Technical information:  (202) 691-6467     USDL 07-1323
               https://www.bls.gov/bdm/
                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                691-5902     Thursday, August 30, 2007


   NEW QUARTERLY DATA FROM BLS ON BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS BY STATE


   Data on Business Employment Dynamics (BED) by state were introduced
today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.
These data track the number of jobs gained from opening and expanding
establishments and the number of jobs lost at contracting and closing
establishments each quarter from September 1992 to December 2006 for the 
50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Beginning with data for first quarter 2007, state data will appear in the
quarterly BED news release.

Business Employment Dynamics by State

   A summary of BED statistics by state is presented in tables 1 through 
4. Tables 1 and 2 present the levels and rates of private sector gross 
job gains and gross job losses for the state economies in the most recent 
five quarters ending in fourth quarter 2006.  Table 3 contains the rates 
of gross jobs gained and gross jobs lost at opening, expanding, closing, 
and contracting establishments for the most recent quarter.  Table 4 shows 
the rates of establishments gaining and losing jobs at opening, expanding,
closing, and contracting establishments in fourth quarter 2006.  More
detailed information and data on states’ gross job gains and gross job
losses are available at the Business Employment Dynamics Web page at
https://www.bls.gov/bdm/.  This information includes data on the levels and
rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by state, both seasonally
adjusted and not seasonally adjusted, from September 1992 to December
2006—the most recent published quarter.  In addition, data on the number 
of establishments that opened or closed and expanded or contracted each
quarter are available by state on the Web site.  Information about Business
Employment Dynamics data also can be found in the Technical Note of this
release or maybe obtained by e-mailing BDMinfo@bls.gov.

What are Business Employment Dynamics?
     
     The economy is in a constant state of change; individual businesses
are starting, stopping, growing, and declining.  The BED data series are
designed to illuminate these dynamic changes in business establishments 
and employment over time through expansions, contractions, openings, and
closings.
     
                                  - 2 -     

   This new Business Employment Dynamics data series includes gross 
job gains and gross job losses at the establishment level for the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  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 
units and the addition of new jobs at opening units. Gross job losses are 
the result of contractions in employment at existing units and the loss of 
jobs at closing units.  The difference between the number of gross jobs 
gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.  
(See the Technical Note for more information.)

Uses of the Data

   State gross job gain and gross job loss statistics highlight the forces
behind job growth.  In addition to being a measure of comparing the em-
ployment dynamics across states, the BED data can be used in highlighting
state labor markets over the course of the business cycle, as well as
measuring the importance of job changes at opening and closing establish-
ments relative to changes at existing establishments.

Comparisons Between States

   BED data at the state level can be used to help identify how one state’s
rate of gross job gains or gross job losses compares to another state’s.
For example, from September 2006 to December 2006, Alaska had the highest
rate of gross job gains (10.9 percent) and gross job losses (11.4 percent).
In contrast, Hawaii and Connecticut had the lowest rate of gross job losses
(5.3 percent each).  (See tables 2 and 3.)

States’ Business Cycles

   BED data highlight the business cycle properties of each state’s
economy.  For example, Wisconsin began exhibiting net job losses earlier
than other states with over-the-quarter gross job losses exceeding gross
job gains almost three quarters before the start of the 2001 recession.

Job Growth

   Job growth is a function of all components of gross job gains and losses
as shown in the BED data.  For example, Nevada has experienced significant
job growth since the start of the BED series in 1992 with both job gains
and job losses increasing over that time period.  Nevada’s growth has been 
primarily driven by expansions at existing establishments, but the state 
also has witnessed a steady number of openings that, on average, have ex-
ceeded jobs lost from closing establishments.


                                  - 3 -

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   |         Comparing Business Employment Dynamics Data with Current        |
   |         Employment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment        |
   |                             and Wages Data                              |
   |                                                                         |
   |    The net change in employment from Business Employment Dynamics       |
   | (BED) data series will not match the net change in employment from      |
   | the monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey.  The CES es-    |
   | timates are based on monthly surveys from a sample of establishments,   |
   | while gross job gains and gross job losses are based on a quarterly     |
   | census of administrative records.  In addition, the CES has a different |
   | coverage, excluding the agriculture sector but including establishments |
   | not covered by the unemployment insurance program.  The net over-the-   |
   | quarter changes derived by aggregating component series in the BED data |
   | may be different from the net employment change estimated from the CES  |
   | seasonally adjusted total employment series.  The intended use of the   |
   | BED statistics is to show the dynamic labor market flows that underlie  |
   | the net changes in aggregate employment levels; data users who want to  |
   | track net changes in aggregate employment levels over time should refer |
   | to CES data.                                                            |
   |                                                                         |
   |    BED data have a more limited scope than the Quarterly Census of Em-  |
   | ployment and Wages (QCEW) data. The data in this release, in contrast   |
   | to the QCEW data, exclude government employees, private households      |
   | (NAICS 814110), and establishments with zero employment.  See the Tech- |
   | nical Note for further information.                                     |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------




    ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
   |          Upcoming Changes to Business Employment Dynamics Data          |
   |                                                                         |
   |     With the release of first quarter 2007 Business Employment Dynamics |
   | (BED) data in November 2007, the BED program will implement a policy    |
   | of revising the previous year’s not seasonally adjusted data and the    |
   | last 5 years of seasonally adjusted data.  These revisions will occur   |
   | annually with the release of first quarter data.                        |
   |                                                                         |
   |    At the same time, the BED program will start using the 2007 version  |
   | of the North American Industry Classification System as the basis for   |
   | the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry.             |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 
 
 
                                  - 4 -

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 by the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing quarterly state unemployment
insurance (UI) records.  Most employers in the U.S. are required to file
quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by UI
laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes.  The quarterly UI reports are sent by
the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) to BLS and form the basis of the BLS 
establishment universe sampling frame.  These reports also are used to pro-
duce the quarterly QCEW data on total employment and wages and the longitu-
dinal BED data on gross job gains and losses.  Other important BLS uses 
of the UI reports are in the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. 
(See table below for differences between QCEW, CES, and BED.)
                                     
   In the BED program, the quarterly UI 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 establish-
ments.

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures

   The BLS publishes three different establishment-based employment mea-
sures for any given quarter.  Each of these measures--QCEW, BED, and CES--
makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; how-
ever, 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 over-the-quarter employment change.  It is important to 
understand program differences and the intended uses of the program products.  
(See table below.)  Additional information on each program can be obtained 
from the program Web sites shown in the table.

                                  - 5 -

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- |  400,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 8.9   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million employers  |  submitted by 7.0    |
           |                     |  million private sec-|
           |                     |  tor employers       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI Coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and sal-
           |  age:  all employers|  ing government, pri-|  ary 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, in-
           |                     |                      |  cluding railroads, 
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -7 months after the|  -8 months after the |  -Usually first Friday
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   of following month
           |   ter               |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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 annu-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ally realigns (bench-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  marks) sample esti-    
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  mates to first quar-  
           |                     |  losses              |  ter UI levels
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
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 supersector|
           |  industry           |  and by size of firm |
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include data at|
           |                     |  the county, MSA, and|
           |                     |  state level         |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Major uses include:|--Major uses include: |--Major uses include:
uses       |  -Detailed locality |  -Business cycle     |  -Principal national
           |   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 |   An analysis of em- |   cators
           |   surveys           |   ployment expansion |
           |                     |   and contraction by |   
           |                     |   size of firm       |
           |                     |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Program    |--www.bls.gov/cew/   |--www.bls.gov/bdm/    |--www.bls.gov/ces/
Web sites  |                     |                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  
                                  - 6 -

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 or-
ganizations, 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 cer-
tain small nonprofit organizations.
   
   Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived from lon-
gitudinal histories of over 7.0 million private sector employer reports out 
of 8.9 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 
BLS in the fourth quarter of 2006.  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 employ-
ment over three quarters.  In addition, data for Puerto Rico and the Virgin 
Islands are not included in United States totals; however, these data are 
published with the state BED data.  As an illustration, the table below shows,
in millions of establishments, the number of establishments excluded from the 
gross job gains and gross job losses data in the fourth quarter of 2006:


             Number of active establishments included in 
               state Business Employment Dynamics data

                                                                   Millions
                                                                       
Total establishments QCEW program....................................8.9

    Excluded:  Public sector.........................................0.3 
               Private households....................................0.6
               Zero employment.......................................1.0      
         
Total establishments included in state Business
  Employment Dynamics data...........................................7.0

Unit of analysis
   
   Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by in-
dustry and firms are used in the tabulation of the BED size class sta-
tistics.  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, is 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.

