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Economic News Release
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MLS MLS Program Links

Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, October 25, 2011                         USDL-11-1545

Technical information:   (202) 691-6392  *  mlsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact:           (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                  MASS LAYOFFS -- SEPTEMBER 2011


Employers took 1,495 mass layoff actions in September involving 153,229 workers, 
seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits 
during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each mass 
layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. The number of mass 
layoff events in September decreased by 92 from August, and the number of associated 
initial claims decreased by 12,318. In September, 376 mass layoff events were 
reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 39,929 
initial claims. (See table 1.)

The national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in September, unchanged from the 
prior month but down from 9.6 percent a year earlier. In September, total nonfarm 
payroll employment increased by 103,000 over the month and by 1,490,000 over the 
year.

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The number of mass layoff events in September was 1,189, not seasonally adjusted, 
resulting in 117,232 initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 2.) Over 
the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events increased by 8, and 
associated average weekly initial claims increased by 4,032. Ten of the 19 major 
industry sectors in the private sector reported over-the-year increases in average 
weekly initial claims, with the largest increase occurring in manufacturing. 
(Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. See
the Technical Note.) The six-digit industry with the largest number of initial 
claims in September was temporary help services. (See table A. The table 
includes both publicly and privately owned entities.)

The manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of all mass layoff events and 27 
percent of initial claims filed in September. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 
20 percent of events and 25 percent of initial claims. Within this sector, the 
numbers of mass layoff claimants in September 2011 was greatest in the food and 
transportation equipment subsectors. (See table 3.) Fifteen of the 21 manufacturing 
subsectors experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, 
with the largest increases occurring in food and textile mills.


Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in September 2011,
not seasonally adjusted 

                                                                           September peak     
                  Industry                                                                    
                                                     Initial claims     Year  Initial claims  
                                                                                              
Temporary help services (1) ...................          10,040         2001      12,752      
Elementary and secondary schools ..............           3,650         2005      15,815      
Motion picture and video production ...........           3,034         1997      11,176      
Payroll services ..............................           3,027         1999       4,737      
Discount department stores ....................           2,973         2005       3,550      
Professional employer organizations (1) .......           2,246         2008       4,520      
Highway, street, and bridge construction ......           1,992         2011       1,992      
Supermarkets and other grocery stores .........           1,872         2005       4,873      
Teleproduction and postproduction services ....             (2)         2011         (2)      
Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing .             (2)         2000       3,688      
                                                                                              
    1  See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
    2  Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.


Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

All 4 regions and 6 of the 9 divisions experienced over-the-year increases in 
average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs in 
September. Among the census regions, the Northeast had the largest over-the-year 
increase in average weekly initial claims. Of the geographic divisions, the Pacific 
and Middle Atlantic registered the largest over-the-year increases in average weekly 
initial claims.

California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in September, 
followed by Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and Illinois. Twenty-eight 
states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year increases in average
weekly initial claims, led by California and Pennsylvania. (See table 6.)

Note

The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers 
beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private 
nonfarm establishments, information on the length of the layoff is obtained later 
and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting more than 30 
days (referred to as "extended mass layoffs"). The quarterly release provides more 
information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on
the demographics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term 
layoffs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter 
will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. 
(See table 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.

____________
The Extended Mass Layoffs news release for the Third Quarter 2011 is scheduled to be 
released on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EST). The Mass Layoffs news 
release for October is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 22, 2011, at 
10:00 a.m. (EST).


     ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    |                                                                       |
    |        Upcoming Changes to the Mass Layoffs News Release              |
    |                                                                       |
    | The following changes will be introduced in the October 2011          |
    | mass layoffs news release scheduled to be issued on Tuesday,          |
    | November 22, 2011.                                                    |
    |                                                                       |
    | --Charts 1 and 2 will be replaced with a single chart showing 10      |
    |   years of mass layoff initial claims data.                           |
    |                                                                       |
    | --Table A will only show private nonfarm industries.                  |
    |                                                                       |
    | --Seasonally adjusted data will be removed from Table 3 since these   |
    |   data are shown in Table 1. Select three-digit industry detail will  |
    |   be added to several two-digit industries. Public education industry |
    |   detail will be displayed within the state and local government	    |
    |   sections of Table 3. The previous two months’ data will be removed; |
    |   the current month and the previous year’s data will be shown.       |
    |    								    |
    | --Table 4 will be removed from the monthly release and issued as a    |
    |   supplemental table to the quarterly release. Table 5 and Table 6    |
    |   will be combined to create a new Table 4. The geographic divisions  |
    |   shown in Table 5 will be removed, and the states will be grouped    |
    |   into their respective Census regions. The previous two months’ data |
    |   will be removed; the current month and previous year’s data will be |
    |   shown.   							    |
    |                                                                       |
    | --The new Tables 3 and 4 will include average weekly mass layoff	    |
    |   events and average weekly initial claims for the current month and  |
    |   previous year. See the Technical Note for a description of average  |
    |   weekly analysis.   						    |
    |									    |
    |_______________________________________________________________________|




