Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 04-1329 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, July 22, 2004 MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 2004 In June 2004, employers took 1,379 mass layoff actions, 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 134,588. (See table 1.) Both the number of events and initial claims were lower than a year ago. The number of mass layoff events and the number of associated initial claims were at their lowest levels for any June since 1999. From January through June 2004, the total number of events, at 8,114, and of initial claims, at 795,612, were lower than in January-June 2003 (9,860 and 956,589, respectively). Industry Distribution Elementary and secondary schools, with 12,614 initial claims, and school and employee bus transportation, with 12,498 initial claims, together accounted for 19 percent of all initial claims in June. The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 62,767 initial claims in June, 47 percent of the total. (See table A.) The manufacturing sector had 16 percent of all mass layoff events and 20 percent of all initial claims filed in June--the lowest shares for any June since 1995, when the monthly series began. A year ago, manufacturing reported 23 percent of events and 26 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equip- ment (9,303, mainly automotive-related), followed by food processing (2,677) and textile mills (1,957). (See table 2.) The transportation and warehousing sector accounted for 9 percent of events and 11 percent of initial claims filed in June, with layoffs mostly in school and employee bus transportation. Eleven percent of all layoff events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in administrative and waste services, mainly in temporary help services. Healthcare and social assistance accounted for 11 percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims, largely in child day care services. Accommoda- tion and food services accounted for 6 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, primarily among food service contractors. An additional 6 percent of events and initial claims were in retail trade, mostly in general merchandise stores. Government establishments accounted for 16 percent of events and 14 percent of initial claims filed during the month, mostly in educational services as the school year ended. Compared with June 2003, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in educational services (-5,103), food processing (-3,152), and plastics and rubber products manufacturing (-2,873). The largest over-the- year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+2,936) and social assistance (+2,525). - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in June 2004p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | June peak Industry | Initial |----------------------- | claims | Year |Initial claims -------------------------------------------|----------|--------|-------------- | | | Elementary and secondary schools...........| 12,614 | 2003 | 17,360 School and employee bus transportation.....| 12,498 | 2002 | 15,668 Temporary help services....................| 8,242 | 2000 | 13,815 Child day care services....................| 7,667 | 1995 | 8,779 Food service contractors...................| 6,289 | 1999 | 6,410 Motion picture and video production........| 4,480 | 2000 | 9,435 Automobile manufacturing...................| 3,982 | 1998 | 41,501 Other individual and family services.......| 2,637 | 2004 | 2,637 Discount department stores.................| 2,258 | 2004 | 2,258 Executive and legislative offices..........| 2,100 | 2003 | 2,224 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in June due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 46,900. (See table 3.) Educational services and administrative and support services accounted for 34 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The South region was next, with 31,374 initial claims, followed closely by the Midwest, with 31,267, and the Northeast, with 25,047. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in all four regions. The largest decrease was in the South (-9,645), fol- lowed by the West (-6,782). Each of the nine geographic divisions had over- the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass lay- offs, with the largest decreases in the East South Central (-5,793) and Paci- fic (-4,934) divisions. Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in June (39,179), mostly in education- al services and administrative and support services. New Jersey reported 9,167 initial claims, followed by Pennsylvania (7,586), Ohio (6,755), and Florida (6,466). These five states accounted for 52 percent of all layoff events and 51 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-3,739), followed by Texas (-3,402) and Alabama (-3,303). The largest over-the-year increase occurred in South Carolina (+2,399). From January to June, California reported 210,628 mass layoff initial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were New York (56,874), Pennsylvania (45,461), and Ohio (39,349). - 3 - 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 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. ______________________________ The Report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the