For release 10:00 a.m. (EST), Friday, November 16, 2012 USDL-12-2261

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

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

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FIRST QUARTER 2012

From December 2011 to March 2012 gross

job gains from opening and expanding private 

sector establishments were 6.9 million, an 

increase of 26,000 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 6.1 million, a decrease of 

399,000 from the previous quarter. 

The difference between the number of gross 

job gains and the number of gross job losses 

yielded a net employment change of 814,000 

jobs in the private sector during the first 

quarter of 2012. (See table 1.) 

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 job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Technical 

Note for more information.) 

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

subsector 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. 

Changes to Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Data 

Data in this release incorporate annual revisions to the BED series. Annual revisions are published each 

year with the release of first quarter data. These revisions cover the last four quarters of not seasonally 

adjusted data and five years of seasonally adjusted data. 
- 2 - 

Gross job gains at expanding establishments 

totaled 5.7 million in first quarter 2012, an 

increase of 149,000 from the previous quarter. 

Opening establishments accounted for 1.2 million 

jobs gained in first quarter 2012, a decrease of 

123,000 from the previous quarter. 

Contracting establishments lost 4.9 million jobs 

in first quarter 2012. This is a decrease of 303,000 

from the prior quarter. 

In first quarter 2012, closing establishments lost 

1.2 million jobs, a decrease of 96,000 from the 

previous quarter. (See tables 1 and 3.) 

 

Gross job gains represented 6.3 percent of private 

sector employment in first quarter 2012, while 

gross job losses represented 5.6 percent of private 

sector employment. (See table 2.) 

In first quarter 2012, the number of establishment births (a subset of the openings data, see the Technical Note 

for more information) fell by 9,000 to 193,000. These new establishments accounted for 748,000 jobs, a 

decrease of 54,000 from the previous quarter. (See table 8.) 

Data for establishment deaths (a subset of the closings data) are available through second quarter 2011, when 

677,000 jobs were lost at 190,000 establishments. These figures represent an increase from the prior quarter 

when 610,000 jobs were lost at 184,000 establishments. 

During first quarter 2012, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all industry sectors except information, 

and transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing experienced its eighth consecutive quarter of net 

employment gains. The leisure and hospitality industry experienced a net employment gain of 250,000 jobs, 

representing the largest net employment gain in that industry since the series began in 1992. (See table 3.) 
- 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. 

Gross job losses declined in all three major firm size classes compared to the previous quarter. Firms with 1-49 

employees and firms with 50-249 employees experienced their lowest level of gross job losses since the series 

began. Firms with 1-49 employees accounted for 44 percent of the total net change in employment for first 

quarter 2012. (See tables 4 and 5.)

In the first quarter of 2012, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 48 states and the District of Columbia. 

Texas had the largest net employment gain of 90,354 jobs, followed by California with 82,314 jobs and New 

York with 63,717 jobs. (See table 6.) Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rhode Island, 

and the District of Columbia had both a rate of gross job gains at or above the U.S average of 6.3 percent, and a 

rate of gross job losses that was the same or below the national rate of 5.6 percent. (See table 7.) 

More Information 

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

information includes data on the levels and rates of gross job gains and gross job losses by firm size, 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 Second Quarter 2012 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, 

January 29, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (EST). 

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

Category 

3 months ended 

Mar. June Sept. Dec. Mar. 

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 

Levels (in thousands) 

Gross job gains.................................... 6,437 6,942 7,136 6,909 6,935 

 At expanding establishments........... 5,272 5,646 5,776 5,557 5,706 

 At opening establishments............... 1,165 1,296 1,360 1,352 1,229 

 

Gross job losses................................... 6,145 6,339 6,342 6,520 6,121 

 At contracting establishments........... 5,010 5,111 5,194 5,238 4,935 

 At closing establishments................ 1,135 1,228 1,148 1,282 1,186 

 

Net employment change1........................ 292 603 794 389 814 

 

Rates (percent) 

Gross job gains................................ 6.0 6.5 6.7 6.3 6.3 

 At expanding establishments....... 4.9 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2 

 At opening establishments............ 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.1 

 

Gross job losses............................... 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 5.6 

 At contracting establishments........ 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.5 

 At closing establishments............. 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 

 

Net employment change1..................... .2 .6 .8 .3 .7 
- 4 - 

Technical Note

 The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are 

a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as 

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). 

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 9.2 million employers 

 Count of longitudinally-linked UI 

administrative records submitted by 

6.8 million private sector employers 

 Sample Survey: 486,000 

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 9.2 million total 

reports of employment and wages submitted by states to 

BLS in the first quarter of 2012. 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 (49,972 units 

rounded to 0.0 million) 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 first quarter 2012: 

Number of active establishments included in 

Business Employment Dynamics data at the 

national level 

 Millions 

Total establishments QCEW program .........9.2 

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

 Private households ................0.8 

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

 Establishments in Puerto Rico 

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

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 
- 6 - 

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. 

