For release 10:00 a.m. (ET), Wednesday, July 27, 2022 USDL-22-1551 

Technical Information: (202) 691-6553 • BDMInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/bdm 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FOURTH QUARTER 2021

From September 2021 to December 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector 

establishments were 9.6 million, an increase of 781,000 jobs from the previous quarter, the U.S. Bureau 

of Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, gross job losses from closing and contracting 

private-sector establishments were 6.7 million, a decrease of 785,000 jobs from the previous quarter. 

The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net 

employment gain of 2.9 million jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2021. (See chart 

1, and tables A and 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.) 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.

Gross job gains

Gross job losses

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Chart 1. Total private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses, seasonally adjusted

March 2011 - December 2021

Thousands

NOTE: Shaded area represents National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defined recession period.
- 2 - 

Gross Job Gains

In the fourth quarter of 2021, gross job gains represented 7.7 percent of private-sector employment. 

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. Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 

7.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 594,000 jobs compared to the previous quarter. 

Opening establishments accounted for 1.8 million of the jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2021, an 

increase of 187,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See charts 2 and 3, and tables A, 1, 2, and 3.) 

Gross Job Losses

In the fourth quarter of 2021, gross job losses represented 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. 

Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of 

jobs at closing establishments. Contracting establishments lost 5.3 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 

2021, a decrease of 590,000 jobs from the prior quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2021, closing

establishments lost 1.4 million jobs, a decrease of 195,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See charts 2 

and 3, and tables A, 1, 2, and 3.) 

Establishment Births and Deaths

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of establishment births (a subset of the openings data) 

increased by 20,000 to a total of 376,000 establishments. These new establishments accounted for 1.1 

million jobs, an increase of 96,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Data for establishment deaths (a 

subset of the closings data) are available through the first quarter of 2021, when 608,000 jobs were lost 

at 211,000 establishments, a decrease of 86,000 jobs from the fourth quarter of 2020. (See Technical 

Note and table 8.) 

Expansions

Contractions

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

'11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21

Chart 2. Private-sector gross job gains at expanding establishments and 

gross job losses at contracting establishments, seasonally adjusted: 

March 2011 - December 2021

Thousands

NOTE: Shaded area represents NBER defined recession period.

Openings

Closings

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

'11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21

Chart 3. Private-sector gross job gains at opening establishments 

and gross job losses at closing establishments, seasonally adjusted: 

March 2011 - December 2021

Thousands

NOTE: Shaded area represents NBER defined recession period.
- 3 - 

Table A. Three-month private-sector gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted

Category

3 months ended

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 

Levels (in thousands)

Gross job gains............................. 8,821 8,154 8,141 8,795 9,576

 At expanding establishments 7,124 6,644 6,597 7,139 7,733

 At opening establishments..... 1,697 1,510 1,544 1,656 1,843

Gross job losses............................ 6,757 6,469 7,248 7,482 6,697

 At contracting establishments 5,403 5,340 5,982 5,937 5,347

 At closing establishments...... 1,354 1,129 1,266 1,545 1,350

Net employment change1............. 2,064 1,685 893 1,313 2,879

Rates (percent)

Gross job gains............................. 7.4 6.8 6.7 7.2 7.7

 At expanding establishments 6.0 5.5 5.4 5.8 6.2

 At opening establishments.... 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.5

Gross job losses............................ 5.7 5.4 5.9 6.2 5.4

 At contracting establishments 4.6 4.5 4.9 4.9 4.3

 At closing establishments...... 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.1

Net employment change1............. 1.7 1.4 0.8 1.0 2.3

1 The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for 

further information.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all 13 industry sectors in the fourth quarter of 2021. The 

service-providing industries experienced a net job increase of 2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Within the service-providing industries, the professional and business services sector had the largest 

over-the-quarter net employment gain, adding 663,000 jobs. This was the result of 2.0 million gross job 

gains and 1.3 million gross job losses. The retail trade sector had gross job gains of 925,000 and gross 

job losses of 830,000, leading to a net job increase of 95,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The goodsproducing industries had a net job gain of 384,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021. Of the goods-producing 

industries, the manufacturing sector posted a net job gain of 230,000, the construction sector 

experienced a net increase of 143,000, and the natural resources and mining sector added 11,000 jobs. 

(See table 3.)

Firm Size

In the fourth quarter of 2021, firms with 1-49 employees had a net employment increase of 896,000. 

Firms with 50-249 employees had a net employment gain of 474,000. Firms with 250 or more 

employees had a net employment increase of 1.4 million. (See tables 4 and 5.) 
- 4 - 

States

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 

the fourth quarter of 2021. (See tables 6 and 7.) 

For More Information 

Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm. 

This information includes data for the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by firm 

size, not seasonally adjusted data and seasonally adjusted time series not presented in this release, charts 

of gross job gains and gross job losses by industry and firm size, and answers to frequently asked 

questions. Additional information about the Business Employment Dynamics data can be found in the 

Technical Note of this release or can be obtained by emailing BDMinfo@bls.gov. 

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2022 are scheduled to be released on 

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. (ET). 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Effect on Fourth Quarter 2021 Business Employment Dynamics

Data collection and processing methods have been impacted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More 

detail can be found at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-business-employmentdynamics.htm. 

Revisions to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data

The release of First Quarter 2022 Business Employment Dynamics data will incorporate annual 

revisions in accordance with standard procedures. However, the release scheduled for October 26, 2022, 

will include two years of not seasonally adjusted data, along with the customary five years of seasonally 

adjusted data. This temporary procedural change is to amend spikes in the openings and closings series 

for the education and health services sector in Washington caused by an administrative change. 
Technical Note

Special technical note: The following technical note details procedures regularly adhered to for tabulating the quarterly Business Employment Dynamics series on private-sector gross job gains and gross job losses. Data collection and processing methods 

have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. More detail can be found at 

www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-business-employment-dynamics.htm.

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.

These reports are used to produce the quarterly QCEW data on 

total employment and wages and the longitudinal BED data on gross 

job gains and losses. The QCEW is also the employment benchmark 

for the Current Employment Statistics (CES), Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), and Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey 

(JOLTS) programs and is a major input to the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis’s Personal Income Accounts.

In the BED program, the quarterly 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.

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment 

measures

The Bureau publishes three different establishment-based employment measures for any given quarter. Each of these measures—Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Business Employment Dynamics, and Current Employment Statistics—makes use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; however, 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 employment change over time. It is 

important to understand program differences and the intended uses 

of the program products. (See table.) Additional information on each 

program can be obtained from the program websites shown in the 

table.

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 organizations, 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 certain small nonprofit organizations.

Gross job gains and gross job losses in this release are derived 

from longitudinal histories of 8.7 million private-sector employer reports out of 10.8 million total reports of employment and wages submitted by states to BLS in the first quarter of 2021. 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 employment in both previous 

and current quarters. Data from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

are also excluded from the national data. The table below shows, in 

millions of establishments, the number of establishments excluded 

from the national gross job gains and gross job losses data in the first 

quarter of 2021. 

