Business Employment Dynamics in North Dakota — First Quarter 2021

From December 2020 to March 2021, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in North Dakota were 25,429, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 20,985, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 4,444 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2021. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 500. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job gains represented 7.8 percent of private-sector employment in North Dakota; nationally, gross job gains accounted for 6.8 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In North Dakota, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 21,401 in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 2,288 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 4,028 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 72 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2021, gross job losses represented 6.5 percent of private-sector employment in North Dakota; nationally, gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In North Dakota, contracting establishments lost 17,209 jobs in the first quarter of 2021, a decrease of 1,769 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 3,776 jobs, an increase of 41 jobs from the previous quarter.

Industries

Gross job gains exceeded gross job losses in 4 of the 5 industry sectors in North Dakota in the first quarter of 2021. Leisure and hospitality had the largest over-the-quarter net job increase, with a gain of 3,255 jobs. This was the result of 5,240 gross job gains and 1,985 gross job losses. The professional and business services industry had a net gain of 628 jobs. Construction showed a net loss of 383 jobs.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, 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. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/bdm/.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2021 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records. Most employers in the U.S. are required to file quarterly reports on the employment and wages of workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and to pay quarterly UI taxes. The QCEW is based largely on quarterly UI reports which are sent by businesses to the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). These UI reports are supplemented by two additional BLS data collections to render administrative data into economic statistics. Together these data comprise the QCEW and form the basis of the Bureau's establishment universe sampling frame.

In the BED program, the QCEW records are linked across quarters to provide a longitudinal history for each establishment. The linkage process allows the tracking of net employment changes at the establishment level, which in turn allows the estimation of jobs gained at opening and expanding units and jobs lost at closing and contracting units.

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. BED statistics track these changes in employment at private business establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment from expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost is the net change in employment.

Gross job gains and gross job losses are expressed as rates by dividing their levels by the average of employment in the current and previous quarters. The rates are calculated for the components of gross job gains and gross job losses and then summed to form their respective totals. These rates can be added and subtracted just as their levels can. For instance, the difference between the gross job gains rate and the gross job losses rate is the net growth rate.

The formal definitions of employment changes are as follows:

Openings. These are either units with positive third month employment for the first time in the current quarter, with no links to the prior quarter, or with positive third month employment in the current quarter following zero employment in the previous quarter.

Expansions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net increase in employment over this period.

Closings. These are either units with positive third month employment in the previous quarter, with no employment or zero employment reported in the current quarter.

Contractions. These are units with positive employment in the third month in both the previous and current quarters, with a net decrease in employment over this period.