                                  - 7 -

Concepts and methodology

   The Business Employment Dynamics data measure the net change in employ-
ment 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 em-
ployment 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 units with positive third-month employment in the pre-
vious 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.

   All establishment-level employment changes are measured from the third 
month of each quarter.  Not all establishments and firms change their em-
ployment levels.  Units with no change in employment count towards estimates
of total employment, but not for levels of gross employment 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 quar-
ters.  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.

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 esta-
blishments' unique SWA identification numbers (SWA-ID).  Between 95 to 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 re-
cords 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 establish-
ment classification codes resulting from the verification process are intro-
duced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year.  Changes re-
sulting from improved employer reporting also are introduced in the first 
quarter.   

                                  - 8 -

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 al-
located 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.

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 vari-
ation 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 ana-
lyze changes in economic activity.

   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contract-
ing units are independently seasonally adjusted; net changes are calculated
based on the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.  Simi-
larly, 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 em-
ployment levels are independently seasonally adjusted to calculate the sea-
sonally adjusted rates.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment is run using X-12
ARIMA.  Seasonally adjusted data series for the total private sector are cal-
culated by summing the seasonally adjusted data for all sectors, including
the unclassified sector, which is not published separately.

   The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and contracting
units for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are seasonally 
adjusted at the total private level only.  The sum of the state series for open-
ing, expanding, closing, and contracting units will not necessarily be equal to
the national total private series because of the independent seasonal adjust-
ment of these series.

   The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED component series 
will differ from the net employment change estimated from the seasonally ad-
justed 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 particu-
larly 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 admini-
strative rather than sample data, there are no issues related to sampling 
error.  Nonsampling error, however, still exists.  Nonsampling errors can oc-
cur 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 distri-
buted 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 compli-
cations.
   
   The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based on correc-
tions in QCEW records, updates on predecessors and successors information, and
seasonal adjustment revisions.

                                  - 9 -

Additional statistics and other information
   
   Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information.  
The QCEW program, also known as the ES-202 program, provides both quarterly 
and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed industry. 
News releases on quarterly county employment and wages are available upon 
request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover, 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20212; 
telephone 202-691-6567; (https://www.bls.gov/cew/); (e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).
                                     
   The CES program produces monthly estimates of employment, its net change, 
and earnings by detailed industry.  These estimates are part of the Employ-
ment Situation report put out monthly by BLS.
                                     
   The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program provides month-
ly measures of job openings, as well as employee hires and separations.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired in-
dividuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200; TDD message referral 
number: 1-800-877-8339.
 
Table 1.  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.       March      June       Sept.      Dec.         Dec.       March      June       Sept.      Dec.
                          2005        2006      2006       2006       2006         2005       2006       2006       2006       2006

United States (1)..... 7,818,000  7,556,000  7,761,000  7,364,000  7,734,000    7,267,000  6,772,000  7,295,000  7,345,000  7,218,000

Alabama ..............   111,644    103,743    100,806    101,842    107,199       99,996     93,051     99,071    102,805    103,129
Alaska ...............    25,128     26,162     28,732     21,653     25,408       27,131     22,015     22,458     26,469     26,404
Arizona ..............   165,669    172,185    166,623    171,540    160,222      146,300    128,605    152,171    152,364    163,933
Arkansas .............    60,313     63,772     59,513     58,564     61,309       55,458     52,719     59,445     61,364     57,471
California ........... 1,006,738    930,835    946,640    894,866    974,871      869,549    908,131    900,747    901,248    885,374
Colorado .............   147,317    137,874    149,885    143,632    150,585      135,592    127,746    132,040    144,690    139,283
Connecticut ..........    80,974     78,840     87,156     81,030     84,707       79,160     75,184     78,338     82,159     76,336
Delaware .............    27,688     25,964     27,770     23,411     25,966       24,638     24,147     25,894     27,461     23,256
District of Columbia .    25,030     25,992     28,808     27,070     24,618       25,238     23,472     26,600     25,675     27,014
Florida ..............   509,472    483,408    521,985    491,734    499,579      494,868    412,651    486,924    487,935    523,909

