For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Thursday, May 20, 2010 USDL-10-0687

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

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

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – THIRD QUARTER 2009

From June to September 2009 the number 

of gross job gains from opening and 

expanding private sector establishments 

was 6.3 million, a decrease of 124,000 

jobs compared to the previous quarter, the 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 

today. The number of gross job losses

from private sector closing and contracting 

establishments fell to 7.3 million in the 

third quarter of 2009, a decline of 739,000 

from the previous quarter. This is the 

largest over-the-quarter decrease in gross 

job losses since the series began in 1992. 

Over this period, gross job losses exceeded 

gross job gains in all industry sectors 

except utilities and education and health 

services. (See table 3.) 

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment 

that occur at all businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track 

these changes in employment at private business units 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.) 

Business Employment Dynamics (BED)--Additional Industry Detail Now Available 

With the release of this quarter’s data, additional industry level detail (3-digit NAICS) is now available 

from the BED program on the BLS Web site (www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmind3.htm). These data are available 

at the national level from 1992Q3 through 2009Q3 and will be updated quarterly. 
- 2 - 

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by major 

industry sector and 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. 

Contracting establishments lost 5.9 million jobs 

in the third quarter of 2009, a decrease of 746,000 

job losses compared to the 6.6 million jobs lost in 

the previous quarter. 

Expanding establishments gained 5.1 million 

jobs, essentially the same number as in the 

previous quarter. 

Closing establishments lost 1.4 million jobs, little 

changed from the previous quarter. 

Opening establishments gained 1.2 million jobs, a 

decrease of 120,000 jobs from the previous 

quarter. (See tables 1 and 3.) 

The difference between the number of gross jobs 

gained and the number of gross jobs lost yielded a 

net change of -964,000 jobs in the private sector 

for third quarter 2009. 

Gross job gains represented 5.9 percent of private 

sector employment, while gross job losses

represented 6.8 percent of private sector 

employment. (See table 2.) 

Establishment births, a subset of the openings data (see the Technical Note for more information), 

added 695,000 jobs at 169,000 new establishments in the third quarter 2009. Data for establishment 

deaths, a subset of the closings data, are now available for December 2008, when 958,000 jobs were 

lost at 241,000 establishments. (See table 7.) 

From June to September 2009, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all industry sectors except 

utilities and education and health services. (See table 3.) The utilities sector experienced no net 

employment change for the third quarter 2009. Gross job gains in the education and health services 

sector decreased to 761,000 jobs in the third quarter, while gross job losses increased to 733,000. This 

industry sector is the only one which has experienced a net positive change in every quarter since this 

series began in 1992. 

From June to September 2009 the share of gross job gains accounted for by firms with 1 to 4 

employees fell from 16.9 to 16.5 percent. Firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced an 

increase in the share of gross job gains from 14.7 to 16.9 percent. (See table 4.) 
- 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. 

In the third quarter of 2009, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all states, the District of 

Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico except for Idaho, Indiana and North Dakota where gross 

job gains exceeded gross job losses. (See tables 5 and 6.) 

More Information 

Additional information on gross job gains and gross job losses are available online at 

http://www.bls.gov/bdm. This information includes data on the levels and rates of gross job gains and 

gross job losses by firm size, the not seasonally adjusted data and other seasonally adjusted time series 

not presented in this release, charts of gross job gains and gross job losses by industry and firm size, and 

frequently asked questions on firm-size data. Additional information about the Business Employment 

Dynamics data can be found in the Technical Note of this release or may be obtained by e-mailing 

BDMinfo@bls.gov. 

The Business Employment Dynamics for Fourth Quarter 2009 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, 

August 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

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

Category 

3 months ended 

Sept. Dec. Mar. June Sept. 

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 

Levels (in thousands) 

Gross job gains.................................... 6,884 6,738 5,746 6,420 6,296 

 At expanding establishments........... 5,520 5,363 4,603 5,116 5,112 

 At opening establishments............... 1,364 1,375 1,143 1,304 1,184 

 

Gross job losses................................... 7,851 8,539 8,486 7,999 7,260 

 At contracting establishments........... 6,461 7,038 7,045 6,598 5,852 

 At closing establishments................ 1,390 1,501 1,441 1,401 1,408 

 

Net employment change1........................ -967 -1,801 -2,740 -1,579 -964 

 

Rates (percent) 

Gross job gains................................ 6.1 6.0 5.2 6.0 5.9 

 At expanding establishments....... 4.9 4.8 4.2 4.8 4.8 

 At opening establishments............ 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.1 

 

Gross job losses............................... 6.9 7.6 7.7 7.5 6.8 

 At contracting establishments........ 5.7 6.3 6.4 6.2 5.5 

 At closing establishments............. 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 

 

Net employment change1..................... -.8 -1.6 -2.5 -1.5 -.9 
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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 Employment Security 

Agencies (SESAs) to BLS and form the basis of the 

Bureau’s establishment universe sampling frame. These 

reports are also used to produce the quarterly QCEW data 

on total employment and wages and the longitudinal BED 

data on gross job gains and losses. Other important 

Bureau uses of the UI reports are in the Current 

Employment Statistics (CES) program. 

 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 units and jobs lost 

at closing and contracting units. 

Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES 

employment measures 

 The Bureau publishes three different establishmentbased employment measures for any given quarter. Each 

of these measures — QCEW, BED, and CES — 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 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 

below. 

Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures 

QCEW BED CES 

Source  Count of UI administrative records 

submitted by 9.1 million employers 

 Count of longitudinally-linked UI 

administrative records submitted by 

6.8 million private sector employers 

 Sample Survey: 410,000 

establishments 

Coverage  UI and UCFE coverage: all 

employers subject to State and 

federal UI Laws 

 UI Coverage, excluding: government, 

private households, and establishments 

with zero employment 

Non-farm wage and salary jobs: 

 UI Coverage, excluding: agriculture, 

private households, and selfemployed; including: railroads, 

religious organizations, and other 

non-UI-covered jobs 

Publication 

frequency 

 Quarterly 

—7 Months after the end of each 

quarter 

 Quarterly 

—8 Months after the end of each quarter 

 Monthly 

—First Friday of each 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 annually realigns (benchmarks) 

sample estimates to first quarter UI 

levels 

Principal products  Provides a quarterly and annual 

universe count of establishments, 

employment, and wages at the 

county, 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 super-sectors 

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 national economic 

indicator 

— Official time series for 

employment change measures 

— Input into other major economic 

indicators 

Program Websites  www.bls.gov/cew/  www.bls.gov/bdm/  www.bls.gov/ces/
- 5 - 

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 SESAs 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 selfemployed 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 6.8 million 

private sector employer reports out of 9.1 million total 

reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 

BLS in the third quarter of 2009. 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 also are excluded 

from the national data. As an illustration, 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 third quarter 2009: 

Number of active establishments included in 

Business Employment Dynamics data at the 

national level 

 Millions 

Total establishments QCEW program .........9.1 

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

 Private households ................0.7 

 Zero employment .................1.3 

 Establishments in Puerto Rico 

 and the Virgin Islands ...........0.0 

 (less than 50,000) 

Total establishments included in Business 

Employment Dynamics data ........................6.8 

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 reopenings of seasonal businesses. 
- 6 - 

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 

SESA identification numbers (SESA-ID). Between 95 to 

97 percent of establishments identified as continuous 

from quarter to quarter are matched by SESA-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 SESA-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 

SESA-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, 

SESAs verify with employers and update, if necessary, 

the industry, location, and ownership classification of all 

establishments on a 4-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 
- 7 - 

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-12 ARIMA. 

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, 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 and an annual bulletin: Employment and Wages 

Annual Averages, 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; 

(http://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 Employment 

Situation report put out monthly by BLS. 

 The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey 

(JOLTS) program provides monthly measures of job 

openings, as well as employee hires and separations. 

 Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. 

Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral 

number: 1-800-877-8339. 
Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted

(In thousands)