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 
- 7 - 

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-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 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

2002 March -10 8,071 6,298 1,773 8,081 6,434 1,647

June -30 7,868 6,145 1,723 7,898 6,274 1,624

September -151 7,630 6,039 1,591 7,781 6,248 1,533

December -241 7,483 5,938 1,545 7,724 6,185 1,539

2003 March -393 7,467 5,928 1,539 7,860 6,307 1,553

June -90 7,398 5,929 1,469 7,488 6,030 1,458

September 204 7,392 5,923 1,469 7,188 5,828 1,360

December 297 7,521 6,005 1,516 7,224 5,800 1,424

2004 March 470 7,715 6,204 1,511 7,245 5,795 1,450

June 644 7,754 6,235 1,519 7,110 5,639 1,471

September 206 7,633 6,060 1,573 7,427 5,888 1,539

December 757 7,844 6,243 1,601 7,087 5,663 1,424

2005 March 384 7,620 6,131 1,489 7,236 5,801 1,435

June 593 7,774 6,231 1,543 7,181 5,776 1,405

September 677 7,965 6,387 1,578 7,288 5,844 1,444

December 494 7,807 6,252 1,555 7,313 5,948 1,365

2006 March 874 7,797 6,354 1,443 6,923 5,636 1,287

June 371 7,758 6,246 1,512 7,387 6,015 1,372

September 52 7,499 6,061 1,438 7,447 6,097 1,350

December 455 7,740 6,223 1,517 7,285 5,941 1,344

2007 March 549 7,727 6,297 1,430 7,178 5,881 1,297

June 149 7,632 6,222 1,410 7,483 6,079 1,404

September -252 7,318 5,847 1,471 7,570 6,215 1,355

December 299 7,658 6,196 1,462 7,359 6,012 1,347

2008 March -227 7,233 5,826 1,407 7,460 6,095 1,365

June -575 7,257 5,851 1,406 7,832 6,354 1,478

September -968 6,879 5,515 1,364 7,847 6,462 1,385

December -1,793 6,712 5,360 1,352 8,505 7,022 1,483

2009 March -2,706 5,834 4,648 1,186 8,540 7,122 1,418

June -1,656 6,395 5,093 1,302 8,051 6,669 1,382

September -899 6,335 5,119 1,216 7,234 5,874 1,360

December -217 6,651 5,325 1,326 6,868 5,583 1,285

2010 March -266 6,245 5,078 1,167 6,511 5,308 1,203

June 722 6,972 5,690 1,282 6,250 5,087 1,163

September 187 6,669 5,416 1,253 6,482 5,253 1,229

December 609 7,027 5,651 1,376 6,418 5,193 1,225

2011 March 292 6,437 5,272 1,165 6,145 5,010 1,135

June 603 6,942 5,646 1,296 6,339 5,111 1,228

September 794 7,136 5,776 1,360 6,342 5,194 1,148

December 389 6,909 5,557 1,352 6,520 5,238 1,282

2012 March 814 6,935 5,706 1,229 6,121 4,935 1,186

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

2002 March .0 7.5 5.9 1.6 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 -.3 6.9 5.5 1.4 7.2 5.8 1.4

2003 March -.5 6.9 5.5 1.4 7.4 5.9 1.5

June .0 7.0 5.6 1.4 7.0 5.6 1.4

September .1 6.9 5.5 1.4 6.8 5.5 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 .4 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3

June .6 7.1 5.7 1.4 6.5 5.2 1.3

September .6 7.2 5.8 1.4 6.6 5.3 1.3

December .4 7.0 5.6 1.4 6.6 5.4 1.2

2006 March .9 7.0 5.7 1.3 6.1 5.0 1.1

June .3 6.8 5.5 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

September .1 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.6 5.4 1.2

December .3 6.8 5.5 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

2007 March .5 6.8 5.5 1.3 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 .2 6.7 5.4 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

2008 March -.2 6.3 5.1 1.2 6.5 5.3 1.2

June -.6 6.3 5.1 1.2 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 -2.4 5.4 4.3 1.1 7.8 6.5 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

December -.1 6.4 5.1 1.3 6.5 5.3 1.2

2010 March -.2 5.9 4.8 1.1 6.1 5.0 1.1

June .7 6.6 5.4 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1

September .1 6.3 5.1 1.2 6.2 5.0 1.2

December .5 6.6 5.3 1.3 6.1 4.9 1.2

2011 March .2 6.0 4.9 1.1 5.8 4.7 1.1

June .6 6.5 5.3 1.2 5.9 4.8 1.1

September .8 6.7 5.4 1.3 5.9 4.8 1.1

December .3 6.3 5.1 1.2 6.0 4.8 1.2

2012 March .7 6.3 5.2 1.1 5.6 4.5 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

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

Total private 1

Gross job gains ........................... 6,437 6,942 7,136 6,909 6,935 6.0 6.5 6.7 6.3 6.3

At expanding establishments ......... 5,272 5,646 5,776 5,557 5,706 4.9 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2

At opening establishments ............ 1,165 1,296 1,360 1,352 1,229 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.1

Gross job losses ........................... 6,145 6,339 6,342 6,520 6,121 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 5.6

At contracting establishments ......... 5,010 5,111 5,194 5,238 4,935 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.5

At closing establishments ............ 1,135 1,228 1,148 1,282 1,186 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1

Net employment change .............. 292 603 794 389 814 .2 .6 .8 .3 .7

Goods-producing

Gross job gains ........................... 1,318 1,413 1,461 1,363 1,386 7.0 7.5 7.6 7.0 7.1

At expanding establishments ......... 1,118 1,194 1,233 1,144 1,184 5.9 6.3 6.4 5.9 6.1

At opening establishments ............ 200 219 228 219 202 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0

Gross job losses ........................... 1,287 1,275 1,271 1,356 1,241 6.8 6.7 6.6 7.0 6.4

