From December 2017 to March 2018, gross job gains in Wisconsin totaled 138,695, while gross job losses numbered 116,842, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 21,853. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 15,892.

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 establishments 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 establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. 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 138,695 gross job gains in March 2018 followed the 137,630 gross job gains in the three-month period ended December 2017. During the past 5 years, gross job gains in Wisconsin peaked at 145,512 in December 2015 and were at a low of 123,582 in September 2017. (See chart 1.) Wisconsin’s 116,842 gross job losses in March 2018 followed the 121,738 gross job losses recorded in December 2017. Over the past 5 years, gross job losses reached a high of 140,499 in September 2017. (See chart 1.) The gross job losses in March 2018 were the series low since data first became available in 1992.

Gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private sector employment in Wisconsin in the quarter ended March 2018, while nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Since the series inception in 1992, the rate of gross job gains in Wisconsin has been below the U.S. rate each quarter. Wisconsin’s gross job losses represented 4.7 percent of private sector employment in March 2018, compared to the U.S. rate of 5.4 percent. With only one exception, Wisconsin’s rate of gross job losses has been below the national rate since the series began.

During the first quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in nine industry sectors in Wisconsin. For example, within leisure and hospitality, gross job gains exceeded gross jobs losses by 8,287. While more than 22,000 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments in the industry, opening and expanding establishments created almost 31,000 jobs. Four additional industry sectors — construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and education and health services — also had net employment gains greater than 1,000. Net employment gains in these industry sectors ranged from 4,266 in construction to 1,025 in education and health services. (See table 1.)

Gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in one industry sector in the first quarter of 2018. Within transportation and warehousing, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 1,121.

Wisconsin was among the five states in the East North Central Census division. Each of the states in the division had gross job gains that exceeded gross job losses. (See table A.) All five states had rates of gross job gains that were lower than the 6.0-percent national rate and rates of gross job losses that were below the 5.4-percent national rate.

Table A. Private sector gross job gains and losses for the United States, East North Central Division, and East North Central states, March 2018, seasonally adjusted

Area	Gross job gains		Gross job losses		Net change	Net change as a percent of total employment
	Total	As a percent of total employment	Total	As a percent of total employment
United States	7,406,000	6.0	6,666,000	5.4	740,000	0.6
East North Central (1)	1,059,881	—	922,017	—	137,864	—
Illinois	297,390	5.7	263,419	5.1	33,971	0.6
Indiana	150,823	5.6	135,050	5.1	15,773	0.5
Michigan	215,009	5.7	172,727	4.6	42,282	1.1
Ohio	257,964	5.5	233,979	5.0	23,985	0.5
Wisconsin	138,695	5.6	116,842	4.7	21,853	0.9
Footnotes: (1) Data were calculated for this release using published gross job gains and gross job losses for states located in the East North Central Census Division.
Note: Dash indicates data not available.

Additional statistics and other information

BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. For more information on the Business Employment Dynamics data, visit the BED web site at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics release for second quarter 2018 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

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 QCEW records. Most employers in the U.S. are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). These UI reports are supplemented by two additional BLS data collections to render administrative data into economic statistics. Together these data comprise the QCEW and form the basis of the Bureau’s establishment universe sampling frame.

In the BED program, the QCEW 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 establishments and jobs lost at closing and contracting establishments.

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. BED statistics track these changes in employment at private business establishments 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 establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.

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. 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.

The formal definitions of employment changes are as follows:

