728,000 Positive Changes

Any number of job losses feels like too many when you imagine the human experience behind it.  In the last quarter of 2010, the number of gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments was 6.2 million.

These losses, however, were ameliorated by the creation of 6.9 million new job gains from the opening and expanding private sector establishments.

This means that 728,000 more people gained a job than lost them.  Certainly recruiters may take some credit for this change, as they have encouraged economic growth.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this quarter represents the first positive net employment change since the recession began in December 2007 and the largest since March 2006.

Job losses have steadily decreased from a recent high of 8.5 million in December 2008 to the lowest level since the series began in September 1992.

Gross job gains represented 6.6 percent of private sector employment in the second quarter of 2010, while gross job losses represented 5.9 percent of private sector employment.