From September 2019 to December 2019, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in Oklahoma totaled 82,766, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments numbered 80,110, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 2,656 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2019. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 2,876. (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 fourth quarter of 2019, gross job gains represented 6.4 percent of private-sector employment in Oklahoma; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 6.2 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 Oklahoma, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 65,181 in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 781 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 17,585 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 173 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the fourth quarter of 2019, gross job losses represented 6.2 percent of private-sector employment in Oklahoma; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.6 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In Oklahoma, contracting establishments lost 66,273 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 2,202 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 13,837 jobs, a decrease of 1,028 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

During the fourth quarter of 2019, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 7 of the 11 industry sectors in Oklahoma. Transportation and warehousing had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 5,020 jobs. This was the result of 7,586 gross job gains and 2,566 gross job losses. The education and health services sector had a net gain of 2,042 jobs. Construction saw a net loss of 1,408 jobs, the largest of any sector in the state. Oklahoma’s manufacturing sector had a net loss of 799 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 release for First Quarter 2020 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.  

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 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, Oklahoma, 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. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	84,052	74,976	76,968	81,812	82,766	6.5	5.8	5.9	6.3	6.4
At expanding establishments	66,373	60,931	61,138	64,400	65,181	5.1	4.7	4.7	5.0	5.0
At opening establishments	17,679	14,045	15,830	17,412	17,585	1.4	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.4
Gross job losses	78,597	75,282	80,251	78,936	80,110	6.1	5.8	6.2	6.1	6.2
At contracting establishments	62,326	61,262	65,514	64,071	66,273	4.8	4.7	5.1	5.0	5.1
At closing establishments	16,271	14,020	14,737	14,865	13,837	1.3	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1
Net employment change (2)	5,455	-306	-3,283	2,876	2,656	0.4	0.0	-0.3	0.2	0.2
Construction
Gross job gains	8,436	9,024	8,043	8,420	6,646	10.2	10.8	9.7	10.1	8.1
At expanding establishments	6,756	7,576	6,714	6,753	5,349	8.2	9.1	8.1	8.1	6.5
At opening establishments	1,680	1,448	1,329	1,667	1,297	2.0	1.7	1.6	2.0	1.6
Gross job losses	8,500	7,859	9,041	7,681	8,054	10.4	9.4	10.9	9.2	9.8