Expanding Opening Contracting Closing

establishments establishments establishments establishments

1999 March 353 8,585 6,626 1,959 8,232 6,395 1,837

June 644 8,539 6,661 1,878 7,895 6,210 1,685

September 588 8,571 6,734 1,837 7,983 6,250 1,733

December 1,005 8,749 6,956 1,793 7,744 6,076 1,668

2000 March 789 8,792 6,924 1,868 8,003 6,341 1,662

June 492 8,499 6,814 1,685 8,007 6,387 1,620

September 296 8,506 6,728 1,778 8,210 6,483 1,727

December 295 8,400 6,702 1,698 8,105 6,433 1,672

2001 March -156 8,436 6,694 1,742 8,592 6,717 1,875

June -792 8,009 6,319 1,690 8,801 7,050 1,751

September -1,184 7,608 5,917 1,691 8,792 6,991 1,801

December -960 7,591 5,932 1,659 8,551 6,858 1,693

2002 March -39 8,049 6,259 1,790 8,088 6,424 1,664

June -38 7,890 6,164 1,726 7,928 6,290 1,638

September -171 7,608 6,015 1,593 7,779 6,248 1,531

December -198 7,522 5,960 1,562 7,720 6,171 1,549

2003 March -412 7,439 5,917 1,522 7,851 6,311 1,540

June -104 7,401 5,928 1,473 7,505 6,040 1,465

September 204 7,383 5,918 1,465 7,179 5,818 1,361

December 309 7,549 6,016 1,533 7,240 5,802 1,438

2004 March 465 7,709 6,207 1,502 7,244 5,802 1,442

June 634 7,747 6,228 1,519 7,113 5,644 1,469

September 212 7,635 6,062 1,573 7,423 5,880 1,543

December 775 7,860 6,248 1,612 7,085 5,658 1,427

2005 March 381 7,618 6,139 1,479 7,237 5,805 1,432

June 586 7,771 6,223 1,548 7,185 5,779 1,406

September 676 7,963 6,389 1,574 7,287 5,840 1,447

December 514 7,826 6,258 1,568 7,312 5,942 1,370

2006 March 800 7,720 6,294 1,426 6,920 5,639 1,281

June 417 7,784 6,267 1,517 7,367 6,000 1,367

September 37 7,493 6,058 1,435 7,456 6,101 1,355

December 493 7,793 6,254 1,539 7,300 5,947 1,353

2007 March 485 7,651 6,244 1,407 7,166 5,873 1,293

June 196 7,653 6,242 1,411 7,457 6,061 1,396

September -248 7,325 5,853 1,472 7,573 6,214 1,359

December 310 7,670 6,214 1,456 7,360 6,010 1,350

2008 March -280 7,167 5,781 1,386 7,447 6,090 1,357

June -536 7,296 5,869 1,427 7,832 6,334 1,498

September -967 6,884 5,520 1,364 7,851 6,461 1,390

December -1,801 6,738 5,363 1,375 8,539 7,038 1,501

2009 March -2,740 5,746 4,603 1,143 8,486 7,045 1,441

June -1,579 6,420 5,116 1,304 7,999 6,598 1,401

September -964 6,296 5,112 1,184 7,260 5,852 1,408

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

Gross job losses

Year 3 months ended Net change 1

Gross job gains

Total Total
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

1999 March .3 8.0 6.2 1.8 7.7 6.0 1.7

June .6 8.0 6.2 1.8 7.4 5.8 1.6

September .6 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.4 5.8 1.6

December 1.0 8.1 6.4 1.7 7.1 5.6 1.5

2000 March .7 8.0 6.3 1.7 7.3 5.8 1.5

June .4 7.7 6.2 1.5 7.3 5.8 1.5

September .2 7.7 6.1 1.6 7.5 5.9 1.6

December .3 7.6 6.1 1.5 7.3 5.8 1.5

2001 March -.1 7.7 6.1 1.6 7.8 6.1 1.7

June -.8 7.2 5.7 1.5 8.0 6.4 1.6

September -1.2 6.9 5.4 1.5 8.1 6.4 1.7

December -.9 7.0 5.5 1.5 7.9 6.3 1.6

2002 March .0 7.5 5.8 1.7 7.5 6.0 1.5

June .0 7.3 5.7 1.6 7.3 5.8 1.5

September -.1 7.1 5.6 1.5 7.2 5.8 1.4

December .0 7.1 5.6 1.5 7.1 5.7 1.4

2003 March -.4 6.9 5.5 1.4 7.3 5.9 1.4

June -.1 7.0 5.6 1.4 7.1 5.7 1.4

September .2 6.9 5.5 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3

December .3 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3

2004 March .5 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.7 5.4 1.3

June .6 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.6 5.2 1.4

September .3 7.1 5.6 1.5 6.8 5.4 1.4

December .7 7.2 5.7 1.5 6.5 5.2 1.3

2005 March .3 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.6 5.3 1.3

June .5 7.1 5.7 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3

September .6 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3

December .5 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.5 5.3 1.2

2006 March .8 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.1 5.0 1.1

June .4 6.9 5.6 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

September .1 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.6 5.4 1.2

December .4 6.9 5.5 1.4 6.5 5.3 1.2

2007 March .4 6.7 5.5 1.2 6.3 5.2 1.1

June .2 6.7 5.5 1.2 6.5 5.3 1.2

September -.3 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.7 5.5 1.2

December .3 6.8 5.5 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

2008 March -.2 6.3 5.1 1.2 6.5 5.3 1.2

June -.4 6.5 5.2 1.3 6.9 5.6 1.3

September -.8 6.1 4.9 1.2 6.9 5.7 1.2

December -1.6 6.0 4.8 1.2 7.6 6.3 1.3

2009 March -2.5 5.2 4.2 1.0 7.7 6.4 1.3

June -1.5 6.0 4.8 1.2 7.5 6.2 1.3

September -.9 5.9 4.8 1.1 6.8 5.5 1.3

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 losses

Year 3 months ended Net change 2

Gross job gains

Total Total
Table 3. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, seasonally adjusted

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

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

Total private 1

Gross job gains .................................6,884 6,738 5,746 6,420 6,296 6.1 6.0 5.2 6.0 5.9

At expanding establishments ............................. 5,520 5,363 4,603 5,116 5,112 4.9 4.8 4.2 4.8 4.8

At opening establishments ....................... 1,364 1,375 1,143 1,304 1,184 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.2 1.1

Gross job losses .................................7,851 8,539 8,486 7,999 7,260 6.9 7.6 7.7 7.5 6.8

At contracting establishments ........................ 6,461 7,038 7,045 6,598 5,852 5.7 6.3 6.4 6.2 5.5

At closing establishments ................... 1,390 1,501 1,441 1,401 1,408 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

Net employment change .............. -967 -1,801 -2,740 -1,579 -964 -.8 -1.6 -2.5 -1.5 -.9

Goods-producing

Gross job gains .................................1,421 1,318 1,077 1,266 1,330 6.3 6.0 5.2 6.4 6.9

At expanding establishments ............................. 1,193 1,091 890 1,047 1,132 5.3 5.0 4.3 5.3 5.9

At opening establishments ....................... 228 227 187 219 198 1.0 1.0 .9 1.1 1.0

Gross job losses .................................1,794 2,080 2,290 2,145 1,663 8.1 9.5 11.0 10.8 8.6

At contracting establishments ........................ 1,514 1,766 1,983 1,843 1,370 6.8 8.1 9.5 9.3 7.1

At closing establishments ................... 280 314 307 302 293 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5

Net employment change .............. -373 -762 -1,213 -879 -333 -1.8 -3.5 -5.8 -4.4 -1.7

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains .................................280 288 225 283 253 14.9 15.2 12.0 15.8 14.4

At expanding establishments ............................. 242 247 193 239 220 12.9 13.0 10.3 13.3 12.5

At opening establishments ....................... 38 41 32 44 33 2.0 2.2 1.7 2.5 1.9

Gross job losses .................................259 289 339 307 283 13.8 15.2 18.2 17.1 16.0

At contracting establishments ........................ 224 254 295 263 246 11.9 13.4 15.8 14.6 13.9

At closing establishments ...................35 35 44 44 37 1.9 1.8 2.4 2.5 2.1

Net employment change .............. 21 -1 -114 -24 -30 1.1 .0 -6.2 -1.3 -1.6

Construction

Gross job gains .................................710 647 558 614 604 10.0 9.5 8.6 10.1 10.4

At expanding establishments ............................. 563 506 437 480 478 7.9 7.4 6.7 7.9 8.2

At opening establishments ....................... 147 141 121 134 126 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.2 2.2

Gross job losses .................................888 984 990 940 805 12.5 14.4 15.3 15.4 13.7

At contracting establishments ........................ 709 780 797 759 627 10.0 11.4 12.3 12.4 10.7

At closing establishments ................... 179 204 193 181 178 2.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

Net employment change .............. -178 -337 -432 -326 -201 -2.5 -4.9 -6.7 -5.3 -3.3

Manufacturing

Gross job gains .................................431 383 294 369 473 3.2 2.9 2.4 3.0 4.0

At expanding establishments ............................. 388 338 260 328 434 2.9 2.6 2.1 2.7 3.7

At opening establishments ....................... 43 45 34 41 39 .3 .3 .3 .3 .3

Gross job losses .................................647 807 961 898 575 4.8 6.2 7.7 7.5 5.0

