Accessible Version

Business entry and exit in the COVID-19 pandemic: A preliminary look at official data, Accessible Data

Figure 1: Establishment openings and closures

Left panel: Establishments
thousands

Date Closures Openings
2019q1 425 454
2019q2 437 434
2019q3 413 439
2019q4 426 488
2020q1 525 504
2020q2 735 459
2020q3 477 647
2020q4 439 554
2021q1 404 550
2021q2 447 539
2021q3 495 567

Right panel: Employment
thousands

Date Closures Openings
2019q1 1247 1361
2019q2 1360 1388
2019q3 1274 1379
2019q4 1327 1494
2020q1 1504 1359
2020q2 2926 1293
2020q3 1375 2051
2020q4 1354 1697
2021q1 1129 1510
2021q2 1266 1544
2021q3 1545 1656

Note: Includes temporary closures and reopenings. Seasonally adjusted. Y axes may not start at zero. Shaded bars indicate periods of business recession as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): February 2020–April 2020.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED).

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Figure 2: Temporary establishment closures and reopenings

Left panel: Establishments
thousands

Date Temp. closures Reopenings
2019q1 205 194
2019q2 196 176
2019q3 180 189
2019q4 191 220
2020q1 251 224
2020q2 406 232
2020q3 242 370
2020q4 221 267
2021q1 n.a. 247
2021q2 n.a. 188
2021q3 n.a. 211

Right panel: Employment
thousands

Date Temp. closures Reopenings
2019q1 551 554
2019q2 553 538
2019q3 506 531
2019q4 535 589
2020q1 742 513
2020q2 1763 632
2020q3 678 1229
2020q4 660 780
2021q1 n.a. 684
2021q2 n.a. 564
2021q3 n.a. 644

Note: Net temporary closures and reopenings. Seasonally adjusted. Y axes may not start at zero. Shaded bars indicate periods of business recession as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): February 2020–April 2020.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED) and author calculations

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Figure 3: Establishment birth and exits

Left panel: Establishments
thousands

Date Exits Births
2019q1 220 260
2019q2 241 258
2019q3 233 250
2019q4 235 268
2020q1 274 280
2020q2 329 227
2020q3 235 277
2020q4 218 287
2021q1 n.a. 303
2021q2 n.a. 351
2021q3 n.a. 356

Right panel: Employment
thousands

Date Exits Births
2019q1 696 807
2019q2 807 850
2019q3 768 848
2019q4 792 905
2020q1 762 846
2020q2 1163 661
2020q3 697 822
2020q4 694 917
2021q1 n.a. 826
2021q2 n.a. 980
2021q3 n.a. 1012

Note: Seasonally adjusted. Y axes may not start at zero. Shaded bars indicate periods of business recession as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): February 2020–April 2020.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED).

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Figure 4: Establishment births and business applications

Left panel
thousands

Date Establishment births (left) Business applications (right)
2019q1 260 317
2019q2 258 323
2019q3 250 320
2019q4 268 330
2020q1 280 307
2020q2 227 293
2020q3 277 478
2020q4 287 381
2021q1 303 449
2021q2 351 468
2021q3 356 431
2021q4 n.a. 423
2022q1 n.a. 408