Georgia ..............   249,734    254,688    257,521    245,828    263,741      239,806    221,469    234,320    255,702    252,821
Hawaii ...............    28,317     27,755     28,682     27,677     26,988       25,041     25,239     25,417     26,656     26,636
Idaho ................    46,547     47,900     46,222     44,915     47,183       38,450     38,933     42,389     41,259     39,861
Illinois .............   290,919    283,849    307,144    278,479    292,645      288,195    265,395    260,487    285,939    279,570
Indiana ..............   150,182    153,313    148,759    145,617    151,719      151,396    139,251    151,810    152,949    148,740
Iowa .................    77,877     78,411     77,936     73,598     77,767       74,249     70,942     71,426     73,492     72,309
Kansas ...............    72,070     70,589     71,822     80,934     74,788       65,839     63,421     73,821     66,728     66,975
Kentucky .............    96,228    100,764     86,808     90,598    105,213       95,092     83,274     93,863     95,723     90,001
Louisiana.............   187,824    152,400    121,752    118,861    120,834      170,973    106,838    108,463    103,850    103,978
Maine ................    41,581     35,897     40,509     35,119     40,373       38,398     37,013     37,477     39,311     37,120

Maryland .............   135,651    141,926    135,332    130,763    136,324      136,999    124,303    136,911    137,052    129,773
Massachusetts ........   168,491    158,000    180,115    166,974    165,249      169,677    156,866    157,204    167,204    164,127
Michigan .............   230,363    217,168    247,226    226,239    229,386      262,768    240,164    236,767    256,870    264,248
Minnesota ............   159,995    150,999    156,515    140,806    147,906      148,263    138,180    155,152    169,663    149,422
Mississippi ..........    93,194     68,911     63,170     67,660     66,404       75,275     58,031     65,182     62,260     57,787
Missouri .............   145,568    147,198    146,950    136,058    151,533      139,951    130,016    143,022    139,173    137,996
Montana ..............    30,785     32,366     30,250     27,174     32,835       26,952     26,295     27,742     29,635     26,749
Nebraska .............    43,833     45,562     45,089     46,787     47,432       43,352     40,306     44,915     44,762     45,157
Nevada ...............    82,079     83,069     79,460     73,302     80,243       67,146     64,914     72,452     76,030     76,563
New Hampshire ........    39,517     38,966     40,865     36,945     39,549       39,618     36,492     38,734     40,465     37,576

New Jersey ...........   225,042    219,037    236,437    216,977    226,357      227,211    202,605    223,784    224,923    217,483
New Mexico ...........    47,360     50,697     55,640     45,774     48,583       40,199     40,418     45,389     44,522     44,936
New York .............   473,818    447,791    492,781    445,715    489,582      455,908    451,192    452,166    451,960    438,190
North Carolina .......   228,096    230,861    227,452    196,479    269,251      215,789    195,681    213,401    192,658    206,114
North Dakota .........    18,089     21,278     19,912     19,691     19,081       17,319     17,404     19,482     17,698     18,043
Ohio .................   281,194    275,509    279,118    263,540    270,013      285,901    267,039    275,088    282,491    281,543
Oklahoma .............    86,237     86,846     84,551     84,772     86,201       73,853     72,135     82,571     79,772     80,346
Oregon ...............   111,489    107,162    102,507    102,169    106,566       93,880     95,805     96,836     94,415     97,204
Pennsylvania .........   293,112    294,277    290,192    278,487    284,772      293,303    265,699    274,509    273,665    268,748
Rhode Island .........    27,205     25,115     29,675     28,563     28,393       29,216     25,969     25,856     27,611     28,041

South Carolina .......   112,344    112,541    109,383    120,372    109,548      113,207     96,302    111,868    103,775     96,229
South Dakota .........    22,327     22,138     21,975     21,769     22,560       20,144     20,136     19,380     20,155     19,880
Tennessee ............   146,663    146,443    147,865    142,108    152,248      137,984    126,859    149,756    142,001    133,789
Texas ................   558,177    554,875    552,450    540,271    562,174      471,141    449,775    501,655    466,145    468,078
Utah .................    75,396     83,940     78,096     76,714     79,503       64,986     63,802     65,139     68,215     64,509
Vermont ..............    19,901     16,976     19,307     16,913     18,920       17,369     18,362     17,745     18,754     18,062
Virginia .............   192,174    194,549    194,709    178,522    191,491      188,614    168,124    189,246    192,144    178,887
Washington ...........   203,013    178,305    186,813    174,517    184,972      164,050    158,201    160,118    167,048    165,782
West Virginia ........    40,633     43,159     37,829     37,494     40,524       37,306     35,462     39,055     39,650     36,510
Wisconsin ............   142,101    142,881    149,177    137,886    144,841      143,637    134,807    140,667    144,676    143,326

Wyoming ..............    21,248     22,932     19,250     20,574     22,422       16,698     16,636     18,468     19,282     16,448
Puerto Rico ..........    52,544     47,883     46,996     48,181     54,849       42,535     54,181     55,272     52,155     51,298
Virgin Islands .......     2,300      2,478      2,165      2,669      2,068        2,304      1,902      2,474      3,926      1,923

   1 The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.
   NOTE:  Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.





