Business Employment Dynamics in the U.S. Virgin Islands — First Quarter 2024

From December 2023 to March 2024, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in the U.S. Virgin Islands were 1,423, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 1,140, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 283 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2024. During the previous quarter, gross job gains exceeded gross job losses by 50. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

Gross job gains

In the first quarter of 2024, gross job gains represented 5.6 percent of private-sector employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands; in the United States, gross job gains accounted for 5.7 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 1,186 in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 104 jobs compared to the previous quarter. (See table 1.) Opening establishments accounted for 237 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 6 jobs from the previous quarter.

Gross job losses

In the first quarter of 2024, gross job losses represented 4.5 percent of private-sector employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands; in the United States, gross job losses accounted for 5.4 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, contracting establishments lost 913 jobs in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 65 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 227 jobs, a decrease of 266 jobs from the previous quarter.

For more information

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics Home.

The Business Employment Dynamics for Second Quarter 2024 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

Technical Note

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Private-sector gross job gains and losses by industry, U.S. Virgin Islands, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains and losses (3 months ended)	Gross job gains and losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023	Mar. 2024	Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023	Mar. 2024
Total private (1)
Gross job gains	1,946	1,856	2,058	1,521	1,423	7.9	7.5	8.2	6.0	5.6
At expanding establishments	1,388	1,342	1,424	1,290	1,186	5.6	5.4	5.7	5.1	4.7
At opening establishments	558	514	634	231	237	2.3	2.1	2.5	0.9	0.9
Gross job losses	1,821	1,614	1,705	1,471	1,140	7.4	6.5	6.8	5.9	4.5
At contracting establishments	1,325	1,221	1,272	978	913	5.4	4.9	5.1	3.9	3.6
At closing establishments	496	393	433	493	227	2.0	1.6	1.7	2.0	0.9
Net employment change (2)	125	242	353	50	283	0.5	1.0	1.4	0.1	1.1
Footnotes: (1) Includes unclassified sector not shown separately. (2) The net employment change is the difference between total gross job gains and total gross job losses. See the Technical Note for further information.

Table 2. Private-sector gross job gains and losses as a percent of total employment by state, seasonally adjusted