Second Quarter of 2004 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, August 26, 2004. The report on Mass Layoffs in July 2004 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 31, 2004. - 4 - 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 establish- ments 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 long- er, 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 ter- minated 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 indi- viduals 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 2002 to June 2004 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 2002 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,802 4,215 456,441 1,624 299,598 38.5 65.6 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 3,927 461,502 1,186 254,955 30.2 55.2 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 5,454 618,371 1,916 370,592 35.1 59.9 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 1,502 297,607 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 1,799 348,890 41.4 79.0 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 1,190 227,568 31.9 56.2 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 1,690 325,765 39.4 73.4 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 (2)(p) 1,204 (2)(p) 165,272 (p)30.8 (p)42.9 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 May(p) ..................... 988 87,501 878 78,786 June(p) .................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 Second Quarter(p) .......... 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 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 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry June April May June June April May June 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total(1) .................................. 1,691 1,458 988 1,379 157,552 157,314 87,501 134,588 Total, private .................................. 1,397 1,396 915 1,156 132,185 149,806 81,381 115,626 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 61 80 37 79 4,442 7,149 2,595 4,822 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,336 1,316 878 1,077 127,743 142,657 78,786 110,804 Mining ........................................ 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 591 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Utilities ..................................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 315 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 95 149 76 77 6,238 11,904 5,424 4,924 Manufacturing ................................. 389 343 219 222 40,845 36,172 22,141 27,307 Food ...................................... 59 112 41 38 5,829 13,582 3,897 2,677 Beverage and tobacco products ............. ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 319 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Textile mills ............................. 18 8 12 9 1,970 1,091 1,099 1,957 Textile product mills ..................... 10 5 13 ( 2 ) 1,581 420 2,820 ( 2 ) Apparel ................................... 19 12 18 7 1,584 922 1,382 641 Leather and allied products ............... 6 5 ( 2 ) 4 692 399 ( 2 ) 459 Wood products ............................. 9 16 5 7 711 1,684 389 634 Paper ..................................... 9 7 7 ( 2 ) 1,202 499 665 ( 2 ) Printing and related support activities ... 14 15 13 13 1,053 1,618 985 1,324 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Chemicals ................................. 9 11 ( 2 ) 11 878 677 ( 2 ) 803 Plastics and rubber products .............. 19 12 8 4 3,233 936 508 360 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 10 7 ( 2 ) 4 828 452 ( 2 ) 304 Primary metals ............................ 29 9 ( 2 ) 9 2,226 920 ( 2 ) 1,078 Fabricated metal products ................. 23 22 9 11 1,728 2,030 660 1,464 Machinery ................................. 30 19 14 16 3,062 1,658 1,359 1,362 Computer and electronic products .......... 35 17 13 11 3,464 1,375 1,081 1,418 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 13 7 10 5 2,088 1,252 1,572 1,222 Transportation equipment .................. 51 32 28 51 6,367 4,625 2,911 9,303 Furniture and related products ............ 15 11 12 11 1,363 835 1,098 1,323 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 6 11 5 4 572 878 376 265 Wholesale trade ............................... 25 21 11 23 1,597 1,944 819 2,142 Retail trade .................................. 100 118 91 76 9,640 12,659 7,851 7,410 Transportation and warehousing ................ 135 145 40 120 15,035 20,292 3,822 14,557 Information ................................... 54 42 32 48 5,954 7,851 2,966 6,748 Finance and insurance ......................... 23 31 23 22 1,730 2,594 1,944 1,502 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 7 11 ( 2 ) 4 485 1,214 ( 2 ) 231 Professional and technical services ........... 36 54 44 27 3,357 6,939 4,116 3,174 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 4 4 4 4 725 269 232 935 Administrative and waste services ............. 175 194 119 148 15,596 20,812 9,839 14,058 Educational services .......................... 12 4 4 11 961 374 309 692 Health care and social assistance ............. 123 31 67 149 10,226 2,118 5,500 12,457 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 25 40 23 25 1,383 3,368 2,006 1,390 Accommodation and food services ............... 