At contracting establishments ........................ 581 732 891 821 497 4.3 5.6 7.1 6.9 4.3

At closing establishments ...................66 75 70 77 78 .5 .6 .6 .6 .7

Net employment change .............. -216 -424 -667 -529 -102 -1.6 -3.3 -5.3 -4.5 -1.0

Service-providing 1

Gross job gains .................................5,463 5,420 4,669 5,154 4,966 6.1 6.1 5.3 5.9 5.7

At expanding establishments ............................. 4,327 4,272 3,713 4,069 3,980 4.8 4.8 4.2 4.7 4.6

At opening establishments ....................... 1,136 1,148 956 1,085 986 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.1

Gross job losses .................................6,057 6,459 6,196 5,854 5,597 6.7 7.2 7.0 6.7 6.5

At contracting establishments ........................ 4,947 5,272 5,062 4,755 4,482 5.5 5.9 5.7 5.4 5.2

At closing establishments ................... 1,110 1,187 1,134 1,099 1,115 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

Net employment change .............. -594 -1,039 -1,527 -700 -631 -.6 -1.1 -1.7 -.8 -.8

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains .................................275 260 225 239 230 4.6 4.4 3.9 4.2 4.2

At expanding establishments ............................. 223 205 178 193 186 3.7 3.5 3.1 3.4 3.4

At opening establishments ....................... 52 55 47 46 44 .9 .9 .8 .8 .8

Gross job losses .................................318 366 383 355 306 5.3 6.2 6.6 6.3 5.6

At contracting establishments ........................ 252 291 313 288 235 4.2 4.9 5.4 5.1 4.3

At closing establishments ...................66 75 70 67 71 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3

Net employment change .............. -43 -106 -158 -116 -76 -.7 -1.8 -2.7 -2.1 -1.4

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

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

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

Retail trade

Gross job gains .................................898 837 752 865 825 5.8 5.5 5.1 5.9 5.7

At expanding establishments ............................. 737 702 624 732 697 4.8 4.6 4.2 5.0 4.8

At opening establishments ....................... 161 135 128 133 128 1.0 .9 .9 .9 .9

Gross job losses .................................1,073 1,195 1,025 915 939 6.9 7.9 6.9 6.2 6.4

At contracting establishments ........................ 930 1,036 841 776 795 6.0 6.8 5.7 5.3 5.4

At closing establishments ................... 143 159 184 139 144 .9 1.1 1.2 .9 1.0

Net employment change .............. -175 -358 -273 -50 -114 -1.1 -2.4 -1.8 -.3 -.7

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains .................................211 238 173 184 186 4.9 5.6 4.2 4.5 4.7

At expanding establishments ............................. 178 205 144 151 158 4.1 4.8 3.5 3.7 4.0

At opening establishments ....................... 33 33 29 33 28 .8 .8 .7 .8 .7

Gross job losses .................................253 286 311 290 239 5.9 6.7 7.4 7.2 6.0

At contracting establishments ........................ 212 242 268 245 195 4.9 5.7 6.4 6.1 4.9

At closing establishments ...................41 44 43 45 44 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1

Net employment change .............. -42 -48 -138 -106 -53 -1.0 -1.1 -3.2 -2.7 -1.3

Utilities

Gross job gains .................................13 13 12 12 12 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2

At expanding establishments ............................. 12 12 11 11 11 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0

At opening establishments ....................... 1 1 1 1 1 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2

Gross job losses .................................14 12 10 16 12 2.5 2.2 1.8 2.9 2.2

At contracting establishments ........................ 12 11 9 14 11 2.1 2.0 1.6 2.5 2.0

At closing establishments ................... 2 1 1 2 1 .4 .2 .2 .4 .2

Net employment change .............. -1 1 2 -4 0 -.2 .1 .4 -.7 .0

 Information

Gross job gains .................................132 134 114 111 116 4.4 4.6 4.0 3.9 4.2

At expanding establishments ............................. 109 108 92 90 97 3.6 3.7 3.2 3.2 3.5

At opening establishments ....................... 23 26 22 21 19 .8 .9 .8 .7 .7

Gross job losses .................................171 187 172 160 158 5.7 6.3 6.0 5.6 5.6

At contracting establishments ........................ 142 153 144 134 130 4.7 5.2 5.0 4.7 4.6

At closing establishments ...................29 34 28 26 28 1.0 1.1 1.0 .9 1.0

Net employment change .............. -39 -53 -58 -49 -42 -1.3 -1.7 -2.0 -1.7 -1.4

Financial activities

Gross job gains .................................381 392 333 339 327 4.8 4.9 4.3 4.5 4.3

At expanding establishments ............................. 295 295 263 265 256 3.7 3.7 3.4 3.5 3.4

At opening establishments ....................... 86 97 70 74 71 1.1 1.2 .9 1.0 .9

Gross job losses .................................465 497 456 445 426 5.9 6.3 5.9 5.8 5.6

At contracting establishments ........................ 355 376 356 351 320 4.5 4.8 4.6 4.6 4.2

At closing establishments ................... 110 121 100 94 106 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.4

Net employment change .............. -84 -105 -123 -106 -99 -1.1 -1.4 -1.6 -1.3 -1.3

Professional and business services

Gross job gains .................................1,248 1,241 982 1,140 1,138 7.0 7.1 5.8 6.9 7.0

At expanding establishments ............................. 995 974 778 908 928 5.6 5.6 4.6 5.5 5.7

At opening establishments ....................... 253 267 204 232 210 1.4 1.5 1.2 1.4 1.3

Gross job losses .................................1,434 1,635 1,540 1,471 1,319 8.1 9.3 9.0 8.9 8.0

At contracting establishments ........................ 1,164 1,331 1,264 1,163 1,035 6.6 7.6 7.4 7.0 6.3

