Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 03-261 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, May 29, 2003 MASS LAYOFFS IN APRIL 2003 Employers initiated 1,576 mass layoff actions in April 2003, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, accord- ing to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 161,095. (See table 1.) Compared with April 2002, the number of layoff events increased slightly, while the number of workers involved declined. April 2003 marked the 11th consecutive month the number of mass layoff initial claims declined over the year. From January through April 2003, the total number of events, at 6,460, and initial claims, at 624,401, were lower than in January-April 2002 (6,496 and 730,002, respectively). 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. 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 (re- ferred to as "extended mass layoffs") and provides more information on the in- dustry classification and location of the establishment and on the demograph- ics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term lay- offs 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 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution School and employee bus transportation, with 10,086 claims, and temporary help services, with 9,784, each had over 6 percent of all initial claims in April. (See table A.) Manufacturing industries accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 39 percent of all initial claims filed in April. In April 2002, manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of events and initial claims. The number of initial claimants was highest in transportation equipment (15,454, mainly in automobile manufacturing), followed by food production (8,468) and computer and electronic products (4,985). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 12 percent of events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month, with layoffs mostly in temporary help services. Eight percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in transportation and warehousing, primarily in school and employee bus transportation. Eight per- - 2 - Table A. Industries with largest mass layoff initial claims in April 2003p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | April peak Industry |Initial claims|---------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ----------------------------------------|--------------|------|--------------- School and employee bus transportation..| 10,086 | 2002 | 13,056 Temporary help services.................| 9,784 | 2001 | 17,507 Motion picture and video production.....| 7,142 | 1997 | 15,908 Automobile manufacturing................| 5,268 | 1996 | 14,744 Discount department stores .............| 3,902 | 2003 | 3,902 Food service contractors................| 2,930 | 1998 | 3,574 Professional employer organizations ....| 2,673 | 2001 | 3,280 Tax preparation services................| 2,578 | 2002 | 2,904 Hotels and motels, except casino hotels.| 2,556 | 2003 | 2,556 Scheduled passenger air transportation..| 2,197 | 2003 | 2,197 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. cent of the events and 7 percent of the initial claims were from retail trade, mostly from general merchandise stores, largely in discount department stores. The information sector accounted for 3 percent of events and 7 of percent ini- tial claims, largely in motion picture and video production. Construction ac- counted for 10 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims during the month, mostly among specialty trade contractors. Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed during the month, particularly in executive, legisla- tive, and general government agencies. Compared with April 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were re- ported in transit and ground passenger transportation (-3,118), telecommuni- cations (-2,803), and agriculture and forestry support activities (-2,712). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was reported in transpor- tation equipment manufacturing (+8,026). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in April due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 51,815. (See table 3.) Administrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording accounted for 31 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest followed, with 43,466 initial claims, then the South, with 34,922, and the Northeast, with 30,892. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in three of the four regions, with the largest decrease in the Northeast (-7,684). The Midwest had the only over-the-year increase (+6,347). Six of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decline in the Middle Atlantic (-6,635). The East North Central division had the largest increase (+5,847). California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass lay- off events this April, 39,040, mostly in motion picture and sound recording and in administrative and support services. Pennsylvania reported 11,004, followed by Ohio (10,704) and New York (9,151). These four states accounted for 47 percent of all layoff events and 43 percent of initial claims for un- employment insurance. (See table 4.) New York reported the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-8,738), followed by Texas (-3,497) and Illinois (-2,373). The largest over-the-year increases occurred in Indiana (+3,828) and Georgia (+2,613). From January to April 2003, California reported 163,082 mass layoff initial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were Pennsylvania (44,209), New York (36,793), and Ohio (36,478). ______________________________ The report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the First Quarter of 2003 will be issued on Wednesday, June 18, 2003. 