Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 05-307 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, February 24, 2005 MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2005 In January 2005, employers took 1,457 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 150,990, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events rose by 246 from December and was the highest for any month since January 2004. The number of initial claims due to mass layoff actions grew by 31,341 over the month and was the highest for any month since October 2003. There were 379 mass layoff events in the manufacturing sector during January 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 58,908 initial claims, both higher than a month earlier. The number of mass layoff events and initial claims reached their respective highs, on a seasonally adjusted basis, of 2,409 and 277,214 in September 2001. The numbers of seasonally adjusted events and initial claims were also highest for the private nonfarm sector in September 2001 (2,235 and 263,192). The seasonally adjusted number of manufacturing e- vents reached its peak (944) in November 2001, while the seasonally ad- justed number of initial claims for manufacturing reached its high point in June 1998, at 190,810. (See table 1.) ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Addition of Seasonally Adjusted Data | | | | Beginning with this release, the Bureau of Labor Statistics | | is publishing seasonally adjusted mass layoff data series as well | | as an analysis of significant over-the-month changes in those | | series. Seasonal adjustment accounts for the effects of events | | that follow a more or less regular pattern each year, making it | | easier to observe the cyclical and other nonseasonal movements. | | Six mass layoff series are being seasonally adjusted--the number | | of layoff events and the number of associated initial claims for | | unemployment insurance for the U.S. total, the private nonfarm | | sector, and the manufacturing sector. With this release, histor- | | ical data for each of these series are available from April 1995 | | forward at http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=ml. Addi- | | tional information is contained in the Technical Note. Staff may | | be reached at 202-691-6392. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in January 2005p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Initial| January peak Industry | claims |-------------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ------------------------------------------|--------|---------|---------------- Temporary help services ..................| 17,160 | 1998 | 26,224 School and employee bus transportation ...| 14,526 | 2005 | 14,526 Highway, street, and bridge construction .| 9,040 | 2000 | 9,680 Automobile manufacturing .................| 6,071 | 2001 | 21,093 Professional employer organizations ......| 5,258 | 2005 | 5,258 Light truck and utility vehicle mfg. .....| 5,110 | 2001 | 8,450 Motor home manufacturing .................| 4,261 | 2005 | 4,261 All other plastics product manufacturing .| 4,078 | 2005 | 4,078 Discount department stores ...............| 3,569 | 2004 | 6,063 Motor vehicle seating and interior trim | | | mfg. ....................................| 3,552 | 2005 | 3,552 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 72,625 initial claims in January, 28 percent of the total. (See table A.) Temporary help services, with 17,160 initial claims, and school and employee bus transportation, with 14,526, together accounted for 12 percent of all initial claims in January. Five of these industries reached a series peak for January, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, in 2005. The manufacturing sector accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 41 percent of all initial claims filed in January. A year earlier, in January 2004, manufacturing comprised 35 percent of events and 37 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, almost one-third of the claimants were in transportation equipment (35,324), mostly automo- tive-related. The next largest numbers of claimants in this sector were in food processing (8,703) and wood product manufacturing (8,243). (See table 3.) Construction accounted for 18 percent of events and 13 percent of initial claims filed in January 2005, with layoffs mainly in highway, street, and bridge construction. Twelve percent of all layoff events and 11 percent of initial claims filed during the month were from ad- ministrative and waste services, largely in temporary help services. Transportation and warehousing accounted for 8 percent each of events and initial claims in January, mostly from school and employee bus transportation. Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, primarily in discount department stores. An additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims were from accommodation and food services, mostly among food service con- tractors. Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed in January, mostly in executive, legislative, and general government agencies. Compared with January 2004, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+20,217), transit and ground passenger transportation (+5,926), specialty trade contractors (+5,087), and heavy and civil engineering construction (+5,004). The larg- est over-the-year decreases in initial claims were reported in general merchandise stores (-4,221) and textile mills (-3,741). - 3 - Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in January due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 90,975. (See table 5.) Transportation equipment manufacturing and administrative and support services accounted for 32 percent of all mass-layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The West had the second largest number of initial claims, 60,985, followed by the South, with 57,126, and the Northeast, with 54,886. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs rose over the year in three of the four regions. The largest increase was in the Midwest (+22,571), followed by the Northeast (+4,216) and the South (+4,011). The West had an over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-6,300). Six of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the East North Central (+13,926) and West North Central (+8,645) divi- sions. Over-the-year decreases occurred in the Pacific (-5,475) and South Atlantic (-2,525) divisions. Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in January (47,222), mostly in administrative and support services and specialty trade contractors. New York had the next highest with 22,185 initial claims reported, fol- lowed by Michigan (20,127), Ohio (18,132), Pennsylvania (16,167), and Wisconsin (14,437). These six states accounted for 55 percent of all mass layoff events and 52 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) Indiana had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+5,809), followed by Iowa (+4,983) and Kentucky (+4,192). The lar- gest over-the-year decreases occurred in California (-4,173) and Georgia (-4,092). 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 report on Mass Layoffs in February 2005 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 24, 2005. 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 establishments which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive 5-week period. These establishments then are con- tacted 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 quart- erly 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; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. Definitions 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 insurance benefits filed against an establishment during a 5-week period, regardless of duration. Seasonal adjustment Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS begins 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 one year and 4 weeks in another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the seasonal 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, February 2001 to January 2005, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 February ................... 1,891 252,895 1,662 232,501 826 123,757 March ...................... 1,771 202,154 1,578 186,283 797 108,244 April ...................... 1,620 199,764 1,483 186,013 773 106,045 May ........................ 1,679 207,811 1,523 193,998 755 110,133 June ....................... 1,610 195,617 1,433 180,821 739 104,155 July ....................... 1,704 200,376 1,568 188,468 719 93,867 August ..................... 1,744 206,528 1,586 195,051 788 106,632 September .................. 2,409 277,214 2,235 263,192 834 108,615 October .................... 2,109 233,569 1,986 223,808 897 118,136 November ................... 2,094 218,273 1,935 207,129 944 114,556 December ................... 1,799 194,759 1,658 183,178 722 93,193 2002 January .................... 1,801 208,835 1,659 195,862 739 96,689 February ................... 1,773 204,089 1,620 192,450 701 91,285 March ...................... 1,674 187,924 1,517 175,998 610 75,367 April ...................... 1,685 186,574 1,497 169,228 591 69,481 May ........................ 1,720 191,841 1,558 178,993 611 74,809 June ....................... 1,615 170,307 1,438 156,759 551 73,064 July ....................... 1,637 179,165 1,457 164,398 568 73,230 August ..................... 1,475 160,855 1,330 149,148 562 65,564 September .................. 1,909 217,475 1,742 202,640 607 79,413 October .................... 1,716 178,860 1,524 162,411 598 71,765 November ................... 1,644 176,462 1,500 165,578 607 70,640 December ................... 1,825 193,627 1,661 179,368 638 86,714 2003 January .................... 1,383 134,258 1,193 120,033 402 49,440 February ................... 1,771 185,502 1,589 173,392 643 75,331 March ...................... 1,773 176,540 1,577 161,662 618 75,289 April ...................... 1,735 176,645 1,574 165,416 646 86,857 May ........................ 1,709 186,158 1,532 173,123 624 87,615 June ....................... 1,704 163,646 1,515 148,547 636 70,888 July ....................... 1,653 163,061 1,444 147,883 590 71,203 August ..................... 1,502 170,353 1,364 156,731 540 71,944 September .................. 1,559 145,961 1,370 132,233 471 56,274 October .................... 