Table 2.  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.        March     June       Sept.      Dec.         Dec.       March      June       Sept.      Dec.
                          2005        2006      2006       2006       2006         2005       2006       2006       2006       2006

United States ........     7.1         6.7       6.9        6.5        6.8          6.5        6.0        6.5        6.5        6.4

Alabama ..............     7.1         6.6       6.4        6.5        6.8          6.4        5.9        6.2        6.5        6.5
Alaska ...............    11.0        11.4      12.3        9.2       10.9         11.9        9.6        9.7       11.4       11.4
Arizona ..............     7.7         7.9       7.5        7.7        7.1          6.8        5.8        6.9        6.8        7.3
Arkansas .............     6.2         6.5       6.0        6.0        6.3          5.7        5.4        6.1        6.3        5.9
California ...........     7.9         7.2       7.3        6.9        7.5          6.8        7.0        7.0        7.0        6.8
Colorado .............     7.9         7.3       7.9        7.6        7.9          7.3        6.8        7.0        7.6        7.3
Connecticut ..........     5.8         5.6       6.1        5.6        5.9          5.6        5.3        5.5        5.7        5.3
Delaware .............     7.6         7.1       7.6        6.4        7.1          6.8        6.6        7.1        7.5        6.4
District of Columbia .     5.8         5.9       6.6        6.1        5.6          5.8        5.4        6.0        5.9        6.2
Florida ..............     7.5         7.1       7.6        7.1        7.3          7.3        6.0        7.0        7.1        7.6

Georgia ..............     7.5         7.6       7.6        7.3        7.8          7.3        6.7        7.0        7.5        7.5
Hawaii ...............     5.7         5.6       5.7        5.5        5.3          5.0        5.1        5.1        5.3        5.3
Idaho ................     9.0         9.1       8.7        8.4        8.7          7.5        7.4        8.0        7.7        7.4
Illinois .............     5.8         5.7       6.1        5.5        5.8          5.8        5.3        5.2        5.6        5.5
Indiana ..............     6.0         6.1       5.9        5.9        6.0          6.1        5.6        6.0        6.1        5.9
Iowa .................     6.4         6.4       6.3        5.9        6.3          6.0        5.8        5.8        5.9        5.9
Kansas ...............     6.7         6.6       6.6        7.4        6.9          6.2        5.9        6.9        6.2        6.1
Kentucky .............     6.6         6.8       5.8        6.1        7.1          6.5        5.6        6.3        6.5        6.1
Louisiana.............    13.2        10.5       8.2        8.0        8.1         12.1        7.3        7.3        7.0        7.0
Maine ................     8.4         7.2       8.1        7.0        8.2          7.8        7.5        7.5        7.9        7.4

Maryland .............     6.6         6.9       6.5        6.3        6.6          6.7        6.0        6.6        6.6        6.3
Massachusetts ........     6.2         5.7       6.5        6.0        5.9          6.2        5.7        5.6        6.0        6.0
Michigan .............     6.2         6.0       6.7        6.2        6.4          7.2        6.6        6.5        7.1        7.4
Minnesota ............     7.0         6.6       6.7        6.1        6.5          6.5        6.0        6.7        7.3        6.6
Mississippi ..........    10.7         7.8       7.1        7.5        7.4          8.7        6.5        7.3        7.0        6.4
Missouri .............     6.4         6.5       6.5        6.0        6.6          6.3        5.7        6.2        6.1        6.1
Montana ..............     9.1         9.4       8.7        7.8        9.4          8.0        7.7        7.9        8.6        7.6
Nebraska .............     5.9         6.1       6.0        6.3        6.4          5.9        5.4        6.0        6.0        6.0
Nevada ...............     7.5         7.5       7.1        6.5        7.1          6.1        5.8        6.5        6.7        6.8
New Hampshire ........     7.3         7.3       7.5        6.8        7.3          7.4        6.7        7.2        7.5        6.9