Number of active establishments included in

Business Employment Dynamics data at the national level

 Millions

Total establishments QCEW program..........10.8 

Excluded: Public sector.......................0.3

 Private households...............0.2

 Zero employment.................1.6 

 

Total establishments included in Business

Employment Dynamics data.....................8.7
Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures

QCEW BED CES 

Source • Count of UI administrative records 

submitted by 10.8 million establishments in first quarter of 2021 

• Count of longitudinally-linked UI administrative records submitted by 8.7 

million private-sector establishments 

• Sample survey: 697,000 establishments

Coverage • UI and UCFE coverage, including 

all employers subject to state and 

federal UI laws

• UI coverage, excluding government, 

private households, and establishments with zero employment

Nonfarm wage and salary jobs:

• UI coverage, excluding agriculture, private 

households, and self-employed workers

• Other employment, including railroads, 

religious organizations, and other nonUI-covered jobs

Publication frequency 

• Quarterly

— 6 months after the end of each 

quarter 

• Quarterly

— 7 months after the end of each 

quarter 

• Monthly

— Usually the 3rd Friday after the end 

of the week including the 12th of the 

month

Use of UI file • Directly summarizes and publishes 

each new quarter of UI data 

• Links each new UI quarter to longitudinal database and directly summarizes gross job gains and losses• Uses UI file as a sampling frame and to 

annually realign sample-based estimates 

to population counts (benchmarking)

Principal

products 

• Provides a quarterly and annual universe count of establishments, employment, and wages at the county, 

metropolitan statistical area (MSA), 

state, and national levels by detailed 

industry

• Provides quarterly employer dynamics data on establishment openings, 

closings, expansions, and contractions 

at the national level by NAICS supersectors, 3-digit NAICS, and by size of 

firm, and at the state private-sector total level 

• Future expansions will include data 

with greater industry detail and data 

at the county and MSA level 

• Provides current monthly estimates of 

employment, hours, and earnings at the 

MSA, state, and national level by industry

Principal uses • Major uses include:

— Detailed locality data

— Periodic universe counts for 

benchmarking sample survey estimates 

— Sample frame for BLS establishment surveys

• Major uses include:

— Business cycle analysis

— Analysis of employer dynamics 

underlying economic expansions 

and contractions

— Analysis of employment expansion and contraction by size of 

firm

• Major uses include:

— Principal federal economic indicator

— Official time series for employment 

change measures

— Input into other major economic indicators 

Program web 

sites 

• www.bls.gov/cew • www.bls.gov/bdm • www.bls.gov/ces

Unit of analysis

Establishments are used in the tabulation of the BED statistics by 

industry and firms are used in the tabulation of the BED size class 

statistics. 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 are 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.

Concepts and methodology

The Business Employment Dynamics data measure the net change 

in employment 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 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.

Births. These are units with positive third month employment for 

the first time in the current quarter with no links to the prior quarter, 

or units with positive third month employment in the current quarter 

and zero employment in the third month of the previous four quarters. 

Births are a subset of openings not including re-openings of seasonal 

businesses.

Deaths. These are units with no employment or zero employment 

reported in the third month of four consecutive quarters following the 

last quarter with positive employment. Deaths are a subset of closings 

not including temporary shutdowns of seasonal businesses. A unit that 

closes during the quarter may be a death, but we wait three quarters to 

determine whether it is a permanent closing or a temporary shutdown.

Therefore, there is always a lag of three quarters for the publication of 

death statistics.

All employment changes are measured from the third month of the 

previous quarter to the third month of the current quarter. Not all establishments and firms change their employment levels. Units with no 

change in employment count towards estimates of total employment, 

but not for levels of gross 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 quarters. 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.

Establishment Births and Deaths

For the purpose of BED statistics, births are defined as establishments that appear in the longitudinal database for the first time with 

positive employment in the third month of a quarter, or showed four 

consecutive quarters of zero employment in the third month followed 

by a quarter in which it shows positive employment in the third month.

Similarly, deaths are defined as establishments that either drop out of 

the longitudinal database or an establishment that had positive employment in the third month of a given quarter followed by four consecutive quarters of showing zero employment in the third month. Although the data for establishment births and deaths are tabulated independently from the data for openings and closings, the concepts are 

not mutually exclusive. An establishment that is defined as a birth in 

a given quarter is necessarily an opening as well, and an establishment 

defined as a death in a quarter must also be a closing. Since openings 

include seasonal and other re-openings and closings include temporary shutdowns, the not seasonally adjusted values for births and 

deaths must be less than those for openings and closings. However, 

because some BED series do not have many re-openings or temporary 

shutdowns, as well as the fact that births and deaths are independently 

seasonally adjusted from openings and closings, there may be instances in which the seasonally adjusted value of the former is greater 

than the latter.

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 establishments' unique SWA identification numbers (SWAID). Between 95 and 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 records 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 establishment classification codes resulting from the verification process are introduced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year. Changes resulting from improved employer reporting 

also are introduced in the first quarter. 

 

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 allocated 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.

Annual Data

The annual gross job gains and gross job losses measure the net 

change in employment at the establishment level from the third month 

of a quarter in the previous year to the third month of the same quarter 

in the current year. The BLS publishes annual BED data based on 

March-to-March changes once a year with the release of the first quarter BED data. The annual data based on over-the-year changes for 
other quarters of the year are available upon request. The definitions 

and methodology in measuring annual gross job gains and gross job 

losses are similar to the quarterly measures. The linkage method considers all predecessor and successor relations that may come about due 

to changes in ownership and corporate restructuring over the entire 

year. At the establishment level, some of the quarterly job gains and 

job losses are offset during the estimation over the year. Therefore, the 

sum of four quarters of gross job gains and gross job losses are not 

equal to annual gross job gains and gross job losses. The net change 

in employment over the year, however, is equal to the sum of four 

quarterly net changes on a not seasonally adjusted basis. 

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 variation 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 analyze changes in 

economic activity.

The employment data series for opening, expanding, closing, and 

contracting units are independently seasonally adjusted; net changes 

are calculated based on the difference between gross job gains and 

gross job losses. Similarly, 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 employment levels 

are independently seasonally adjusted to calculate the seasonally adjusted rates. Concurrent seasonal adjustment is run using X-13 

ARIMA-SEATS. Seasonally adjusted data series for total private are 

the sum of seasonally adjusted data of all sectors including the unclassified sector, which is not separately published.

The net over-the-quarter change derived by summing the BED 

component series will differ from the net employment change estimated from the seasonally adjusted 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 particularly 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 administrative rather than sample data, there are no issues related 

to sampling error. Nonsampling error, however, still exists. Nonsampling errors can occur 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 distributed 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 complications.

The BED data series are subject to periodic minor changes based 

on corrections in QCEW records, updates on predecessors and successors information, and seasonal adjustment revisions. 

Annual revisions are published each year with the release of the 

first quarter data. These revisions cover the last four quarters of not 

seasonally adjusted data and 5 years of seasonally adjusted data.

Additional statistics and other information

Several other programs within BLS produce closely related information. The QCEW program provides both quarterly and annual estimates of employment by state, county, and detailed industry. News 

releases on quarterly county employment and wages and the annual 

bulletin also are available upon request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover (Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages), phone number: (202) 691-6567; 

(www.bls.gov/cew/); (e-mail: QCEWInfo@bls.gov).