Openings.  These are either establishments 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 establishments 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 establishments with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions.  These are establishments with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment over this period.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Private sector gross job gains and losses by industry, Wisconsin, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and job losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	145,194	140,042	123,582	137,630	138,695	5.9	5.6	5.0	5.6	5.6
At expanding establishments	123,027	119,329	105,779	117,808	118,929	5.0	4.8	4.3	4.8	4.8
At opening establishments	22,167	20,713	17,803	19,822	19,766	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.8
Gross job losses	117,887	136,344	140,499	121,738	116,842	4.8	5.5	5.7	5.0	4.7
At contracting establishments	102,699	119,390	122,540	103,065	101,903	4.2	4.8	5.0	4.2	4.1
At closing establishments	15,188	16,954	17,959	18,673	14,939	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.6
Net employment change (2)	27,307	3,698	-16,917	15,892	21,853	1.1	0.1	-0.7	0.6	0.9
Construction
Gross job gains	13,320	11,614	9,820	11,903	13,112	11.5	9.9	8.4	10.1	10.6
At expanding establishments	11,449	10,005	8,367	9,563	10,750	9.9	8.5	7.2	8.1	8.7
At opening establishments	1,871	1,609	1,453	2,340	2,362	1.6	1.4	1.2	2.0	1.9
Gross job losses	9,003	9,647	10,694	10,557	8,846	7.8	8.2	9.2	9.0	7.2
At contracting establishments	7,666	8,243	9,265	8,673	7,546	6.6	7.0	8.0	7.4	6.1
At closing establishments	1,337	1,404	1,429	1,884	1,300	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.6	1.1
Net employment change (2)	4,317	1,967	-874	1,346	4,266	3.7	1.7	-0.8	1.1	3.4
Manufacturing
Gross job gains	13,778	14,249	11,518	15,671	13,994	3.0	3.0	2.4	3.4	2.9
At expanding establishments	13,352	13,728	10,891	15,287	13,450	2.9	2.9	2.3	3.3	2.8
At opening establishments	426	521	627	384	544	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Gross job losses	11,761	12,186	13,557	10,943	10,697	2.6	2.6	2.9	2.4	2.3
At contracting establishments	11,011	11,382	12,964	10,112	10,211	2.4	2.4	2.8	2.2	2.2
At closing establishments	750	804	593	831	486	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1
Net employment change (2)	2,017	2,063	-2,039	4,728	3,297	0.4	0.4	-0.5	1.0	0.6
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	5,283	5,571	4,563	5,814	5,306	4.3	4.4	3.6	4.6	4.1
At expanding establishments	4,591	5,045	4,012	4,539	4,621	3.7	4.0	3.2	3.6	3.6
At opening establishments	692	526	551	1,275	685	0.6	0.4	0.4	1.0	0.5
Gross job losses	4,384	4,970	5,232	4,513	4,794	3.5	4.0	4.1	3.5	3.8
At contracting establishments	3,593	4,245	4,469	3,713	3,842	2.9	3.4	3.5	2.9	3.0
At closing establishments	791	725	763	800	952	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.8
Net employment change (2)	899	601	-669	1,301	512	0.8	0.4	-0.5	1.1	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	19,040	16,657	15,312	16,437	17,979	6.2	5.4	5.0	5.3	5.9
At expanding establishments	17,226	15,148	13,284	15,076	16,190	5.6	4.9	4.3	4.9	5.3
At opening establishments	1,814	1,509	2,028	1,361	1,789	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.6
Gross job losses	14,380	18,175	19,282	16,685	15,039	4.6	5.9	6.3	5.4	4.8
At contracting establishments	13,076	16,357	17,491	14,732	13,699	4.2	5.3	5.7	4.8	4.4
At closing establishments	1,304	1,818	1,791	1,953	1,340	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4
Net employment change (2)	4,660	-1,518	-3,970	-248	2,940	1.6	-0.5	-1.3	-0.1	1.1
Transportation and warehousing
Gross job gains	5,085	5,176	5,888	6,475	5,467	5.3	5.3	6.1	6.5	5.5
