August 04, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Gross job gains and losses in the fourth quarter, 2003

From September to December 2003, the number of job gains from opening and expanding establishments in the private sector was 7.6 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 7.3 million.

Private sector gross job gains and losses, September 2003 to December 2003 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

Over the quarter, expanding establishments added 6.1 million jobs, while opening establishments added 1.6 million. Contracting establishments lost 5.8 million jobs, while closing establishments accounted for a loss of 1.5 million jobs.

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: Fourth Quarter 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04–1458.

Happy 10th Birthday, TED!

The very first issue of The Editor's Desk (TED) was posted on September 28, 1998. TED was the first online-only publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For 10 years, BLS has been committed to posting a new TED article each business day, for a total of over 2,400 articles so far.

Find out more about the story of TED