Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 01-239 http://www.bls.gov/mlshome.htm For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, July 27, 2001 MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 2001 In June 2001, there were 2,081 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according 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 250,359. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemploy- ment insurance were the highest for the month of June since this series began in April 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. (June 2001 and June 2000 each contained 5 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior four Junes.) In January-June 2001, the total number of events, at 9,507, and initial claims, at 1,128,746, were higher than in January-June 2000 (7,470 and 819,545, 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 (referred to as "extended mass layoffs") and 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. Industry Distribution In June 2001, manufacturing industries accounted for 36 percent of all mass layoff events and 47 percent of all initial claims filed. A year earlier, layoffs in manufacturing accounted for 25 percent of events and 31 percent of initial claims. Manufacturing industries with the highest number of initial claimants were transportation equipment (26,431, mostly in motor vehicles and car bodies and in parts and accessories), electronic and other electrical equipment (18,636, largely in printed circuit boards and in semiconductors), and textile mill products (11,104, primarily in broadwoven fabric mills). (See table 2.) Compared with June 2000, 16 of the 20 manufacturing industry groups reported increases in the number of initial claimants. Services accounted for 25 percent of events and 19 percent of initial claims filed during the month. Layoffs in services were highly concentrated in business services (particularly in help supply services) and in social services (primarily in child day care services). Companies in the help supply services industry, however, are more likely than those in most other industries to lay off workers for fewer than 30 days. Seven percent of all layoff events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month were in transportation and public utilities, largely in local and interurban passenger transit (school buses). Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of events and claims during the month, mostly in eating and drinking places and in general merchandise stores (department stores). An additional 9 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims were in government, largely in educational services (elementary and secondary schools), as the school year ended. - 2 - Compared with June 2000, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in electronic and other electrical equipment (+15,185) and in textile mill products (+10,151). The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in motion pictures (-5,393) and in agricultural services (-4,733). Geographic Distribution In June, the highest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs were in the Midwest--87,401, largely in transportation equipment. (See table 3.) This industry accounted for 21 percent of all claimants in this part of the nation. The Northeast region continued to register the lowest number of mass layoff-related initial claims (38,111). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claimants in mass layoffs occurred in the Midwest (+28,114), followed by the South (+27,836) and the Northeast (+15,287). Only the West reported an over-the-year decrease (-12,903) in the number of initial claimants. The number of initial claimants associated with mass layoff events increased in eight of the nine geographic divisions, with the largest increases in the East North Central and South Atlantic divisions. Only the Pacific division reported an over- the-year decrease in mass-layoff activity. California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (46,675), mostly in business services and in educational services, followed by Michigan (26,714), Pennsylvania (18,176), Illinois (13,605), South Carolina (12,225), and Texas (10,543). These six states accounted for 55 percent of all layoff events and 51 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) Compared with a year earlier, 41 states and the District of Columbia experienced increases in the levels of initial claims in June 2001. South Carolina reported the largest increase in initial claims (+9,758), followed by Pennsylvania (+7,097) and Kentucky (+6,223). Eight states had over-the- year decreases in the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance, led by California (-18,022). 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 1999 to June 2001 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Realization rates(1) Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 1999 April ..................... 1,270 136,885 May ....................... 1,032 102,738 June ...................... 