May 25, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Gross job gains and losses: third quarter 2004

The gap between job gains and job losses narrowed during the third quarter of 2004, after widening over the previous four quarters.

[Chart data—TXT]

From June to September 2004, the number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 7.8 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 7.6 million.

In the third quarter of 2004, expanding establishments added 6.1 million jobs, while opening establishments added 1.7 million jobs. Contracting establishments lost 6.0 million jobs, while closing establishments accounted for a loss of 1.6 million.

These data are from Business Employment Dynamics. Data presented here are for workers in private industry covered by State unemployment insurance programs. Find more in "Business Employment Dynamics: Third Quarter 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-875.