Technical Note


   The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state program
that uses a standardized automated approach to identifying, describing,
and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks, using data from each
state's unemployment insurance database. Each month, states report on
employers which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during
a consecutive 5-week period. These employers then are contacted by the
state agency to determine whether these separations lasted 31 days or
longer, and, if so, other information concerning the layoff is collected.
States report on layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a quarterly basis.

   A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly unemployment
insurance claims filings for the Sunday through Saturday weeks in that
month. All weeks are included for the particular month, except if the
first day of the month falls on Saturday. In this case, the week is
included in the prior month's tabulations. This means that some months
will contain 4 weeks and others, 5 weeks. The number of weeks in a given 
month may be different from year to year, and the number of weeks in a
year may vary. Therefore, analysis of over-the-month and over-the-year
change in not seasonally adjusted series should take this calendar effect
into consideration.

   The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 after it had been
terminated in November 1992 due to lack of funding. Prior to April 1995,
monthly layoff statistics were not available.

   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone:  (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay
Service:  (800) 877-8339.

Definitions

   Employer. Employers in the MLS program include those covered by state
unemployment insurance laws. Information on employers is obtained from the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which is adminis-
tered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

   Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 version of the 
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For temporary help
and professional employers organization industries, monthly MLS-related 
statistics generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client companies 
in other industries. An individual layoff action at a client company can
be small, but when initial claimants associated with many such layoffs are
assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a
mass layoff event may trigger.

   Initial claimant. A person who files any notice of unemployment to
initiate a request either for a determination of entitlement to and
eligibility for compensation, or for a subsequent period of unemployment
within a benefit year or period of eligibility.

   Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for unemployment insur-
ance benefits filed against an employer during a 5-week period, regardless 
of duration.

Seasonal adjustment

   Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS began publish-
ing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS series. The six series are the
numbers of mass layoff events and mass layoff initial claims for the total,
private nonfarm, and manufacturing sectors.
   
   Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect
on time series data of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes
in the weather, holidays, and the beginning and ending of the school year.
The use of seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental changes
in time series, particularly those associated with general economic expan-
sions and contractions.

   The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjust-
ment method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all
available monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in devel-
oping seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most recent 5 years
of seasonally adjusted data will be made once a year with the issuance of
December data. Before the data are seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments
are made to the original data to adjust them for differences in the number
of weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly unemployment
insurance claims are aggregated to form monthly data, a particular month's
value could be calculated with 5 weeks of data in 1 year and 4 weeks in 
another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the sea-
sonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal adjustment process. These 
effects are modeled in the X-12-ARIMA program and are permanently removed from 
the final seasonally adjusted series.




Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2007 to 
September 2011, seasonally adjusted 

                                      Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing  
             Date                                                                             
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                Events    claimants   Events    claimants    Events   claimants 
                                                                                              
             2007                                                                             

October ....................     1,330     133,063     1,210     124,455       439      56,970
November ...................     1,397     145,339     1,269     135,651       408      56,985
December ...................     1,553     154,275     1,435     144,785       463      59,445

             2008                                                                             

January ....................     1,437     146,900     1,302     135,622       431      55,562
February ...................     1,604     175,128     1,441     163,475       471      59,118
March ......................     1,500     150,502     1,388     140,424       435      56,156
April ......................     1,292     128,901     1,162     118,016       449      58,402
May ........................     1,582     161,944     1,444     152,230       468      62,452
June .......................     1,631     164,508     1,488     153,014       491      68,198
July .......................     1,581     164,497     1,443     153,720       463      62,425
August .....................     1,791     181,107     1,653     171,705       583      77,874
September ..................     2,192     233,034     2,024     219,532       635      82,471
October ....................     2,221     229,254     2,062     215,787       697      92,408
November ...................     2,415     228,107     2,256     214,631       900     102,284
December ...................     2,443     245,661     2,264     231,138       927     114,280

