For release 10:00 a.m. (EST), Thursday, November 19, 2009
USDL-09-1403
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BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS – FIRST QUARTER 2009
From December 2008 to March 2009 the
number of job losses from closing and
contracting establishments remained
essentially unchanged at 8.5 million. The
number of job gains from opening and
expanding private sector establishments
fell from 6.7 million to 5.7 million, the
lowest level since the series began in 1992,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. (See tables A, 1, and 3.)
Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains
in all but two industry sectors: 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.)
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.
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