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News Release Information

18-1812-ATL
Tuesday, December 04, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Business Employment Dynamics in North Carolina – First Quarter 2018

From December 2017 to March 2018, gross job gains in North Carolina totaled 227,451, while gross job losses numbered 190,130, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 37,321. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 27,847. (See chart 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 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 the Technical Note for more information.)

With few exceptions, North Carolina’s gross job gains have remained above 200,000 each quarter since the first quarter of 2010. North Carolina’s gross job losses numbered 190,130 in the first quarter of 2018, below the recent peak of 221,870 gross job losses in the second quarter of 2017. (See chart 1.)

North Carolina’s rate of gross job gains as a percent of private sector employment was 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018; nationally gross job gains accounted for 6.0 percent of private sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job losses represented 5.2 percent of private sector employment in North Carolina, while nationally gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private sector employment in the first quarter of 2018.

During the first quarter of 2018, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 10 of the 11 industry sectors in North Carolina. Leisure and hospitality added more than 44,900 jobs in opening and expanding establishments, and lost approximately 36,400 jobs in closing and contracting establishments. The resulting net gain of 8,527 jobs was the largest of any North Carolina sector in the first quarter of 2018. In education and health services, almost 27,400 jobs were added in opening and expanding establishments, while about 20,700 jobs were lost in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 6,672 jobs. Professional and business service added nearly 46,400 jobs in opening and expanding establishments and lost approximately 41,000 jobs in closing and contracting establishments, resulting in a net gain of 5,418 jobs. Within the construction and retail trade sectors, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 4,535 and 4,088, respectively. Among the five other sectors with net employment gains, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by less than 2,900. (See table 1.)  

Transportation and warehousing was the only industry sector in North Carolina with gross job losses exceeding gross job gains in the first quarter of 2018. With approximately 6,600 gross jobs gains in opening and expanding establishments, and nearly 8,100 jobs losses in closing and contracting establishments, transportation and warehousing had a net loss of 1,498 jobs. 

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 for Second Quarter 2018 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

Revisions 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.


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, North Carolina, 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

229,283 228,081 217,327 228,877 227,451 6.4 6.3 6.0 6.3 6.2

At expanding establishments

186,181 183,441 176,915 189,424 181,327 5.2 5.1 4.9 5.2 4.9

At opening establishments

43,102 44,640 40,412 39,453 46,124 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.3

Gross job losses

203,934 221,870 218,183 201,030 190,130 5.7 6.2 6.0 5.5 5.2

At contracting establishments

169,086 176,468 181,480 160,221 162,326 4.7 4.9 5.0 4.4 4.4

At closing establishments

34,848 45,402 36,703 40,809 27,804 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.1 0.8

Net employment change (2)

25,349 6,211 -856 27,847 37,321 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.8 1.0

Construction

Gross job gains

17,534 17,545 16,002 18,229 18,289 8.5 8.4 7.6 8.7 8.5

At expanding establishments

13,772 13,766 12,393 14,494 14,015 6.7 6.6 5.9 6.9 6.5

At opening establishments

3,762 3,779 3,609 3,735 4,274 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8 2.0

Gross job losses

15,237 16,255 14,781 14,171 13,754 7.4 7.8 7.1 6.7 6.3

At contracting establishments

11,595 12,340 11,636 10,974 10,876 5.6 5.9 5.6 5.2 5.0

At closing establishments

3,642 3,915 3,145 3,197 2,878 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.3

Net employment change (2)

2,297 1,290 1,221 4,058 4,535 1.1 0.6 0.5 2.0 2.2

Manufacturing

Gross job gains

14,102 16,167 13,716 14,923 14,516 3.1 3.5 2.9 3.2 3.0

At expanding establishments

12,891 14,839 12,549 13,898 13,428 2.8 3.2 2.7 3.0 2.8

At opening establishments

1,211 1,328 1,167 1,025 1,088 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Gross job losses

13,968 14,089 14,342 13,478 13,379 2.9 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.8

At contracting establishments

12,808 12,196 12,859 11,128 12,489 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.4 2.6

At closing establishments

1,160 1,893 1,483 2,350 890 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.2

Net employment change (2)

134 2,078 -626 1,445 1,137 0.2 0.5 -0.1 0.3 0.2

Wholesale trade

Gross job gains

8,652 9,972 8,395 9,313 8,878 4.7 5.4 4.6 5.0 4.9

At expanding establishments

6,962 7,931 6,996 7,649 6,950 3.8 4.3 3.8 4.1 3.8

At opening establishments

1,690 2,041 1,399 1,664 1,928 0.9 1.1 0.8 0.9 1.1

Gross job losses

7,690 8,215 8,129 7,614 7,373 4.2 4.5 4.4 4.1 4.0

At contracting establishments

5,909 5,837 6,541 5,820 5,869 3.2 3.2 3.5 3.1 3.2

At closing establishments

1,781 2,378 1,588 1,794 1,504 1.0 1.3 0.9 1.0 0.8

Net employment change (2)

962 1,757 266 1,699 1,505 0.5 0.9 0.2 0.9 0.9

Retail trade

Gross job gains

32,328 29,862 29,170 29,017 30,950 6.5 6.0 5.8 5.9 6.2

At expanding establishments

26,415 25,321 24,694 25,256 26,321 5.3 5.1 4.9 5.1 5.3

At opening establishments

5,913 4,541 4,476 3,761 4,629 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9