1,541 154,908 1,312 136,604 412 49,518 November ................... 1,400 137,651 1,241 125,115 397 46,955 December ................... 1,425 141,780 1,281 129,464 420 53,436 2004 January .................... 1,458 146,147 1,257 127,917 413 50,074 February ................... 1,237 126,421 1,091 115,302 358 36,783 March ...................... 1,348 142,480 1,211 134,118 409 63,380 April ...................... 1,422 149,049 1,239 132,180 360 43,158 May ........................ 1,178 114,247 1,016 100,499 314 37,950 June ....................... 1,375 141,300 1,215 129,466 361 47,548 July ....................... 1,363 139,374 1,200 127,011 390 49,276 August ..................... 1,392 130,483 1,208 115,035 330 36,422 September .................. 1,281 123,761 1,153 114,223 332 45,917 October .................... 1,274 125,414 1,145 116,042 350 44,908 November ................... 1,361 130,168 1,201 117,545 402 43,504 December(p) ................ 1,211 119,649 1,064 108,157 283 34,940 2005 January(p) ................. 1,457 150,990 1,321 140,826 379 58,908 p = preliminary. Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, February 2001 to January 2005, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 February ................... 1,501 172,908 1,285 156,183 576 79,784 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 1,371 158,108 659 86,874 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 1,353 166,167 608 78,845 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 1,331 151,186 528 64,887 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 1,784 226,022 737 116,005 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 1,952 259,128 1,144 168,877 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 1,386 158,307 603 79,515 September .................. 1,327 160,402 1,214 151,161 485 58,544 October .................... 1,831 215,483 1,676 202,053 742 107,030 November ................... 2,721 295,956 2,373 270,268 1,122 151,969 December ................... 2,440 268,893 2,319 259,497 1,103 136,820 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 2,028 252,245 892 128,825 February ................... 1,382 138,808 1,253 129,849 481 58,784 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 1,335 151,305 500 59,613 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 461 50,897 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 488 52,720 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 336 42,130 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 907 135,271 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 427 48,668 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 352 43,755 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 493 64,655 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 719 92,712 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 984 126,826 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 822 90,244 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 435 48,161 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 390 41,063 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 499 62,349 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 499 61,278 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 389 40,845 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 946 136,410 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 405 52,620 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 271 31,428 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 438 53,741 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 408 48,419 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 648 77,915 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 848 89,551 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 240 23,043 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 258 34,686 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 343 36,172 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 219 22,141 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 222 27,307 July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895 August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698 September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808 October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265 November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243 December(p) ................ 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726 2005 January(p) ................. 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985 p = preliminary. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry January November December January January November December January 2004 2004 2004p 2005p 2004 2004 2004p 2005p Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,458 1,361 1,211 1,457 146,147 130,168 119,649 150,990 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,257 1,201 1,064 1,321 127,917 117,545 108,157 140,826 Manufacturing ................................. 413 402 283 379 50,074 43,504 34,940 58,908 Not seasonally adjusted Total(1) .................................. 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 Total, private .................................. 