At closing establishments ................... 270 304 276 308 284 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.7

Net employment change .............. -186 -394 -558 -331 -181 -1.1 -2.2 -3.2 -2.0 -1.0

Education and health services

Gross job gains .................................808 848 731 770 761 4.5 4.7 4.0 4.2 4.1

At expanding establishments ............................. 683 717 632 647 649 3.8 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.5

At opening establishments ....................... 125 131 99 123 112 .7 .7 .5 .7 .6

Gross job losses .................................707 679 723 710 733 4.0 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.0

At contracting establishments ........................ 590 560 606 588 597 3.3 3.1 3.3 3.2 3.3

At closing establishments ................... 117 119 117 122 136 .7 .7 .6 .7 .7

Net employment change .............. 101 169 8 60 28 .5 .9 .1 .3 .1

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

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

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

 Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains .................................1,134 1,121 1,023 1,114 1,028 8.5 8.4 7.7 8.5 7.9

At expanding establishments ............................. 859 835 782 853 790 6.4 6.3 5.9 6.5 6.1

At opening establishments ....................... 275 286 241 261 238 2.1 2.1 1.8 2.0 1.8

Gross job losses .................................1,276 1,246 1,236 1,174 1,139 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.0 8.7

At contracting establishments ........................ 1,034 1,008 1,009 962 928 7.7 7.6 7.6 7.4 7.1

At closing establishments ................... 242 238 227 212 211 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6

Net employment change .............. -142 -125 -213 -60 -111 -1.0 -1.0 -1.6 -.5 -.8

 Other services

Gross job gains .................................287 269 248 265 245 7.3 6.9 6.5 7.0 6.6

At expanding establishments ............................. 223 209 198 208 194 5.7 5.4 5.2 5.5 5.2

At opening establishments ....................... 64 60 50 57 51 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.4

Gross job losses .................................310 323 309 290 293 7.9 8.4 8.1 7.7 7.8

At contracting establishments ........................ 246 255 244 226 228 6.3 6.6 6.4 6.0 6.1

At closing establishments ...................64 68 65 64 65 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7

Net employment change .............. -23 -54 -61 -25 -48 -.6 -1.5 -1.6 -.7 -1.2

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 percentage share 1 of gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted 

(Percent)

Sept. Dec. Mar. June Sept.

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

Firm size 1 - 4 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 16.5 17.1 18.2 16.9 16.5

Expanding firms .................................. 7.7 7.7 8.8 8.0 7.9

Opening firms ................................. 60.0 61.6 61.3 58.6 61.6

Gross job losses ...................................... 15.3 14.5 14.9 14.4 16.1

Contracting firms ................................ 7.3 6.9 6.9 6.7 7.2

Closing firms ...........................................60.8 60.9 61.6 61.5 61.4

Firm size 5 - 9 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 12.2 11.8 13.3 12.4 12.0

Expanding firms .................................. 11.4 11.1 12.7 11.7 11.3

Opening firms ................................. 16.4 15.3 16.3 15.9 15.6

Gross job losses ...................................... 11.3 10.8 10.9 10.5 11.1

Contracting firms ................................ 10.5 10.0 10.1 9.7 10.2

Closing firms ...........................................15.8 15.8 15.2 15.8 15.7

Firm size 10 - 19 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 12.3 11.8 13.1 12.6 12.0

Expanding firms .................................. 12.6 12.1 13.7 13.0 12.4

Opening firms ................................. 10.9 10.2 10.7 10.8 10.3

Gross job losses ...................................... 11.6 11.2 11.3 10.9 11.3

Contracting firms ................................ 11.8 11.3 11.6 11.0 11.6

Closing firms ...........................................10.2 10.4 9.9 10.2 10.0

Firm size 20 - 49 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 14.3 13.6 14.8 14.7 13.9

Expanding firms .................................. 15.5 14.8 16.3 16.1 15.1

Opening firms ................................. 8.1 7.7 7.7 8.3 7.7

Gross job losses ...................................... 13.9 13.5 14.1 13.1 13.5

Contracting firms ................................ 15.0 14.5 15.2 14.1 14.8

Closing firms ...........................................7.7 7.6 7.3 7.3 7.1

Firm size 50 - 99 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 9.0 8.5 8.9 9.1 8.8

Expanding firms .................................. 10.3 9.7 10.3 10.4 10.0

Opening firms ................................. 2.8 2.9 2.5 2.7 2.8

Gross job losses ...................................... 8.7 8.9 9.4 8.5 8.4

Contracting firms ................................ 9.8 9.9 10.5 9.5 9.5

Closing firms ...........................................2.8 2.6 2.9 2.6 2.5

See footnote at end of table.

Category

3 months ended
Table 4. Private sector percentage share 1 of gross job gains and losses, seasonally adjusted—Continued 

(Percent)

Sept. Dec. Mar. June Sept.

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

Firm size 100 - 249 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 9.4 9.2 8.9 9.5 9.3

Expanding firms .................................. 11.0 10.8 10.6 11.2 10.8

Opening firms ................................. 1.3 1.5 1.1 1.5 1.5

Gross job losses ...................................... 9.4 9.6 10.1 9.3 9.0

Contracting firms ................................ 10.8 10.9 11.5 10.5 10.5

Closing firms ...........................................1.5 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.5

Firm size 250 - 499 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 5.7 5.6 5.1 5.6 5.7

Expanding firms .................................. 6.8 6.6 6.1 6.7 6.7

Opening firms ................................. .3 .5 .2 .4 .4

Gross job losses ...................................... 5.6 5.9 6.2 5.9 5.7

Contracting firms ................................ 6.5 6.7 7.1 6.8 6.7

Closing firms ............................................5 .7 .6 .6 .6

Firm size 500 - 999 employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 4.6 4.6 4.0 4.4 4.9