             2009                                                                             

January ....................     2,272     238,717     2,103     224,850       756     100,927
February ...................     2,801     315,507     2,636     300,042     1,194     138,583
March ......................     2,950     295,543     2,758     279,027     1,205     144,713
April ......................     2,579     251,032     2,368     234,796       997     121,435
May ........................     2,758     288,319     2,557     271,425     1,187     147,548
June .......................     2,506     250,275     2,293     232,814     1,048     135,389
July .......................     2,192     223,697     1,977     203,365       620      72,932
August .....................     2,419     220,262     2,177     201,951       778      83,837
September ..................     2,305     219,924     2,095     204,596       799      91,665
October ....................     1,975     195,347     1,780     177,977       570      63,646
November ...................     1,754     154,223     1,585     141,439       464      51,891
December ...................     1,725     156,274     1,545     141,649       420      43,584

             2010                                                                             

January ....................     1,716     171,633     1,541     157,597       494      60,059
February ...................     1,492     149,369     1,318     135,490       351      40,564
March ......................     1,635     146,901     1,436     131,953       347      37,273
April ......................     1,675     159,358     1,498     143,814       371      48,646
May ........................     1,665     155,352     1,405     133,913       314      30,967
June .......................     1,729     153,937     1,504     134,837       326      32,646
July .......................     1,528     138,581     1,316     121,378       296      30,752
August .....................     1,658     163,325     1,453     141,489       409      47,668
September ..................     1,541     137,941     1,331     119,654       336      34,641
October ....................     1,649     147,204     1,445     130,264       353      37,394
November ...................     1,579     148,800     1,397     133,845       350      39,072
December ...................     1,483     137,992     1,272     122,688       319      35,977

             2011                                                                             

January ....................     1,534     149,799     1,344     132,730       341      39,189
February ...................     1,421     130,818     1,220     116,190       291      26,060
March ......................     1,286     118,523     1,128     105,636       253      27,619
April ......................     1,564     143,927     1,401     129,702       327      35,022
May ........................     1,599     143,540     1,405     127,494       373      38,673
June .......................     1,532     143,444     1,348     128,105       341      35,693
July .......................     1,579     145,000     1,363     124,745       342      35,460
August .....................     1,587     165,547     1,373     150,136       391      48,997
September ..................     1,495     153,229     1,347     139,151       376      39,929




Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2007 to 
September 2011, not seasonally adjusted 

                                       Total           Private nonfarm         Manufacturing  
             Date                                                                             
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                Events    claimants    Events   claimants    Events   claimants 
                                                                                              
             2007                                                                             

October ....................     1,083     108,455       929      97,716       338      50,918
November ...................     1,799     198,220     1,593     181,184       514      75,413
December ...................     2,167     224,214     2,071     216,898       699      91,754

             2008                                                                             

January ....................     1,647     154,503     1,520     144,191       488      54,418
February ...................     1,269     119,508     1,178     113,587       361      42,527
March ......................     1,089     114,541     1,039     110,147       333      43,740
April ......................     1,272     130,810     1,172     121,625       394      48,188
May ........................     1,552     159,471     1,438     150,462       388      51,698
June .......................     1,622     166,742     1,315     140,916       309      42,097
July .......................     1,891     200,382     1,687     186,018       760     108,733
August .....................     1,427     139,999     1,343     133,146       414      51,912
September ..................     1,292     129,586     1,202     122,505       361      46,391
October ....................     2,125     221,784     1,917     205,553       689     100,457
November ...................     2,574     241,589     2,389     226,657       997     107,620
December ...................     3,377     351,305     3,232     340,220     1,378     172,529