New Jersey ...........     6.7         6.6       7.0        6.5        6.8          6.8        6.0        6.7        6.7        6.5
New Mexico ...........     7.9         8.3       8.9        7.3        7.7          6.6        6.6        7.3        7.1        7.1
New York .............     6.8         6.4       7.0        6.3        7.0          6.5        6.4        6.5        6.4        6.3
North Carolina .......     7.1         7.1       7.0        5.9        8.1          6.7        6.1        6.5        5.8        6.2
North Dakota .........     6.8         7.9       7.4        7.2        7.0          6.4        6.5        7.2        6.5        6.6
Ohio .................     6.1         6.0       6.1        5.7        6.0          6.2        5.8        6.0        6.2        6.2
Oklahoma .............     7.3         7.3       7.1        7.1        7.2          6.3        6.1        6.9        6.6        6.7
Oregon ...............     7.9         7.5       7.2        7.1        7.3          6.6        6.8        6.8        6.6        6.7
Pennsylvania .........     6.0         6.0       5.9        5.7        5.8          6.0        5.4        5.6        5.6        5.5
Rhode Island .........     6.5         6.0       7.1        6.8        6.8          7.0        6.2        6.2        6.6        6.7

South Carolina .......     7.5         7.5       7.2        7.9        7.1          7.6        6.4        7.4        6.7        6.2
South Dakota .........     7.2         7.1       7.0        6.9        7.1          6.5        6.5        6.2        6.4        6.3
Tennessee ............     6.4         6.3       6.3        6.1        6.5          5.9        5.5        6.5        6.1        5.7
Texas ................     7.0         6.9       6.7        6.5        6.8          5.9        5.5        6.1        5.6        5.6
Utah .................     8.0         8.7       8.0        7.8        8.0          6.9        6.7        6.7        6.9        6.5
Vermont ..............     7.9         6.7       7.7        6.8        7.5          7.0        7.3        7.0        7.5        7.2
Virginia .............     6.5         6.6       6.5        6.0        6.4          6.4        5.6        6.4        6.5        6.0
Washington ...........     9.0         7.8       8.1        7.5        7.9          7.2        6.9        6.9        7.2        7.1
West Virginia ........     7.2         7.6       6.6        6.6        7.1          6.6        6.3        6.8        7.0        6.4
Wisconsin ............     6.0         6.0       6.3        5.8        6.0          6.1        5.7        5.9        6.0        6.0
                                                                                                                                   

Wyoming ..............    10.8        11.3       9.3        9.9       10.6          8.5        8.1        8.9        9.3        7.8
Puerto Rico ..........     6.9         6.3       6.2        6.4        7.4          5.6        7.2        7.3        6.9        6.9
Virgin Islands .......     7.1         7.5       6.6        8.3        6.3          7.1        5.8        7.5       12.2        5.8

   NOTE:  Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.





Table 3.  Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, December 2006, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)

                                                  Gross job gains                                  Gross job losses
       State                                                                                                                     
                           Net                     Expanding           Opening                    Contracting          Closing
                        change (1)     Total    establishments     establishments      Total    establishments     establishments

United States ........     0.4          6.8            5.5                1.3           6.4            5.2                1.2

Alabama ..............      .3          6.8            5.6                1.2           6.5            5.6                 .9
Alaska ...............     -.5         10.9            8.9                2.0          11.4            9.4                2.0
Arizona ..............     -.2          7.1            5.7                1.4           7.3            5.8                1.5
Arkansas .............      .4          6.3            5.1                1.2           5.9            5.0                 .9
California ...........      .7          7.5            6.1                1.4           6.8            5.5                1.3
Colorado .............      .6          7.9            6.2                1.7           7.3            6.0                1.3
Connecticut ..........      .6          5.9            5.2                 .7           5.3            4.8                 .5
Delaware .............      .7          7.1            5.5                1.6           6.4            5.2                1.2
District of Columbia .     -.6          5.6            4.7                 .9           6.2            4.7                1.5
Florida ..............     -.3          7.3            5.5                1.8           7.6            5.9                1.7