At contracting establishments ......... 1,064 1,041 1,061 1,121 1,027 5.6 5.5 5.5 5.8 5.3

At closing establishments ............ 223 234 210 235 214 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1

Net employment change .............. 31 138 190 7 145 .2 .8 1.0 .0 .7

Natural resources and mining

Gross job gains ........................... 264 285 306 298 288 14.3 15.4 16.2 15.4 14.5

At expanding establishments ......... 227 245 262 253 250 12.3 13.2 13.9 13.1 12.6

At opening establishments ............ 37 40 44 45 38 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.3 1.9

Gross job losses ........................... 264 260 242 270 258 14.3 14.1 12.9 13.9 13.0

At contracting establishments ......... 229 216 211 235 221 12.4 11.7 11.2 12.1 11.1

At closing establishments ............ 35 44 31 35 37 1.9 2.4 1.7 1.8 1.9

Net employment change .............. 0 25 64 28 30 .0 1.3 3.3 1.5 1.5

Construction

Gross job gains ........................... 625 669 691 632 662 11.4 12.3 12.6 11.4 11.9

At expanding establishments ......... 498 529 549 498 538 9.1 9.7 10.0 9.0 9.7

At opening establishments ............ 127 140 142 134 124 2.3 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.2

Gross job losses ........................... 649 634 619 659 616 11.9 11.6 11.3 11.9 11.1

At contracting establishments ......... 506 495 489 513 487 9.3 9.1 8.9 9.3 8.8

At closing establishments ............ 143 139 130 146 129 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.3

Net employment change .............. -24 35 72 -27 46 -.5 .7 1.3 -.5 .8

Manufacturing

Gross job gains ........................... 429 459 464 433 436 3.7 3.9 4.0 3.6 3.6

At expanding establishments ......... 393 420 422 393 396 3.4 3.6 3.6 3.3 3.3

At opening establishments ............ 36 39 42 40 40 .3 .3 .4 .3 .3

Gross job losses ........................... 374 381 410 427 367 3.2 3.2 3.5 3.7 3.1

At contracting establishments ......... 329 330 361 373 319 2.8 2.8 3.1 3.2 2.7

At closing establishments ............ 45 51 49 54 48 .4 .4 .4 .5 .4

Net employment change .............. 55 78 54 6 69 .5 .7 .5 -.1 .5

Service-providing 1

Gross job gains ........................... 5,119 5,529 5,675 5,546 5,549 5.8 6.2 6.4 6.2 6.1

At expanding establishments ......... 4,154 4,452 4,543 4,413 4,522 4.7 5.0 5.1 4.9 5.0

At opening establishments ............ 965 1,077 1,132 1,133 1,027 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.1

Gross job losses ........................... 4,858 5,064 5,071 5,164 4,880 5.5 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.4

At contracting establishments ......... 3,946 4,070 4,133 4,117 3,908 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.3

At closing establishments ............ 912 994 938 1,047 972 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1

Net employment change .............. 261 465 604 382 669 .3 .5 .6 .4 .7

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains ........................... 263 286 288 276 282 4.8 5.1 5.2 4.9 5.1

At expanding establishments ......... 216 234 232 223 234 3.9 4.2 4.2 4.0 4.2

At opening establishments ............ 47 52 56 53 48 .9 .9 1.0 .9 .9

Gross job losses ........................... 246 244 255 250 244 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.3

At contracting establishments ......... 188 186 202 191 186 3.4 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.3

At closing establishments ............ 58 58 53 59 58 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0

Net employment change .............. 17 42 33 26 38 .3 .7 .6 .4 .8

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

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

Retail trade

Gross job gains ........................... 817 904 880 898 883 5.6 6.2 5.9 6.1 5.9

At expanding establishments ......... 704 773 741 776 761 4.8 5.3 5.0 5.3 5.1

At opening establishments ............ 113 131 139 122 122 .8 .9 .9 .8 .8

Gross job losses ........................... 818 779 866 821 845 5.6 5.3 5.8 5.6 5.7

At contracting establishments ......... 706 659 757 695 738 4.8 4.5 5.1 4.7 5.0

At closing establishments ............ 112 120 109 126 107 .8 .8 .7 .9 .7

Net employment change .............. -1 125 14 77 38 .0 .9 .1 .5 .2

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains ........................... 207 222 230 244 213 5.1 5.4 5.6 5.9 5.2

At expanding establishments ......... 174 188 193 210 181 4.3 4.6 4.7 5.1 4.4

At opening establishments ............ 33 34 37 34 32 .8 .8 .9 .8 .8

Gross job losses ........................... 224 198 197 203 219 5.5 4.9 4.8 4.9 5.2

At contracting establishments ......... 191 161 164 166 185 4.7 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.4

At closing establishments ............ 33 37 33 37 34 .8 .9 .8 .9 .8

Net employment change .............. -17 24 33 41 -6 -.4 .5 .8 1.0 .0

Utilities

Gross job gains ........................... 11 12 11 12 11 2.0 2.2 2.0 2.2 2.0

At expanding establishments ......... 10 10 10 10 10 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8

At opening establishments ............ 1 2 1 2 1 .2 .4 .2 .4 .2

Gross job losses ........................... 9 13 12 12 10 1.7 2.4 2.2 2.2 1.8

At contracting establishments ......... 8 12 11 11 8 1.5 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.4

