Business Births and Expansions, 2009

A quick comparison to 2001-2002 figures shows some similarities. In that year, manufacturing was also the greatest source of net job losses at 42,993, with large manufacturers accounting for approximately 75 percent of the jobs lost. Net job gains occurred in eight sectors: utilities; information; finance and insurance; professional, scientific, and technical services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; and other business, not classified. The largest number of net job gains was in the accommodations and food services sector with an increase of 4,754. New accommodations and food services businesses defined the trend with 9,711 more jobs gained than lost through business closings. Existing business contractions outweighed expansions by 4,957.

For the two periods, the health care and social services and utilities sectors posted net job gains. However, the utilities sector is one of the smallest, with less than one percent of the total employment of the health care and social services sector (3,473/358,858) in 2008.

The influence of large business was much more pronounced in the 2001-2002 period than in 2008-2009. Job losses in the 2001-2002 period were concentrated in the larger establishments, with more than 83 percent of the total drop in employment occurring at firms with 500+ employees. In contrast, during the 2008-2009 period, large firms accounted for less than 55 percent of the net decline in employment.

Information for every state is available at the U.S. Census Bureau website.

Table of Contents

The influence of large business was much more pronounced in the 2001-2002 period than in 2008-2009.

Table 1. Number of Establishments with Corresponding Employment Change, 2008-2009

Contractions

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* Randy Gustafson is director of the Tennessee State Data Center.