From December 2016 to March 2017, gross job gains in private sector establishments in Missouri totaled 138,174, while gross job losses numbered 116,324, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 21,850. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that during the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 860.

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.)

Gross job gains in Missouri increased by 4,107 from December 2016 to March 2017 and were at their highest level since December 2015. The number of gross job losses declined by 16,883 in the three months ended in March 2017 to their lowest level since December 2014. Gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses for 10 consecutive quarters. (See chart 1.)

Gross job gains represented 5.9 percent of private sector employment in Missouri in the quarter ended March 2017, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Missouri’s rate of gross job losses as a percent of private sector employment was 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, lower than the national rate of 5.4 percent. Generally, the state’s rates of gross job gains and gross job losses have been equal to or below the U.S. rate in each quarter since the series began in 1992.

During the first quarter of 2017, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in Missouri. For example, within leisure and hospitality, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 8,386. While 28,554 jobs in the industry were created by opening and expanding establishments, 20,168 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the three months ended in March 2017. In education and health services, 20,196 jobs were created in opening and expanding establishments while 16,642 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, for a net gain of 3,554 jobs. Four additional industries had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses by more than 1,000: professional and business services; retail trade; financial activities; and wholesale trade. (See table 1.)

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 for Second Quarter 2017 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).

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 quarterly 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, Missouri, 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. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017	Mar. 2016	June 2016	Sept 2016	Dec. 2016	Mar. 2017
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	131,362	133,732	132,102	134,067	138,174	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.9
At expanding establishments	109,506	111,939	111,391	108,450	110,951	4.7	4.8	4.8	4.6	4.7
At opening establishments	21,856	21,793	20,711	25,617	27,223	0.9	0.9	0.9	1.1	1.2
Gross job losses	125,523	127,768	125,330	133,207	116,324	5.3	5.4	5.4	5.6	4.9
At contracting establishments	105,732	108,124	107,747	108,933	100,207	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.2
At closing establishments	19,791	19,644	17,583	24,274	16,117	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.7
Net employment change (2)	5,839	5,964	6,772	860	21,850	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.1	1.0
Construction
Gross job gains	12,027	11,910	11,002	12,299	11,891	10.0	9.8	9.1	10.0	9.6
At expanding establishments	10,066	10,175	9,176	10,175	9,455	8.4	8.4	7.6	8.3	7.6
At opening establishments	1,961	1,735	1,826	2,124	2,436	1.6	1.4	1.5	1.7	2.0
Gross job losses	11,362	10,818	10,468	10,677	11,145	9.4	8.9	8.7	8.7	8.9
At contracting establishments	9,519	9,087	8,888	8,714	9,505	7.9	7.5	7.4	7.1	7.6
At closing establishments	1,843	1,731	1,580	1,963	1,640	1.5	1.4	1.3	1.6	1.3
Net employment change (2)	665	1,092	534	1,622	746	0.6	0.9	0.4	1.3	0.7
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	8,010	8,253	6,886	8,340	6,949	3.1	3.1	2.6	3.2	2.6
At expanding establishments	7,563	7,930	6,513	7,568	6,411	2.9	3.0	2.5	2.9	2.4
At opening establishments	447	323	373	772	538	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.2
Gross job losses	7,439	7,420	6,876	7,870	6,957	2.8	2.9	2.6	3.0	2.6
At contracting establishments	6,807	6,747	6,507	6,652	6,316	2.6	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.4
At closing establishments	632	673	369	1,218	641	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.2
Net employment change (2)	571	833	10	470	-8	0.3	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.0
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,163	5,539	4,865	5,578	5,585	4.3	4.6	4.1	4.7	4.6
At expanding establishments	4,270	4,697	4,059	4,411	4,564	3.6	3.9	3.4	3.7	3.8
At opening establishments	893	842	806	1,167	1,021	0.7	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.8
Gross job losses	4,988	4,943	5,202	5,235	4,431	4.1	4.1	4.3	4.3	3.6
At contracting establishments	3,969	4,134	4,444	4,387	3,534	3.3	3.4	3.7	3.6	2.9
At closing establishments	1,019	809	758	848	897	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.7