Expanding firms .................................. 5.5 5.5 4.9 5.3 5.8

Opening firms ................................. .1 .2 .1 .3 .1

Gross job losses ...................................... 4.8 5.0 5.0 5.3 4.7

Contracting firms ................................ 5.6 5.7 5.8 6.1 5.6

Closing firms ............................................3 .3 .4 .2 .4

Firm size 1,000 or more employees

Gross job gains ...................................... 16.0 17.8 13.7 14.7 16.9

Expanding firms .................................. 19.2 21.6 16.7 17.6 20.1

Opening firms ................................. .0 .0 .1 1.3 .0

Gross job losses ...................................... 19.4 20.7 18.1 22.1 20.2

Contracting firms ................................ 22.8 24.1 21.1 25.7 24.0

Closing firms ............................................4 .1 .7 .1 .8

1

 Shares measure the percent of the category represented by each firm size class, and shares may not sum to 100.0 

due to rounding.

Category

3 months ended
Table 5. Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

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

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

United States 1 ................................... 6,884,000 6,738,000 5,746,000 6,420,000 6,296,000 7,851,000 8,539,000 8,486,000 7,999,000 7,260,000

Alabama ..................... 94,816 84,322 74,548 80,612 83,587 108,668 120,361 116,192 105,956 102,211

Alaska ........................................ 23,913 26,344 23,272 25,501 22,555 26,373 26,644 25,380 25,347 24,767

Arizona ...................... 138,104 129,134 113,324 114,433 127,059 161,362 194,424 176,971 167,403 144,082

Arkansas ........................59,379 55,099 51,314 49,030 53,525 62,685 66,942 66,292 69,982 58,259

California .......................... 832,705 820,460 672,802 772,918 754,988 980,907 1,035,009 1,048,711 976,062 950,556

Colorado .......................136,014 127,607 109,813 119,950 118,040 148,883 161,271 161,315 152,189 138,776

Connecticut ......................... 74,504 71,972 62,355 71,878 69,384 88,540 92,523 91,796 86,207 79,698

Delaware .......................... 23,376 23,084 18,591 21,917 18,838 28,958 27,469 27,761 24,826 23,796

District of Columbia ........................... 28,071 25,184 25,858 24,547 22,534 26,487 31,325 28,003 25,894 27,476

Florida ..................................... 450,727 444,118 354,281 391,029 397,599 569,824 596,670 503,337 496,060 478,219

Georgia ...........................221,705 214,969 191,622 206,461 190,583 259,990 299,060 268,140 260,392 234,743

Hawaii ......................... 25,618 24,171 21,712 22,904 23,372 33,655 33,051 30,629 31,193 28,454

Idaho .......................... 40,993 38,827 35,289 37,691 39,334 46,621 49,612 54,035 48,908 38,018

Illinois ..............................254,616 244,575 209,855 248,535 235,424 299,802 332,994 327,887 322,641 284,697

Indiana ................................ 144,580 130,650 113,691 127,656 140,910 162,479 192,024 186,934 178,336 140,584

Iowa ....................................... 74,239 71,891 62,521 67,741 64,060 76,942 86,117 86,010 81,445 71,247

Kansas ..................................... 67,406 74,158 55,477 58,952 57,666 75,312 78,873 79,420 81,324 67,589

Kentucky ........................................ 82,629 85,641 74,235 80,446 83,163 100,464 107,293 110,211 102,102 89,218

Louisiana ....................................... 104,278 121,916 94,269 90,921 96,911 121,182 105,935 115,118 120,721 112,469

Maine .......................................... 35,159 38,167 30,943 37,231 35,942 42,833 41,793 42,142 39,597 36,653

Maryland ................................... 129,603 126,900 116,989 127,395 117,095 141,918 155,992 148,339 138,683 138,105

Massachusetts ................................ 155,137 148,012 121,358 153,055 145,879 174,428 191,351 181,911 169,900 160,835

Michigan ............................ 205,112 200,389 164,809 207,715 234,479 264,090 294,392 286,628 299,545 234,549

Minnesota ................................ 126,433 118,930 110,150 130,928 126,646 144,331 155,332 163,810 150,093 142,075

Mississippi ................................ 55,227 57,211 48,330 47,816 50,459 67,213 69,254 65,774 64,564 58,740

Missouri .............................. 133,363 133,009 121,936 127,656 126,233 147,161 168,117 163,155 159,538 145,067

Montana ...........................27,560 28,012 24,030 27,411 25,348 28,955 31,386 35,614 29,232 27,463

Nebraska ............................ 45,532 44,014 38,462 40,000 39,577 45,372 50,286 49,912 48,467 42,057

Nevada ................................ 66,047 62,481 54,469 55,000 58,837 88,116 100,495 91,854 82,009 73,918

New Hampshire ............................... 35,183 33,928 31,117 35,690 32,864 39,170 41,931 41,234 41,021 37,478

New Jersey ...................................... 195,759 189,766 167,754 214,410 188,559 239,062 253,478 231,640 228,474 216,432

New Mexico .................................. 45,984 40,826 36,132 38,339 39,184 46,436 53,047 51,493 49,388 41,977

New York .................................... 444,515 436,017 356,418 439,771 410,127 471,375 507,653 502,806 496,423 447,883

North Carolina .............................. 212,080 197,127 173,772 188,633 183,145 238,284 266,978 259,811 236,650 212,417

North Dakota ............................... 20,282 19,568 16,743 19,483 20,164 18,303 19,341 21,853 19,578 18,109

Ohio .................................... 246,154 228,078 201,205 236,932 233,706 285,458 323,982 317,188 316,738 260,654

Oklahoma .................................... 79,824 78,259 69,370 66,260 65,335 79,507 85,333 99,578 100,494 86,247

Oregon ................................. 98,852 86,304 78,047 86,577 86,169 100,641 126,963 125,470 108,603 93,229