The Current Employment Statistics program produces monthly estimates of employment, its net change, hours, and earnings by detailed 

industry. These estimates are part of the Employment Situation report 

put out monthly by BLS. 

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey program provides 

monthly measures of job openings, as well as employee hires and separations. 

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please 

dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)

Expanding Opening Contracting Closing

establishments establishments establishments establishments

2011 March 334 6,540 5,322 1,218 6,206 5,025 1,181

June 582 6,966 5,625 1,341 6,384 5,115 1,269

September 841 7,205 5,810 1,395 6,364 5,172 1,192

December 335 6,865 5,503 1,362 6,530 5,273 1,257

2012 March 948 7,080 5,746 1,334 6,132 5,005 1,127

June 616 7,051 5,724 1,327 6,435 5,266 1,169

September 252 6,881 5,571 1,310 6,629 5,430 1,199

December 695 7,110 5,753 1,357 6,415 5,225 1,190

2013 March 558 6,941 5,705 1,236 6,383 5,201 1,182

June 674 7,152 5,830 1,322 6,478 5,271 1,207

September 507 7,058 5,719 1,339 6,551 5,408 1,143

December 700 7,255 5,926 1,329 6,555 5,353 1,202

2014 March 419 6,953 5,687 1,266 6,534 5,380 1,154

June 895 7,454 6,114 1,340 6,559 5,342 1,217

September 577 7,247 5,918 1,329 6,670 5,487 1,183

December 1,038 7,617 6,248 1,369 6,579 5,346 1,233

2015 March 216 7,046 5,733 1,313 6,830 5,626 1,204

June 849 7,580 6,235 1,345 6,731 5,540 1,191

September 475 7,344 5,983 1,361 6,869 5,657 1,212

December 944 7,817 6,360 1,457 6,873 5,607 1,266

2016 March 249 7,163 5,875 1,288 6,914 5,706 1,208

June 318 7,443 6,070 1,373 7,125 5,820 1,305

September 748 7,710 6,250 1,460 6,962 5,718 1,244

December 308 7,413 6,007 1,406 7,105 5,806 1,299

2017 March 662 7,441 6,103 1,338 6,779 5,595 1,184

June 496 7,625 6,251 1,374 7,129 5,862 1,267

September -52 7,318 5,969 1,349 7,370 6,073 1,297

December 913 7,792 6,360 1,432 6,879 5,583 1,296

2018 March 727 7,506 6,153 1,353 6,779 5,589 1,190

June 422 7,657 6,255 1,402 7,235 5,951 1,284

September 79 7,500 6,125 1,375 7,421 6,099 1,322

December 763 7,744 6,301 1,443 6,981 5,648 1,333

2019 March 537 7,473 6,112 1,361 6,936 5,689 1,247

June 182 7,637 6,249 1,388 7,455 6,095 1,360

September 48 7,395 6,016 1,379 7,347 6,073 1,274

December 785 7,848 6,354 1,494 7,063 5,736 1,327

2020 March -791 7,078 5,719 1,359 7,869 6,365 1,504

June -14,692 5,709 4,416 1,293 20,401 17,475 2,926

September 4,010 10,868 8,817 2,051 6,858 5,483 1,375

December 2,064 8,821 7,124 1,697 6,757 5,403 1,354

2021 March 1,685 8,154 6,644 1,510 6,469 5,340 1,129

June 893 8,141 6,597 1,544 7,248 5,982 1,266

September 1,313 8,795 7,139 1,656 7,482 5,937 1,545

December 2,879 9,576 7,733 1,843 6,697 5,347 1,350

1 Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Gross job gains

Total Total

Gross job losses

Year 3 months ended Net change 1
Table 2. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment, 1

 seasonally adjusted

(Percent)

Expanding Opening Contracting Closing

establishments establishments establishments establishments

2011 March 0.3 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.8 4.7 1.1

June 0.5 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.9 4.7 1.2

September 0.8 6.7 5.4 1.3 5.9 4.8 1.1

December 0.4 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.0 4.8 1.2

2012 March 0.8 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.6 4.6 1.0

June 0.5 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1

September 0.2 6.2 5.0 1.2 6.0 4.9 1.1

December 0.6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1

2013 March 0.5 6.2 5.1 1.1 5.7 4.6 1.1

June 0.6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1

September 0.5 6.3 5.1 1.2 5.8 4.8 1.0

December 0.6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1

2014 March 0.4 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0

June 0.8 6.5 5.3 1.2 5.7 4.6 1.1

September 0.5 6.2 5.1 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0

December 0.9 6.6 5.4 1.2 5.7 4.6 1.1

2015 March 0.2 6.0 4.9 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0

June 0.7 6.4 5.3 1.1 5.7 4.7 1.0

September 0.5 6.3 5.1 1.2 5.8 4.8 1.0

December 0.7 6.5 5.3 1.2 5.8 4.7 1.1

2016 March 0.2 6.0 4.9 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0

June 0.2 6.2 5.1 1.1 6.0 4.9 1.1

September 0.6 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.8 4.8 1.0

December 0.3 6.2 5.0 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1

2017 March 0.5 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.6 4.6 1.0

June 0.4 6.2 5.1 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0

September -0.1 6.0 4.9 1.1 6.1 5.0 1.1

December 0.8 6.4 5.2 1.2 5.6 4.5 1.1

2018 March 0.6 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.5 4.5 1.0

June 0.3 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0

September 0.0 6.0 4.9 1.1 6.0 4.9 1.1

December 0.6 6.2 5.0 1.2 5.6 4.5 1.1

2019 March 0.5 6.0 4.9 1.1 5.5 4.5 1.0

June 0.2 6.1 5.0 1.1 5.9 4.8 1.1

September 0.1 5.9 4.8 1.1 5.8 4.8 1.0

December 0.7 6.2 5.0 1.2 5.5 4.5 1.0

2020 March -0.6 5.6 4.5 1.1 6.2 5.0 1.2

June -12.2 4.8 3.7 1.1 17.0 14.6 2.4

September 3.5 9.5 7.7 1.8 6.0 4.8 1.2

December 1.7 7.4 6.0 1.4 5.7 4.6 1.1

2021 March 1.4 6.8 5.5 1.3 5.4 4.5 0.9

June 0.8 6.7 5.4 1.3 5.9 4.9 1.0

September 1.0 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.2 4.9 1.3

December 2.3 7.7 6.2 1.5 5.4 4.3 1.1

1 The rates measure gross job gains and gross job losses as a percentage of the average of the previous and current quarter employment levels. 

2 Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses.

