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Business Dynamic Statistics
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The Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) product has been produced by the Center for Economic Studies (CES) since 2009. A tabulation of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), these tables report job creation and destruction and establishment openings and closings, stratified by many firm characteristics such as age, size, geography and industry. The great strength of the BDS is its rich detail. The tables include geographic information down to the county-level and, separately, industry classification down to the 4-digit NAICS level. From the BDS, we learn where in the country jobs are being created or destroyed and what industries are growing or shrinking. We also learn where and in what sectors new businesses are forming and older businesses are shrinking or closing. The BDS is released every year in September, with the latest version covering the years 1976-2020.
BDS data tables show key economic data: Employment - job creation and destruction Job expansions and contractions Number of establishments and firms Establishment openings and closings Number of startups and firm shutdowns
Detailed Methodology
The BDS is created from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), a confidential database available to qualified researchers through secure Federal Statistical Research Data Centers. The use of the LBD as its source data permits tracking establishments and firms over time.
In 2021, publication of the main BDS tables was transferred to the economic statistics production area that publishes the County Business Patterns (CBP). CES research economists in turn began to build on years of LBD research to produce new experimental BDS products. These new tables augment the main BDS by adding additional information such as whether the parent firm of an establishment is an international goods-trader, whether the establishment operates in a high-tech industry sector, or whether the establishment belongs to a firm that operates in only one location, i.e., a single-unit firm. This fall (2022) BDS-Goods Traders was released for the second time, showing dynamics for firms that were importers, exporters, both, or not engaged in global trade. Also, this fall, BDS-High Tech was released, showing which MSAs had the most high-tech employment and where high tech businesses had grown and shrunk over the past 40 years. Finally, BDS-Single Unit Firms was released on Dec 15th, providing quarterly information on employment growth and decline and business entry and exit through the 4th quarter of 2020, enabling researchers to study how small businesses fared during the COVID-19 pandemic recession. More BDS experimental products are planned for the future, including BDS-Patenting Firms, BDS-Revenue, BDS-High Growth Firms, BDS-SBA COVID response, BDS-Firm Finance, and BDS-Human Capital.
For more information on methodology, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/documentation/methodology.html