Pennsylvania ........................270,270 256,668 231,793 254,916 250,863 295,758 318,345 318,399 302,189 285,919

Rhode Island ...................................... 24,463 22,015 21,276 24,361 21,553 28,658 30,698 29,893 25,285 29,240

South Carolina ............................................ 88,569 86,056 78,586 86,025 83,889 109,742 123,643 119,015 110,427 96,914

South Dakota ..................................... 21,147 21,073 18,050 20,798 19,821 20,835 22,779 24,121 24,173 21,148

Tennessee .................................... 125,414 118,251 99,890 118,193 114,982 160,823 165,472 160,793 159,338 134,568

Texas .................................... 506,352 537,006 435,060 442,377 440,450 538,845 563,136 600,010 598,252 519,753

Utah ............................................. 67,910 65,196 56,649 62,683 68,122 74,639 84,194 84,251 80,188 70,320

Vermont ................................ 17,186 17,967 15,801 17,916 16,408 19,164 20,207 21,649 21,155 17,522

Virginia .................................... 179,200 171,660 151,646 168,537 158,307 201,098 211,212 203,738 198,874 184,500

Washington ............................. 172,096 157,410 151,373 158,451 158,563 165,586 206,251 202,667 190,911 170,635

West Virginia ................................. 38,757 39,356 34,103 32,836 32,674 36,898 40,515 43,258 44,398 37,355

Wisconsin ................................... 131,758 129,090 113,792 124,463 120,316 150,873 162,823 174,665 160,442 142,424

Wyoming .................................... 21,355 19,848 18,033 15,800 16,676 18,960 20,038 26,326 25,436 17,900

Puerto Rico .............................. 44,689 45,140 36,240 37,255 41,232 49,724 51,035 57,413 50,935 44,962

Virgin Islands ................................. 2,049 1,978 1,610 1,618 1,727 2,286 2,238 2,611 2,702 2,225

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

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

2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

United States ................................... 6.1 6.0 5.2 6.0 5.9 6.9 7.6 7.7 7.5 6.8

Alabama ......................................6.0 5.4 4.9 5.5 5.7 6.9 7.8 7.7 7.2 7.0

Alaska ........................................ 10.1 11.1 9.7 10.8 9.7 11.1 11.2 10.7 10.8 10.6

Arizona ......................................6.3 6.0 5.5 5.7 6.4 7.4 9.1 8.6 8.4 7.3

Arkansas ....................................6.1 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.8 6.4 6.9 6.9 7.4 6.3

California ............................................ 6.5 6.5 5.5 6.5 6.4 7.6 8.3 8.5 8.1 8.0

Colorado ................................... 7.0 6.7 5.9 6.5 6.5 7.6 8.3 8.5 8.2 7.6

Connecticut ......................... 5.2 5.1 4.5 5.2 5.1 6.1 6.5 6.6 6.3 5.8

Delaware ............................................... 6.4 6.5 5.3 6.3 5.5 8.0 7.7 7.9 7.2 7.0

District of Columbia ...........................6.2 5.6 5.8 5.5 5.1 5.8 7.0 6.3 5.8 6.2

Florida ..................................... 6.8 6.9 5.7 6.4 6.5 8.7 9.2 8.0 8.1 7.9

Georgia ...........................................6.6 6.6 6.0 6.5 6.1 7.8 9.1 8.4 8.2 7.6

Hawaii ......................................5.1 4.9 4.5 4.8 5.0 6.8 6.8 6.4 6.6 6.0

Idaho .........................................7.6 7.3 6.8 7.5 8.0 8.6 9.4 10.4 9.8 7.6

Illinois .........................................5.0 4.9 4.4 5.2 5.0 5.9 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.0

Indiana ................................ 5.8 5.3 4.8 5.6 6.2 6.6 7.9 7.9 7.7 6.1

Iowa ....................................... 5.9 5.8 5.1 5.6 5.4 6.2 7.0 7.0 6.8 6.0

Kansas ..................................... 6.1 6.7 5.1 5.4 5.5 6.7 7.1 7.2 7.6 6.4

Kentucky ........................................ 5.5 5.9 5.2 5.7 5.9 6.8 7.3 7.6 7.2 6.4

Louisiana .......................................6.8 7.9 6.1 6.1 6.5 7.9 6.9 7.5 8.0 7.6

Maine .................................................. 7.0 7.7 6.3 7.8 7.5 8.5 8.5 8.6 8.2 7.7

Maryland .....................................6.3 6.2 5.8 6.4 5.9 6.9 7.6 7.3 7.0 7.0

Massachusetts .................................. 5.5 5.3 4.4 5.7 5.4 6.2 6.9 6.6 6.2 6.0

Michigan .............................. 5.9 5.9 5.0 6.5 7.4 7.6 8.7 8.7 9.4 7.4

Minnesota ................................ 5.5 5.2 4.9 6.0 5.8 6.2 6.8 7.3 6.8 6.6

Mississippi ................................ 6.3 6.5 5.6 5.6 6.1 7.6 7.9 7.6 7.7 7.1

Missouri .............................. 5.9 5.9 5.5 5.9 5.9 6.5 7.4 7.3 7.4 6.8

Montana ............................... 7.7 7.9 6.9 8.0 7.5 8.1 8.9 10.3 8.6 8.2

Nebraska ............................... 6.0 5.8 5.1 5.4 5.4 6.0 6.6 6.6 6.5 5.7

Nevada ................................ 6.0 5.8 5.3 5.5 6.1 8.1 9.4 8.9 8.3 7.6

New Hampshire ............................... 6.5 6.4 5.9 6.8 6.4 7.2 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.3

New Jersey ...................................... 5.9 5.8 5.2 6.8 5.9 7.2 7.7 7.2 7.2 6.8

New Mexico .................................. 7.2 6.5 5.9 6.3 6.5 7.3 8.4 8.3 8.2 7.0

