Private businesses that cut jobs have become more common in nearly every U.S. state since 2000, according to a DOKKA analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The study counted private sector establishments that reduced headcount or closed, then adjusted the totals for population. Nationally, those establishments rose from 1,839,057 in 2000 to 2,248,780 in 2024, a 22.3 percent increase. The per-capita rate climbed from 550 to 673 per 100,000 residents.
Nevada led the ranking with a 74.9 percent increase, from 13,726 establishments a year to 24,013. That is 327 more job-cutting businesses per 100,000 residents, lifting the state’s rate from 437 to 764.
Idaho ranked second at 67.9 percent, rising from 10,927 to 18,350. Its per-capita increase of 383 per 100,000 residents, from 564 to 946, was the largest in the country.
Utah placed third with a 67.4 percent rise, from 16,711 to 27,978, or 330 more per 100,000 residents. Florida ranked fourth at 62.4 percent and posted the biggest raw increase, up 61,917. Arizona followed at 51.3 percent.
Texas ranked sixth at 47.2 percent and had the second-largest raw gain after Florida. Tennessee, North Dakota, Montana and Colorado completed the top 10.
Only three states improved. Michigan recorded a 3.7 percent decline, from 59,359 to 57,188. Ohio fell 2.1 percent. West Virginia dropped 1.7 percent. Washington, Iowa, Illinois and several other states posted only modest increases.
Eric Edelstein, co-founder at DOKKA, said: “This study reveals a trend for the current job market. You’d assume that in the past couple of decades and with the advances of technology, that job availability would increase when in fact, according to this study, it’s the opposite. For the vast majority of America, job losses are on the rise with only a lucky few states seeing a reduction in job losses, and even these aren’t as high as you’d hope it would be. It’s worth adding that rapid growth naturally brings more business churn, meaning more businesses opening and more businesses contracting or closing
With the increase in AI, both employers and employees may question job security however; it’s all about how we use and integrate AI that matters. AI is here to stay, so learning how to best use it, integrate it into systems and workflows and get ahead of this, it means that employees and employers alike can have the upper hand and create new environments and approaches that will combine AI technology with human input and create something that can help businesses succeed.
Business owners that are worried about financial stability, particularly in the states that rank highly, should consider their expenses on a more frequent basis. Now that there is so much variety in softwares and tech with rapidly increasing advancements, business owners and finance teams in companies need to be constantly sourcing the right tools and making sure the tools themselves can keep up with business requirements.
What stands out is that the states with the fastest population growth, like Nevada and Utah, are also seeing the sharpest rise in businesses cutting jobs, which suggests that rapid growth alone is not insulating workers from instability.”
The figures come from BLS Business Employment Dynamics Table 5, using annual averages of quarterly data and estimated 2024 state populations.
