Press Release - November 8, 2017 - BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FIRST QUARTER 2017
From December 2016 to March 2017, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 7.3 million, a decrease of 127,000 jobs over the quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Over this period, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 6.7 million, a decrease of 391,000 jobs from the previous quarter. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 654,000 jobs in the private-sector during the first quarter of 2017. (See chart 1, and tables A and 1.)
The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See Technical Note.) The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class.
Gross Job Gains
In the first quarter of 2017, gross job gains represented 6.0 percent of private-sector employment. Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 6.0 million in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of 21,000 compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 1.3 million of the jobs gained in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of 106,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See charts 2 and 3, and tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)
Gross Job Losses
In the first quarter of 2017, gross job losses represented 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. Contracting establishments lost 5.5 million jobs in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of 239,000 jobs from the prior quarter. In the first quarter of 2017, closing establishments lost 1.2 million jobs, a decrease of 152,000 jobs from the previous quarter. (See charts 2 and 3, and tables A, 1, 2, and 3.)
page source https://www.bls.gov/