At contracting establishments	6,900	6,338	7,579	6,021	6,593	8.4	7.6	9.1	7.2	8.0
At closing establishments	1,600	1,521	1,462	1,660	1,461	2.0	1.8	1.8	2.0	1.8
Net employment change (2)	-64	1,165	-998	739	-1,408	-0.2	1.4	-1.2	0.9	-1.7
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	5,180	5,298	4,636	4,266	4,803	3.7	3.7	3.3	3.0	3.4
At expanding establishments	4,171	4,273	3,924	3,674	4,259	3.0	3.0	2.8	2.6	3.0
At opening establishments	1,009	1,025	712	592	544	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.4
Gross job losses	5,041	4,388	4,891	5,231	5,602	3.7	3.1	3.5	3.7	4.0
At contracting establishments	3,701	3,566	4,195	4,698	5,085	2.7	2.5	3.0	3.3	3.6
At closing establishments	1,340	822	696	533	517	1.0	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.4
Net employment change (2)	139	910	-255	-965	-799	0.0	0.6	-0.2	-0.7	-0.6
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	4,193	2,810	2,977	3,002	3,031	7.2	4.8	5.1	5.3	5.2
At expanding establishments	3,398	2,233	2,369	2,223	2,230	5.8	3.8	4.1	3.9	3.8
At opening establishments	795	577	608	779	801	1.4	1.0	1.0	1.4	1.4
Gross job losses	3,144	2,764	2,891	3,316	2,901	5.4	4.8	5.0	5.7	5.0
At contracting establishments	1,961	2,088	2,261	2,333	2,374	3.4	3.6	3.9	4.0	4.1
At closing establishments	1,183	676	630	983	527	2.0	1.2	1.1	1.7	0.9
Net employment change (2)	1,049	46	86	-314	130	1.8	0.0	0.1	-0.4	0.2
Retail trade
Gross job gains	9,263	10,410	10,295	11,087	10,645	5.2	5.9	5.9	6.3	6.0
At expanding establishments	7,883	8,595	8,433	9,216	8,918	4.4	4.9	4.8	5.2	5.0
At opening establishments	1,380	1,815	1,862	1,871	1,727	0.8	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.0
Gross job losses	11,241	10,328	10,906	10,134	10,632	6.3	5.8	6.2	5.7	6.0
At contracting establishments	9,768	9,042	9,323	8,675	9,157	5.5	5.1	5.3	4.9	5.2
At closing establishments	1,473	1,286	1,583	1,459	1,475	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.8
Net employment change (2)	-1,978	82	-611	953	13	-1.1	0.1	-0.3	0.6	0.0
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	5,071	2,094	2,935	5,744	7,586	9.5	3.8	5.6	10.6	12.9
At expanding establishments	4,334	1,651	2,662	5,394	6,746	8.1	3.0	5.1	10.0	11.5
At opening establishments	737	443	273	350	840	1.4	0.8	0.5	0.6	1.4
Gross job losses	2,356	4,765	2,452	2,348	2,566	4.4	8.8	4.7	4.4	4.4
At contracting establishments	1,862	4,462	2,055	1,879	2,066	3.5	8.2	3.9	3.5	3.5
At closing establishments	494	303	397	469	500	0.9	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,715	-2,671	483	3,396	5,020	5.1	-5.0	0.9	6.2	8.5
Information
Gross job gains	951	969	1,017	1,035	900	4.8	4.9	5.2	5.3	4.6
At expanding establishments	650	783	719	731	759	3.3	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.9
At opening establishments	301	186	298	304	141	1.5	0.9	1.5	1.6	0.7
Gross job losses	1,307	1,198	1,077	1,113	916	6.6	6.0	5.5	5.7	4.7
At contracting establishments	1,144	880	799	858	745	5.8	4.4	4.1	4.4	3.8
At closing establishments	163	318	278	255	171	0.8	1.6	1.4	1.3	0.9
Net employment change (2)	-356	-229	-60	-78	-16	-1.8	-1.1	-0.3	-0.4	-0.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	3,976	3,543	3,706	3,362	3,873	5.1	4.6	4.8	4.3	5.0