Right panel
thousands

Date Establishment births (left) Business applications (right)
1/1/2004 222 n.a.
4/1/2004 218 n.a.
7/1/2004 224 324
10/1/2004 226 351
1/1/2005 227 356
4/1/2005 232 357
7/1/2005 236 343
10/1/2005 236 398
1/1/2006 236 383
4/1/2006 233 378
7/1/2006 224 373
10/1/2006 236 379
1/1/2007 232 371
4/1/2007 225 376
7/1/2007 233 377
10/1/2007 228 342
1/1/2008 226 314
4/1/2008 221 313
7/1/2008 216 309
10/1/2008 211 287
1/1/2009 197 288
4/1/2009 201 285
7/1/2009 192 287
10/1/2009 202 283
1/1/2010 193 279
4/1/2010 193 283
7/1/2010 207 289
10/1/2010 216 292
1/1/2011 204 298
4/1/2011 210 286
7/1/2011 206 291
10/1/2011 214 294
1/1/2012 236 275
4/1/2012 217 289
7/1/2012 210 279
10/1/2012 218 303
1/1/2013 205 283
4/1/2013 222 284
7/1/2013 219 287
10/1/2013 215 294
1/1/2014 220 282
4/1/2014 221 291
7/1/2014 225 293
10/1/2014 224 285
1/1/2015 233 307
4/1/2015 234 294
7/1/2015 243 299
10/1/2015 247 297
1/1/2016 236 305
4/1/2016 241 294
7/1/2016 238 312
10/1/2016 238 303
1/1/2017 242 310
4/1/2017 241 310
7/1/2017 243 308
10/1/2017 245 312
1/1/2018 248 329
4/1/2018 265 326
7/1/2018 251 326
10/1/2018 249 324
1/1/2019 260 317
4/1/2019 258 323
7/1/2019 250 320
10/1/2019 268 330
1/1/2020 280 307
4/1/2020 227 293
7/1/2020 277 478
10/1/2020 287 381
1/1/2021 303 449
4/1/2021 351 468
7/1/2021 356 431
10/1/2021 n.a. 423
1/1/2022 n.a. 408

Note: High-propensity business applications. Seasonally adjusted. Y axes may not start at zero. Shaded bars indicate periods of business recession as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): December 2007–June 2009, and February 2020–April 2020.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED) and Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics (BFS).

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Figure 5: Establishment births and business applications, sectors

Left panel: Difference vs. 2019 pace
thousands

Sector Establishments births Business applications
Construction 0.3 11.3
Ed & health svc 2.6 13.4
Financial act 5.1 6.5
Information 4.3 1.0
Leis & hosp 0.9 30.3
Manufacturing 0.6 0.9
Nat res & mining -0.2 0.4
Other svc 2.4 3.8
Prof & bus svc 18.6 17.3
Retail trade 1.8 18.4
T&W 2.1 11.8
Wholesale trade 0.4 1.0

Right panel: Difference vs. 2019 pace
ratio

Sector Establishments births Business applications
Construction 1.0 1.2
Ed & health svc 1.1 1.3
Financial act 1.2 1.3
Information 1.6 1.2
Leis & hosp 1.0 1.6
Manufacturing 1.1 1.1
Nat res & mining 0.9 1.1
Other svc 1.2 1.2
Prof & bus svc 1.3 1.3
Retail trade 1.1 1.5
T&W 1.3 1.7
Wholesale trade 1.0 1.1

Note: 2020:Q3-2021:Q3. Left panel expressed in average seasonally adjusted quarterly pace. Solid line is 45-degree line. T&W is transportation & warehousing.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED), Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, and author calculations.