The full Technical Note for the Business Employment Dynamics program, which includes information on coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the current quarterly news release online at www.bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Category	Gross job gains and job losses (3 months ended)					Gross job gains and job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept 2020	Dec. 2020	Mar. 2021
Total private
Gross job gains	24,206	17,552	28,228	23,213	25,429	6.9	5.3	8.9	7.2	7.8
At expanding establishments	20,512	13,712	22,885	19,113	21,401	5.8	4.1	7.2	5.9	6.6
At opening establishments	3,694	3,840	5,343	4,100	4,028	1.1	1.2	1.7	1.3	1.2
Gross job losses	25,311	56,881	21,947	22,713	20,985	7.2	17.1	6.9	7.1	6.5
At contracting establishments	21,696	49,950	17,795	18,978	17,209	6.2	15.0	5.6	5.9	5.3
At closing establishments	3,615	6,931	4,152	3,735	3,776	1.0	2.1	1.3	1.2	1.2
Net employment change	-1,105	-39,329	6,281	500	4,444	-0.3	-11.8	2.0	0.1	1.3
Construction
Gross job gains	4,471	3,759	4,079	3,910	3,853	15.8	14.2	16.5	15.9	15.6
At expanding establishments	3,472	2,913	2,914	2,981	2,947	12.3	11.0	11.8	12.1	11.9
At opening establishments	999	846	1,165	929	906	3.5	3.2	4.7	3.8	3.7
Gross job losses	5,055	8,063	4,291	4,093	4,236	18.0	30.5	17.3	16.6	17.1
At contracting establishments	4,268	6,600	3,394	3,212	3,326	15.2	25.0	13.7	13.0	13.4
At closing establishments	787	1,463	897	881	910	2.8	5.5	3.6	3.6	3.7
Net employment change	-584	-4,304	-212	-183	-383	-2.2	-16.3	-0.8	-0.7	-1.5
Wholesale trade
Gross job gains	1,164	942	1,376	1,042	1,145	4.8	4.0	6.1	4.6	5.0
At expanding establishments	1,008	780	1,229	895	1,021	4.2	3.3	5.4	4.0	4.5
At opening establishments	156	162	147	147	124	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.5
Gross job losses	1,343	2,708	1,259	1,032	1,062	5.5	11.6	5.6	4.6	4.7
At contracting establishments	1,163	2,515	999	904	880	4.8	10.8	4.4	4.0	3.9
At closing establishments	180	193	260	128	182	0.7	0.8	1.2	0.6	0.8
Net employment change	-179	-1,766	117	10	83	-0.7	-7.6	0.5	0.0	0.3
Retail trade
Gross job gains	2,681	1,881	3,704	2,495	2,703	5.9	4.2	8.4	5.6	6.0
At expanding establishments	2,447	1,704	3,377	2,309	2,472	5.4	3.8	7.7	5.2	5.5
At opening establishments	234	177	327	186	231	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.4	0.5
Gross job losses	2,472	5,055	2,147	2,656	2,367	5.4	11.4	4.9	6.0	5.3
At contracting establishments	2,233	4,695	1,961	2,351	1,929	4.9	10.6	4.5	5.3	4.3
At closing establishments	239	360	186	305	438	0.5	0.8	0.4	0.7	1.0
Net employment change	209	-3,174	1,557	-161	336	0.5	-7.2	3.5	-0.4	0.7
Professional and business services
Gross job gains	2,689	2,617	2,886	3,055	3,274	8.2	8.2	9.3	9.8	10.4
At expanding establishments	2,112	1,886	1,965	2,234	2,512	6.4	5.9	6.3	7.2	8.0
At opening establishments	577	731	921	821	762	1.8	2.3	3.0	2.6	2.4
Gross job losses	3,519	4,121	2,970	2,763	2,646	10.7	13.0	9.5	8.9	8.4
At contracting establishments	2,871	3,241	2,312	2,123	2,042	8.7	10.2	7.4	6.8	6.5
At closing establishments	648	880	658	640	604	2.0	2.8	2.1	2.1	1.9
Net employment change	-830	-1,504	-84	292	628	-2.5	-4.8	-0.2	0.9	2.0
Leisure and hospitality
Gross job gains	3,254	2,276	5,304	2,848	5,240	8.1	6.3	15.9	8.3	15.1
At expanding establishments	2,892	1,585	4,108	2,327	4,623	7.2	4.4	12.3	6.8	13.3
At opening establishments	362	691	1,196	521	617	0.9	1.9	3.6	1.5	1.8
Gross job losses	3,770	10,152	2,692	3,992	1,985	9.4	28.2	8.0	11.7	5.7
At contracting establishments	3,213	8,280	2,076	3,529	1,644	8.0	23.0	6.2	10.3	4.7
At closing establishments	557	1,872	616	463	341	1.4	5.2	1.8	1.4	1.0
Net employment change	-516	-7,876	2,612	-1,144	3,255	-1.3	-21.9	7.9	-3.4	9.4

