Opinion & Analysis

Birth-Death Ratio (in Reference to Unemployment Numbers)

In 1 on February 7, 2010 at 8:17 pm


What Does Birth-Death Ratio Mean?
A figure that represents the net number of jobs provided from newly started businesses (births) and business closings (deaths) during a period of time, typically a month in conjunction with government-sponsored jobs reports. Birth-death figures are put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of the monthly employment report; they use a rolling average to determine the monthly total based on historical averages over the past several years.

Investopedia explains Birth-Death Ratio
The birth-death ratio is a major component of labor statistics because new businesses and small businesses create many jobs in the overall economy. It would be impossible to survey every company in the United States each month, sample sizes of about 150,000 are used and broad data is extrapolated from there.

Source

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/birth-death-ratio.asp