             2009                                                                             

January ....................     3,806     388,813     3,633     375,293     1,461     172,757
February ...................     2,262     218,438     2,173     210,755       945     103,588
March ......................     2,191     228,387     2,107     221,397       940     114,747
April ......................     2,547     256,930     2,385     243,321       887     100,872
May ........................     2,738     289,628     2,572     274,047     1,005     123,683
June .......................     2,519     256,357     2,051     216,063       674      85,726
July .......................     3,054     336,654     2,659     296,589     1,133     154,208
August .....................     1,428     125,024     1,334     117,193       436      41,151
September ..................     1,371     123,177     1,258     115,141       448      51,126
October ....................     1,934     193,904     1,678     172,883       566      69,655
November ...................     1,870     164,496     1,679     150,751       517      55,053
December ...................     2,310     214,648     2,166     203,655       615      64,540

             2010                                                                             

January ....................     2,860     278,679     2,682     265,074       962     104,846
February ...................     1,183     102,818     1,091      96,022       282      30,728
March ......................     1,197     111,727     1,111     105,514       273      29,745
April ......................     1,840     199,690     1,697     184,654       424      55,178
May ........................     1,354     123,333     1,170     109,203       216      19,334
June .......................     1,861     171,190     1,355     125,872       212      21,083
July .......................     2,124     206,254     1,732     172,248       532      64,200
August .....................       976      92,435       897      83,021       230      23,088
September ..................       920      77,654       806      67,987       187      19,403
October ....................     1,642     148,638     1,373     127,865       351      40,861
November ...................     1,676     158,048     1,477     142,591       389      41,383
December ...................     1,931     184,130     1,763     172,881       465      52,816

             2011                                                                             

January ....................     2,558     246,463     2,372     229,765       693      75,006
February ...................     1,024      85,585       919      78,718       222      18,471
March ......................       908      85,095       844      80,014       191      20,869
April ......................     1,750     189,919     1,625     176,478       397      47,104
May ........................     1,367     119,911     1,221     108,531       270      25,199
June .......................     1,661     159,930     1,238     122,821       226      22,986
July .......................     2,176     216,774     1,759     174,078       602      71,814
August .....................       961      99,213       875      93,159       228      26,916
September ..................     1,189     117,232     1,095     107,300       296      32,058




Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance  


                                                                                                    Initial claimants for           
                                                                Mass layoff events                  unemployment insurance          
                     Industry                                                                                                       
                                                   September   July    August   September  September    July     August    September
                                                     2010      2011     2011      2011       2010       2011      2011       2011   
                                                                                                                                    
                Seasonally adjusted                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
      Total .....................................    1,541     1,579    1,587     1,495     137,941    145,000   165,547    153,229 
                                                                                                                                    
  Total, private nonfarm ........................    1,331     1,363    1,373     1,347     119,654    124,745   150,136    139,151 
    Manufacturing ...............................      336       342      391       376      34,641     35,460    48,997     39,929 
                                                                                                                                    
              Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                    
      Total (1) .................................      920     2,176      961     1,189      77,654    216,774    99,213    117,232 
                                                                                                                                    
Total, private ..................................      823     1,867      904     1,108      68,913    182,960    94,711    108,119 
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..       17       108       29        13         926      8,882     1,552        819 
                                                                                                                                    
  Total, private nonfarm ........................      806     1,759      875     1,095      67,987    174,078    93,159    107,300 
    Mining ......................................        4         -      (2)       (2)         447          -       (2)        (2) 
    Utilities ...................................      (2)       (2)        -         3         (2)        (2)         -        159 
    Construction ................................       89       118       65       150       6,137      8,990     4,628     10,813 
    Manufacturing ...............................      187       602      228       296      19,403     71,814    26,916     32,058 
        Food ....................................       31        84       51        58       3,216      9,998     4,585      6,532 
        Beverage and tobacco products ...........      (2)       (2)        6         7         (2)        (2)       472        656 
        Textile mills ...........................        3        29        8        11         277      3,341       944      1,784 
        Textile product mills ...................      (2)         9        3       (2)         (2)      1,107       200        (2) 
        Apparel .................................        3        14       10        11         194      1,526     1,024        993 
        Leather and allied products .............        -         3        -       (2)           -        869         -        (2) 
        Wood products ...........................       22        28       11        21       1,726      2,826     1,242      1,662 
        Paper ...................................        4         4        7         6         239        298       512        544 
        Printing and related support activities .        3         9        6         6         277        930       569        451 
        Petroleum and coal products .............        3       (2)        -       (2)         180        (2)         -        (2) 
                                                                                                                                    