Gross job gains

Total Total

Gross job losses

Year 3 months ended Net change 2
Table 3. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

Total private 1

Gross job gains ........................... 8,821 8,154 8,141 8,795 9,576 7.4 6.8 6.7 7.2 7.7

At expanding establishments ......... 7,124 6,644 6,597 7,139 7,733 6.0 5.5 5.4 5.8 6.2

At opening establishments ............ 1,697 1,510 1,544 1,656 1,843 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.5

Gross job losses ........................... 6,757 6,469 7,248 7,482 6,697 5.7 5.4 5.9 6.2 5.4

At contracting establishments ......... 5,403 5,340 5,982 5,937 5,347 4.6 4.5 4.9 4.9 4.3

At closing establishments ............ 1,354 1,129 1,266 1,545 1,350 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.1

Net employment change .............. 2,064 1,685 893 1,313 2,879 1.7 1.4 0.8 1.0 2.3

Goods-producing

Gross job gains ........................... 1,469 1,368 1,273 1,335 1,517 6.9 6.4 6.0 6.3 7.0

At expanding establishments ......... 1,251 1,160 1,085 1,122 1,290 5.9 5.4 5.1 5.3 6.0

At opening establishments ............ 218 208 188 213 227 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0

Gross job losses ........................... 1,172 1,181 1,328 1,266 1,133 5.6 5.5 6.2 5.9 5.2

At contracting establishments ......... 982 1,004 1,131 1,045 940 4.7 4.7 5.3 4.9 4.3

At closing establishments ............ 190 177 197 221 193 0.9 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.9

Net employment change .............. 297 187 -55 69 384 1.3 0.9 -0.2 0.4 1.8

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains ........................... 231 238 220 218 228 13.3 13.4 12.6 12.7 12.9

At expanding establishments ......... 200 209 194 191 200 11.5 11.8 11.1 11.1 11.3

At opening establishments ............ 31 29 26 27 28 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.6

Gross job losses ........................... 229 233 217 201 217 13.2 13.2 12.4 11.7 12.3

At contracting establishments ......... 202 203 192 174 191 11.6 11.5 11.0 10.1 10.8

At closing establishments ............ 27 30 25 27 26 1.6 1.7 1.4 1.6 1.5

Net employment change .............. 2 5 3 17 11 0.1 0.2 0.2 1.0 0.6

Construction

Gross job gains ........................... 716 679 627 637 715 9.9 9.2 8.4 8.7 9.6

At expanding establishments ......... 577 545 507 500 571 8.0 7.4 6.8 6.8 7.7

At opening establishments ............ 139 134 120 137 144 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.9 1.9

Gross job losses ........................... 565 581 656 641 572 7.8 7.8 8.9 8.8 7.7

At contracting establishments ......... 449 475 531 505 452 6.2 6.4 7.2 6.9 6.1

At closing establishments ............ 116 106 125 136 120 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.9 1.6

Net employment change .............. 151 98 -29 -4 143 2.1 1.4 -0.5 -0.1 1.9

Manufacturing

Gross job gains ........................... 522 451 426 480 574 4.3 3.7 3.4 3.9 4.6

At expanding establishments ......... 474 406 384 431 519 3.9 3.3 3.1 3.5 4.2

At opening establishments ............ 48 45 42 49 55 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4

Gross job losses ........................... 378 367 455 424 344 3.1 3.0 3.7 3.5 2.8

At contracting establishments ......... 331 326 408 366 297 2.7 2.7 3.3 3.0 2.4

At closing establishments ............ 47 41 47 58 47 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.4

Net employment change .............. 144 84 -29 56 230 1.2 0.7 -0.3 0.4 1.8

Service-providing 1

Gross job gains ........................... 7,352 6,786 6,868 7,460 8,059 7.6 6.9 6.9 7.4 7.9

At expanding establishments ......... 5,873 5,484 5,512 6,017 6,443 6.1 5.6 5.5 6.0 6.3

At opening establishments ............ 1,479 1,302 1,356 1,443 1,616 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.6

Gross job losses ........................... 5,585 5,288 5,920 6,216 5,564 5.8 5.4 6.0 6.1 5.4

At contracting establishments ......... 4,421 4,336 4,851 4,892 4,407 4.6 4.4 4.9 4.8 4.3

At closing establishments ............ 1,164 952 1,069 1,324 1,157 1.2 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.1

Net employment change .............. 1,767 1,498 948 1,244 2,495 1.8 1.5 0.9 1.3 2.5

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains ........................... 302 265 280 307 356 5.5 4.7 5.0 5.4 6.2

At expanding establishments ......... 243 218 232 249 286 4.4 3.9 4.1 4.4 5.0

At opening establishments ............ 59 47 48 58 70 1.1 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2

Gross job losses ........................... 223 220 247 276 224 3.9 3.9 4.4 4.9 3.9

At contracting establishments ......... 170 173 190 202 171 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.6 3.0

At closing establishments ............ 53 47 57 74 53 0.9 0.8 1.0 1.3 0.9

Net employment change .............. 79 45 33 31 132 1.6 0.8 0.6 0.5 2.3

See footnote at end of table.

Category

Gross job gains and losses (in thousands) Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Table 3. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted—Continued

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

Retail trade

Gross job gains ........................... 936 923 926 961 925 6.2 6.1 6.0 6.2 6.0

At expanding establishments ......... 814 801 801 836 798 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.4 5.2

At opening establishments ............ 122 122 125 125 127 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

Gross job losses ........................... 841 765 949 1,003 830 5.6 5.0 6.2 6.5 5.4

At contracting establishments ......... 711 667 844 875 722 4.7 4.4 5.5 5.7 4.7

At closing establishments ............ 130 98 105 128 108 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.7

Net employment change .............. 95 158 -23 -42 95 0.6 1.1 -0.2 -0.3 0.6

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains ........................... 636 353 323 431 694 11.1 5.9 5.5 7.4 11.2

At expanding establishments ......... 521 303 271 368 577 9.1 5.1 4.6 6.3 9.3

At opening establishments ............ 115 50 52 63 117 2.0 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.9

Gross job losses ........................... 276 417 390 309 247 4.8 7.1 6.7 5.2 4.0

At contracting establishments ......... 236 381 350 260 203 4.1 6.5 6.0 4.4 3.3

At closing establishments ............ 40 36 40 49 44 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.7

Net employment change .............. 360 -64 -67 122 447 6.3 -1.2 -1.2 2.2 7.2

Utilities

Gross job gains ........................... 13 10 13 16 17 2.4 1.9 2.4 3.0 3.2

At expanding establishments ......... 11 9 11 14 15 2.0 1.7 2.0 2.6 2.8

At opening establishments ............ 2 1 2 2 2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4

Gross job losses ........................... 12 10 13 14 14 2.2 1.9 2.4 2.6 2.6

At contracting establishments ......... 10 9 11 11 12 1.8 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.2

At closing establishments ............ 2 1 2 3 2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.4

Net employment change .............. 1 0 0 2 3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.6

 Information

Gross job gains ........................... 175 181 193 240 224 6.6 6.6 6.9 8.5 7.6

At expanding establishments ......... 136 153 148 195 179 5.1 5.6 5.3 6.9 6.1

At opening establishments ............ 39 28 45 45 45 1.5 1.0 1.6 1.6 1.5

Gross job losses ........................... 143 117 161 146 172 5.4 4.3 5.8 5.1 5.9

At contracting establishments ......... 109 93 131 109 136 4.1 3.4 4.7 3.8 4.7

At closing establishments ............ 34 24 30 37 36 1.3 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.2

Net employment change .............. 32 64 32 94 52 1.2 2.3 1.1 3.4 1.7

Financial activities

Gross job gains ........................... 432 386 418 483 512 5.3 4.7 5.1 5.8 6.1

At expanding establishments ......... 321 302 322 374 388 3.9 3.7 3.9 4.5 4.6

At opening establishments ............ 111 84 96 109 124 1.4 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.5