Georgia ..............      .3          7.8            5.7                2.1           7.5            5.5                2.0
Hawaii ...............      .0          5.3            4.5                 .8           5.3            4.3                1.0
Idaho ................     1.3          8.7            6.9                1.8           7.4            5.9                1.5
Illinois .............      .3          5.8            4.8                1.0           5.5            4.6                 .9
Indiana ..............      .1          6.0            5.0                1.0           5.9            5.0                 .9
Iowa .................      .4          6.3            5.3                1.0           5.9            5.0                 .9
Kansas ...............      .8          6.9            5.6                1.3           6.1            4.9                1.2
Kentucky .............     1.0          7.1            5.6                1.5           6.1            5.0                1.1
Louisiana.............     1.1          8.1            6.6                1.5           7.0            5.8                1.2
Maine ................      .8          8.2            6.3                1.9           7.4            5.8                1.6

Maryland .............      .3          6.6            5.3                1.3           6.3            5.1                1.2
Massachusetts ........     -.1          5.9            4.9                1.0           6.0            4.8                1.2
Michigan .............    -1.0          6.4            5.0                1.4           7.4            5.9                1.5
Minnesota ............     -.1          6.5            5.1                1.4           6.6            5.1                1.5
Mississippi ..........     1.0          7.4            6.0                1.4           6.4            5.5                 .9
Missouri .............      .5          6.6            5.3                1.3           6.1            5.1                1.0
Montana ..............     1.8          9.4            7.5                1.9           7.6            6.1                1.5
Nebraska .............      .4          6.4            5.3                1.1           6.0            5.0                1.0
Nevada ...............      .3          7.1            5.9                1.2           6.8            5.9                 .9
New Hampshire ........      .4          7.3            5.9                1.4           6.9            5.7                1.2

New Jersey ...........      .3          6.8            5.4                1.4           6.5            5.4                1.1
New Mexico ...........      .6          7.7            6.0                1.7           7.1            5.9                1.2
New York .............      .7          7.0            5.7                1.3           6.3            4.9                1.4
North Carolina .......     1.9          8.1            5.7                2.4           6.2            5.2                1.0
North Dakota .........      .4          7.0            5.7                1.3           6.6            5.6                1.0
Ohio .................     -.2          6.0            5.0                1.0           6.2            5.2                1.0
Oklahoma .............      .5          7.2            5.7                1.5           6.7            5.3                1.4
Oregon ...............      .6          7.3            6.1                1.2           6.7            5.6                1.1
Pennsylvania .........      .3          5.8            4.8                1.0           5.5            4.6                 .9
Rhode Island .........      .1          6.8            5.3                1.5           6.7            5.3                1.4

South Carolina .......      .9          7.1            5.8                1.3           6.2            5.3                 .9
South Dakota .........      .8          7.1            5.8                1.3           6.3            5.3                1.0
Tennessee ............      .8          6.5            5.6                 .9           5.7            5.0                 .7
Texas ................     1.2          6.8            5.5                1.3           5.6            4.6                1.0
Utah .................     1.5          8.0            6.3                1.7           6.5            5.3                1.2
Vermont ..............      .3          7.5            6.4                1.1           7.2            5.7                1.5
Virginia .............      .4          6.4            5.3                1.1           6.0            5.1                 .9
Washington ...........      .8          7.9            6.6                1.3           7.1            6.0                1.1
West Virginia ........      .7          7.1            5.9                1.2           6.4            5.3                1.1
Wisconsin ............      .0          6.0            5.0                1.0           6.0            5.0                1.0
                                                                                                                             

Wyoming ..............     2.8         10.6            9.0                1.6           7.8            6.6                1.2
Puerto Rico ..........      .5          7.4            6.3                1.1           6.9            5.1                1.8
Virgin Islands .......      .5          6.3            4.7                1.6           5.8            5.1                 .7

   1 Net change is the difference between gross job gains and gross job losses.
   NOTE:  Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.





Table 4.  Private sector establishments by direction of employment change as a percent of total establishments by state, 
December 2006, seasonally adjusted
(Percent)

                                                  Gross job gains                                  Gross job losses
       State                                                                                                                     
                           Net                     Expanding           Opening                    Contracting          Closing
                        change (1)     Total    establishments     establishments      Total    establishments     establishments

United States ........     0.5          28.1           22.6               5.5           27.3           22.3               5.0