At expanding establishments	2,892	2,778	2,851	2,579	2,832	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.3	3.7
At opening establishments	1,084	765	855	783	1,041	1.4	1.0	1.1	1.0	1.3
Gross job losses	4,123	3,603	3,730	3,542	4,054	5.3	4.7	4.8	4.6	5.3
At contracting establishments	3,162	2,678	2,876	2,613	3,145	4.1	3.5	3.7	3.4	4.1
At closing establishments	961	925	854	929	909	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.2
Net employment change (2)	-147	-60	-24	-180	-181	-0.2	-0.1	0.0	-0.3	-0.3
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	15,449	13,089	13,844	13,938	15,160	8.0	6.8	7.2	7.2	7.7
At expanding establishments	11,860	10,618	10,395	10,876	10,783	6.1	5.5	5.4	5.6	5.5
At opening establishments	3,589	2,471	3,449	3,062	4,377	1.9	1.3	1.8	1.6	2.2
Gross job losses	14,426	12,250	13,411	14,282	13,841	7.5	6.3	7.0	7.3	7.1
At contracting establishments	11,341	9,855	10,789	11,092	10,728	5.9	5.1	5.6	5.7	5.5
At closing establishments	3,085	2,395	2,622	3,190	3,113	1.6	1.2	1.4	1.6	1.6
Net employment change (2)	1,023	839	433	-344	1,319	0.5	0.5	0.2	-0.1	0.6
Education and health services
Gross job gains	9,755	8,841	10,065	9,329	10,286	4.6	4.2	4.7	4.3	4.8
At expanding establishments	7,595	7,428	8,373	7,348	7,998	3.6	3.5	3.9	3.4	3.7
At opening establishments	2,160	1,413	1,692	1,981	2,288	1.0	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.1
Gross job losses	8,881	8,660	8,995	8,881	8,244	4.2	4.1	4.3	4.2	3.8
At contracting establishments	6,611	6,458	6,743	7,041	6,673	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.1
At closing establishments	2,270	2,202	2,252	1,840	1,571	1.1	1.0	1.1	0.9	0.7
Net employment change (2)	874	181	1,070	448	2,042	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.1	1.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	14,642	13,200	13,520	15,801	14,539	8.4	7.5	7.8	9.2	8.3
At expanding establishments	11,139	10,529	10,360	11,353	11,277	6.4	6.0	6.0	6.6	6.4
At opening establishments	3,503	2,671	3,160	4,448	3,262	2.0	1.5	1.8	2.6	1.9
Gross job losses	13,243	12,433	15,217	13,407	13,287	7.7	7.1	8.8	7.8	7.6
At contracting establishments	10,877	10,188	12,637	11,415	11,082	6.3	5.8	7.3	6.6	6.3
At closing establishments	2,366	2,245	2,580	1,992	2,205	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.2	1.3
Net employment change (2)	1,399	767	-1,697	2,394	1,252	0.7	0.4	-1.0	1.4	0.7
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	2,933	2,911	2,884	2,916	2,759	8.2	8.2	8.1	8.2	7.6
At expanding establishments	2,354	2,205	2,125	2,239	2,240	6.6	6.2	6.0	6.3	6.2
At opening establishments	579	706	759	677	519	1.6	2.0	2.1	1.9	1.4
Gross job losses	2,879	2,722	2,795	2,674	2,510	8.0	7.6	7.8	7.5	7.0
At contracting establishments	2,295	2,070	2,010	2,094	1,885	6.4	5.8	5.6	5.9	5.3
At closing establishments	584	652	785	580	625	1.6	1.8	2.2	1.6	1.7
Net employment change (2)	54	189	89	242	249	0.2	0.6	0.3	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.

Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

State	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Mar. 2019	June 2019	Sept. 2019	Dec. 2019
United States(1)	6.3	5.9	6.0	5.8	6.2	5.6	5.5	5.9	5.8	5.6
Alabama	6.3	6.0	5.8	5.9	6.3	5.3	5.5	6.0	5.9	5.7
Alaska	11.0	10.0	10.8	9.5	10.2	9.8	9.0	10.2	10.1	10.2
