Business Employment Dynamics: First Quarter 2006 — 2006-11-17

From December 2005 to March 2006, the number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 7.6 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 6.8 million, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in all sectors, except manufacturing, information, and utilities. (See table 3.) Firms with 20 to 49 employees accounted for 18.9 percent of the net gains in employment, representing the largest contribution to employment growth among all firm size classes. (See tables D and 4.) The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by major industry sector, as well as, gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class.