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 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, and the number of weeks in a given month may be different from year to year. Therefore, analysis of over-the- month and over-the-year change 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. Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, April 2001 to April 2003 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 401,270 41.5 68.1 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 370,942 36.8 61.8 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,698 502,662 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 1,748 315,819 35.0 56.0 April ...................... 1,507 165,861 May ........................ 1,726 180,007 June ....................... 1,580 161,928 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,796 1,905 352,183 39.6 69.4 July ....................... 2,041 245,211 August ..................... 1,247 128,080 September .................. 1,062 124,512 Third Quarter .............. 4,350 497,803 1,383 274,576 31.8 55.2 October .................... 1,497 171,088 November ................... 2,150 240,028 December ................... 2,470 263,775 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,117 674,891 (2)(p)2,127 (2)(p)305,208 (p)34.8 (p)45.2 2003 January (r) ................ 2,315 225,415 February ................... 1,363 124,977 March (p) .................. 1,206 112,914 First Quarter (p) .......... 4,884 463,306 April (3)(p) ............... 1,576 161,095 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more data on these layoffs become avaliable. Recent 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. 3 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, except Wyoming. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry April February March April April February March April 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................................... 1,507 1,363 1,206 1,576 165,861 124,977 112,914 161,095 Total, private .................................. 1,458 1,322 1,162 1,529 161,342 121,902 109,305 157,244 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 79 100 64 64 8,079 5,626 4,949 4,624 Mining ........................................ 15 8 7 ( 2 ) 1,409 788 708 ( 2 ) Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 326 Construction .................................. 105 196 125 150 9,135 13,434 7,640 10,042 Manufacturing ................................. 461 435 390 500 50,897 48,182 41,063 62,429 Food ...................................... 80 59 72 85 9,291 5,475 7,607 8,468 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 8 9 ( 2 ) 7 899 458 ( 2 ) 450 Textile mills ............................. 9 16 9 17 1,120 1,958 764 2,725 Textile product mills ..................... ( 2 ) 7 5 9 ( 2 ) 571 432 697 Apparel ................................... 30 20 11 19 3,742 1,525 950 2,385 Leather and allied products ............... 5 ( 2 ) - 5 437 ( 2 ) - 398 Wood products ............................. 19 29 35 30 1,637 2,372 3,104 2,858 Paper ..................................... 15 15 9 14 1,330 1,436 937 1,083 Printing and related support activities ... 10 13 7 8 874 793 658 848 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Chemicals ................................. 10 9 ( 2 ) 6 664 1,185 ( 2 ) 1,752 Plastics and rubber products .............. 11 16 6 24 857 1,136 552 3,789 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 9 18 19 14 717 1,652 1,882 1,190 Primary metals ............................ 22 17 21 27 1,979 1,678 1,766 3,195 Fabricated metal products ................. 22 34 24 35 1,781 2,622 1,734 2,478 Machinery ................................. 35 22 35 35 5,045 4,207 3,761 4,368 Computer and electronic products .......... 74 41 41 53 7,336 3,690 5,077 4,985 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 19 19 26 17 2,427 3,159 3,787 1,836 Transportation equipment .................. 53 53 44 67 7,428 10,535 5,061 15,454 Furniture and related products ............ 18 24 14 22 1,919 2,702 1,727 2,829 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 7 9 8 6 735 613 830 641 Wholesale trade ............................... 27 19 21 31 2,212 1,321 1,811 2,425 Retail trade .................................. 122 110 102 121 13,715 10,015 10,480 11,656 Transportation and warehousing ................ 104 34 37 132 15,442 4,650 4,382 14,386 Information ................................... 86 61 50 51 12,127 5,689 6,971 11,131 Finance and insurance ......................... 34 24 33 34 3,142 1,778 2,130 2,061 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 4 10 8 10 684 795 483 569 Professional and technical services ........... 62 33 40 60 7,767 4,224 3,187 5,852 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 431 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 177 176 163 186 18,110 15,898 15,062 16,593 Educational services .......................... 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 356 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 463 Health care and social assistance ............. 29 22 24 24 2,406 1,619 1,569 1,695 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 33 15 12 33 3,507 1,447 663 2,551 Accommodation and food services ............... 74 52 71 95 7,378 4,746 7,111 8,014 Other services, except public administration .. 26 11 4 17 3,279 629 280 1,504 Unclassified .................................. 10 6 3 5 1,106 361 284 389 Government ...................................... 49 41 44 47 4,519 3,075 3,609 3,851 Federal ....................................... 