Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release — 2009-08-19

From September 2008 to December 2008 the number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 6.7 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 8.5 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. (See tables A, 1 and 3.) Over this period, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains in all but two industry sectors: utilities and education and health services. (See tables B and 3.) 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.