578	4,574	5,075	4,475	2.6	2.6	2.1	2.3	2.1
At closing establishments	349	399	352	456	359	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Net employment change (2)	319	601	1,713	1,048	2,961	0.2	0.3	0.8	0.5	1.3
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	3,132	3,358	3,030	2,608	3,419	4.7	5.0	4.6	4.0	5.1
At expanding establishments	2,637	2,955	2,656	2,093	3,077	4.0	4.4	4.0	3.2	4.6
At opening establishments	495	403	374	515	342	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.5
Gross job losses	2,856	2,794	3,241	3,333	2,611	4.3	4.2	4.9	5.0	4.0
At contracting establishments	2,367	2,421	2,791	2,905	1,966	3.6	3.6	4.2	4.4	3.0
At closing establishments	489	373	450	428	645	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.6	1.0
Net employment change (2)	276	564	-211	-725	808	0.4	0.8	-0.3	-1.0	1.1
Retail trade
Gross job gains	9,169	10,088	9,732	9,006	9,233	5.1	5.5	5.3	5.0	5.1
At expanding establishments	8,086	8,826	8,610	7,964	8,128	4.5	4.8	4.7	4.4	4.5
At opening establishments	1,083	1,262	1,122	1,042	1,105	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.6
Gross job losses	9,321	9,208	10,202	10,391	9,588	5.1	5.1	5.6	5.7	5.3
At contracting establishments	8,440	8,567	9,177	9,426	8,850	4.6	4.7	5.0	5.2	4.9
At closing establishments	881	641	1,025	965	738	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.4
Net employment change (2)	-152	880	-470	-1,385	-355	0.0	0.4	-0.3	-0.7	-0.2
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,350	3,384	2,766	2,411	4,170	7.5	5.8	4.8	4.2	7.2
At expanding establishments	3,759	2,912	2,427	1,945	3,838	6.5	5.0	4.2	3.4	6.6
At opening establishments	591	472	339	466	332	1.0	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.6
Gross job losses	2,742	4,033	2,761	2,550	2,214	4.8	7.0	4.9	4.5	3.8
At contracting establishments	2,393	3,388	2,385	2,226	1,901	4.2	5.9	4.2	3.9	3.3
At closing establishments	349	645	376	324	313	0.6	1.1	0.7	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,608	-649	5	-139	1,956	2.7	-1.2	-0.1	-0.3	3.4
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,559	3,696	3,800	3,480	3,582	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.2	3.3
At expanding establishments	2,941	3,138	3,191	2,947	2,866	2.7	2.9	2.9	2.7	2.6
At opening establishments	618	558	609	533	716	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.7
Gross job losses	3,010	3,271	3,378	3,310	3,444	2.8	3.0	3.1	3.0	3.1
At contracting establishments	2,627	2,667	2,849	2,820	2,867	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.6	2.6
At closing establishments	383	604	529	490	577	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.5
Net employment change (2)	549	425	422	170	138	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.2
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	9,913	10,476	11,821	10,413	10,265	7.2	7.6	8.5	7.5	7.4
At expanding establishments	7,863	8,124	9,592	8,063	8,148	5.7	5.9	6.9	5.8	5.9
At opening establishments	2,050	2,352	2,229	2,350	2,117	1.5	1.7	1.6	1.7	1.5
Gross job losses	11,760	10,897	9,770	10,536	11,446	8.5	8.0	7.0	7.5	8.2
At contracting establishments	9,741	8,756	7,942	8,520	9,313	7.0	6.4	5.7	6.1	6.7
At closing establishments	2,019	2,141	1,828	2,016	2,133	1.5	1.6	1.3	1.4	1.5
Net employment change (2)	-1,847	-421	2,051	-123	-1,181	-1.3	-0.4	1.5	0.0	-0.8
Education and health services
Gross job gains	9,221	10,288	8,790	9,546	9,543	4.3	4.7	4.0	4.4	4.3
At expanding establishments	7,980	9,003	7,428	8,458	8,225	3.7	4.1	3.4	3.9	3.7
At opening establishments	1,241	1,285	1,362	1,088	1,318	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	9,561	7,568	8,955	9,797	7,860	4.3	3.4	4.0	4.5	3.5
At contracting establishments	8,173	6,459	8,025	8,752	6,677	3.7	2.9	3.6	4.0	3.0
At closing establishments	1,388	1,109	930	1,045	1,183	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-340	2,720	-165	-251	1,683	0.0	1.3	0.0	-0.1	0.8
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	13,731	14,573	12,978	12,347	13,537	9.7	10.2	9.1	8.7	9.5
At expanding establishments	10,041	11,616	10,444	8,759	10,736	7.1	8.1	7.3	6.2	7.5
At opening establishments	3,690	2,957	2,534	3,588	2,801	2.6	2.1	1.8	2.5	2.0
Gross job losses	12,882	11,925	13,849	13,496	12,681	9.1	8.3	9.7	9.4	8.9
At contracting establishments	10,783	9,641	11,854	11,727	10,685	7.6	6.7	8.3	8.2	7.5
At closing establishments	2,099	2,284	1,995	1,769	1,996	1.5	1.6	1.4	1.2	1.4
Net employment change (2)	849	2,648	-871	-1,149	856	0.6	1.9	-0.6	-0.7	0.6
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,548	2,667	2,767	2,515	2,786	6.4	6.8	7.1	6.4	7.2
At expanding establishments	2,121	2,276	2,302	2,075	2,333	5.3	5.8	5.9	5.3	6.0
At opening establishments	427	391	465	440	453	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.1	1.2
Gross job losses	3,884	2,539	2,470	2,645	2,630	9.8	6.5	6.3	6.7	6.8
At contracting establishments	3,377	2,064	2,091	2,252	2,177	8.5	5.3	5.3	5.7	5.6
At closing establishments	507	475	379	393	453	1.3	1.2	1.0	1.0	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-1,336	128	297	-130	156	-3.4	0.3	0.8	-0.3	0.4
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.