Business Employment Dynamics in the U.S. Virgin Islands — Fourth Quarter 2025

From September 2025 to December 2025, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments in the U.S. Virgin Islands were 2,172, while gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 1,727, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 445 jobs in the private sector during the fourth quarter of 2025. (See table 1.) During the previous quarter, gross job losses exceeded gross job gains by 324. (See chart 1.)

The change in the number of jobs over time is the net result of increases and decreases in employment that occur at all private businesses in the economy. Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics track these changes in employment at private-sector establishments from the third month of one quarter to the third month of the next. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses is the net change in employment. (See the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.)

In the fourth quarter of 2025, gross job gains represented 9.1 percent of private-sector employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands; in the United States, gross job gains accounted for 5.9 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 2.) Gross job gains are the sum of increases in employment due to expansions at existing establishments and the addition of new jobs at opening establishments. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, gross job gains at expanding establishments totaled 1,312 in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of 218 jobs compared to the previous quarter. Opening establishments accounted for 860 jobs gained in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of 296 jobs from the previous quarter.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 7.2 percent of private-sector employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands; in the United States, gross job losses accounted for 5.5 percent of private-sector employment. (See chart 3.) Gross job losses are the result of contractions in employment at existing establishments and the loss of jobs at closing establishments. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, contracting establishments lost 1,269 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of 23 jobs from the prior quarter. Closing establishments lost 458 jobs, a decrease of 278 jobs from the previous quarter.

The BED data series include gross job gains and gross job losses by industry subsector, for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as gross job gains and gross job losses at the firm level by employer size class. BED data for the states have been included in table 2 of this release. Additional information is available online at the Business Employment Dynamics homepage and the Business Employment Dynamics Summary.

The Business Employment Dynamics for First Quarter 2026 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data are a product of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). The BED data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from existing QCEW records.

More information on formal definitions of the data used in this release, along with coverage, concepts, and methodology, can be found in the Business Employment Dynamics Technical Note.

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