The Business Employment Dynamics (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.
Private Sector Establishment-Level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses
Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained 7.1 million jobs in the first quarter of 2008, a decrease of 546,000 from the previous quarter. Over the quarter, expanding establishments added 5.7 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.4 million jobs.
Gross job losses totaled 7.4 million, an increase of 34,000 from the previous quarter. During the quarter, contracting establishments lost 6.0 million jobs, while closing establishments lost 1.4 million jobs.
The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of -270,000 jobs in the private sector for first quarter 2008. This is the second time in the past three quarters that there has been a net job loss.
From December 2007 to March 2008, gross job gains represented 6.2 percent of private sector employment, while gross job losses represented 6.5 percent of private sector employment.
Major Industry Sector Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses
Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in the following major industry sectors: natural resources and mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and professional and business services. Education and health services was the only sector that had gross job gains noticeably higher than gross job losses.
Goods-producing. Expanding and opening establishments in the goods-producing sectors accounted for 1,493,000 jobs gained, and contracting and closing establishments accounted for 1,758,000 jobs lost. This net loss of 265,000 jobs results in the seventh consecutive quarter of net loss.
Construction. In construction, gross job gains fell over the quarter to 763,000. Although gross job losses also decreased slightly to 869,000, this sector lost a net of 106,000 jobs. This sector experienced net losses in seven of the previous eight quarters.
Manufacturing. Gross job gains declined to 456,000 while gross job losses grew to 596,000. This reverses the recent downward trend in gross job losses. This sector has experienced net losses in all but six quarters since the beginning of 1998.
Education and Health Services.In the education and health services sector, gross job gains decreased to 785,000 jobs in the first quarter, while gross job losses remained virtually unchanged at 667,000. Gross job gains have exceeded gross job losses every quarter since this series began in 1992.
Retail Trade. In retail trade, gross job gains decreased to 954,000. This is only the second quarter since the series began in 1992 that gross job gains for this sector have been less than one million.
Leisure and Hospitality.Despite the decrease in gross job gains in first quarter, the leisure and hospitality industry managed to show net job growth. Other than the four quarters in 2001, this sector has experienced a net job loss in only two quarters since 1992.
Financial Activities.For the fourth consecutive quarter gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in this sector. The number of gross job losses declined to 436,000, and the number of gross job gains also decreased to 412,000.
Number of Establishments Gaining and Losing Employment
Another way to look at the dynamics of business activities is to monitor the number and proportion of business units that are growing and declining. In the first quarter of 2008, the number of establishments losing jobs exceeded the number of establishments gaining jobs.
Out of 7.3 million active private-sector establishments, a total of 1,976,000 establishments lost jobs from December 2007 to March 2008. Of these establishments, 1,596,000 were contracting establishments and 380,000 were closing establishments. Of the establishments gaining jobs, 1,517,000 establishments were expanding and 357,000 establishments were opening, resulting in 1,874,000 establishments gaining jobs.
The number of closing establishments exceeded the number of opening establishments, resulting in a net loss of 23,000 private sector establishments during the quarter.
Firm-level Gross Job Gains and Gross Job Losses by Size Class
From December 2007 to March 2008, firms with 1 to 4 employees accounted for the largest share of gross job gains at 16.2 percent. Firms with 1,000 or more employees had the highest share of gross job losses with 16.8 percent, followed closely by firms with 1 to 4 employees with 16.7 percent.
Gross Job Gains and Losses by State
In the first quarter, 19 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands had net employment growth. However, 31 states and Puerto Rico experienced net job losses. Although the number of gross job gains in Texas declined from fourth quarter, it had the largest net job growth with 51,572. This is the ninth consecutive quarter that Texas has had the highest net job gains. After experiencing high net job growth from third quarter 2003 to third quarter 2006, Florida and Arizona have had net job losses in five of the past seven quarters. Gross job gains in California are at the lowest level in the history of the data series spanning back to 1992. Connecticut had the lowest rate of gross job losses and Wyoming had the highest rate of gross job gains.