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Figure 6: Establishment openings and business applications, 3-digit industries
NAICS (3-digit industires) Difference vs. 2019 pace (thousands). Establishment openings Difference vs. 2019 pace (thousands). Business applications Difference vs. 2019 pace (ratio). Establishment openings Difference vs. 2019 pace (ratio). Business applications
111 0.0 1.5 1.0 1.2
112 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0
113 0.0 0.1 0.9 1.2
114 0.0 0.1 1.0 1.4
115 0.0 1.2 1.0 1.6
211 0.0 -0.1 1.0 0.8
212 0.0 0.1 0.9 1.4
213 0.0 -0.1 1.0 0.8
221 0.2 0.5 1.5 1.7
236 0.8 16.6 1.0 1.3
237 0.1 -0.1 1.0 0.9
238 1.4 9.1 1.0 1.2
311 0.2 0.3 1.2 1.2
312 0.1 -0.1 1.1 0.9
313 0.0 0.0 1.3 1.0
314 0.0 0.1 1.2 1.2
315 0.1 0.6 1.2 1.6
316 0.0 0.3 1.2 2.2
321 0.0 0.2 1.1 1.2
322 0.0 0.0 1.1 1.0
323 0.2 0.5 1.3 1.4
324 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.8
325 0.2 0.3 1.3 1.2
326 0.1 0.1 1.2 1.2
327 0.0 0.0 1.1 1.1
331 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.4
332 0.2 0.9 1.1 1.6
333 0.1 0.1 1.2 1.1
334 0.2 0.1 1.3 1.1
335 0.1 0.0 1.3 1.1
336 0.1 0.1 1.3 1.1
337 0.1 0.3 1.2 1.4
339 0.3 0.5 1.2 1.3
423 1.3 2.6 1.1 1.3
424 0.6 1.7 1.1 1.2
425 -0.1 3.0 1.0 1.4
441 0.3 1.9 1.1 1.3
442 0.2 0.9 1.2 1.5
443 0.0 0.4 1.0 1.5
444 0.1 1.5 1.1 1.9
445 0.3 2.5 1.1 1.4
446 0.0 1.6 1.0 1.4
447 -0.1 0.1 0.9 1.1
448 0.9 7.9 1.3 2.2
451 0.2 2.0 1.1 1.9
452 0.0 0.9 1.0 1.8
453 0.7 5.1 1.2 1.5
454 1.4 97.4 1.4 2.2
481 0.1 0.3 1.3 1.5
483 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.3
484 2.2 43.2 1.3 2.1
485 0.3 3.2 1.3 1.5
486 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.9
487 0.1 0.3 1.3 1.4
488 0.4 3.8 1.2 1.8
492 0.2 0.8 1.3 1.6
493 0.1 1.9 1.1 2.0
511 2.7 1.3 1.8 1.4
512 0.8 4.4 1.3 1.5
515 0.0 0.1 1.1 1.3
517 0.3 0.2 1.2 1.1
518 1.3 0.2 1.7 1.3
519 0.9 1.5 1.5 1.8
522 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.4
523 1.3 15.6 1.2 1.6
524 1.9 2.1 1.2 1.3
525 0.2 -0.2 1.4 0.7
531 2.9 7.8 1.1 1.2
532 0.5 2.3 1.3 1.5
533 0.0 -0.1 1.1 0.9
541 19.7 42.0 1.3 1.4
551 0.9 3.8 1.3 1.4
561 5.3 31.6 1.2 1.5
562 0.2 0.9 1.2 1.7
611 1.7 4.1 1.2 1.3
621 3.2 11.1 1.1 1.4
622 0.1 0.0 1.2 1.1
623 0.1 0.8 1.0 1.3
624 2.4 8.0 1.0 1.4
711 1.3 7.3 1.2 1.5
712 0.1 0.1 1.4 1.2
713 0.8 2.4 1.2 1.2
721 0.4 0.9 1.2 1.3
722 5.3 22.5 1.2 1.5
811 1.0 10.0 1.1 1.6
812 3.9 30.5 1.4 1.7
813 1.8 2.1 1.4 1.1

Note: 2020:Q4-2021:Q3. Left panel expressed in average seasonally adjusted quarterly pace. Solid line is 45-degree line. T&W is transportation & warehousing.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED), Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, and author calculations.

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Figure 7: The evolution of the firm size distribution

Top panel: Change in firm and employment shares, March 2020 to March 2021
Percentage points

Firm size (employees) Firms Employment
1-4 1.2 0.4
5-9 0.1 0.4
10-19 -0.3 0.3
20-49 -0.6 -0.1
50-99 -0.2 -0.2
100-249 -0.1 -0.4
250-499 -0.1 -0.2
500-999 0.0 -0.1
1000+ 0.0 -0.1

Middle panel: Net employment change, March 2020 to March 2021
Jobs (thousands)

Firm size (employees) Change in levels Cumulative net change, dynamic method
1-4 209 134
5-9 139 -148
10-19 -35 -411
20-49 -718 -829
50-99 -639 -648
100-249 -1029 -788
250-499 -587 -555
500-999 -542 -539
1000+ -2362 -1785

Bottom panel: Change in firm count and employment, 2020 to 2021
Percent

Firm size (employees) Firms Employment
1-19 3.1 1.5
20-49 -5.2 -5.6
50+ -7.0 -5.7
All sizes 1.9 -4.5

Note: Firms and firm size defined by EIN. Dynamic method distributes net growth across size categories in which it occurs.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED).

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Last Update: May 06, 2022