2,339 1,336 1,527 2,488 228,578 125,008 154,496 257,761 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 113 135 40 67 7,891 9,459 2,404 4,352 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 2,226 1,201 1,487 2,421 220,687 115,549 152,092 253,409 Mining ........................................ 17 7 18 17 1,329 701 1,492 1,272 Utilities ..................................... 3 ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 345 ( 2 ) 1,395 ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 324 231 342 470 23,405 17,884 27,433 33,590 Manufacturing ................................. 848 412 436 823 89,551 44,243 50,726 108,985 Food ...................................... 108 77 59 88 11,083 7,717 6,309 8,703 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 9 6 7 11 834 387 497 888 Textile mills ............................. 48 15 15 17 6,376 1,767 1,249 2,635 Textile product mills ..................... 19 7 8 19 1,933 638 932 2,677 Apparel ................................... 44 20 16 38 5,836 2,154 2,720 3,893 Leather and allied products ............... 11 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 1,195 ( 2 ) 757 ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 46 32 25 61 5,651 3,437 2,346 8,243 Paper ..................................... 20 7 7 13 1,847 530 575 1,048 Printing and related support activities ... 24 9 3 15 2,147 610 331 1,237 Petroleum and coal products ............... 5 ( 2 ) 11 ( 2 ) 362 ( 2 ) 1,126 ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 23 7 8 15 2,384 525 669 1,294 Plastics and rubber products .............. 50 17 30 58 4,821 1,385 2,327 6,006 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 42 24 32 55 3,813 2,126 3,168 4,815 Primary metals ............................ 44 18 23 39 4,579 1,616 2,246 4,359 Fabricated metal products ................. 72 28 34 59 6,960 2,548 2,546 5,796 Machinery ................................. 39 25 16 48 3,017 4,583 2,218 6,828 Computer and electronic products .......... 44 27 19 30 3,561 2,534 2,039 2,918 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 23 13 13 39 2,263 1,757 3,741 5,662 Transportation equipment .................. 114 53 85 165 15,107 6,961 12,547 35,324 Furniture and related products ............ 36 16 13 30 3,541 1,548 1,096 4,757 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 27 5 8 14 2,241 975 1,287 1,154 Wholesale trade ............................... 27 24 18 35 2,391 2,196 1,853 2,954 Retail trade .................................. 188 65 80 198 22,145 6,498 8,092 18,822 Transportation and warehousing ................ 128 32 96 197 14,038 2,900 10,687 22,226 Information ................................... 67 45 30 47 9,394 5,492 8,002 6,141 Finance and insurance ......................... 41 22 18 35 3,547 1,442 1,455 3,289 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 15 ( 2 ) 4 16 1,202 ( 2 ) 249 1,491 Professional and technical services ........... 47 22 48 48 4,288 2,303 5,955 4,729 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 3 ( 2 ) 3 5 895 ( 2 ) 296 358 Administrative and waste services ............. 285 187 163 302 27,855 17,370 13,192 28,865 Educational services .......................... 8 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 553 ( 2 ) 245 ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ............. 35 27 28 35 2,991 2,012 2,539 2,739 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 41 25 30 40 3,149 2,126 1,967 4,558 Accommodation and food services ............... 113 81 146 117 9,614 8,995 14,923 9,364 Other services, except public administration .. 26 10 13 28 2,992 647 1,342 3,408 Unclassified .................................. 10 1 4 3 1,003 40 249 264 Government ..................................... 89 63 87 76 10,876 5,415 6,775 6,191 Federal ....................................... 26 12 8 23 2,725 1,290 842 1,920 State ......................................... 13 25 16 18 1,405 2,342 1,472 1,736 Local ......................................... 50 26 63 35 6,746 1,783 4,461 2,535 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2003 to January 2005, not seasonally adjusted Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Realization Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days rates (1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 4,451 431,650 1,502 297,608 33.7 68.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 4,344 441,409 1,799 348,966 41.4 79.1 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 Third Quarter .............. 4,213 442,921 3,734 404,946 1,190 227,909 31.9 56.3 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,890 489,416 4,292 443,980 1,690 326,328 39.4 73.5 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 First Quarter .............. 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 1,339 (r)238,305 34.3 (r)61.9 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 Second Quarter ............. 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 (r)1,358 (r) 253,231 41.5 (r)76.2 July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 Third Quarter .............. 