The contribution of establishment births and deaths to employment growth

This article examines how establishment births and deaths contribute to job creation, job destruction, and net employment growth at different frequenc ies of measurement. The longitudinal data are constructed from quarterly un employment-insurance microdata from the state of West Virginia and are esse ntially a census of establishments in all industries. Defining establishmen t births and deaths is an exercise in how to use cross-sectional administra tive data for longitudinal research purposes. The analysis of job flows ind icates that establishment births and deaths account for about 19% of quarte rly job creation and destruction and well over half of triennial job creati on and destruction.