Gross job losses ........................... 371 339 419 431 391 4.5 4.1 5.1 5.1 4.7

At contracting establishments ......... 279 255 321 319 294 3.4 3.1 3.9 3.8 3.5

At closing establishments ............ 92 84 98 112 97 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.2

Net employment change .............. 61 47 -1 52 121 0.8 0.6 0.0 0.7 1.4

Professional and business services

Gross job gains ........................... 1,855 1,467 1,539 1,728 1,966 9.0 7.1 7.3 8.2 9.1

At expanding establishments ......... 1,500 1,180 1,216 1,369 1,601 7.3 5.7 5.8 6.5 7.4

At opening establishments ............ 355 287 323 359 365 1.7 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.7

Gross job losses ........................... 1,195 1,245 1,470 1,476 1,303 5.8 6.0 7.0 7.0 6.1

At contracting establishments ......... 908 1,000 1,197 1,121 988 4.4 4.8 5.7 5.3 4.6

At closing establishments ............ 287 245 273 355 315 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.7 1.5

Net employment change .............. 660 222 69 252 663 3.2 1.1 0.3 1.2 3.0

Education and health services

Gross job gains ........................... 1,172 1,049 1,020 1,058 1,235 5.2 4.7 4.5 4.7 5.4

At expanding establishments ......... 944 855 820 849 953 4.2 3.8 3.6 3.8 4.2

At opening establishments ............ 228 194 200 209 282 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.2

Gross job losses ........................... 892 912 1,002 1,078 994 4.0 4.0 4.5 4.8 4.4

At contracting establishments ......... 697 744 806 829 776 3.1 3.3 3.6 3.7 3.4

At closing establishments ............ 195 168 196 249 218 0.9 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.0

Net employment change .............. 280 137 18 -20 241 1.2 0.7 0.0 -0.1 1.0

See footnote at end of table.

Category

Gross job gains and losses (in thousands) Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Table 3. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted—Continued

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

 Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains ........................... 1,447 1,723 1,725 1,788 1,655 11.6 13.3 12.6 12.4 11.0

At expanding establishments ......... 1,139 1,408 1,420 1,476 1,352 9.1 10.9 10.4 10.2 9.0

At opening establishments ............ 308 315 305 312 303 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.0

Gross job losses ........................... 1,329 983 984 1,176 1,098 10.6 7.7 7.2 8.2 7.3

At contracting establishments ......... 1,087 809 802 961 899 8.7 6.3 5.9 6.7 6.0

At closing establishments ............ 242 174 182 215 199 1.9 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.3

Net employment change .............. 118 740 741 612 557 1.0 5.6 5.4 4.2 3.7

 Other services

Gross job gains ........................... 327 322 330 349 363 8.8 8.5 8.5 8.9 9.0

At expanding establishments ......... 235 239 256 270 275 6.3 6.3 6.6 6.9 6.8

At opening establishments ............ 92 83 74 79 88 2.5 2.2 1.9 2.0 2.2

Gross job losses ........................... 283 256 260 278 263 7.6 6.8 6.8 7.1 6.5

At contracting establishments ......... 208 197 191 196 197 5.6 5.2 5.0 5.0 4.9

At closing establishments ............ 75 59 69 82 66 2.0 1.6 1.8 2.1 1.6

Net employment change .............. 44 66 70 71 100 1.2 1.7 1.7 1.8 2.5

1 Includes unclassified sector, not shown separately.

Category

Gross job gains and losses (in thousands) Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Table 4. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)

gains losses gains losses gains losses gains losses

2011 March 340 5,375 5,035 99 2,983 2,884 122 971 849 119 1,421 1,302

June 537 5,746 5,209 190 3,073 2,883 169 1,063 894 178 1,610 1,432

September 852 5,974 5,122 272 3,137 2,865 171 1,066 895 409 1,771 1,362

December 297 5,585 5,288 45 2,970 2,925 44 981 937 208 1,634 1,426

2012 March 972 5,904 4,932 388 3,173 2,785 220 1,054 834 364 1,677 1,313

June 612 5,828 5,216 174 3,039 2,865 158 1,074 916 280 1,715 1,435

September 226 5,581 5,355 55 2,963 2,908 54 1,006 952 117 1,612 1,495

December 637 5,779 5,142 180 3,025 2,845 94 1,014 920 363 1,740 1,377

2013 March 582 5,743 5,161 212 3,071 2,859 156 1,029 873 214 1,643 1,429

June 650 5,906 5,256 226 3,085 2,859 135 1,071 936 289 1,750 1,461

September 473 5,764 5,291 225 3,063 2,838 69 1,021 952 179 1,680 1,501

December 631 5,886 5,255 122 3,021 2,899 105 1,034 929 404 1,831 1,427

2014 March 442 5,665 5,223 231 3,070 2,839 149 1,035 886 62 1,560 1,498

June 893 6,134 5,241 302 3,178 2,876 214 1,119 905 377 1,837 1,460

September 560 5,865 5,305 197 3,064 2,867 117 1,066 949 246 1,735 1,489

December 951 6,155 5,204 212 3,105 2,893 150 1,085 935 589 1,965 1,376

2015 March 226 5,677 5,451 168 3,098 2,930 75 1,025 950 -17 1,554 1,571

June 846 6,243 5,397 323 3,196 2,873 187 1,128 941 336 1,919 1,583

September 456 5,914 5,458 148 3,057 2,909 79 1,047 968 229 1,810 1,581

December 830 6,245 5,415 227 3,172 2,945 90 1,074 984 513 1,999 1,486

2016 March 254 5,754 5,500 191 3,114 2,923 59 1,022 963 4 1,618 1,614

June 331 6,048 5,717 74 3,123 3,049 114 1,101 987 143 1,824 1,681

September 752 6,266 5,514 192 3,160 2,968 102 1,089 987 458 2,017 1,559

December 245 5,886 5,641 71 3,065 2,994 37 1,026 989 137 1,795 1,658

2017 March 658 6,000 5,342 341 3,232 2,891 190 1,084 894 127 1,684 1,557

June 543 6,203 5,660 150 3,160 3,010 145 1,123 978 248 1,920 1,672

September -100 5,833 5,933 -111 2,999 3,110 -44 1,014 1,058 55 1,820 1,765

December 831 6,199 5,368 241 3,189 2,948 149 1,086 937 441 1,924 1,483

2018 March 731 6,062 5,331 297 3,210 2,913 164 1,071 907 270 1,781 1,511

June 454 6,188 5,734 136 3,191 3,055 151 1,129 978 167 1,868 1,701

September 33 5,985 5,952 -90 3,027 3,117 -25 1,030 1,055 148 1,928 1,780

December 698 6,109 5,411 208 3,177 2,969 141 1,080 939 349 1,852 1,503

2019 March 572 6,003 5,431 259 3,190 2,931 153 1,064 911 160 1,749 1,589

June 204 6,142 5,938 58 3,157 3,099 93 1,118 1,025 53 1,867 1,814

September -1 5,874 5,875 -15 3,044 3,059 -27 1,019 1,046 41 1,811 1,770

December 682 6,214 5,532 214 3,191 2,977 99 1,067 968 369 1,956 1,587

2020 March -610 5,659 6,269 -368 3,026 3,394 -102 967 1,069 -140 1,666 1,806

June -15,320 4,494 19,814 -4,700 2,552 7,252 -2,819 579 3,398 -7,801 1,363 9,164

September 4,040 9,459 5,419 1,505 4,483 2,978 542 1,423 881 1,993 3,553 1,560

December 1,893 7,092 5,199 521 3,496 2,975 351 1,193 842 1,021 2,403 1,382

2021 March 1,755 6,798 5,043 949 3,590 2,641 217 1,094 877 589 2,114 1,525

June 920 6,614 5,694 698 3,493 2,795 204 1,137 933 18 1,984 1,966

September 1,280 7,112 5,832 298 3,475 3,177 229 1,189 960 753 2,448 1,695

December 2,736 7,653 4,917 896 3,748 2,852 474 1,314 840 1,366 2,591 1,225

Firm size 250 or more

Net 

change

Gross job Net 

change

Gross job

establishment-level data due to independent seasonal adjustment. The unit of analysis section in the technical note provides additional detail. See

www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmfirmsize.htm for more detailed firm size class data.