        Chemicals ...............................      (2)        12        6         5         (2)        935       303        376 
        Plastics and rubber products ............      (2)        36        8        14         (2)      3,359       705      1,011 
        Nonmetallic mineral products ............        7        13       11         3         609      1,612       685        363 
        Primary metals ..........................       13        24        5         8       1,381      2,450       415        869 
        Fabricated metal products ...............       13        27       11        20       1,006      2,980     1,051      2,010 
        Machinery ...............................       11        34       16        22       1,787      4,799     4,407      3,069 
        Computer and electronic products ........        8        19       10        19         562      1,735       884      1,235 
        Electrical equipment and appliances .....       10        19       12        17       1,793      2,628     2,537      1,872 
        Transportation equipment ................       30       193       30        38       4,166     26,488     4,688      6,006 
        Furniture and related products ..........       11        31        7        18         792      2,770       952      1,342 
        Miscellaneous manufacturing .............        8         9       10         7         573        726       741        912 
                                                                                                                                    
    Wholesale trade .............................       16        21       17        16       1,011      1,594     1,347      1,316 
    Retail trade ................................       99       165       79       120       9,764     17,189     6,804     12,805 
    Transportation and warehousing ..............       31       114       74        49       2,268      9,326     7,181      4,611 
    Information .................................       24        52       58        36       2,365      5,289    18,813      6,431 
    Finance and insurance .......................       29        43       26        22       2,602      2,769     1,647      1,821 
    Real estate and rental and leasing ..........        4        10        4       (2)         267        856       235        (2) 
    Professional and technical services .........       23        51       24        39       1,504      4,372     1,737      6,476 
    Management of companies and enterprises .....      (2)         5        4         3         (2)        654       269        182 
    Administrative and waste services ...........      133       320      162       186      10,059     31,193    13,158     17,285 
    Educational services ........................       13        29       11        12         786      1,993     1,329        791 
    Health care and social assistance ...........       26       104       30        39       1,660      7,079     2,279      2,711 
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation .........       39        30       17        27       2,799      2,867     1,438      2,092 
    Accommodation and food services .............       72        74       65        82       5,735      6,445     4,533      6,357 
    Other services, except public administration        12        17        8        12         864      1,336       654      1,067 
    Unclassified ................................        1       (2)      (2)         -          78        (2)       (2)          - 
                                                                                                                                    
Government ......................................       97       309       57        81       8,741     33,814     4,502      9,113 
    Federal .....................................       19        10       10        17       1,898        784       833      1,685 
    State .......................................       22        78       15        33       1,575     12,220     1,267      2,857 
    Local .......................................       56       221       32        31       5,268     20,810     2,402      4,571 
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                    
    1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.   
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.




Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 2009 to September 2011, not seasonally adjusted    
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                   Private nonfarm                                    
                                                                                                                                      
                                Total mass layoffs                              Extended mass layoffs                                 
             Date                                        Mass layoffs          lasting more than 30 days        Realization rates (1) 
                                                                                                                                      
                                          Initial                Initial                     Initial                        Initial   
                               Events     claimants   Events    claimants      Events       claimants            Events    claimants  
             2009                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                      
July .......................    3,054      336,654     2,659     296,589                                                              
August .....................    1,428      125,024     1,334     117,193                                                              
September ..................    1,371      123,177     1,258     115,141                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Third Quarter ..............    5,853      584,855     5,251     528,923         2,034         406,823             38.7       76.9    
                                                                                                                                      
October ....................    1,934      193,904     1,678     172,883                                                              
November ...................    1,870      164,496     1,679     150,751                                                              
December ...................    2,310      214,648     2,166     203,655                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Fourth Quarter .............    6,114      573,048     5,523     527,289         2,416         468,577             43.7       88.9    
                                                                                                                                      
             2010                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                      
January ....................    2,860      278,679     2,682     265,074                                                              
February ...................    1,183      102,818     1,091      96,022                                                              
March ......................    1,197      111,727     1,111     105,514                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
First Quarter ..............    5,240      493,224     4,884     466,610         1,870         368,664             38.3       79.0    
                                                                                                                                      