Net employment change (2)	175	596	-337	343	1,154	0.2	0.5	-0.2	0.4	1.0
Retail trade
Gross job gains	17,380	17,088	17,884	16,982	18,911	5.6	5.4	5.6	5.4	6.0
At expanding establishments	15,635	15,184	15,346	14,907	16,184	5.0	4.8	4.8	4.7	5.1
At opening establishments	1,745	1,904	2,538	2,075	2,727	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.7	0.9
Gross job losses	15,842	16,726	17,793	18,275	16,833	5.0	5.3	5.6	5.8	5.4
At contracting establishments	14,310	15,116	16,080	15,537	15,041	4.5	4.8	5.1	4.9	4.8
At closing establishments	1,532	1,610	1,713	2,738	1,792	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	1,538	362	91	-1,293	2,078	0.6	0.1	0.0	-0.4	0.6
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	4,710	4,823	4,519	6,564	6,434	5.2	5.3	5.0	7.2	7.0
At expanding establishments	3,956	4,341	3,968	5,890	5,813	4.4	4.8	4.4	6.5	6.3
At opening establishments	754	482	551	674	621	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.7
Gross job losses	5,656	5,206	4,948	4,182	5,653	6.3	5.7	5.5	4.6	6.2
At contracting establishments	5,037	4,550	4,063	3,534	5,207	5.6	5.0	4.5	3.9	5.7
At closing establishments	619	656	885	648	446	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	-946	-383	-429	2,382	781	-1.1	-0.4	-0.5	2.6	0.8
Information
Gross job gains	2,074	1,999	2,027	2,211	2,500	4.2	4.1	4.1	4.5	5.2
At expanding establishments	1,792	1,774	1,706	1,720	1,941	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5	4.0
At opening establishments	282	225	321	491	559	0.6	0.5	0.6	1.0	1.2
Gross job losses	1,960	2,304	2,305	3,232	1,712	3.9	4.7	4.7	6.6	3.5
At contracting establishments	1,694	2,069	1,959	2,802	1,420	3.4	4.2	4.0	5.7	2.9
At closing establishments	266	235	346	430	292	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	114	-305	-278	-1,021	788	0.3	-0.6	-0.6	-2.1	1.7
Financial activities
Gross job gains	6,732	6,804	7,411	7,548	7,222	4.3	4.2	4.6	4.7	4.5
At expanding establishments	5,335	5,788	6,097	6,038	5,814	3.4	3.6	3.8	3.8	3.6
At opening establishments	1,397	1,016	1,314	1,510	1,408	0.9	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	5,989	6,178	6,669	6,849	5,651	3.7	3.9	4.1	4.3	3.5
At contracting establishments	4,665	4,858	5,490	5,386	4,678	2.9	3.1	3.4	3.4	2.9
At closing establishments	1,324	1,320	1,179	1,463	973	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.6
Net employment change (2)	743	626	742	699	1,571	0.6	0.3	0.5	0.4	1.0
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	23,745	24,849	26,319	22,778	23,066	6.3	6.6	7.0	6.0	6.1
At expanding establishments	19,238	20,695	22,212	17,261	18,285	5.1	5.5	5.9	4.5	4.8
At opening establishments	4,507	4,154	4,107	5,517	4,781	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.5	1.3
Gross job losses	25,694	23,658	22,161	25,830	20,985	6.8	6.2	5.8	6.8	5.5
At contracting establishments	21,059	19,016	18,763	20,652	17,829	5.6	5.0	4.9	5.4	4.7
At closing establishments	4,635	4,642	3,398	5,178	3,156	1.2	1.2	0.9	1.4	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-1,949	1,191	4,158	-3,052	2,081	-0.5	0.4	1.2	-0.8	0.6
Education and health services
Gross job gains	19,145	19,403	21,233	20,172	20,196	4.4	4.5	4.9	4.6	4.5
At expanding establishments	14,375	13,495	16,947	14,916	13,812	3.3	3.1	3.9	3.4	3.1
At opening establishments	4,770	5,908	4,286	5,256	6,384	1.1	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.4
Gross job losses	17,190	18,310	15,741	18,507	16,642	3.9	4.2	3.6	4.2	3.8
At contracting establishments	13,206	14,200	12,125	13,544	13,658	3.0	3.3	2.8	3.1	3.1
At closing establishments	3,984	4,110	3,616	4,963	2,984	0.9	0.9	0.8	1.1	0.7
Net employment change (2)	1,955	1,093	5,492	1,665	3,554	0.5	0.3	1.3	0.4	0.7
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	25,956	26,189	23,373	25,128	28,554	8.6	8.7	7.8	8.4	9.3
At expanding establishments	21,949	22,029	19,941	20,577	23,238	7.3	7.3	6.7	6.9	7.6
At opening establishments	4,007	4,160	3,432	4,551	5,316	1.3	1.4	1.1	1.5	1.7
Gross job losses	23,174	26,094	26,308	25,432	20,168	7.7	8.6	8.7	8.5	6.6
At contracting establishments	20,180	23,237	23,518	21,936	17,980	6.7	7.7	7.8	7.3	5.9
At closing establishments	2,994	2,857	2,790	3,496	2,188	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.2	0.7
Net employment change (2)	2,782	95	-2,935	-304	8,386	0.9	0.1	-0.9	-0.1	2.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	4,801	5,227	4,955	4,751	5,047	6.5	7.1	6.7	6.5	7.0
At expanding establishments	3,964	4,411	4,048	3,524	3,897	5.4	6.0	5.5	4.8	5.4
At opening establishments	837	816	907	1,227	1,150	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.7	1.6
Gross job losses	4,627	4,360	5,315	5,309	4,658	6.3	6.0	7.2	7.2	6.4
At contracting establishments	3,872	3,591	4,490	4,181	3,726	5.3	4.9	6.1	5.7	5.1
At closing establishments	755	769	825	1,128	932	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.5	1.3
Net employment change (2)	174	867	-360	-558	389	0.2	1.1	-0.5	-0.7	0.6
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.