Hence, a reasonably conservative estimate is that, excluding seasonal and other short-term layoffs, about 15 million jobs are lost each year in the United States, equal to nearly 14 percent of the current level of nonfarm private employment.
Of course, because net private-sector job creation in the United States over the past ten years has averaged more than 1.8 million per year, these losses were more than offset by the creation of about 17 million jobs per year during the same period. Truly, the U.S. labor market exhibits a phenomenal capacity for creative destruction.