At expanding establishments	4,823	4,747	5,387	5,841	5,008	5.0	4.9	5.6	5.9	5.0
At opening establishments	262	429	501	634	459	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.5
Gross job losses	6,047	6,297	4,415	3,948	6,588	6.3	6.5	4.6	4.1	6.6
At contracting establishments	5,598	5,684	3,813	3,400	6,164	5.8	5.9	4.0	3.5	6.2
At closing establishments	449	613	602	548	424	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4
Net employment change (2)	-962	-1,121	1,473	2,527	-1,121	-1.0	-1.2	1.5	2.4	-1.1
Financial activities
Gross job gains	5,202	5,741	5,257	4,976	4,955	3.5	3.9	3.5	3.3	3.4
At expanding establishments	4,666	4,875	4,624	4,179	4,129	3.1	3.3	3.1	2.8	2.8
At opening establishments	536	866	633	797	826	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.6
Gross job losses	4,492	5,807	5,820	5,407	4,850	3.0	3.9	3.9	3.6	3.2
At contracting establishments	3,719	4,836	5,127	4,523	4,049	2.5	3.2	3.4	3.0	2.7
At closing establishments	773	971	693	884	801	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.6	0.5
Net employment change (2)	710	-66	-563	-431	105	0.5	0.0	-0.4	-0.3	0.2
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	20,527	21,199	19,920	21,664	20,085	6.4	6.5	6.2	6.7	6.1
At expanding establishments	17,644	18,558	17,134	18,184	16,463	5.5	5.7	5.3	5.6	5.0
At opening establishments	2,883	2,641	2,786	3,480	3,622	0.9	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.1
Gross job losses	18,497	22,362	22,040	18,457	19,757	5.8	6.9	6.8	5.7	6.0
At contracting establishments	16,036	19,753	19,189	15,157	16,751	5.0	6.1	5.9	4.7	5.1
At closing establishments	2,461	2,609	2,851	3,300	3,006	0.8	0.8	0.9	1.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	2,030	-1,163	-2,120	3,207	328	0.6	-0.4	-0.6	1.0	0.1
Education and health services
Gross job gains	17,866	18,239	16,650	17,420	14,913	4.2	4.3	3.8	4.1	3.5
At expanding establishments	13,702	14,361	13,941	13,671	12,388	3.2	3.4	3.2	3.2	2.9
At opening establishments	4,164	3,878	2,709	3,749	2,525	1.0	0.9	0.6	0.9	0.6
Gross job losses	15,973	16,412	16,507	14,947	13,888	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.4	3.2
At contracting establishments	13,446	13,433	12,481	11,756	11,827	3.2	3.1	2.9	2.7	2.7
At closing establishments	2,527	2,979	4,026	3,191	2,061	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.7	0.5
Net employment change (2)	1,893	1,827	143	2,473	1,025	0.4	0.5	0.0	0.7	0.3
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	30,244	29,036	24,359	26,609	30,923	10.8	10.3	8.7	9.6	10.9
At expanding establishments	24,698	23,312	19,810	22,551	26,414	8.8	8.3	7.1	8.1	9.3
At opening establishments	5,546	5,724	4,549	4,058	4,509	2.0	2.0	1.6	1.5	1.6
Gross job losses	22,572	28,666	31,128	25,811	22,636	8.1	10.2	11.1	9.3	8.0
At contracting establishments	19,847	25,696	27,658	22,022	19,495	7.1	9.1	9.9	7.9	6.9
At closing establishments	2,725	2,970	3,470	3,789	3,141	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.4	1.1
Net employment change (2)	7,672	370	-6,769	798	8,287	2.7	0.1	-2.4	0.3	2.9
Other services (3)
Gross job gains	5,496	5,435	4,864	4,497	5,182	7.0	6.9	6.2	5.8	6.6
At expanding establishments	4,606	4,587	4,163	3,815	4,377	5.9	5.8	5.3	4.9	5.6
At opening establishments	890	848	701	682	805	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.9	1.0
Gross job losses	4,778	4,920	5,577	4,998	4,654	6.1	6.3	7.1	6.4	5.9
At contracting establishments	4,074	4,226	4,670	4,260	3,916	5.2	5.4	5.9	5.5	5.0
At closing establishments	704	694	907	738	738	0.9	0.9	1.2	0.9	0.9
Net employment change (2)	718	515	-713	-501	528	0.9	0.6	-0.9	-0.6	0.7
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further information. (3) Except public administration.

