January 29, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Gross job gains and losses in the second quarter of 2003

From March to June 2003, gross job gains represented 7.0 percent of private sector employment, while gross job losses represented 7.3 percent of private sector employment.

Private sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment, March 2003 to June 2003 (seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

These gross job gain and loss statistics demonstrate that sizable numbers of jobs appear and disappear in the relatively short time frame of one quarter.

Opening and expanding private sector business establishments gained 7.5 million jobs in the second quarter of 2003, or 69,000 more than in the first quarter of 2003. This is the first over-the-quarter increase in gross job gains since the first quarter of 2002.

Gross job losses totaled 7.7 million in the second quarter of 2003, 229,000 fewer than in the first quarter of 2003.

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: Second Quarter 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04–82.

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