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

Net employment change .............. 2 -1 -1 0 1 .3 -.2 -.2 .0 .2

 Information

Gross job gains ........................... 113 124 125 124 114 4.2 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.2

At expanding establishments ......... 96 105 104 99 95 3.6 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.5

At opening establishments ............ 17 19 21 25 19 .6 .7 .8 .9 .7

Gross job losses ........................... 129 128 122 136 115 4.8 4.8 4.5 5.1 4.3

At contracting establishments ......... 109 102 103 102 93 4.1 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.5

At closing establishments ............ 20 26 19 34 22 .7 1.0 .7 1.3 .8

Net employment change .............. -16 -4 3 -12 -1 -.6 -.2 .2 -.5 -.1

Financial activities

Gross job gains ........................... 323 349 372 361 349 4.3 4.7 5.1 4.9 4.7

At expanding establishments ......... 260 277 294 281 282 3.5 3.7 4.0 3.8 3.8

At opening establishments ............ 63 72 78 80 67 .8 1.0 1.1 1.1 .9

Gross job losses ........................... 336 349 339 353 330 4.6 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.5

At contracting establishments ......... 256 271 261 268 243 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.6 3.3

At closing establishments ............ 80 78 78 85 87 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2

Net employment change .............. -13 0 33 8 19 -.3 -.1 .5 .2 .2

Professional and business services

Gross job gains ........................... 1,229 1,316 1,380 1,354 1,301 7.2 7.7 7.9 7.8 7.3

At expanding establishments ......... 1,010 1,066 1,116 1,081 1,068 5.9 6.2 6.4 6.2 6.0

At opening establishments ............ 219 250 264 273 233 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.3

Gross job losses ........................... 1,141 1,217 1,167 1,255 1,174 6.7 7.0 6.7 7.2 6.7

At contracting establishments ......... 909 952 925 983 911 5.3 5.5 5.3 5.6 5.2

At closing establishments ............ 232 265 242 272 263 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.5

Net employment change .............. 88 99 213 99 127 .5 .7 1.2 .6 .6

Education and health services

Gross job gains ........................... 768 786 853 811 812 4.1 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.2

At expanding establishments ......... 643 663 714 676 697 3.4 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.6

At opening establishments ............ 125 123 139 135 115 .7 .6 .7 .7 .6

Gross job losses ........................... 675 751 706 740 697 3.6 4.0 3.7 3.8 3.6

At contracting establishments ......... 565 619 586 604 568 3.0 3.3 3.1 3.1 2.9

At closing establishments ............ 110 132 120 136 129 .6 .7 .6 .7 .7

Net employment change .............. 93 35 147 71 115 .5 .1 .7 .4 .6

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

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

 Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains ........................... 1,059 1,178 1,186 1,115 1,214 8.0 8.9 8.9 8.3 9.0

At expanding establishments ......... 822 905 916 842 960 6.2 6.8 6.9 6.3 7.1

At opening establishments ............ 237 273 270 273 254 1.8 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.9

Gross job losses ........................... 1,002 1,098 1,112 1,106 964 7.5 8.3 8.3 8.2 7.1

At contracting establishments ......... 812 903 906 886 775 6.1 6.8 6.8 6.6 5.7

At closing establishments ............ 190 195 206 220 189 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.4

Net employment change .............. 57 80 74 9 250 .5 .6 .6 .1 1.9

 Other services

Gross job gains ........................... 264 283 280 263 275 7.1 7.5 7.4 6.9 7.2

At expanding establishments ......... 208 222 215 205 221 5.6 5.9 5.7 5.4 5.8

At opening establishments ............ 56 61 65 58 54 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.4

Gross job losses ........................... 253 261 270 262 250 6.7 6.9 7.1 6.9 6.6

At contracting establishments ......... 196 199 212 205 194 5.2 5.3 5.6 5.4 5.1

At closing establishments ............ 57 62 58 57 56 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5