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)					Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
	Dec. 2019	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020	Dec. 2019	Mar. 2020	June 2020	Sept. 2020	Dec. 2020
United States	6.2	5.5	4.8	9.4	7.4	5.5	6.1	17.0	6.0	5.7
Alabama	6.2	5.5	4.8	7.8	7.8	5.5	5.9	12.6	5.9	5.0
Alaska	10.3	9.2	6.9	12.2	13.4	10.2	9.5	24.5	9.9	7.7
Arizona	6.4	5.6	5.7	7.9	7.4	5.2	5.9	11.7	6.2	4.9
Arkansas	6.5	5.1	4.8	7.5	7.1	4.9	5.5	12.0	5.6	5.1
California	6.8	6.1	5.2	8.7	8.4	6.0	6.7	18.6	7.3	6.2
Colorado	6.7	6.3	5.8	10.0	7.5	6.2	7.0	14.9	6.3	7.2
Connecticut	5.5	5.2	4.3	11.2	6.5	5.6	5.9	19.7	5.1	5.8
Delaware	6.7	6.2	4.9	10.3	6.7	6.2	6.6	17.7	6.3	5.7
District of Columbia	5.4	5.2	3.3	8.3	5.2	4.7	5.3	22.4	5.8	5.5
Florida	6.6	5.4	6.1	9.5	7.6	5.9	6.2	13.9	6.8	5.6
Georgia	6.5	5.6	5.4	9.2	7.8	5.5	5.9	15.0	6.4	5.2
Hawaii	5.7	5.2	3.6	7.4	14.7	5.2	5.8	29.8	12.7	4.6
Idaho	7.7	7.6	6.4	8.4	8.7	6.3	6.1	11.2	6.5	6.1
Illinois	5.6	5.0	4.6	9.7	6.5	5.2	6.0	18.4	5.6	6.1
Indiana	6.0	4.9	4.7	8.3	6.9	5.1	6.0	13.7	5.4	5.0
Iowa	5.8	5.2	4.4	7.4	6.8	5.5	5.9	13.0	5.6	5.1
Kansas	6.3	5.4	5.0	7.9	7.0	5.7	6.0	13.3	6.0	6.0
Kentucky	6.2	5.3	4.6	8.8	6.8	5.6	6.1	15.3	5.0	5.4
Louisiana	5.9	5.3	4.5	8.8	8.7	5.7	6.3	16.9	7.2	5.5
Maine	7.3	6.4	5.4	12.0	8.5	6.9	7.0	21.7	6.0	6.3
Maryland	6.4	5.7	4.7	11.0	7.1	5.9	6.7	21.9	5.9	5.9
Massachusetts	5.8	5.2	3.7	12.5	7.0	5.6	6.0	24.2	5.6	5.6
Michigan	5.8	5.0	4.0	10.9	6.8	5.3	5.7	20.7	4.8	7.0
Minnesota	5.8	5.0	4.3	9.0	7.0	5.6	5.6	17.6	5.4	6.9
Mississippi	6.2	5.6	5.1	8.7	7.9	5.6	6.2	12.9	5.5	4.9
Missouri	6.2	5.2	4.7	8.5	7.2	5.3	5.7	14.3	5.7	5.3
Montana	8.6	7.7	6.8	9.9	9.3	7.2	7.7	13.8	7.2	6.8
Nebraska	6.2	5.8	4.9	8.1	6.8	5.8	6.1	12.1	5.9	5.6
Nevada	6.8	5.4	5.3	12.8	8.9	5.0	6.3	29.2	6.4	5.7
New Hampshire	6.6	6.0	4.5	11.9	7.4	6.0	6.4	18.8	5.1	6.5
New Jersey	6.5	5.7	4.6	15.7	8.1	5.8	6.3	28.1	5.8	5.9
New Mexico	7.0	6.1	4.5	8.3	7.1	6.3	6.5	17.6	6.0	7.6
New York	6.0	5.5	3.9	13.3	7.4	5.7	6.4	26.9	5.9	6.4
North Carolina	6.3	5.8	4.8	8.5	7.8	5.4	5.7	14.5	5.6	5.1
North Dakota	6.7	6.8	5.2	8.8	7.2	6.6	7.0	17.2	6.9	7.1
Ohio	5.7	5.1	4.5	7.7	6.6	5.3	5.6	14.4	5.3	5.2
Oklahoma	6.5	5.4	5.6	6.8	7.8	6.2	6.7	12.3	6.4	5.6
Oregon	6.7	6.2	5.0	9.0	7.4	5.8	6.5	18.4	6.2	6.5
Pennsylvania	5.4	4.9	3.6	10.3	6.2	4.9	5.6	18.2	5.0	5.3
Rhode Island	6.5	6.1	4.5	12.9	7.5	5.9	6.5	25.2	5.3	7.1
South Carolina	6.5	5.5	5.1	8.8	8.1	5.9	6.6	14.9	6.1	5.3
South Dakota	6.4	6.0	5.1	8.6	7.2	5.8	6.6	11.6	5.5	6.2
Tennessee	5.7	4.9	4.4	8.1	7.5	5.0	5.3	13.7	5.4	4.6
Texas	6.0	5.0	4.7	7.2	7.5	5.1	5.5	13.6	6.0	4.8
Utah	6.8	6.6	6.5	9.1	8.1	6.3	6.4	10.9	6.2	5.5
Vermont	6.9	5.8	4.6	12.3	7.6	6.4	7.6	18.5	5.7	7.9
Virginia	6.5	5.6	4.7	10.2	7.0	5.5	6.1	18.2	5.3	5.3
Washington	6.6	7.4	4.9	8.9	7.1	5.8	7.4	16.9	6.2	6.0
West Virginia	6.2	6.0	5.1	8.8	7.4	7.1	6.8	13.8	7.0	6.2
Wisconsin	5.4	5.0	4.4	7.6	6.3	5.0	5.3	14.4	5.2	5.1
Wyoming	9.4	8.6	6.4	10.7	10.0	8.7	9.3	18.1	7.7	7.6
Puerto Rico	5.4	5.0	4.0	11.0	6.6	4.9	5.2	16.9	5.1	4.9
Virgin Islands	10.3	7.2	5.3	8.4	8.9	7.3	8.3	19.8	12.3	5.4

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.