Net 

change

Gross job Net 

change

Gross job

NOTE: Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. Net change totals for the firm-level data differ from the

Year 3 months ended

Total private by firm1 Firm size 1 - 49 employees

1 Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower than total gross job gains and gross job losses by establishment, as some establishment gains 

and losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process. 

Firm size 50 - 249 employees
Table 5. Components of private-sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

Total private by firm 1

Gross job gains ........................ 7,092 6,798 6,614 7,112 7,653 6.0 5.7 5.5 5.8 6.1

At expanding firms .................. 5,982 5,731 5,655 6,087 6,489 5.1 4.8 4.7 5.0 5.2

At opening firms ..................... 1,110 1,067 959 1,025 1,164 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.9

Gross job losses ........................ 5,199 5,043 5,694 5,832 4,917 4.5 4.2 4.7 4.7 4.0

At contracting firms ............... 4,307 4,273 4,860 4,809 4,053 3.7 3.6 4.0 3.9 3.3

At closing firms ................... 892 770 834 1,023 864 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.7

Net employment change ............. 1,893 1,755 920 1,280 2,736 1.5 1.5 0.8 1.1 2.1

Firm size 1 to 49 employees

Gross job gains ........................ 3,496 3,590 3,493 3,475 3,748 10.5 10.7 10.2 10.1 10.7

At expanding firms .................. 2,424 2,562 2,566 2,485 2,627 7.3 7.6 7.5 7.2 7.5

At opening firms ..................... 1,072 1,028 927 990 1,121 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.9 3.2

Gross job losses ........................ 2,975 2,641 2,795 3,177 2,852 9.0 7.9 8.2 9.3 8.2

At contracting firms ............... 2,110 1,901 1,988 2,193 2,024 6.4 5.7 5.8 6.4 5.8

At closing firms ................... 865 740 807 984 828 2.6 2.2 2.4 2.9 2.4

Net employment change ............. 521 949 698 298 896 1.5 2.8 2.0 0.8 2.5

Firm size 50 to 249 employees

Gross job gains ........................ 1,193 1,094 1,137 1,189 1,314 5.9 5.2 5.4 5.5 6.1

At expanding firms .................. 1,161 1,065 1,108 1,159 1,277 5.7 5.1 5.3 5.4 5.9

At opening firms ..................... 32 29 29 30 37 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2

Gross job losses ........................ 842 877 933 960 840 4.1 4.2 4.4 4.5 3.8

At contracting firms ............... 817 852 910 927 813 4.0 4.1 4.3 4.3 3.7

At closing firms ................... 25 25 23 33 27 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1

Net employment change ............. 351 217 204 229 474 1.8 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.3

Firm size 250 or more employees

Gross job gains ........................ 2,403 2,114 1,984 2,448 2,591 3.7 3.2 3.0 3.7 3.8

At expanding firms .................. 2,397 2,104 1,981 2,443 2,585 3.7 3.2 3.0 3.7 3.8

At opening firms ..................... 6 10 3 5 6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Gross job losses ........................ 1,382 1,525 1,966 1,695 1,225 2.1 2.3 3.0 2.5 1.8

At contracting firms ............... 1,380 1,520 1,962 1,689 1,216 2.1 2.3 3.0 2.5 1.8

At closing firms ................... 2 5 4 6 9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Net employment change ............. 1,021 589 18 753 1,366 1.6 0.9 0.0 1.2 2.0

NOTE: Net change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. Net change totals for the firm-level data differ from the

establishment-level data due to independent seasonal adjustment. The unit of analysis section in the technical note provides additional detail. See

www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmfirmsize.htm for more detailed firm size class data.

Category

Gross job gains and losses (in thousands) Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended) (3 months ended)

1 Total gross job gains and gross job losses by firm are lower than total gross job gains and gross job losses by establishment, as some establishment gains and 

losses within a firm are offset during the aggregation process. 
Table 6. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

United States 1

 ............ 8,821,000 8,154,000 8,141,000 8,795,000 9,576,000 6,757,000 6,469,000 7,248,000 7,482,000 6,697,000

Alabama .................. 119,294 92,377 98,458 105,158 123,121 84,720 92,107 94,344 106,750 86,692

Alaska ..................... 30,084 25,286 21,847 23,961 27,986 17,167 21,662 21,303 21,918 20,502

Arizona .................. 180,158 157,582 171,297 175,461 176,424 120,914 137,245 149,126 152,372 127,115

Arkansas .................. 71,401 59,076 56,022 66,061 78,152 51,611 50,250 56,824 59,874 46,913

California .................. 1,171,574 1,081,628 1,111,041 1,123,411 1,263,445 848,243 833,574 924,896 914,395 817,715

Colorado .................. 161,665 190,034 175,095 185,136 177,505 157,038 123,149 145,073 159,851 142,139

Connecticut ............... 88,630 85,542 90,384 93,752 96,125 79,517 71,646 80,149 82,471 75,282

Delaware .................. 24,803 25,344 23,474 26,568 31,132 21,870 22,245 23,794 26,033 23,023

District of Columbia ... 24,490 25,353 33,099 38,409 36,154 25,795 24,772 25,367 23,534 24,965

Florida ..................... 586,615 521,589 594,873 714,440 620,547 443,199 435,096 473,304 472,323 485,513

Georgia .................. 290,819 251,594 260,499 282,737 319,390 191,946 214,348 235,681 238,242 222,404

Hawaii ..................... 61,190 37,733 49,250 34,438 32,973 18,902 26,185 26,298 31,537 23,158

Idaho ..................... 55,980 53,979 48,505 50,776 57,988 39,115 37,762 47,768 48,823 42,391

Illinois ..................... 311,130 352,016 298,372 311,542 378,074 292,410 235,866 274,482 293,148 241,186

Indiana ..................... 174,192 157,471 149,586 164,891 195,758 127,593 131,642 156,760 151,625 125,550

Iowa ........................ 84,795 76,915 75,276 77,596 84,090 62,908 68,172 76,158 75,839 66,943

Kansas ..................... 76,509 68,181 68,087 73,154 85,507 64,495 61,530 68,174 73,086 59,413

Kentucky .................. 112,311 112,708 99,257 104,949 117,852 93,275 80,297 102,580 103,046 79,208