83 93 82 85 9,975 10,067 8,145 10,549 Other services, except public administration .. 41 26 35 30 2,937 3,240 3,112 2,278 Unclassified .................................. 2 6 1 2 153 563 62 181 Government ...................................... 294 62 73 223 25,367 7,508 6,120 18,962 Federal ....................................... 9 14 8 9 841 1,173 1,033 1,040 State ......................................... 22 11 17 18 1,699 884 1,389 1,058 Local ......................................... 263 37 48 196 22,827 5,451 3,698 16,864 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. NOTE: 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 June April May June June April May June 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p United States(1) .... 1,691 1,458 988 1,379 157,552 157,314 87,501 134,588 Northeast ................. 275 332 128 204 29,032 40,728 11,912 25,047 New England ............. 55 49 21 39 5,732 5,913 2,007 4,263 Middle Atlantic ......... 220 283 107 165 23,300 34,815 9,905 20,784 South ..................... 461 292 285 337 41,019 27,553 27,666 31,374 South Atlantic .......... 243 139 138 183 18,913 12,141 12,730 16,796 East South Central ...... 78 52 63 48 9,495 5,936 7,512 3,702 West South Central ...... 140 101 84 106 12,611 9,476 7,424 10,876 Midwest ................... 310 275 237 300 33,819 31,619 22,294 31,267 East North Central ...... 238 235 172 234 24,398 27,755 17,057 24,316 West North Central ...... 72 40 65 66 9,421 3,864 5,237 6,951 West ...................... 645 559 338 538 53,682 57,414 25,629 46,900 Mountain ................ 68 52 39 53 5,827 5,962 3,580 3,979 Pacific ................. 577 507 299 485 47,855 51,452 22,049 42,921 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 June April May June June April May June 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total(1) ............. 1,691 1,458 988 1,379 157,552 157,314 87,501 134,588 Alabama ................. 21 15 11 8 3,882 2,051 2,586 579 Alaska .................. 4 5 ( 2 ) 4 439 633 ( 2 ) 256 Arizona ................. 17 20 14 17 1,282 3,177 1,438 1,307 Arkansas ................ 9 6 7 6 653 513 525 440 California .............. 526 440 272 438 42,918 44,311 20,148 39,179 Colorado ................ 11 9 5 5 884 973 502 431 Connecticut ............. 9 6 5 10 1,296 513 327 1,117 Delaware ................ 4 3 - 4 266 165 - 801 District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) Florida ................. 117 69 67 93 8,488 5,447 5,152 6,466 Georgia ................. 43 21 25 26 3,641 2,111 2,674 2,873 Hawaii .................. 7 7 ( 2 ) 3 525 570 ( 2 ) 205 Idaho ................... 8 6 4 4 629 559 347 291 Illinois ................ 44 54 48 52 4,231 7,471 5,640 5,869 Indiana ................. 36 25 22 26 3,912 2,227 2,155 2,564 Iowa .................... 10 8 6 13 1,186 846 515 1,417 Kansas .................. 11 9 5 11 2,198 1,222 348 1,042 Kentucky ................ 28 20 26 16 3,087 2,559 2,452 1,210 Louisiana ............... 28 28 21 31 2,308 2,554 1,869 2,686 Maine ................... 6 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 388 662 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Maryland ................ 11 9 7 6 950 906 488 480 Massachusetts ........... 32 16 11 16 3,230 1,759 1,333 1,573 Michigan ................ 39 38 33 55 3,541 3,556 3,369 5,277 Minnesota ............... 20 5 12 20 1,898 327 959 2,258 Mississippi ............. 7 6 10 8 547 419 879 427 Missouri ................ 25 15 27 21 3,730 1,242 2,227 2,138 Montana ................. 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 528 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 171 Nebraska ................ 4 3 8 ( 2 ) 267 227 556 ( 2 ) Nevada .................. 14 6 3 14 1,597 420 291 1,152 New Hampshire ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 391 New Jersey .............. 69 47 25 50 9,441 4,862 2,768 9,167 New Mexico .............. 6 4 9 5 605 346 715 268 New York ................ 46 120 40 36 4,194 19,056 3,348 4,031 North Carolina .......... 24 20 16 13 1,918 1,768 1,346 1,014 North Dakota ............ - - 4 - - - 290 - Ohio .................... 72 51 38 61 8,361 5,811 3,305 6,755 Oklahoma ................ 13 5 4 10 1,188 425 347 2,690 Oregon .................. 20 33 9 21 2,022 3,899 562 1,772 Pennsylvania ............ 105 116 42 79 9,665 10,897 3,789 7,586 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 1,624 ( 2 ) 992 South Carolina .......... 12 6 7 19 1,039 796 1,429 3,438 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) - 3 - ( 2 ) - 342 - Tennessee ............... 22 11 16 16 1,979 907 1,595 1,486 Texas ................... 90 62 52 59 8,462 5,984 4,683 5,060 Utah .................... 4 4 ( 2 ) 5 302 248 ( 2 ) 359 Vermont ................. ( 2 ) 10 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,177 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Virginia ................ 27 10 14 17 2,189 849 1,536 1,318 Washington .............. 20 22 15 19 1,951 2,039 1,146 1,509 West Virginia ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 277 Wisconsin ............... 47 67 31 40 4,353 8,690 2,588 3,851 Wyoming ................. - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Puerto Rico ............. 8 11 4 10 702 1,147 640 896 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.