3,611 391,934 3,242 361,855 (r)887 (r)145,889 (r)27.4 (r)40.3 October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 December(p) ................ 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 Fourth Quarter(p) .......... 4,255 419,612 3,789 385,016 (2)1,295 (2)178,834 34.2 46.4 2005 January(p) ................. 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 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. r = revised. 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 January November December January January November December January 2004 2004 2004p 2005p 2004 2004 2004p 2005p United States(1) .... 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 Northeast ................. 498 198 285 556 50,650 19,346 27,387 54,866 New England ............. 64 26 47 88 5,689 1,998 4,894 8,009 Middle Atlantic ......... 434 172 238 468 44,961 17,348 22,493 46,857 South ..................... 501 255 288 490 53,115 24,573 29,948 57,126 South Atlantic .......... 244 116 140 216 25,490 10,333 13,620 22,965 East South Central ...... 153 42 76 173 17,176 4,651 8,995 20,528 West South Central ...... 104 97 72 101 10,449 9,589 7,333 13,633 Midwest ................... 688 389 588 774 68,404 39,650 61,277 90,975 East North Central ...... 574 306 414 601 58,674 29,986 42,598 72,600 West North Central ...... 114 83 174 173 9,730 9,664 18,679 18,375 West ...................... 741 557 453 744 67,285 46,854 42,659 60,985 Mountain ................ 63 59 60 60 6,292 6,470 5,295 5,467 Pacific ................. 678 498 393 684 60,993 40,384 37,364 55,518 1 See footnote 1, table 3. p = preliminary. 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 January November December January January November December January 2004 2004 2004p 2005p 2004 2004 2004p 2005p Total(1) ............. 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 Alabama ................. 112 9 22 85 13,754 915 2,244 12,310 Alaska .................. 6 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 429 686 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Arizona ................. 7 3 5 7 645 255 358 642 Arkansas ................ ( 2 ) 11 3 6 ( 2 ) 1,477 218 622 California .............. 576 429 344 602 51,395 34,089 32,279 47,222 Colorado ................ 11 7 13 10 1,043 533 1,347 871 Connecticut ............. 7 ( 2 ) 5 7 669 ( 2 ) 510 629 Delaware ................ ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida ................. 60 43 44 62 4,044 3,107 3,567 4,800 Georgia ................. 92 19 37 62 10,525 1,809 3,082 6,433 Hawaii .................. 4 ( 2 ) - 7 296 ( 2 ) - 643 Idaho ................... 16 16 10 9 1,125 1,888 736 719 Illinois ................ 88 63 99 91 9,610 6,462 10,222 8,596 Indiana ................. 58 40 68 72 5,499 5,129 9,331 11,308 Iowa .................... 29 14 36 48 2,267 1,159 3,442 7,250 Kansas .................. 14 6 16 34 954 1,090 1,864 3,061 Kentucky ................ 10 19 38 52 1,030 2,160 5,474 5,222 Louisiana ............... 14 19 16 24 908 1,789 1,297 3,417 Maine ................... 14 4 7 10 1,463 328 570 776 Maryland ................ 19 4 7 23 2,009 347 924 1,902 Massachusetts ........... 30 15 15 44 2,375 1,108 2,085 4,116 Michigan ................ 171 63 115 182 16,615 5,032 10,841 20,127 Minnesota ............... 30 35 55 33 2,688 4,260 6,064 2,857 Mississippi ............. 6 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 384 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Missouri ................ 26 23 41 44 2,422 2,773 5,231 3,711 Montana ................. 4 7 6 6 270 1,023 474 511 Nebraska ................ 11 ( 2 ) 18 10 984 ( 2 ) 1,375 1,212 Nevada .................. 14 19 17 25 2,225 2,219 1,630 2,481 New Hampshire ........... ( 2 ) - 5 7 ( 2 ) - 423 741 New Jersey .............. 73 42 46 94 7,191 5,386 4,979 8,505 New Mexico .............. 6 4 5 ( 2 ) 328 384 319 ( 2 ) New York ................ 194 55 88 180 24,376 4,362 8,101 22,185 North Carolina .......... 18 24 16 21 1,829 2,294 1,187 1,897 North Dakota ............ ( 2 ) 3 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 238 526 ( 2 ) Ohio .................... 141 49 67 140 15,169 4,219 5,310 18,132 Oklahoma ................ 13 9 13 14 1,517 845 1,041 2,735 Oregon .................. 70 31 23 50 6,681 2,886 2,798 5,427 Pennsylvania ............ 167 75 104 194 13,394 7,600 9,413 16,167 Rhode Island ............ 5 4 7 14 332 372 628 1,357 South Carolina .......... 26 13 11 13 3,563 1,619 1,679 1,371 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Tennessee ............... 25 14 15 33 2,008 1,576 1,219 2,771 Texas ................... 74 58 40 57 7,571 5,478 4,777 6,859 Utah .................... 5 ( 2 ) 4 - 656 ( 2 ) 431 - Vermont ................. 5 ( 2 ) 8 6 573 ( 2 ) 678 390 Virginia ................ 24 10 21 30 3,061 976 2,836 4,620 Washington .............. 22 29 24 22 2,192 2,536 2,149 1,939 West Virginia ........... ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 181 276 ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 116 91 65 116 11,781 9,144 6,894 14,437 Wyoming ................. - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Puerto Rico ............. 5 6 10 25 511 562 706 3,080 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.