Louisiana .................. 127,528 96,274 101,433 102,880 146,763 81,705 88,400 93,676 129,960 84,232

Maine ..................... 41,979 45,104 39,009 39,590 42,215 31,261 32,096 40,073 40,434 35,966

Maryland .................. 147,691 129,076 137,692 157,519 152,777 119,660 114,275 136,921 138,640 120,002

Massachusetts ............ 203,528 193,648 207,270 217,283 215,423 160,761 145,185 171,566 178,055 176,669

Michigan .................. 233,463 297,237 222,680 234,583 273,189 237,554 172,427 202,472 217,395 190,282

Minnesota ............... 159,532 215,284 145,938 153,700 175,774 157,602 113,923 133,050 162,284 127,029

Mississippi ............... 69,883 48,982 56,390 65,966 72,504 42,799 57,760 57,656 54,905 50,572

Missouri .................. 162,655 145,842 141,163 155,844 174,451 119,914 120,759 145,379 141,012 130,144

Montana .................. 35,500 34,300 32,865 33,259 39,855 25,794 26,870 31,529 32,508 28,711

Nebraska .................. 53,943 52,031 49,834 50,268 54,692 43,750 49,507 48,886 53,014 44,600

Nevada ..................... 97,898 83,087 111,229 107,324 102,935 63,782 62,689 67,662 70,153 60,754

New Hampshire ......... 40,432 41,089 39,516 39,515 44,497 34,841 30,261 35,760 38,462 38,281

New Jersey ............... 262,647 231,639 239,708 250,454 304,548 189,844 186,170 192,503 207,816 185,576

New Mexico ............ 43,561 51,283 43,694 49,266 51,063 45,015 34,014 40,189 39,930 40,182

New York ............... 528,197 502,099 518,958 559,006 590,361 452,008 393,029 422,051 443,330 417,053

North Carolina ............ 288,961 249,484 241,817 256,502 314,572 182,519 200,141 221,426 244,858 201,434

North Dakota ............ 23,213 25,429 22,525 24,467 25,764 22,713 20,985 21,227 22,197 21,551

Ohio ........................ 291,848 273,126 265,532 275,693 321,925 233,327 223,339 265,035 269,431 234,247

Oklahoma ............... 97,432 75,490 81,271 88,311 94,365 71,686 75,024 75,108 87,915 80,657

Oregon ..................... 115,457 134,802 105,790 112,694 125,365 101,713 88,715 106,130 104,372 102,163

Pennsylvania ............ 298,990 318,356 277,331 309,749 344,695 258,653 227,213 266,006 260,551 244,777

Rhode Island ............ 29,475 38,212 28,289 30,784 34,713 27,610 21,750 25,839 26,839 26,519

South Carolina ............ 135,839 106,718 108,572 125,492 138,925 88,242 104,928 112,384 115,618 92,872

South Dakota ............ 25,154 25,621 24,015 23,510 25,968 21,283 21,112 20,932 23,057 21,513

Tennessee ............... 188,799 144,611 154,802 176,734 194,757 116,317 128,007 151,018 143,369 130,096

Texas ..................... 766,575 597,160 697,328 753,292 836,520 489,322 512,772 566,281 572,188 509,280

Utah ........................ 104,801 94,104 92,724 98,710 101,982 71,466 80,546 80,574 92,372 80,008

Vermont .................. 17,749 19,463 20,027 18,981 19,628 18,518 14,209 16,320 18,107 16,684

Virginia .................. 214,569 184,421 195,231 213,826 225,872 162,104 169,083 187,666 192,102 172,065

Washington ............... 192,772 215,904 184,755 200,914 221,233 163,861 149,132 161,011 159,079 143,605

West Virginia ............ 38,074 37,107 33,867 35,398 41,116 31,713 29,736 33,480 33,627 30,914

Wisconsin ............... 149,052 140,399 140,340 134,511 159,842 121,780 112,350 130,321 140,845 132,035

Wyoming .................. 19,560 18,202 17,488 17,924 20,579 15,116 16,576 16,985 17,152 15,896

Puerto Rico ............... 43,022 43,139 51,860 57,802 45,192 31,747 32,409 33,495 35,406 38,820

Virgin Islands ............ 2,379 1,794 2,590 1,833 1,976 1,394 2,621 1,535 2,079 2,297

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.

State

Gross job gains 

(3 months ended)

Gross job losses

(3 months ended)
Table 7. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec.

2020 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 2021 2021

United States .......................... 7.4 6.8 6.7 7.2 7.7 5.7 5.4 5.9 6.2 5.4

Alabama ............................. 7.6 5.9 6.2 6.6 7.6 5.5 5.9 6.0 6.7 5.3

Alaska ................................. 13.4 11.0 9.5 10.4 11.9 7.7 9.4 9.2 9.5 8.7

Arizona ............................... 7.3 6.3 6.8 6.9 6.8 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.0 4.9

Arkansas .............................. 7.2 5.9 5.5 6.6 7.6 5.2 5.1 5.6 5.9 4.5

California .............................. 8.5 7.7 7.8 7.8 8.5 6.1 5.9 6.4 6.3 5.5

Colorado .............................. 7.5 8.6 7.8 8.1 7.6 7.2 5.6 6.4 7.0 6.1

Connecticut ......................... 6.6 6.3 6.6 6.8 6.9 5.9 5.3 5.9 6.0 5.4

Delaware .............................. 6.8 6.8 6.4 7.2 8.3 6.0 6.0 6.4 7.0 6.1

District of Columbia ............... 5.3 5.5 7.0 7.9 7.3 5.5 5.3 5.4 4.8 5.0

Florida ................................. 8.0 6.9 7.8 9.2 7.7 6.0 5.8 6.2 6.0 6.1

Georgia .............................. 7.9 6.7 6.9 7.4 8.1 5.2 5.7 6.2 6.2 5.7

Hawaii ............................... 14.7 8.5 10.7 7.2 6.8 4.6 5.9 5.6 6.6 4.8

Idaho .................................... 8.7 8.1 7.2 7.7 8.6 6.1 5.7 7.2 7.3 6.3

Illinois ................................ 6.5 7.2 6.0 6.3 7.5 6.1 4.9 5.6 6.0 4.9

Indiana ............................... 6.8 6.0 5.7 6.3 7.3 5.0 5.1 6.0 5.8 4.7

Iowa .................................... 6.8 6.1 6.0 6.2 6.6 5.1 5.4 6.0 6.0 5.2

Kansas ................................. 7.0 6.2 6.2 6.6 7.6 5.9 5.5 6.1 6.6 5.3

Kentucky .............................. 7.3 7.3 6.4 6.6 7.4 6.1 5.1 6.5 6.5 5.0

Louisiana .............................. 8.7 6.4 6.8 6.9 9.7 5.6 5.9 6.2 8.6 5.6

Maine ................................... 8.5 9.0 7.7 7.8 8.2 6.3 6.3 7.8 8.0 7.0