Net employment change .............. 11 22 10 1 25 .4 .6 .3 .0 .6

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

2002 March 70 6,602 6,532 54 3,402 3,348 -52 1,194 1,246 68 2,006 1,938

June -61 6,416 6,477 69 3,379 3,310 -7 1,191 1,198 -123 1,846 1,969

September -176 6,190 6,366 20 3,335 3,315 -46 1,144 1,190 -150 1,711 1,861

December -247 6,114 6,361 -3 3,299 3,302 -73 1,106 1,179 -171 1,709 1,880

2003 March -326 6,112 6,438 -135 3,257 3,392 -56 1,127 1,183 -135 1,728 1,863

June -137 6,108 6,245 112 3,346 3,234 -26 1,133 1,159 -223 1,629 1,852

September 193 6,162 5,969 120 3,327 3,207 21 1,127 1,106 52 1,708 1,656

December 310 6,218 5,908 146 3,340 3,194 32 1,128 1,096 132 1,750 1,618

2004 March 430 6,306 5,876 153 3,392 3,239 137 1,194 1,057 140 1,720 1,580

June 621 6,471 5,850 169 3,387 3,218 141 1,196 1,055 311 1,888 1,577

September 197 6,243 6,046 88 3,379 3,291 88 1,175 1,087 21 1,689 1,668

December 759 6,494 5,735 274 3,480 3,206 101 1,172 1,071 384 1,842 1,458

2005 March 368 6,320 5,952 66 3,416 3,350 97 1,161 1,064 205 1,743 1,538

June 570 6,435 5,865 243 3,476 3,233 146 1,198 1,052 181 1,761 1,580

September 701 6,672 5,971 218 3,510 3,292 85 1,195 1,110 398 1,967 1,569

December 506 6,406 5,900 169 3,462 3,293 45 1,140 1,095 292 1,804 1,512

2006 March 788 6,433 5,645 334 3,547 3,213 222 1,213 991 232 1,673 1,441

June 375 6,349 5,974 117 3,434 3,317 110 1,190 1,080 148 1,725 1,577

September 43 6,103 6,060 -14 3,329 3,343 27 1,127 1,100 30 1,647 1,617

December 447 6,375 5,928 117 3,393 3,276 74 1,147 1,073 256 1,835 1,579

2007 March 466 6,300 5,834 189 3,451 3,262 99 1,153 1,054 178 1,696 1,518

June 174 6,256 6,082 -31 3,337 3,368 108 1,180 1,072 97 1,739 1,642

September -269 5,891 6,160 -132 3,252 3,384 -53 1,073 1,126 -84 1,566 1,650

December 298 6,254 5,956 8 3,315 3,307 63 1,140 1,077 227 1,799 1,572

2008 March -277 5,807 6,084 -138 3,238 3,376 -11 1,073 1,084 -128 1,496 1,624

June -547 5,861 6,408 -287 3,179 3,466 -37 1,098 1,135 -223 1,584 1,807

September -1,035 5,483 6,518 -359 3,039 3,398 -160 1,013 1,173 -516 1,431 1,947

December -1,850 5,341 7,191 -693 2,907 3,600 -370 946 1,316 -787 1,488 2,275

2009 March -2,643 4,582 7,225 -967 2,724 3,691 -611 806 1,417 -1,065 1,052 2,117

June -1,766 5,174 6,940 -475 2,949 3,424 -275 956 1,231 -1,016 1,269 2,285

September -979 5,119 6,098 -388 2,814 3,202 -127 927 1,054 -464 1,378 1,842

December -277 5,408 5,685 -161 2,937 3,098 -42 963 1,005 -74 1,508 1,582

2010 March -231 5,094 5,325 -185 2,863 3,048 -1 909 910 -45 1,322 1,367

June 689 5,818 5,129 233 3,094 2,861 211 1,079 868 245 1,645 1,400

September 157 5,478 5,321 11 2,933 2,922 71 992 921 75 1,553 1,478

December 534 5,789 5,255 86 3,045 2,959 99 1,035 936 349 1,709 1,360

2011 March 329 5,339 5,010 108 2,979 2,871 122 964 842 99 1,396 1,297

June 550 5,765 5,215 195 3,078 2,883 178 1,072 894 177 1,615 1,438

September 793 5,928 5,135 247 3,116 2,869 152 1,058 906 394 1,754 1,360

December 332 5,615 5,283 39 2,967 2,928 46 985 939 247 1,663 1,416

2012 March 830 5,748 4,918 362 3,119 2,757 216 1,046 830 252 1,583 1,331

NOTE: See http://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmfirmsize.htm for more detailed firm size class data

Net 

change

Gross job

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

3 Net change totals for the firm-level data differ from the establishment-level data due to independent seasonal adjustment.

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 Firm size 250 or more

Net 

change2,3

Gross job Net 

change

Gross job Net 

change

Gross job
Table 5. Components of private sector gross job gains and losses by firm size, seasonally adjusted

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

Total private by firm 1

Gross job gains ........................ 5,339 5,765 5,928 5,615 5,748 5.0 5.4 5.5 5.2 5.2

At expanding firms .................. 4,437 4,839 4,966 4,689 4,848 4.2 4.5 4.6 4.3 4.4

At opening firms ..................... 902 926 962 926 900 .8 .9 .9 .9 .8

Gross job losses ........................ 5,010 5,215 5,135 5,283 4,918 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.9 4.5

At contracting firms .................. 4,153 4,324 4,307 4,399 4,081 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.1 3.7

At closing firms ................... 857 891 828 884 837 .8 .8 .8 .8 .8

Net employment change ............. 329 550 793 332 830 .3 .6 .7 .3 .7

Firm size 1 to 49 employees

Gross job gains ........................ 2,979 3,078 3,116 2,967 3,119 9.6 9.8 9.9 9.4 9.8

At expanding firms .................. 2,112 2,195 2,199 2,085 2,253 6.8 7.0 7.0 6.6 7.1

At opening firms ..................... 867 883 917 882 866 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.7

Gross job losses ........................ 2,871 2,883 2,869 2,928 2,757 9.3 9.2 9.1 9.3 8.8

At contracting firms .................. 2,044 2,029 2,072 2,086 1,953 6.6 6.5 6.6 6.6 6.2

At closing firms ................... 827 854 797 842 804 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.6

Net employment change ............. 108 195 247 39 362 .3 .6 .8 .1 1.0

Firm size 50 to 249 employees

Gross job gains ........................ 964 1,072 1,058 985 1,046 4.9 5.4 5.3 4.9 5.1

At expanding firms .................. 932 1,035 1,020 948 1,016 4.7 5.2 5.1 4.7 5.0

At opening firms ..................... 32 37 38 37 30 .2 .2 .2 .2 .1

Gross job losses ........................ 842 894 906 939 830 4.2 4.5 4.5 4.7 4.1

At contracting firms .................. 816 866 879 906 803 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.0

At closing firms ................... 26 28 27 33 27 .1 .1 .1 .2 .1

Net employment change ............. 122 178 152 46 216 .7 .9 .8 .2 1.0

Firm size 250 or more employees

Gross job gains ........................ 1,396 1,615 1,754 1,663 1,583 2.5 2.9 3.1 2.9 2.7

At expanding firms .................. 1,393 1,609 1,747 1,656 1,579 2.5 2.9 3.1 2.9 2.7

At opening firms ..................... 3 6 7 7 4 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

Gross job losses ........................ 1,297 1,438 1,360 1,416 1,331 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.3

At contracting firms .................. 1,293 1,429 1,356 1,407 1,325 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.3

At closing firms ................... 4 9 4 9 6 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0

Net employment change ............. 99 177 394 247 252 .2 .4 .7 .4 .4

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. 

