Business employment dynamics by wage class

Abstract

Statistics on gross job gains and losses, which show the dynamics of job creation and destruction, are now often used by economists and policymakers in understanding the labor market. Available longitudinal microrecord data on employers and employees have allowed researchers to observe, in detail, how employment growth is generated by a continuous stream of job gains and losses across all industries, geographies, and firms of different sizes and ages. Since its first publication in 2003, the Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has expanded greatly, publishing valuable data series in response to policy and research needs for data on employment growth and labor turnover. Currently available data series on employment dynamics and some entrepreneurship indicators allow economists and policymakers to gain a better understanding of the overall labor market and the specific nature and magnitude of job creation and destruction.1