1,140 130,951 Second Quarter ............ 3,442 370,574 1,444 242,464 42.0 65.4 July ...................... 1,741 221,334 August .................... 698 75,691 September ................. 717 75,288 Third Quarter ............. 3,156 372,313 1,097 189,973 34.8 51.0 October ................... 1,098 118,938 November .................. 1,336 139,508 December .................. 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ............ 3,943 420,827 1,625 287,685 41.2 68.4 2000 January ................... 1,934 223,322 February .................. 1,045 103,898 March ..................... 986 106,748 First Quarter ............. 3,965 433,968 1,331 221,534 33.6 51.0 April ..................... 924 101,359 May ....................... 984 92,193 June ...................... 1,597 192,025 Second Quarter ............ 3,505 385,577 1,272 231,253 36.3 60.0 July ...................... 1,333 164,978 August .................... 751 97,215 September ................. 936 106,842 Third Quarter ............. 3,020 369,035 1,014 188,371 33.6 51.0 October ................... 874 103,755 November .................. 1,697 216,514 December .................. 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............ 5,248 647,012 2,005 375,774 38.2 58.1 2001 January ................... 1,522 200,343 February .................. 1,501 172,908 March ..................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter ............. 4,550 544,717 (2)(p)1,664 (2)(p)244,000 (p)36.6 (p)44.8 April ..................... 1,450 175,911 May(p)..................... 1,426 157,759 June(p).................... 2,081 250,359 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 available. 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. 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 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ...................................... 1,597 1,450 1,426 2,081 192,025 175,911 157,759 250,359 Total, private ..................................... 1,435 1,418 1,393 1,892 175,973 172,341 154,549 233,470 Agriculture ...................................... 161 62 68 118 15,057 6,043 4,714 9,360 Nonagriculture ................................... 1,235 1,353 1,312 1,762 157,034 165,718 148,406 222,500 Manufacturing .................................. 398 603 528 745 60,269 77,836 65,317 116,626 Durable goods ................................ 235 398 334 484 41,753 54,349 44,279 78,747 Lumber and wood products ................... 21 27 12 19 2,063 2,663 1,125 1,631 Furniture and fixtures ..................... 19 18 23 44 2,808 2,044 2,566 6,237 Stone, clay, and glass products ............ 11 17 13 16 1,320 1,666 1,695 1,788 Primary metal industries ................... 12 40 23 44 1,277 5,930 3,439 5,639 Fabricated metal products .................. 36 45 34 66 4,659 4,391 3,724 7,055 Industrial machinery and equipment ......... 30 79 61 66 5,918 11,511 7,303 9,662 Electronic and other electrical equipment .. 29 89 114 115 3,451 11,552 15,410 18,636 Transportation equipment ................... 66 63 38 91 19,529 12,583 7,768 26,431 Instruments and related products ........... 7 16 9 12 433 1,407 706 925 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ..... 4 4 7 11 295 602 543 743 Nondurable goods ............................. 163 205 194 261 18,516 23,487 21,038 37,879 Food and kindred products .................. 53 66 66 65 6,563 7,320 6,523 5,989 Tobacco products ........................... ( 2 ) - 3 - ( 2 ) - 235 - Textile mill products ...................... 10 28 26 39 953 4,887 3,344 11,104 Apparel and other textile products ......... 29 33 29 50 2,966 2,972 3,180 5,941 Paper and allied products .................. 11 25 10 16 946 2,971 1,248 1,766 Printing and publishing .................... 15 11 27 20 1,301 921 3,024 1,690 Chemicals and allied products .............. 4 12 8 12 371 910 908 1,390 Petroleum and coal products ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products . 31 24 22 54 4,504 2,907 2,160 9,588 Leather and leather products ............... 5 ( 2 ) 3 5 395 ( 2 ) 416 411 Nonmanufacturing ............................... 837 750 784 1,017 96,765 87,882 83,089 105,874 Mining ....................................... 4 4 3 4 363 266 488 1,519 Construction ................................. 64 70 105 88 4,919 6,002 9,483 6,375 Transportation and public utilities .......... 129 111 53 146 14,925 11,950 4,907 21,002 Wholesale and retail trade ................... 180 172 190 230 20,838 18,026 18,823 26,030 Wholesale trade ........................... 33 24 31 58 2,694 2,156 2,614 5,747 Retail trade .............................. 147 148 159 172 18,144 15,870 16,209 20,283 Finance, insurance, and real estate .......... 24 25 34 33 1,710 2,094 2,910 3,059 Services ..................................... 436 368 399 516 54,010 49,544 46,478 47,889 Not identified ................................... 39 3 13 12 3,882 580 1,429 1,610 Government ......................................... 162 32 33 189 16,052 3,570 3,210 16,889 Federal .......................................... 