Alabama ..............      .4          27.7           23.5               4.2           27.4           23.6               3.8
Alaska ...............     -.1          33.6           26.5               7.1           34.2           27.0               7.2
Arizona ..............      .9          30.9           23.8               7.1           28.9           22.7               6.2
Arkansas .............      .8          26.6           21.6               5.0           25.7           21.5               4.2
California ...........      .1          29.7           23.7               6.0           28.9           23.0               5.9
Colorado .............     1.5          28.9           21.7               7.2           27.4           21.7               5.7
Connecticut ..........      .2          24.7           21.6               3.1           24.7           21.8               2.9
Delaware .............      .9          25.9           19.9               6.0           25.7           20.6               5.1
District of Columbia .     -.1          28.0           22.4               5.6           27.3           21.6               5.7
Florida ..............      .9          26.2           19.0               7.2           26.8           20.5               6.3

Georgia ..............      .6          31.1           22.4               8.7           29.5           21.4               8.1
Hawaii ...............     -.3          26.7           22.4               4.3           26.9           22.3               4.6
Idaho ................     1.2          31.1           24.1               7.0           28.5           22.7               5.8
Illinois .............      .7          26.9           21.2               5.7           26.1           21.1               5.0
Indiana ..............      .2          28.5           23.7               4.8           28.7           24.1               4.6
Iowa .................      .1          26.8           23.1               3.7           26.7           23.1               3.6
Kansas ...............      .5          27.9           23.2               4.7           26.0           21.8               4.2
Kentucky .............     2.0          31.3           24.6               6.7           28.5           23.8               4.7
Louisiana.............     1.0          30.0           24.8               5.2           27.1           22.9               4.2
Maine ................      .3          28.0           22.0               6.0           28.2           22.5               5.7

Maryland .............      .3          28.0           22.5               5.5           27.6           22.4               5.2
Massachusetts ........     -.3          28.0           22.6               5.4           28.2           22.5               5.7
Michigan .............      .2          26.7           20.9               5.8           29.4           23.8               5.6
Minnesota ............     -.2          27.4           22.7               4.7           28.6           23.7               4.9
Mississippi ..........      .6          28.5           23.9               4.6           27.1           23.1               4.0
Missouri .............     1.7          27.5           22.5               5.0           26.4           23.1               3.3
Montana ..............     1.6          31.0           24.0               7.0           27.2           21.8               5.4
Nebraska .............      .6          27.3           22.7               4.6           26.3           22.3               4.0
Nevada ...............     2.1          32.2           25.2               7.0           29.0           24.1               4.9
New Hampshire ........     -.2          26.9           21.7               5.2           28.0           22.6               5.4

New Jersey ...........      .6          25.7           20.8               4.9           25.9           21.6               4.3
New Mexico ...........     1.0          29.8           23.8               6.0           27.6           22.6               5.0
New York .............      .2          25.9           20.6               5.3           24.7           19.6               5.1
North Carolina .......     3.9          31.2           23.3               7.9           26.6           22.6               4.0
North Dakota .........     1.0          28.7           23.6               5.1           27.8           23.7               4.1
Ohio .................     -.5          27.7           23.4               4.3           29.4           24.6               4.8
Oklahoma .............      .6          27.7           22.8               4.9           26.1           21.8               4.3
Oregon ...............      .5          29.3           23.8               5.5           27.3           22.3               5.0
Pennsylvania .........      .6          26.7           22.0               4.7           25.7           21.6               4.1
Rhode Island .........      .4          27.5           21.3               6.2           27.4           21.6               5.8

South Carolina .......     1.9          28.5           22.9               5.6           25.9           22.2               3.7
South Dakota .........      .9          28.1           23.1               5.0           27.1           23.0               4.1
Tennessee ............      .2          28.1           24.5               3.6           27.0           23.6               3.4
Texas ................      .6          29.0           24.1               4.9           26.4           22.1               4.3
Utah .................     3.0          32.8           24.8               8.0           26.7           21.7               5.0
Vermont ..............     -.3          26.9           22.0               4.9           27.6           22.4               5.2
Virginia .............      .2          27.9           23.2               4.7           27.4           22.9               4.5
Washington ...........     1.2          30.4           24.9               5.5           27.5           23.2               4.3
West Virginia ........     -.1          28.2           24.2               4.0           27.8           23.7               4.1
Wisconsin ............     -.1          27.5           23.1               4.4           29.4           24.9               4.5

Wyoming ..............     1.3          31.2           25.5               5.7           28.0           23.6               4.4
Puerto Rico ..........    -1.0          26.2           22.0               4.2           23.6           18.4               5.2
Virgin Islands .......     3.2          25.2           19.4               5.8           25.8           23.2               2.6

   1 Net change is the difference between the number of opening establishments and the number of closing establishments.
   NOTE:  Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.