Gross job losses

29,145 31,279 30,232 28,352 26,862 5.8 6.3 6.1 5.7 5.4

At contracting establishments

25,576 26,318 26,467 24,392 24,063 5.1 5.3 5.3 4.9 4.8

At closing establishments

3,569 4,961 3,765 3,960 2,799 0.7 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.6

Net employment change (2)

3,183 -1,417 -1,062 665 4,088 0.7 -0.3 -0.3 0.2 0.8

Transportation and warehousing

Gross job gains

6,425 7,115 7,580 9,424 6,586 5.0 5.6 6.0 7.2 5.0

At expanding establishments

5,535 6,243 6,587 8,410 5,264 4.3 4.9 5.2 6.4 4.0

At opening establishments

890 872 993 1,014 1,322 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 1.0

Gross job losses

9,073 6,326 5,698 4,996 8,084 7.0 5.0 4.5 3.8 6.1

At contracting establishments

8,378 4,784 4,702 3,943 7,338 6.5 3.8 3.7 3.0 5.5

At closing establishments

695 1,542 996 1,053 746 0.5 1.2 0.8 0.8 0.6

Net employment change (2)

-2,648 789 1,882 4,428 -1,498 -2.0 0.6 1.5 3.4 -1.1

Information

Gross job gains

3,342 3,722 3,979 4,209 4,051 4.2 4.7 5.0 5.4 5.1

At expanding establishments

2,684 2,982 3,163 3,516 3,439 3.4 3.8 4.0 4.5 4.3

At opening establishments

658 740 816 693 612 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.8

Gross job losses

3,054 4,176 4,011 4,265 2,930 3.9 5.3 5.1 5.5 3.7

At contracting establishments

2,353 3,373 3,201 3,114 2,491 3.0 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.1

At closing establishments

701 803 810 1,151 439 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.5 0.6

Net employment change (2)

288 -454 -32 -56 1,121 0.3 -0.6 -0.1 -0.1 1.4

Financial activities

Gross job gains

12,723 12,451 12,241 12,531 11,778 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.5 5.1

At expanding establishments

10,250 9,760 9,289 9,301 9,053 4.6 4.3 4.1 4.1 3.9

At opening establishments

2,473 2,691 2,952 3,230 2,725 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.2

Gross job losses

10,834 11,503 11,108 10,970 8,884 4.9 5.1 4.9 4.8 3.8

At contracting establishments

8,222 8,281 8,361 8,145 6,541 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.6 2.8

At closing establishments

2,612 3,222 2,747 2,825 2,343 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.0

Net employment change (2)

1,889 948 1,133 1,561 2,894 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.7 1.3

Professional and business services

Gross job gains

46,883 49,746 43,612 47,989 46,395 7.7 8.1 7.1 7.8 7.4

At expanding establishments

38,278 38,937 35,187 40,056 36,350 6.3 6.3 5.7 6.5 5.8

At opening establishments

8,605 10,809 8,425 7,933 10,045 1.4 1.8 1.4 1.3 1.6

Gross job losses

40,380 47,026 46,188 42,560 40,977 6.6 7.6 7.5 6.8 6.5

At contracting establishments

32,454 36,863 38,036 33,010 34,768 5.3 6.0 6.2 5.3 5.5

At closing establishments

7,926 10,163 8,152 9,550 6,209 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.0

Net employment change (2)

6,503 2,720 -2,576 5,429 5,418 1.1 0.5 -0.4 1.0 0.9

Education and health services

Gross job gains

28,725 26,264 26,854 26,626 27,356 5.0 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.7

At expanding establishments

24,847 21,324 23,029 22,375 22,151 4.3 3.7 4.0 3.9 3.8

At opening establishments

3,878 4,940 3,825 4,251 5,205 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.9

Gross job losses

25,280 24,842 25,352 24,250 20,684 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.2 3.5

At contracting establishments

21,318 20,271 21,143 19,012 18,074 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.3 3.1

At closing establishments

3,962 4,571 4,209 5,238 2,610 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.4

Net employment change (2)

3,445 1,422 1,502 2,376 6,672 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.4 1.2

Leisure and hospitality

Gross job gains

44,723 43,602 44,315 44,213 44,904 9.1 8.8 9.0 8.9 8.9

At expanding establishments

33,592 33,248 34,059 34,574 33,679 6.8 6.7 6.9 7.0 6.7

At opening establishments

11,131 10,354 10,256 9,639 11,225 2.3 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.2

Gross job losses

38,243 44,494 45,601 39,922 36,377 7.8 9.0 9.2 8.1 7.3

At contracting establishments

31,571 35,936 38,484 32,425 31,040 6.4 7.3 7.8 6.6 6.2

At closing establishments

6,672 8,558 7,117 7,497 5,337 1.4 1.7 1.4 1.5 1.1

Net employment change (2)

6,480 -892 -1,286 4,291 8,527 1.3 -0.2 -0.2 0.8 1.6

Other services (3)

Gross job gains

8,262 8,173 8,089 8,497 8,451 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.5 8.3

At expanding establishments

6,115 6,223 6,092 6,658 6,292 6.2 6.3 6.2 6.7 6.2

At opening establishments

2,147 1,950 1,997 1,839 2,159 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.8 2.1

Gross job losses

7,398 7,943 7,990 7,427 7,648 7.5 8.0 8.1 7.5 7.6

At contracting establishments

5,880 5,757 6,132 5,632 5,926 6.0 5.8 6.2 5.7 5.9

At closing establishments

1,518 2,186 1,858 1,795 1,722 1.5 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.7

Net employment change (2)

864 230 99 1,070 803 0.9 0.3 0.1 1.0 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, December 04, 2018