Business Employment Dynamics (BED) Releases 2011 First Quarter Job Gain vs. Job Loss Results

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) provides data for the change in job numbers over time by tracking statistics  in private business units from one quarter to the next. The following results are for the first quarter of 2011.

There was a decrease of 671,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2011 for opening and expanding private sector companies in comparison to the previous quarter. Additionally, jobs losses tumbled to 6.1 million for closing and contracting private sector companies, which is the lowest the nation has seen since 1992.

Companies with 250 employees or less experienced the largest employment growth. Regarding job gains, expanding establishments decreased to 5.2 million in 2011’s first quarter in comparison to the previous quarter’s 5.6 million gain.

1.1 million job gains were experienced by opening establishments in the first quarter, down 3 million from the previous quarter. This is the least number of jobs gained since September 1992.

The smallest number of job losses since September 1992 occurred for contracting establishments, which experienced 5 million job losses in the first quarter of 2011. Regarding closing establishments, 1.1 million job losses occurred, which is the smallest number of losses since 1992. In the private sector, there was a 252,000 difference between the number of gross job gains and gross job losses in 2011’s first quarter.