Maryland ............................ 7.3 6.3 6.6 7.5 7.2 5.8 5.5 6.6 6.7 5.7

Massachusetts ....................... 7.0 6.6 6.9 7.2 7.0 5.5 5.0 5.7 5.9 5.7

Michigan ............................. 6.7 8.5 6.2 6.6 7.5 6.9 4.9 5.6 6.1 5.3

Minnesota ........................... 6.9 9.2 6.1 6.4 7.3 6.8 4.9 5.5 6.8 5.2

Mississippi ........................... 8.0 5.6 6.4 7.5 8.0 4.9 6.6 6.5 6.2 5.7

Missouri .............................. 7.1 6.3 6.0 6.7 7.4 5.2 5.3 6.3 6.1 5.5

Montana ............................... 9.4 8.8 8.3 8.4 10.0 6.8 6.9 8.1 8.3 7.2

Nebraska .............................. 6.8 6.5 6.2 6.2 6.7 5.5 6.2 6.0 6.6 5.5

Nevada ............................... 8.8 7.3 9.5 8.9 8.2 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.8 4.9

New Hampshire ..................... 7.4 7.4 7.0 7.0 7.8 6.4 5.4 6.4 6.8 6.7

New Jersey ........................... 8.1 7.0 7.2 7.4 8.8 5.9 5.6 5.7 6.1 5.3

New Mexico ........................ 7.3 8.5 7.1 7.9 8.0 7.5 5.7 6.6 6.3 6.3

New York ........................... 7.4 6.9 7.1 7.5 7.7 6.3 5.4 5.7 6.0 5.5

North Carolina ........................ 7.9 6.6 6.4 6.8 8.1 5.0 5.4 5.8 6.4 5.2

North Dakota ........................ 7.2 7.8 6.9 7.5 7.7 7.1 6.5 6.5 6.7 6.5

Ohio .................................... 6.6 6.1 5.9 6.1 7.0 5.2 5.0 5.8 6.0 5.2

Oklahoma ........................... 7.9 6.1 6.5 7.1 7.4 5.8 6.1 6.0 7.0 6.4

Oregon ................................. 7.4 8.5 6.6 7.0 7.7 6.5 5.6 6.6 6.5 6.2

Pennsylvania ........................ 6.2 6.4 5.6 6.2 6.8 5.3 4.6 5.3 5.3 4.8

Rhode Island ........................ 7.6 9.8 7.0 7.6 8.5 7.1 5.5 6.4 6.6 6.5

South Carolina ........................ 8.0 6.2 6.3 7.2 7.9 5.2 6.1 6.5 6.6 5.3

South Dakota ........................ 7.2 7.3 6.8 6.6 7.2 6.2 6.0 5.8 6.5 5.9

Tennessee ........................... 7.5 5.6 5.9 6.8 7.4 4.6 5.0 5.8 5.5 4.9

Texas ................................. 7.6 5.7 6.7 7.1 7.7 4.8 5.0 5.4 5.4 4.7

Utah .................................... 8.1 7.1 6.9 7.3 7.5 5.6 6.1 6.0 6.8 5.8

Vermont .............................. 7.6 8.2 8.4 7.9 8.1 8.0 6.1 6.8 7.5 6.9

Virginia .............................. 7.0 6.0 6.2 6.8 7.1 5.3 5.4 6.0 6.1 5.4

Washington ........................... 7.2 7.9 6.7 7.2 7.8 6.1 5.4 5.8 5.7 5.1

West Virginia ........................ 7.4 7.2 6.5 6.7 7.8 6.2 5.8 6.4 6.5 5.9

Wisconsin ........................... 6.3 5.8 5.8 5.5 6.5 5.1 4.7 5.4 5.8 5.4

Wyoming .............................. 10.0 9.1 8.8 8.9 10.1 7.7 8.3 8.5 8.6 7.8

Puerto Rico ........................... 6.6 6.6 7.7 8.3 6.4 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.1 5.5

Virgin Islands ........................ 9.9 7.4 10.6 7.4 8.1 5.8 10.8 6.2 8.5 9.4

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

State

Gross job gains as a percent of employment Gross job losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended) (3 months ended)
Table 8. Private-sector establishment births and deaths, seasonally adjusted

(Levels in thousands)

Level Rate 2 Level Rate Level Rate Level Rate

2011 March 204 2.9 200 2.8 715 0.7 632 0.6

June 210 2.9 205 2.9 767 0.7 689 0.6

September 206 2.9 196 2.7 794 0.7 675 0.6

December 214 3.0 198 2.8 800 0.7 700 0.6

2012 March 236 3.3 188 2.6 787 0.7 614 0.6

June 217 3.0 194 2.7 799 0.7 673 0.6

September 210 2.9 196 2.7 804 0.7 692 0.6

December 218 3.0 183 2.5 809 0.7 673 0.6

2013 March 205 2.8 193 2.6 748 0.7 648 0.6

June 222 3.0 215 2.9 789 0.7 695 0.6

September 219 2.9 195 2.6 818 0.7 678 0.6

December 215 2.9 187 2.5 803 0.7 670 0.6

2014 March 220 2.9 190 2.5 784 0.7 635 0.6

June 221 2.9 204 2.7 806 0.7 711 0.6

September 225 3.0 199 2.6 825 0.7 703 0.6

December 224 2.9 198 2.6 836 0.7 705 0.6

2015 March 233 3.0 207 2.7 818 0.7 696 0.6

June 234 3.1 211 2.8 838 0.7 728 0.6

September 243 3.2 207 2.7 881 0.7 699 0.6

December 247 3.2 209 2.7 892 0.7 733 0.6

2016 March 236 3.0 204 2.6 789 0.7 671 0.6

June 241 3.1 213 2.7 838 0.7 719 0.6

September 238 3.0 214 2.7 872 0.7 745 0.6

December 238 3.0 217 2.8 865 0.7 729 0.6

2017 March 242 3.0 204 2.6 804 0.7 666 0.5

June 241 3.0 224 2.8 850 0.7 753 0.6

September 243 3.0 225 2.8 850 0.7 760 0.6

December 245 3.1 216 2.7 848 0.7 732 0.6

2018 March 248 3.1 214 2.7 812 0.7 665 0.5

June 265 3.3 228 2.8 880 0.7 769 0.6

September 251 3.1 231 2.8 864 0.7 786 0.6

December 249 3.1 222 2.7 857 0.7 761 0.6

2019 March 260 3.2 220 2.7 807 0.6 696 0.6

June 258 3.1 241 2.9 850 0.7 807 0.6

September 250 3.0 233 2.8 848 0.7 768 0.6

December 268 3.2 235 2.8 905 0.7 792 0.6

2020 March 316 3.8 274 3.3 846 0.7 762 0.6

June 227 2.8 329 4.0 661 0.6 1,163 1.0

September 277 3.4 235 2.9 822 0.7 697 0.6

December 287 3.5 218 2.6 917 0.8 694 0.6

2021 March 303 3.6 211 2.5 826 0.7 608 0.5

June 351 4.1 N/A N/A 980 0.8 N/A N/A

September 356 4.1 N/A N/A 1,012 0.8 N/A N/A

December 376 4.3 N/A N/A 1,108 0.9 N/A N/A

1 Values for deaths are not available for the most recent three quarters. See the Technical Note for more information.

2 The rates measure births and deaths as a percentage of the average of the previous and current quarter employment levels or total number of establishments.

Year 3 months ended

Number of Establishments Employment

Births Deaths 1 Births Deaths