7 7 6 4 543 421 570 318 State ......................................... 15 14 9 13 1,717 1,054 614 1,470 Local ......................................... 27 20 29 30 2,259 1,600 2,425 2,063 1 For April 2003, data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, except Wyoming. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Industry data reflect the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), 2002. Dash represents zero. Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division April February March April April February March April 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p United States(1) ..... 1,507 1,363 1,206 1,576 165,861 124,977 112,914 161,095 Northeast .................. 306 225 157 326 38,576 23,291 15,230 30,892 New England .............. 62 26 29 59 7,263 2,758 2,987 6,214 Middle Atlantic .......... 244 199 128 267 31,313 20,533 12,243 24,678 South ...................... 331 307 263 323 35,740 32,877 24,630 34,922 South Atlantic ........... 158 142 109 151 16,451 15,410 9,362 14,851 East South Central ....... 58 45 55 74 6,629 5,249 4,752 9,550 West South Central ....... 115 120 99 98 12,660 12,218 10,516 10,521 Midwest .................... 314 235 237 334 37,119 23,244 26,239 43,466 East North Central ....... 260 181 174 271 31,127 16,279 18,946 36,974 West North Central ....... 54 54 63 63 5,992 6,965 7,293 6,492 West ....................... 556 596 549 593 54,426 45,565 46,815 51,815 Mountain ................. 61 27 47 68 7,382 2,857 4,251 6,109 Pacific .................. 495 569 502 525 47,044 42,708 42,564 45,706 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 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 4. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State April February March April April February March April 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................ 1,507 1,363 1,206 1,576 165,861 124,977 112,914 161,095 Alabama .................... 25 9 11 24 2,529 1,547 1,108 4,048 Alaska ..................... 4 ( 2 ) - 6 361 ( 2 ) - 489 Arizona .................... 24 7 13 22 3,649 537 1,148 2,193 Arkansas ................... 7 4 5 3 509 288 381 326 California ................. 436 525 438 455 39,943 38,769 36,360 39,040 Colorado ................... 11 6 9 14 1,121 535 1,126 1,318 Connecticut ................ 4 3 5 3 232 190 412 206 Delaware ................... 3 ( 2 ) - 3 508 ( 2 ) - 180 District of Columbia ....... ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Florida .................... 69 59 60 64 6,303 4,459 4,188 4,451 Georgia .................... 16 23 15 31 1,686 3,627 1,224 4,299 Hawaii ..................... 7 3 ( 2 ) 8 512 186 ( 2 ) 621 Idaho ...................... 6 4 13 8 625 996 1,187 778 Illinois ................... 61 44 35 64 9,583 4,956 3,161 7,210 Indiana .................... 24 28 37 37 2,998 2,267 4,826 6,826 Iowa ....................... 12 15 14 13 1,530 1,191 1,572 1,249 Kansas ..................... 9 5 9 5 797 2,056 1,449 406 Kentucky ................... 20 14 21 29 2,315 2,174 2,124 4,186 Louisiana .................. 19 16 8 20 1,982 1,043 402 2,777 Maine ...................... 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 822 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 575 Maryland ................... 3 6 ( 2 ) 9 218 562 ( 2 ) 859 Massachusetts .............. 24 18 16 29 2,891 1,620 1,263 3,307 Michigan ................... 30 21 10 32 2,714 1,719 848 4,704 Minnesota .................. 14 8 13 21 1,936 614 1,041 2,848 Mississippi ................ 5 10 8 9 287 732 509 547 Missouri ................... 11 15 23 18 974 1,922 2,930 1,441 Montana .................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 224 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 443 Nebraska ................... 6 6 ( 2 ) 4 499 830 ( 2 ) 348 Nevada ..................... 9 8 7 13 1,169 659 475 961 New Hampshire .............. 10 - ( 2 ) 3 1,099 - ( 2 ) 205 New Jersey ................. 35 31 17 47 4,439 3,772 1,253 4,523 New Mexico ................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 178 New York ................... 126 42 40 91 17,889 5,265 3,571 9,151 North Carolina ............. 25 17 12 21 2,832 1,385 1,273 1,990 North Dakota ............... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 229 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Ohio ....................... 80 46 40 62 9,034 4,097 4,988 10,704 Oklahoma ................... 5 7 10 6 324 553 1,606 1,070 Oregon ..................... 24 24 41 22 3,118 2,036 4,336 2,238 Pennsylvania ............... 83 126 71 129 8,985 11,496 7,419 11,004 Rhode Island ............... 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 9 1,431 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,137 South Carolina ............. 21 20 6 8 2,450 2,159 986 1,228 South Dakota ............... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Tennessee .................. 8 12 15 12 1,498 796 1,011 769 Texas ...................... 84 93 76 69 9,845 10,334 8,127 6,348 Utah ....................... 6 - ( 2 ) 4 460 - ( 2 ) 238 Vermont .................... 9 ( 2 ) 3 9 788 ( 2 ) 833 784 Virginia ................... 17 13 14 13 1,959 1,263 1,392 1,719 Washington ................. 24 15 21 34 3,110 1,511 1,745 3,318 West Virginia .............. 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 346 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin .................. 65 42 52 76 6,798 3,240 5,123 7,530 Wyoming .................... - ( 2 ) - ( 1 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 1 ) Puerto Rico ................ 12 10 5 13 1,591 1,336 378 1,833 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.