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 6. Private sector gross job gains and losses by state, seasonally adjusted

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

United States 1

 ............ 6,437,000 6,942,000 7,136,000 6,909,000 6,935,000 6,145,000 6,339,000 6,342,000 6,520,000 6,121,000

Alabama .................. 85,924 87,574 91,559 85,633 91,147 84,932 88,662 82,789 87,650 80,326

Alaska ..................... 24,179 26,784 24,812 23,440 26,381 21,199 23,540 23,195 26,155 21,997

Arizona .................. 117,510 127,292 137,767 139,367 128,843 119,535 122,145 118,548 123,249 121,081

Arkansas .................. 58,079 55,855 63,861 60,670 53,381 55,199 57,197 54,625 50,505 52,324

California .................. 776,520 846,247 914,096 870,675 842,341 769,408 776,879 818,110 785,705 760,027

Colorado .................. 122,947 131,680 131,330 128,255 125,797 116,340 114,477 115,453 122,714 115,062

Connecticut ............... 68,488 77,763 73,986 73,072 77,422 69,293 67,802 69,679 71,692 68,197

Delaware .................. 22,331 22,649 24,900 21,735 22,107 20,755 23,703 23,534 21,334 20,468

District of Columbia ... 32,800 28,275 26,457 26,595 29,723 22,065 26,730 24,172 24,771 20,338

Florida ..................... 392,911 430,098 443,009 439,908 414,219 374,321 397,725 392,137 413,449 365,900

Georgia .................. 209,094 205,097 207,102 203,099 219,814 188,871 198,267 198,380 202,265 191,090

Hawaii ..................... 24,808 24,232 28,145 25,587 24,551 22,737 27,713 21,684 21,986 25,568

Idaho ..................... 35,130 37,475 41,371 37,097 38,404 37,029 37,313 34,042 37,811 38,352

Illinois ..................... 242,862 274,249 273,629 267,916 263,987 238,010 246,459 252,813 258,824 235,357

Indiana ..................... 137,470 136,497 149,786 143,961 150,073 119,790 128,921 128,437 134,950 121,345

Iowa ........................ 66,741 72,760 74,872 71,492 75,925 67,180 66,992 65,617 69,343 62,833

Kansas ..................... 60,074 63,223 66,046 65,220 72,837 61,411 61,712 61,132 61,690 57,228

Kentucky .................. 84,333 87,112 90,120 87,855 91,719 84,120 81,250 79,336 82,301 81,151

Louisiana .................. 103,553 98,184 111,331 102,234 109,747 92,592 104,009 91,783 97,984 98,510

Maine ..................... 32,310 37,250 36,545 33,221 34,867 34,030 35,339 32,781 35,125 34,497

Maryland .................. 122,068 131,740 133,277 129,484 135,839 119,158 127,048 125,888 122,326 115,922

Massachusetts ............ 144,483 162,202 171,807 148,370 154,973 141,519 143,127 147,245 150,490 138,173

Michigan .................. 202,443 219,739 228,665 203,971 208,109 179,193 197,064 187,570 196,273 178,757

Minnesota ............... 127,741 141,622 144,467 125,820 152,204 115,670 117,623 117,056 131,726 133,973

Mississippi ............... 54,757 52,096 54,563 52,282 54,928 51,887 57,038 52,513 50,544 47,226

Missouri .................. 123,787 129,437 128,571 134,687 133,117 121,152 122,632 123,306 125,738 119,773

Montana .................. 25,018 27,397 28,750 28,553 27,783 24,739 25,750 24,191 26,686 26,305

Nebraska .................. 40,834 42,526 42,922 43,876 44,064 40,172 40,558 39,735 40,167 38,030

Nevada ..................... 57,477 61,593 59,847 57,485 58,879 56,227 55,390 57,587 55,150 53,065

New Hampshire ......... 32,574 35,572 35,820 35,844 34,876 32,263 33,955 33,688 33,640 32,250

New Jersey ............... 187,770 220,012 206,286 208,879 204,354 202,468 194,831 201,210 199,863 187,241

New Mexico ............ 35,937 40,332 41,197 37,929 41,334 36,478 39,305 38,765 40,581 35,306

New York ............... 415,175 463,532 458,293 438,220 467,340 385,842 406,332 419,493 427,473 403,623

North Carolina ............ 205,392 203,609 203,290 205,605 210,182 183,332 195,073 190,395 192,401 179,134

North Dakota ............ 24,197 22,217 31,466 32,285 34,563 18,809 20,543 18,453 19,885 20,145

Ohio ........................ 236,651 257,740 262,885 255,010 257,935 230,370 228,857 227,149 239,343 222,736