Arizona	6.2	5.6	5.7	6.4	6.4	5.1	5.5	5.7	4.8	5.2
Arkansas	5.9	5.2	5.0	5.5	6.4	5.0	5.1	5.7	5.5	4.8
California	6.9	6.3	6.6	6.3	6.7	5.9	6.2	6.4	6.1	5.9
Colorado	6.8	6.6	7.0	6.6	6.7	6.0	6.3	6.2	6.4	6.2
Connecticut	5.3	5.2	5.8	5.5	5.5	4.9	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.5
Delaware	6.6	6.4	6.0	6.1	6.5	5.6	5.5	6.3	6.2	6.2
District of Columbia	5.6	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.1	4.9	5.5	5.4	4.7
Florida	6.4	6.1	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.1	5.6	6.3	5.7	5.9
Georgia	6.3	6.8	6.2	6.2	6.5	5.8	5.7	6.4	6.1	5.6
Hawaii	5.8	5.4	4.7	5.5	5.6	5.1	5.9	6.1	5.3	5.4
Idaho	7.4	7.5	7.1	6.9	7.7	6.3	6.1	6.7	6.8	6.3
Illinois	5.5	5.2	5.6	4.9	5.6	5.6	5.1	5.3	5.6	5.2
Indiana	5.6	5.9	5.2	5.4	6.0	5.0	4.8	5.8	5.7	5.1
Iowa	5.8	5.1	5.8	5.3	5.8	5.3	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.3
Kansas	6.1	5.4	5.7	5.7	6.3	5.4	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.7
Kentucky	6.1	5.8	5.8	5.8	6.1	5.4	5.5	5.9	5.7	5.8
Louisiana	6.2	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.9	5.8	5.9	6.5	6.1	5.8
Maine	7.3	7.2	7.5	6.4	7.4	6.7	6.4	7.5	7.2	7.0
Maryland	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.2	6.5	6.4	5.7	6.4	6.6	5.8
Massachusetts	5.8	5.7	6.0	5.3	5.8	5.3	5.2	5.7	5.9	5.5
Michigan	5.6	5.1	5.5	5.1	5.8	5.2	4.6	5.8	6.0	5.3
Minnesota	5.7	5.2	5.8	5.2	5.8	5.4	5.1	5.5	5.8	5.6
Mississippi	6.5	5.7	5.8	5.5	6.2	5.3	6.2	6.0	5.8	5.5
Missouri	5.8	5.4	5.6	5.8	6.1	5.4	5.3	5.8	5.8	5.2
Montana	8.9	7.6	8.0	7.3	8.6	7.2	8.0	7.7	7.7	7.2
Nebraska	5.9	5.7	5.7	5.6	6.2	5.7	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.8
Nevada	6.6	6.0	5.9	6.0	6.8	5.5	5.4	6.0	5.7	5.0
New Hampshire	6.6	6.3	6.4	5.8	6.6	5.7	5.7	6.3	6.6	5.9
New Jersey	6.4	5.7	6.2	6.0	6.5	5.7	5.6	5.8	6.1	5.8
New Mexico	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.7	6.7	6.1	5.8	6.3	6.1	6.2
New York	6.3	6.0	6.0	5.8	6.0	5.7	5.3	5.9	5.9	5.7
North Carolina	6.7	6.3	6.1	5.7	6.2	5.3	5.1	5.7	5.9	5.3
North Dakota	6.8	7.1	6.7	6.6	6.7	6.2	6.4	6.7	7.1	6.7
Ohio	5.6	5.5	5.6	5.3	5.7	5.3	5.1	5.7	5.8	5.3
Oklahoma	6.5	5.8	5.9	6.3	6.4	6.1	5.8	6.2	6.1	6.2
Oregon	6.7	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.7	6.0	5.8	6.1	6.2	5.8
Pennsylvania	5.3	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.4	4.8	4.8	5.3	5.2	4.9
Rhode Island	6.4	5.8	6.4	5.8	6.5	5.7	5.6	6.7	6.2	5.9
South Carolina	7.4	6.4	6.3	6.0	6.5	5.4	6.0	6.2	5.7	5.9
South Dakota	6.3	5.7	6.2	5.8	6.4	5.8	6.4	6.0	6.0	5.7
Tennessee	5.8	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.6	4.9	4.8	5.0	5.1	5.0
Texas	6.2	5.5	5.7	5.8	6.0	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.2	5.1
Utah	6.9	7.3	6.9	6.8	6.8	6.2	6.2	6.5	6.2	6.3
Vermont	7.4	6.7	6.9	6.3	6.9	6.8	6.3	7.1	7.6	6.4
Virginia	6.3	6.4	6.1	5.2	6.6	5.6	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.5
Washington	6.4	6.2	6.6	6.0	6.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	6.0	5.7
West Virginia	6.3	6.0	6.2	5.8	6.2	6.5	6.6	6.5	6.7	7.1
Wisconsin	5.4	5.1	5.5	4.8	5.5	5.0	4.8	5.3	5.8	5.0
Wyoming	10.0	8.6	8.5	8.5	9.3	7.8	7.8	9.6	8.7	8.6
Puerto Rico	6.0	7.1	6.4	6.1	5.4	6.8	5.1	5.8	5.4	4.9
Virgin Islands	7.9	11.9	8.8	11.2	10.2	7.1	7.4	6.1	6.6	7.1
Footnotes: (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.