ABJ - August 3 - From September to December 2010 the number of gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments increased to 7 million, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, the number of gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments was essentially unchanged from the previous quarter at 6.4 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, large firms with 250 or more employees experienced the largest quarter of gross job gains (1.7 million) since December 2007.

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. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private business units 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 units and the addition of new jobs at opening units.

Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing units and the loss of jobs at closing units. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment.

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by industry subsector and 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.