Category	Gross job gains as a percent of employment (3 months ended)	Gross job losses as a percent of employment (3 months ended)
Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023	Mar. 2024	Mar. 2023	June 2023	Sept. 2023	Dec. 2023	Mar. 2024
United States(1)	6.3	6.2	5.9	6.0	5.7	5.5	5.9	6.0	5.7	5.4
Alabama	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.2	5.7	5.6	5.7	6.0	5.7	5.5
Alaska	10.5	11.0	8.5	10.2	10.5	8.6	8.9	10.5	9.9	8.6
Arizona	6.0	7.0	6.8	6.5	8.4	5.6	6.3	5.7	6.6	6.4
Arkansas	5.8	5.9	5.6	6.2	5.6	5.1	6.0	5.8	5.0	5.2
California	6.3	6.8	6.4	6.4	5.8	6.6	6.4	6.5	6.4	5.6
Colorado	7.2	7.3	5.4	8.2	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.1	7.6	7.7
Connecticut	6.2	6.4	5.8	5.6	5.6	5.1	5.7	6.2	5.7	5.2
Delaware	6.7	6.4	6.0	6.1	6.0	5.2	5.8	6.5	5.8	5.1
District of Columbia	6.0	5.4	5.4	5.2	5.1	4.9	5.3	5.4	5.6	4.9
Florida	6.3	6.8	6.5	6.1	5.8	5.7	5.9	5.9	5.9	5.4
Georgia	6.5	6.3	6.1	6.2	6.0	6.0	6.4	6.1	5.7	5.7
Hawaii	5.6	5.7	5.3	6.1	5.4	5.1	5.3	6.8	5.0	5.1
Idaho	7.9	7.8	7.2	8.5	7.9	7.3	7.4	7.9	5.8	8.3
Illinois	5.8	5.4	4.8	5.0	5.1	4.8	5.2	5.3	5.1	4.8
Indiana	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.3	5.1	5.8	5.7	5.1	5.0
Iowa	6.1	6.0	5.6	6.1	6.1	5.4	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.6
Kansas	6.1	6.1	5.7	5.8	5.7	5.4	6.0	6.0	5.3	5.6
Kentucky	6.1	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	4.9	5.9	5.6	5.2	5.0
Louisiana	6.5	6.0	6.2	6.3	6.2	5.5	6.5	6.0	5.8	5.7
Maine	7.8	7.6	7.0	7.4	7.2	6.3	7.6	7.8	7.0	6.1
Maryland	7.2	6.7	6.3	6.2	5.8	6.0	6.6	6.4	5.8	5.7
Massachusetts	5.8	5.9	5.4	5.5	5.2	4.9	5.6	5.9	5.5	5.1
Michigan	5.8	5.9	5.2	5.5	5.4	5.0	5.3	5.9	5.5	5.2
Minnesota	5.8	6.0	3.3	6.9	5.8	4.8	5.5	4.3	6.9	5.7
Mississippi	6.5	6.4	6.2	6.1	5.7	6.1	6.5	6.2	5.7	6.1
Missouri	6.5	5.8	5.6	6.0	5.7	5.1	5.9	5.8	5.6	5.3
Montana	8.7	7.8	7.7	8.8	8.1	7.2	8.4	8.4	7.2	7.5
Nebraska	6.5	6.2	6.0	5.9	5.8	5.2	5.7	5.9	5.7	5.1
Nevada	6.2	6.5	6.5	6.7	5.9	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.4	6.2
New Hampshire	7.0	6.7	5.8	6.2	6.5	5.9	6.3	6.7	5.9	5.8
New Jersey	6.3	6.4	6.0	5.9	5.5	5.8	6.0	6.0	5.8	5.4
New Mexico	7.0	6.6	6.4	6.9	6.0	5.8	6.3	6.8	5.8	6.0
New York	6.5	6.2	5.8	5.7	5.9	5.2	5.8	6.0	5.6	5.0
North Carolina	6.6	6.1	5.7	6.3	5.4	5.3	5.7	6.1	4.9	5.5
North Dakota	7.6	6.9	6.6	6.7	6.9	5.7	6.7	6.6	6.3	6.1
Ohio	6.0	5.6	5.2	5.4	5.5	4.8	5.6	5.6	5.2	4.8
Oklahoma	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.1	5.6	5.4	6.1	6.0	5.8	5.2
Oregon	7.6	6.4	6.1	6.2	6.4	5.9	6.6	6.7	6.2	6.1
Pennsylvania	5.5	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.1	4.7	5.5	5.1	4.8	4.6
Rhode Island	7.4	6.7	6.4	6.8	6.9	5.9	6.8	6.7	6.3	5.7
South Carolina	6.8	6.4	6.6	6.2	6.4	5.9	6.6	5.7	5.3	6.3
South Dakota	7.3	6.7	6.3	6.6	6.3	5.9	6.0	6.3	5.8	5.8
Tennessee	5.9	5.8	5.6	6.2	5.5	5.0	5.5	5.7	5.5	4.9
Texas	6.0	5.8	5.7	5.7	5.4	5.1	5.4	5.5	5.2	5.1
Utah	7.0	6.9	6.9	6.6	6.7	6.3	6.4	6.6	6.5	6.0
Vermont	8.4	7.4	6.4	7.3	7.2	6.0	7.5	7.9	6.6	6.3
Virginia	6.2	6.1	5.9	5.9	5.7	5.2	5.9	6.0	5.5	5.2
Washington	6.6	6.1	5.8	6.0	5.7	6.3	5.7	6.0	5.4	5.3
West Virginia	7.3	6.1	6.5	6.5	6.9	5.5	6.4	6.6	5.8	5.7
Wisconsin	6.1	5.6	5.2	5.5	5.5	4.8	5.8	5.8	5.2	4.8
Wyoming	9.0	8.4	8.3	8.9	8.4	7.8	8.7	8.2	8.4	8.3
Puerto Rico	5.1	5.9	5.7	4.9	5.4	5.8	5.0	5.3	4.8	4.6
Virgin Islands	7.9	7.5	8.2	6.0	5.6	7.4	6.5	6.8	5.9	4.5
Footnotes (1) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. The sum of the states will not necessarily add to the U.S. total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of each state.

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