April ......................    1,840      199,690     1,697     184,654                                                              
May ........................    1,354      123,333     1,170     109,203                                                              
June .......................    1,861      171,190     1,355     125,872                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Second Quarter .............    5,055      494,213     4,222     419,729         2,008         396,441             47.6       94.5    
                                                                                                                                      
July .......................    2,124      206,254     1,732     172,248                                                              
August .....................      976       92,435       897      83,021                                                              
September ..................      920       77,654       806      67,987                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Third Quarter ..............    4,020      376,343     3,435     323,256         1,370         260,030             39.9       80.4    
                                                                                                                                      
October ....................    1,642      148,638     1,373     127,865                                                              
November ...................    1,676      158,048     1,477     142,591                                                              
December ...................    1,931      184,130     1,763     172,881                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Fourth Quarter .............    5,249      490,816     4,613     443,337         1,999         390,445             43.3       88.1    
                                                                                                                                      
             2011                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                      
January ....................    2,558      246,463     2,372     229,765                                                              
February ...................    1,024       85,585       919      78,718                                                              
March ......................      908       85,095       844      80,014                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
First Quarter ..............    4,490      417,143     4,135     388,497         1,490         257,031             36.0       66.2    
                                                                                                                                      
April ......................    1,750      189,919     1,625     176,478                                                              
May ........................    1,367      119,911     1,221     108,531                                                              
June .......................    1,661      159,930     1,238     122,821                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Second Quarter .............    4,778      469,760     4,084     407,830   (2)(p)1,624   (2)(p)231,643          (p)39.8    (p)56.8    
                                                                                                                                      
July .......................    2,176      216,774     1,759     174,078                                                              
August .....................      961       99,213       875      93,159                                                              
September ..................    1,189      117,232     1,095     107,300                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
Third Quarter...............    4,326      433,219     3,729     374,537                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      
    1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The 
initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with
layoffs lasting more than 30 days.
    2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available.
Experience suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and
the number of initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent.
    p = preliminary. 




Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, not       
seasonally adjusted                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                      
                                                                                   Initial claimants for              
                                           Mass layoff events                      unemployment insurance             
                                                                                                                      
  Census region and division                                                                                          
                                                                                                                      
                                  September   July     August  September  September    July       August    September 
                                    2010      2011      2011     2011       2010       2011        2011       2011    
                                                                                                                      
        United States (1) ...        920     2,176       961    1,189      77,654    216,774      99,213    117,232   
                                                                                                                      
Northeast ...................        160       363       187      286      14,411     34,691      29,937     26,131   
    New England .............         15        44        23       23       1,357      3,808       7,784      2,245   
    Middle Atlantic .........        145       319       164      263      13,054     30,883      22,153     23,886   
                                                                                                                      
South .......................        259       624       277      311      21,507     62,261      25,771     28,956   
    South Atlantic ..........        153       358       174      183      11,811     33,888      15,565     16,747   
    East South Central ......         41       164        47       52       3,633     17,365       4,879      4,988   
    West South Central ......         65       102        56       76       6,063     11,008       5,327      7,221   
                                                                                                                      
Midwest .....................        155       505       181      219      14,964     62,114      20,541     21,885   
    East North Central ......        115       359       132      178      11,280     41,262      14,839     18,293   
    West North Central ......         40       146        49       41       3,684     20,852       5,702      3,592   
                                                                                                                      
West ........................        346       684       316      373      26,772     57,708      22,964     40,260   
    Mountain ................         47        67        36       43       4,461      6,339       3,048      3,678   
    Pacific .................        299       617       280      330      22,311     51,369      19,916     36,582   
                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                      
    1 See footnote 1, table 3.                                                                                        
    NOTE:  The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the census divisions are: New England:       
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York,   
and Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South   
Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South  
Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and         
Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: 
Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii,    
Oregon, and Washington.




