Quarterly Data Series on Business Employment Dynamics News Release — 2011-11-17

From December 2010 to March 2011 the number of gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 6.3 million, a decrease of 671,000 jobs compared to the previous quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the same period, gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments fell to 6.1 million, the lowest level since this series began in September 1992. Firms of all sizes experienced a decrease in gross job gains in the first quarter of 2011. Firms with less than 250 employees had the largest contribution to employment growth. 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.