New York ....................................6.2 6.1 5.0 6.4 5.9 6.6 7.2 7.1 7.2 6.5

North Carolina ..............................6.3 5.9 5.4 5.9 5.9 7.1 8.1 8.1 7.5 6.8

North Dakota ...............................7.1 6.8 5.9 6.8 7.1 6.4 6.8 7.7 6.9 6.3

Ohio .................................... 5.5 5.2 4.7 5.6 5.6 6.3 7.3 7.4 7.5 6.3

Oklahoma ....................................6.5 6.3 5.7 5.6 5.6 6.4 6.9 8.2 8.5 7.5

Oregon ................................. 6.9 6.1 5.7 6.4 6.5 7.0 9.0 9.2 8.1 7.1

Pennsylvania ........................ 5.5 5.2 4.8 5.3 5.3 6.0 6.5 6.6 6.3 6.1

Rhode Island ...................................... 6.0 5.4 5.4 6.2 5.6 7.1 7.7 7.6 6.5 7.6

South Carolina ............................................ 5.8 5.7 5.4 6.0 5.9 7.2 8.2 8.1 7.7 6.8

South Dakota ..................................... 6.5 6.5 5.6 6.5 6.2 6.4 7.0 7.5 7.6 6.7

Tennessee ....................................5.4 5.2 4.5 5.4 5.4 7.0 7.3 7.3 7.4 6.3

Texas .................................... 5.8 6.2 5.0 5.2 5.3 6.2 6.5 7.0 7.1 6.3

Utah .............................................6.7 6.5 5.8 6.5 7.1 7.3 8.3 8.6 8.4 7.4

Vermont ................................ 6.9 7.2 6.5 7.5 6.9 7.7 8.1 8.8 8.8 7.4

Virginia ....................................6.0 5.8 5.2 5.9 5.6 6.7 7.2 7.0 7.0 6.5

Washington ............................. 7.2 6.7 6.5 6.9 7.1 6.9 8.7 8.7 8.4 7.5

West Virginia .................................6.8 6.9 6.0 5.9 6.0 6.4 7.1 7.7 8.0 6.8

Wisconsin ...................................5.5 5.4 4.9 5.5 5.4 6.3 6.9 7.5 7.1 6.4

Wyoming ....................................9.6 8.9 8.1 7.4 8.1 8.5 8.9 11.9 12.0 8.7

Puerto Rico .............................. 6.2 6.3 5.2 5.4 6.1 6.9 7.1 8.2 7.4 6.6

Virgin Islands .................................6.3 6.1 5.1 5.3 5.7 7.0 6.9 8.2 8.8 7.4

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 

(3 months ended)

Gross job losses as a percent of employment

(3 months ended)
Table 7. Private sector establishment births and deaths, seasonally adjusted

(Levels in thousands)

Level Rate 2 Level Rate Level Rate Level Rate

1999 March 198 3.2 184 3.0 1,305 1.2 1,248 1.2

June 206 3.4 184 3.0 1,308 1.2 1,118 1.0

September 206 3.3 186 3.0 1,243 1.2 1,127 1.0

December 203 3.3 183 3.0 1,207 1.1 1,102 1.0

2000 March 211 3.4 186 3.0 1,227 1.1 1,117 1.0

June 205 3.3 181 2.9 1,142 1.0 1,063 1.0

September 212 3.4 199 3.2 1,166 1.1 1,167 1.1

December 200 3.2 194 3.1 1,144 1.0 1,120 1.0

2001 March 205 3.3 203 3.2 1,174 1.1 1,292 1.2

June 204 3.2 205 3.3 1,151 1.0 1,236 1.1

September 204 3.2 209 3.3 1,156 1.1 1,232 1.1

December 197 3.1 200 3.2 1,121 1.0 1,150 1.1

2002 March 203 3.2 190 3.0 1,202 1.1 1,109 1.0

June 209 3.3 186 2.9 1,192 1.1 1,086 1.0

September 201 3.2 184 2.9 1,055 1.0 1,026 1.0

December 203 3.2 191 3.0 1,026 1.0 1,028 1.0

2003 March 192 3.0 186 2.9 997 .9 1,007 .9

June 192 3.0 186 2.9 965 .9 956 .9

September 193 3.0 179 2.8 959 .9 884 .8

December 201 3.1 179 2.8 1,010 .9 921 .9

2004 March 205 3.2 180 2.8 998 .9 914 .9

June 202 3.1 184 2.8 982 .9 909 .8

September 210 3.2 186 2.8 1,017 .9 955 .9

December 212 3.2 181 2.7 1,001 .9 900 .8

2005 March 210 3.2 185 2.8 943 .9 850 .8

June 216 3.2 180 2.7 952 .9 839 .8

September 220 3.3 186 2.8 995 .9 886 .8

December 224 3.3 188 2.8 980 .9 852 .8

2006 March 220 3.2 181 2.7 921 .8 739 .7

June 220 3.2 194 2.8 975 .9 843 .7

September 210 3.1 196 2.9 926 .8 837 .7

December 222 3.2 194 2.8 969 .9 815 .7

2007 March 212 3.1 193 2.8 890 .8 763 .7

June 204 2.9 201 2.9 882 .8 851 .7

September 218 3.1 203 2.9 942 .8 845 .7

December 209 3.0 207 3.0 909 .8 841 .7

2008 March 207 3.0 210 3.0 889 .8 803 .7

June 199 2.9 227 3.3 875 .8 936 .8

September 191 2.7 223 3.2 829 .7 882 .8

December 193 2.8 241 3.5 808 .7 958 .9

2009 March 171 2.5 N/A N/A 697 .6 N/A N/A

June 177 2.6 N/A N/A 740 .7 N/A N/A

September 169 2.5 N/A N/A 695 .7 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