Oklahoma ............... 71,360 74,882 79,418 76,516 75,110 71,069 66,711 68,589 70,641 68,149

Oregon ..................... 91,972 88,299 101,905 93,674 92,985 86,064 85,658 79,591 92,363 87,056

Pennsylvania ............ 257,694 276,842 267,145 278,996 287,205 243,665 249,142 267,068 249,261 246,934

Rhode Island ............ 22,429 26,202 23,368 24,067 26,209 23,154 24,051 23,238 24,900 22,040

South Carolina ............ 86,877 92,609 90,699 91,266 90,984 80,576 85,374 87,584 82,761 79,437

South Dakota ............ 19,074 21,468 22,187 21,563 21,765 20,411 19,082 18,855 19,365 19,933

Tennessee ............... 122,068 128,589 129,598 135,832 132,991 110,042 111,745 116,827 117,380 113,095

Texas ..................... 495,416 513,561 543,801 523,866 537,062 433,057 440,989 446,936 457,961 446,708

Utah ........................ 64,908 69,011 69,809 69,692 70,120 61,892 62,066 59,043 61,984 59,307

Vermont .................. 16,088 18,558 18,899 20,232 17,597 17,089 18,271 18,672 16,430 17,256

Virginia .................. 164,834 173,624 174,323 179,267 175,338 157,102 164,804 160,823 177,063 161,214

Washington ............... 153,335 156,967 172,752 163,991 157,863 146,390 148,279 134,881 164,123 146,884

West Virginia ............ 35,868 35,911 37,531 38,129 40,657 32,779 33,362 34,120 32,964 34,872

Wisconsin ............... 128,300 134,150 134,241 127,238 136,446 124,456 121,110 121,924 130,485 120,565

Wyoming .................. 16,873 18,008 20,337 20,004 18,242 17,723 18,269 15,490 17,496 18,379

Puerto Rico ............... 37,509 38,424 44,263 45,535 41,000 40,949 42,219 38,359 38,101 41,093

Virgin Islands ............ 2,207 1,885 1,861 1,929 1,558 2,026 2,539 2,225 1,891 1,996

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 Gross job losses

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

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

2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012

United States .......................... 6.0 6.5 6.7 6.3 6.3 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 5.6

Alabama ............................. 5.9 6.1 6.3 5.9 6.3 5.9 6.2 5.7 6.0 5.5

Alaska ................................. 10.1 11.0 10.1 9.6 10.8 8.8 9.6 9.5 10.7 8.9

Arizona ............................... 5.9 6.4 6.9 6.9 6.3 6.0 6.2 6.0 6.2 6.0

Arkansas .............................. 6.3 6.0 6.8 6.5 5.6 5.9 6.2 5.9 5.4 5.5

California ........................... 6.5 7.1 7.6 7.2 6.9 6.5 6.5 6.8 6.5 6.2

Colorado .............................. 6.8 7.2 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.6 6.2

Connecticut ......................... 5.1 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.6 5.1 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.0

Delaware .............................. 6.5 6.6 7.3 6.4 6.4 6.1 6.9 6.8 6.2 5.9

District of Columbia ............... 7.3 6.2 5.8 5.8 6.4 4.9 5.9 5.3 5.4 4.4

Florida ................................. 6.4 7.0 7.2 7.1 6.7 6.2 6.5 6.3 6.7 5.9

Georgia .............................. 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.5 7.0 6.1 6.4 6.3 6.4 6.0

Hawaii ............................... 5.2 5.2 5.9 5.4 5.2 4.8 5.9 4.6 4.6 5.3

Idaho .................................... 7.1 7.6 8.3 7.4 7.7 7.5 7.6 6.9 7.6 7.7

Illinois ................................ 5.1 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.0 5.2 5.3 5.4 4.8

Indiana ............................... 5.9 5.8 6.3 6.1 6.2 5.1 5.5 5.5 5.7 5.0

Iowa .................................... 5.5 6.0 6.2 5.9 6.2 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.7 5.1

Kansas ................................. 5.7 6.0 6.2 6.1 6.8 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.3

Kentucky .............................. 5.9 6.1 6.4 6.1 6.4 5.9 5.8 5.6 5.7 5.6

Louisiana .............................. 6.9 6.5 7.4 6.7 7.1 6.2 6.9 6.1 6.5 6.5

Maine ................................ 6.7 7.8 7.6 6.8 7.2 7.1 7.3 6.9 7.3 7.1

Maryland ............................ 6.2 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.7 6.0 6.4 6.4 6.1 5.8

Massachusetts ....................... 5.3 5.9 6.2 5.4 5.6 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.5 5.0

Michigan ............................. 6.3 6.7 7.0 6.1 6.2 5.6 6.1 5.7 6.0 5.4

Minnesota ........................... 5.8 6.3 6.4 5.5 6.8 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.8 6.0

Mississippi ........................... 6.5 6.2 6.6 6.3 6.5 6.2 6.8 6.3 6.1 5.6

Missouri .............................. 5.8 6.0 6.0 6.2 6.1 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.5

Montana ............................... 7.5 8.1 8.5 8.4 8.0 7.4 7.6 7.2 7.8 7.6

Nebraska .............................. 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.9 5.9 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.1

Nevada ............................... 6.0 6.3 6.1 6.0 6.0 5.8 5.7 5.9 5.7 5.5

New Hampshire ..................... 6.3 6.8 6.9 6.9 6.7 6.2 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.1

