August 17, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Job losses and gains in the fourth quarter of 2006

Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained 7.7 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase of 370,000 from the previous quarter.

[Chart data—TXT]

Over the fourth quarter of 2006, expanding establishments added 6.3 million jobs while opening establishments added 1.5 million jobs. 

Gross job losses totaled 7.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, a decrease of 127,000 from the previous quarter. During the quarter, contracting establishments lost 5.9 million jobs while closing establishments lost 1.3 million jobs.

The difference between the number of gross jobs gained and the number of gross jobs lost yielded a net change of 516,000 jobs in the private sector for fourth quarter 2006.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics program. To learn more, see "Business Employment Dynamics: Fourth Quarter 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-1244.