31 9 7 17 3,834 1,069 720 2,870 State ............................................ 18 5 9 28 1,435 778 996 2,419 Local ............................................ 113 18 17 144 10,783 1,723 1,494 11,600 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 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Census region and division June April May June June April May June 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) United States(1) .. 1,597 1,450 1,426 2,081 192,025 175,911 157,759 250,359 Northeast ................. 216 244 192 299 22,824 25,656 21,001 38,111 New England ........... 40 69 59 67 3,797 7,487 5,545 7,145 Middle Atlantic ....... 176 175 133 232 19,027 18,169 15,456 30,966 South ..................... 360 305 345 479 34,187 32,516 38,495 62,023 South Atlantic ........ 196 131 171 249 17,754 15,156 17,312 34,834 East South Central .... 52 71 57 110 4,846 6,678 5,783 14,057 West South Central .... 112 103 117 120 11,587 10,682 15,400 13,132 Midwest ................... 386 361 304 569 59,287 52,177 38,953 87,401 East North Central .... 307 288 220 452 48,307 41,160 29,057 65,836 West North Central .... 79 73 84 117 10,980 11,017 9,896 21,565 West ...................... 635 540 585 734 75,727 65,562 59,310 62,824 Mountain .............. 58 66 47 77 5,919 7,439 4,972 8,012 Pacific ............... 577 474 538 657 69,808 58,123 54,338 54,812 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 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ................ 1,597 1,450 1,426 2,081 192,025 175,911 157,759 250,359 Alabama .................... 16 9 15 26 1,308 1,020 1,568 2,649 Alaska ..................... 5 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 708 404 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Arizona .................... 20 21 11 17 2,029 2,848 1,200 2,215 Arkansas ................... 8 9 7 5 890 1,104 533 489 California ................. 532 413 488 590 64,697 51,022 49,009 46,675 Colorado ................... 4 13 12 14 445 1,234 1,294 1,274 Connecticut ................ 7 6 13 8 738 511 1,039 783 Delaware ................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ....... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 338 Florida .................... 105 43 65 106 6,580 3,553 5,328 8,319 Georgia .................... 26 14 15 44 2,998 1,207 2,044 4,361 Hawaii ..................... ( 2 ) 5 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 421 233 ( 2 ) Idaho ...................... 10 10 7 11 919 802 1,031 1,084 Illinois ................... 50 54 55 85 8,900 9,785 9,232 13,605 Indiana .................... 25 26 24 42 4,813 2,995 2,311 8,600 Iowa ....................... 18 25 15 14 4,187 5,971 1,739 1,789 Kansas ..................... 8 4 6 8 1,052 374 730 1,972 Kentucky ................... 14 31 23 41 1,337 3,388 2,853 7,560 Louisiana .................. 32 8 6 10 2,940 411 420 745 Maine ...................... 3 8 5 ( 2 ) 161 633 498 ( 2 ) Maryland ................... 8 ( 2 ) 10 9 639 ( 2 ) 708 649 Massachusetts .............. 21 28 27 36 2,227 2,731 2,686 3,613 Michigan ................... 148 47 40 181 26,171 6,200 4,935 26,714 Minnesota .................. 12 19 18 38 1,053 2,124 2,108 6,327 Mississippi ................ ( 2 ) 15 10 15 ( 2 ) 1,087 657 1,276 Missouri ................... 37 19 38 46 4,299 2,109 4,759 9,019 Montana .................... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 847 ( 2 ) 355 Nebraska ................... ( 2 ) 3 - 6 ( 2 ) 240 - 1,098 Nevada ..................... 13 9 9 17 1,795 1,097 848 2,067 New Hampshire .............. 3 10 6 7 199 1,370 584 698 New Jersey ................. 50 38 28 52 6,431 3,790 2,797 9,745 New Mexico ................. 7 4 3 7 438 304 219 564 New York ................... 16 21 24 32 1,517 2,744 2,108 3,045 North Carolina ............. 12 25 23 23 1,054 3,086 2,115 2,505 North Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 284 ( 2 ) Ohio ....................... 35 78 47 77 4,076 12,674 5,035 9,401 Oklahoma ................... 4 7 9 11 286 1,116 2,961 1,355 Oregon ..................... 20 32 25 32 2,423 4,310 2,974 4,572 Pennsylvania ............... 110 116 81 148 11,079 11,635 10,551 18,176 Rhode Island ............... ( 2 ) 12 ( 2 ) 11 ( 2 ) 1,726 ( 2 ) 1,700 South Carolina ............. 24 33 33 39 2,467 5,562 4,247 12,225 South Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Tennessee .................. 20 16 9 28 1,912 1,183 705 2,572 Texas ...................... 68 79 95 94 7,471 8,051 11,486 10,543 Utah ....................... 3 4 4 6 242 307 325 453 Vermont .................... 4 5 6 ( 2 ) 287 516 612 ( 2 ) Virginia ................... 17 12 23 21 1,518 1,442 2,671 4,233 Washington ................. 19 20 20 29 1,904 1,966 1,999 2,944 West Virginia .............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Wisconsin .................. 49 83 54 67 4,347 9,506 7,544 7,516 Wyoming .................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................ 9 15 6 17 1,461 1,670 1,791 1,816 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.