New Jersey ........................... 6.0 6.9 6.5 6.5 6.4 6.4 6.1 6.3 6.3 5.9

New Mexico ........................ 6.0 6.8 6.9 6.4 6.9 6.2 6.6 6.5 6.8 5.9

New York ........................... 6.0 6.6 6.5 6.1 6.6 5.5 5.7 5.9 6.0 5.7

North Carolina ........................ 6.5 6.4 6.4 6.5 6.5 5.9 6.2 6.0 6.0 5.6

North Dakota ........................ 8.0 7.2 10.1 10.0 10.3 6.2 6.7 5.9 6.2 6.0

Ohio .................................... 5.6 6.1 6.1 6.0 6.0 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.6 5.2

Oklahoma ........................... 6.0 6.3 6.7 6.4 6.3 6.0 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.7

Oregon ................................. 6.9 6.6 7.6 6.9 6.9 6.5 6.4 5.9 6.8 6.4

Pennsylvania ........................ 5.4 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.9 5.1 5.2 5.5 5.1 5.1

Rhode Island ........................ 5.8 6.7 6.0 6.2 6.7 6.0 6.2 5.9 6.4 5.6

South Carolina ........................ 6.1 6.4 6.2 6.2 6.2 5.6 5.9 6.0 5.6 5.4

South Dakota ........................ 6.0 6.7 6.8 6.6 6.6 6.3 6.0 5.9 5.9 6.1

Tennessee ........................... 5.6 5.9 5.9 6.1 5.9 5.1 5.1 5.4 5.3 5.1

Texas ................................. 5.8 6.0 6.3 6.0 6.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.3 5.0

Utah .................................... 6.8 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.1 6.5 6.4 6.1 6.3 6.0

Vermont .............................. 6.6 7.7 7.8 8.3 7.2 7.1 7.6 7.7 6.8 7.0

Virginia .............................. 5.7 6.1 6.1 6.2 6.0 5.4 5.8 5.6 6.1 5.6

Washington ........................... 6.8 7.0 7.6 7.2 6.8 6.5 6.5 6.0 7.1 6.3

West Virginia ........................ 6.4 6.5 6.7 6.8 7.2 5.9 6.0 6.1 5.8 6.1

Wisconsin ........................... 5.7 6.0 5.9 5.6 5.9 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.7 5.3

Wyoming .............................. 8.1 8.7 9.8 9.4 8.5 8.5 8.8 7.4 8.2 8.6

Puerto Rico ........................... 5.5 5.7 6.6 6.7 6.0 6.1 6.3 5.7 5.7 6.0

Virgin Islands ........................ 6.9 6.0 6.0 6.3 5.1 6.4 8.0 7.1 6.1 6.5

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

2002 March 204 3.2 190 3.0 1,175 1.1 1,089 1.0

June 208 3.3 187 2.9 1,189 1.1 1,080 1.0

September 199 3.1 184 2.9 1,051 1.0 1,023 1.0

December 201 3.1 191 3.0 1,023 1.0 1,021 1.0

2003 March 193 3.0 186 2.9 1,004 .9 1,011 .9

June 191 3.0 186 2.9 964 .9 951 .9

September 193 3.0 179 2.8 954 .9 884 .8

December 200 3.1 180 2.8 998 .9 910 .9

2004 March 207 3.2 180 2.8 1,000 .9 917 .9

June 203 3.1 185 2.8 980 .9 909 .8

September 209 3.2 186 2.8 1,016 .9 953 .9

December 210 3.2 180 2.7 997 .9 894 .8

2005 March 209 3.1 185 2.8 944 .9 852 .8

June 216 3.2 180 2.7 951 .9 841 .8

September 221 3.3 186 2.8 996 .9 884 .8

December 221 3.3 186 2.8 979 .9 846 .8

2006 March 220 3.2 180 2.6 924 .8 748 .7

June 221 3.2 194 2.8 973 .9 841 .7

September 210 3.1 196 2.9 927 .8 836 .7

December 221 3.2 194 2.8 959 .8 804 .7

2007 March 214 3.1 193 2.8 897 .8 771 .7

June 206 3.0 202 2.9 884 .8 850 .7

September 216 3.1 203 2.9 941 .8 836 .7

December 208 3.0 206 2.9 902 .8 825 .7

2008 March 207 3.0 211 3.0 897 .8 813 .7

June 201 2.9 228 3.3 876 .8 934 .8

September 191 2.7 223 3.2 827 .7 880 .8

December 188 2.7 240 3.5 799 .7 947 .8

2009 March 172 2.5 236 3.4 703 .6 850 .8

June 177 2.6 227 3.3 742 .7 831 .8

September 169 2.5 215 3.2 692 .7 787 .7

December 183 2.7 200 3.0 712 .7 739 .7

2010 March 175 2.6 194 2.9 685 .7 667 .6

June 179 2.7 185 2.7 713 .7 650 .6

September 188 2.8 189 2.8 741 .7 694 .7

December 200 2.9 186 2.7 790 .7 689 .6

2011 March 189 2.8 184 2.7 695 .7 610 .6

June 192 2.8 190 2.8 748 .7 677 .6

September 198 2.9 N/A N/A 790 .7 N/A N/A

December 202 2.9 N/A N/A 802 .7 N/A N/A

2012 March 193 2.8 N/A N/A 748 .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