Table 2. Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept. 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018	Mar. 2017	June 2017	Sept. 2017	Dec. 2017	Mar. 2018
United States(1)	6.1	6.2	6.0	6.4	6.0	5.6	5.8	6.1	5.6	5.4
Alabama	6.1	5.6	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.2	5.6	5.8	5.4	5.3
Alaska	9.4	10.9	8.7	9.7	9.8	10.1	9.9	10.8	10.2	8.8
Arizona	6.0	6.2	6.6	6.3	6.0	5.5	5.7	5.2	5.3	5.3
Arkansas	5.7	5.4	5.8	6.1	5.4	5.2	5.7	5.5	5.1	5.0
California	6.8	6.9	6.5	6.9	6.4	6.2	6.5	6.3	6.0	5.9
Colorado	6.9	7.0	6.7	6.8	6.8	6.0	6.3	6.5	6.1	6.0
Connecticut	5.8	5.7	5.4	5.3	5.1	5.4	5.2	5.8	5.2	5.2
Delaware	6.6	6.7	6.4	7.0	7.1	5.9	6.6	6.6	6.4	5.9
District of Columbia	5.8	5.7	5.4	5.8	6.0	4.8	5.4	5.2	5.0	4.7
Florida	6.1	6.6	5.8	8.2	6.1	5.6	6.1	7.5	5.3	5.5
Georgia	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.9	6.5	5.9	6.1	6.1	5.6	5.6
Hawaii	5.4	5.2	5.4	5.1	5.0	4.8	5.3	5.1	4.7	4.8
Idaho	7.8	7.3	6.7	7.4	7.9	6.4	6.6	6.8	6.6	5.9
Illinois	5.9	5.7	5.6	6.0	5.7	5.5	5.6	6.0	5.3	5.1
Indiana	5.7	5.7	5.4	5.7	5.6	5.1	5.5	5.6	5.0	5.1
Iowa	6.1	5.7	5.5	5.9	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.7	5.3	5.3
Kansas	5.9	5.5	6.3	5.9	5.2	5.6	6.5	5.7	5.2	5.5
Kentucky	5.9	6.1	6.0	6.1	6.2	5.6	6.0	6.0	5.6	5.9
Louisiana	6.5	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.5	5.9	6.6	6.1	6.0	5.8
Maine	7.2	7.7	6.5	7.2	7.2	6.6	6.8	7.5	6.6	7.0
Maryland	6.1	6.4	6.3	6.2	6.3	5.9	6.1	6.2	6.3	5.7
Massachusetts	5.6	6.1	5.4	5.7	5.4	5.2	5.3	5.6	5.4	5.2
Michigan	5.6	5.8	5.3	5.7	5.7	5.0	5.3	6.0	5.4	4.6
Minnesota	5.9	5.7	5.3	5.8	5.3	4.9	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.0
Mississippi	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.3	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.9	5.4	5.8
Missouri	5.9	5.6	5.9	5.7	5.4	5.0	5.6	5.9	5.5	5.2
Montana	8.1	7.9	7.2	8.5	7.8	7.2	7.7	7.9	7.4	7.1
Nebraska	6.0	5.5	5.9	6.2	5.6	5.1	6.1	5.9	5.5	5.5
Nevada	6.6	6.2	6.2	6.6	6.5	5.2	5.9	5.8	5.2	5.4
New Hampshire	5.8	6.6	5.5	6.7	6.1	5.7	6.0	6.6	5.9	5.9
New Jersey	5.6	6.7	6.0	6.4	5.6	5.9	5.6	6.3	5.8	5.8
New Mexico	6.5	6.8	6.6	6.5	6.3	6.2	6.4	6.3	6.1	5.5
New York	6.2	6.4	6.3	6.2	6.2	5.7	5.8	6.1	5.8	5.6
North Carolina	6.4	6.3	6.0	6.3	6.2	5.7	6.2	6.0	5.5	5.2
North Dakota	7.6	6.8	6.7	6.8	7.0	6.8	6.9	6.7	6.8	6.3
Ohio	5.8	5.8	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.2	5.5	5.7	5.2	5.0
Oklahoma	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.4	6.1	6.2	6.0	6.0	5.8	5.5
Oregon	7.0	6.7	6.6	6.8	7.8	5.9	6.1	6.4	6.0	5.6
Pennsylvania	5.3	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.2	5.0	5.2	5.2	5.0	4.9
Rhode Island	6.4	6.5	6.0	6.6	6.3	6.0	5.9	6.3	6.0	6.1
South Carolina	6.2	6.1	5.8	7.0	5.9	5.7	6.1	6.2	5.3	4.7
South Dakota	6.4	6.2	5.8	6.4	6.4	5.9	6.2	5.9	5.7	5.9
Tennessee	5.2	5.5	5.4	5.9	5.0	5.0	5.2	5.2	4.9	4.8
Texas	5.9	5.9	5.9	6.4	5.8	5.2	5.4	5.8	5.3	5.1
Utah	7.7	6.8	7.0	7.0	7.4	6.1	6.3	6.3	5.9	6.0
Vermont	6.6	7.9	6.5	7.4	6.4	6.8	6.8	7.8	6.5	7.0
Virginia	6.1	6.4	5.9	6.3	5.8	5.6	5.9	6.2	5.5	5.2
Washington	6.9	7.1	6.4	6.9	7.2	6.0	6.2	6.4	6.0	5.7
West Virginia	6.3	6.4	6.7	6.3	6.8	6.3	6.5	6.3	6.1	5.8
Wisconsin	5.9	5.6	5.0	5.6	5.6	4.8	5.5	5.7	5.0	4.7
Wyoming	8.9	8.6	8.7	8.7	8.4	8.1	9.1	7.9	8.4	8.0
Puerto Rico	5.1	5.4	4.5	7.1	8.4	5.7	5.4	6.8	11.8	6.8
Virgin Islands	5.6	6.7	4.2	9.2	12.0	5.5	5.3	11.6	28.2	16.8
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.