Table 6. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted 
                                                                                                                          
                                                                                      Initial claimants for               
                                         Mass layoff events                           unemployment insurance              
           State                                                                                                          
                            September      July      August    September   September      July       August    September  
                              2010         2011       2011       2011        2010         2011        2011       2011     
                                                                                                                          
   Total (1) ............      920        2,176        961      1,189       77,654      216,774      99,213    117,232    
                                                                                                                          
Alabama .................       13           60         14         14        1,021        6,904       1,310      1,419    
Alaska ..................        4          (2)          4          6          492          (2)         307        532    
Arizona .................        6           23          5          9          477        2,137         341        678    
Arkansas ................        3           17         10          9          301        1,607         909        825    
California ..............      264          571        251        297       19,288       46,009      17,552     33,690    
Colorado ................       10            8          6          7          827          704         547        680    
Connecticut .............      (2)            8          3          4          (2)          713         280        242    
Delaware ................      (2)            3        (2)        (2)          (2)          233         (2)        (2)    
District of Columbia ....        -          (2)        (2)        (2)            -          (2)         (2)        (2)    
Florida .................       91          147         78         69        6,001       12,098       5,176      4,538    
Georgia .................       24           45         30         28        2,438        5,152       2,447      3,256    
Hawaii ..................        3          (2)        (2)        (2)          182          (2)         (2)        (2)    
Idaho ...................        7            9          4          5        1,011        1,220         255        365    
                                                                                                                          
Illinois ................       35           48         35         48        5,053        5,599       5,514      5,092    
Indiana .................       10           31         13         22          846        5,700       1,215      2,179    
Iowa ....................        3           19          9          8          362        2,397       1,796        741    
Kansas ..................        8           12          9          3        1,245        1,372       1,497        334    
Kentucky ................       10           54         13         20        1,454        6,294       1,935      2,202    
Louisiana ...............       11           21          7         16          688        1,936         378      1,554    
Maine ...................      (2)            9        (2)          3          (2)          667         (2)        194    
Maryland ................        6           13          4          9          528        1,486         812        617    
Massachusetts ...........        7           16         12          8          476        1,632       6,030        617    
Michigan ................       11          130         21         31          758       14,164       1,986      2,186    
Minnesota ...............        5           68          7          6          412       11,406         607        419    
Mississippi .............       12           25         10          8          741        1,853         613        521    
Missouri ................       19           36         17         21        1,115        4,068       1,145      1,520    
                                                                                                                          
Montana .................        4            4        (2)          3          332          306         (2)        228    
Nebraska ................        5            8          4          3          550        1,026         247        578    
Nevada ..................       13           10         11         13        1,238          875       1,158      1,274    
New Hampshire ...........      (2)            5        (2)        (2)          (2)          363         (2)        (2)    
New Jersey ..............       22           81         23         40        1,665        7,381       6,817      3,922    
New Mexico ..............        3            9          5        (2)          238          568         338        (2)    
New York ................       52          142         71         91        5,499       14,892       7,506      7,664    
North Carolina (3) ......       13           80         21         44        1,372        8,083       1,624      5,449    
North Dakota ............        -            3          3          -            -          583         410          -    
Ohio ....................       22           67         25         37        1,638        7,739       2,420      4,985    
Oklahoma ................      (2)            6        (2)          3          (2)        1,206         (2)        372    
Oregon ..................       17           27         10         14        1,635        3,435         836      1,178    
Pennsylvania ............       71           96         70        132        5,890        8,610       7,830     12,300    
                                                                                                                          
Rhode Island ............      (2)            4          4        (2)          (2)          323         882        (2)    
South Carolina ..........        7           28         20         20          724        2,724       2,871      1,944    
South Dakota ............        -            -          -          -            -            -           -          -    
Tennessee ...............        6           25         10         10          417        2,314       1,021        846    
Texas ...................       49           58         37         48        4,814        6,259       3,836      4,470    
Utah ....................        4            4          3          4          338          529         218        329    
Vermont .................      (2)          (2)        (2)          4          (2)          (2)         (2)        537    
Virginia ................       11           41         17          8          689        4,028       1,988        569    
Washington ..............       11           15         14         11          714        1,537       1,170      1,006    
West Virginia ...........        -            -        (2)        (2)            -            -         (2)        (2)    
Wisconsin ...............       37           83         38         40        2,985        8,060       3,704      3,851    
Wyoming .................        -            -          -          -            -            -           -          -    
                                                                                                                          
Puerto Rico .............       16           19         12         33        1,382        2,333       1,282      2,823    
                                                                                                                          
   1 See footnote 1, table 3.
   2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
   3 Data starting in November 2010 may not be comparable to prior data due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance
     input procedures.   
   NOTE: Dash represents zero. 




Last Modified Date: October 25, 2011