Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov:80/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 97-353 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Thursday, October 9, 1997 MASS LAYOFFS IN JULY 1997 In July 1997, there were 1,506 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Preliminary figures may not include all states.) Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 185,876 persons. Both the number of layoff events and claimants for unemployment insurance were about the same as in July 1996. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of duration of the layoff. See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Information on the length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release, which 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, the number of total separations, and the demographics of the laid-off workers. Because the 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. For example, 3,557 layoff events involving 363,136 initial claimants for unemployment insurance occurred in April, May, and June of 1997 combined. The second-quarter 1997 figures for mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days, however, were 1,301 events and 177,871 claimants. Thirty-seven percent of all mass layoffs in the April-June period lasted for more than a month. In all quarters for which data are available, this proportion of "extended" mass layoffs to all mass layoffs varied from about 34 to 47 percent. (See table 1.) State Distribution Among the 47 states and the District of Columbia reporting preliminary data for July, the largest numbers of initial claims filed in mass layoff events were: California 59,279 Ohio 19,820 New York 16,025 Missouri 9,758 Indiana 9,526 - 2 - These five states accounted for 60 percent of the total number of layoff events and 62 percent of initial claims reported. (At the time these figures were compiled, information for Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania was not available.) California alone accounted for 39 percent of the layoff events and 32 percent of the initial claims. (See table 2.) Layoffs in this group of states were concentrated in transportation equipment (mainly in motor vehicles and car bodies) and business services (largely in help supply). From July 1996 to July 1997, California reported the largest over-the- year rise in initial claims, primarily in motion pictures and business services. Wisconsin reported the sharpest decline in initial claims. States with the largest over-the-year changes in initial claims were: Increases Decreases California 35,553 Wisconsin -9,218 New York 8,225 South Carolina -1,518 Ohio 6,268 Delaware -1,475 Maryland 6,219 North Carolina -1,358 Industry Distribution In July 1997, manufacturing industries accounted for 46 percent of all initial claims filed and 35 percent of all mass layoff events. (See table 3.) Within manufacturing, more initial claims were filed in durable goods industries than in nondurable goods industries. Manufacturing industries that had the largest numbers of initial claimants were: Transportation equipment 30,496 Apparel and other textile products 8,785 Industrial machinery and equipment 7,588 Rubber and plastics products 5,952 Within private-sector nonmanufacturing industries (including agriculture), services (primarily in business services such as help supply) accounted for 47 percent of the initial claims and 42 percent of the layoff events. Retail trade (mostly eating and drinking places and general merchandise stores) contributed an additional 15 percent to layoff events and initial claims. Nonmanufacturing industries with the largest numbers of initial claims filed in mass layoff events were: Business services 20,148 Local and suburban passenger transit 8,159 Motion pictures 6,850 Agricultural services 5,919 - 3 - Compared with July 1996, the largest changes in initial claims occurred in the following industries: Increases Business services 9,748 Motion pictures 5,900 Local and suburban passenger transit 4,249 Agricultural services 3,386 Decreases Transportation equipment -14,281 Industrial machinery and equipment -4,428 Fabricated metal products -4,049 Rubber and misc. plastics products -2,836 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 one month on a quarterly basis. 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: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577. 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 1996 to July 1997 Extended mass layoffs Event Date Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days realization rate(1) Events Initial Events Initial claimants claimants 1996 April ................ 1,024 109,266 May .................. 930 79,576 June ................. 914 79,203 Second quarter ... 2,868 268,045 1,345 200,040 46.9 July ................. 1,531 191,955 August ............... 912 82,783 September ............ 509 42,132 Third quarter .... 2,952 316,870 1,017 190,692 34.5 October .............. 1,289 131,879 November ............. 1,429 130,310 December ............. 1,811 203,115 Fourth quarter ... 4,529 465,304 1,907 354,868 42.1 1997 January .............. 2,098 208,783 February ............. 755 63,260 March ................ 771 83,148 First quarter .... 3,624 355,191 r1,239 r203,959 34.2 April( 2 )............ r1,232 r146,606 May( 2 ).............. r1,120 r98,772 June( 3 )............. 1,205 117,758 Second quarter( p ) 3,557 363,136 ( 5 )1,301 ( 5 )177,871 36.6 July( 4 )............. p1,506 p185,876 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoffs events lasting more than 30 days. 2 Data exclude Michigan. 3 Data exclude Iowa and Michigan. 4 Data exclude Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 5 Data for layoffs lasting more than 30 days were reported by the the District of Columbia and all states, except Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. NOTE: Data for extended mass layoffs have been revised for the second quarter 1995 through first quarter 1997 due to the inclusion of new data for New York. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 1996 and July 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance State July July July July 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total ( 1 )........................... r1,531 1,506 r191,955 185,876 Alabama ................................. 4 7 297 1,184 Alaska .................................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Arizona ................................. 16 14 1,226 1,138 Arkansas ................................ 11 18 856 2,211 California .............................. 326 593 23,726 59,279 Colorado ................................ - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Connecticut ............................. 6 ( 2 ) 1,051 ( 2 ) Delaware ................................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia .................... 4 ( 2 ) 499 ( 2 ) Florida ................................. 63 76 3,959 4,694 Georgia ................................. 8 18 1,008 1,518 Hawaii .................................. 3 3 247 186 Idaho ................................... 3 6 327 415 Illinois ................................ 54 51 10,259 9,031 Indiana ................................. 50 51 9,169 9,526 Iowa .................................... 10 ( 1 ) 1,316 ( 1 ) Kansas .................................. 12 3 1,860 586 Kentucky ................................ 16 18 1,956 1,800 Louisiana ............................... 5 5 301 281 Maine ................................... 3 5 233 357 Maryland ................................ ( 2 ) 29 ( 2 ) 6,433 Massachusetts ........................... 15 11 1,362 1,187 Michigan ................................ 169 ( 1 ) 32,813 ( 1 ) Minnesota ............................... 12 11 1,292 1,455 Mississippi ............................. 5 8 481 539 Missouri ................................ 41 56 8,645 9,758 Montana ................................. ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 463 Nebraska ................................ - - - - Nevada .................................. 8 7 1,209 582 New Hampshire ........................... ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 723 New Jersey .............................. 35 39 3,728 3,247 New Mexico .............................. - 3 - 299 New York ................................ r70 107 r7,800 16,025 North Carolina .......................... 14 8 1,984 626 North Dakota ............................ - - - - Ohio .................................... 73 90 13,552 19,820 Oklahoma ................................ ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 901 Oregon .................................. 11 10 701 948 Pennsylvania ............................ 166 ( 1 ) 14,063 ( 1 ) Rhode Island ............................ 5 3 311 198 South Carolina .......................... 45 52 7,772 6,254 South Dakota ............................ - - - - Tennessee ............................... 8 - 537 - Texas ................................... 71 49 8,558 7,513 Utah .................................... 3 - 189 - Vermont ................................ 5 - 375 - Virginia ................................ 43 39 7,695 7,534 Washington .............................. 16 16 1,205 1,004 West Virginia ........................... 4 ( 2 ) 343 ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............................... 110 72 16,509 7,291 Wyoming ................................. - - - - Puerto Rico ............................. 6 17 1,103 1,934 1 For July 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero. r = revised. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claims for unemployment insurance, July 1996 and July 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Industry July July July July 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total ( 1 )...................................... 1,531 1,506 191,955 185,876 Total, private......................................... 1,510 1,405 189,946 174,470 Agriculture.......................................... 87 152 5,942 11,486 Nonagriculture....................................... 1,360 1,195 174,137 154,525 Manufacturing...................................... 758 532 121,799 86,293 Durable Goods................................... 429 276 84,908 58,083 Lumber and wood products..................... 20 22 1,622 3,577 Furniture and fixtures....................... 24 19 4,259 3,218 Stone, clay, and glass products.............. 17 13 1,960 1,330 Primary metal industries..................... 34 14 4,250 1,641 Fabricated metal products.................... 68 33 7,571 3,522 Industrial machinery and equipment........... 58 35 12,016 7,588 Electronic and other electrical equipment.... 56 36 6,187 5,034 Transportation equipment..................... 123 82 44,777 30,496 Instruments and related products............. 16 10 1,285 801 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries....... 13 12 981 876 Nondurable goods................................ 329 256 36,891 28,210 Tobacco products............................. - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Food and kindred products.................... 80 60 7,342 5,249 Textile mill products........................ 37 31 5,585 3,238 Apparel and other textile products........... 91 75 10,906 8,785 Paper and allied products.................... ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 1,013 Printing and publishing...................... 14 6 992 291 Chemicals and allied products................ 11 8 928 914 Petroleum and coal products.................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products... 70 44 8,788 5,952 Leather and leather products................. 14 20 1,146 2,412 Nonmanufacturing................................... 602 663 52,338 68,232 Mining........................................... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 334 Construction..................................... 38 56 2,976 4,123 Transportation and public utilities.............. 81 101 8,024 11,169 Wholesale and retail trade....................... 147 148 12,910 14,044 Wholesale trade............................... 26 26 2,149 2,074 Retail trade.................................. 121 122 10,761 11,970 Finance, insurance, and real estate.............. ( 2 ) 13 ( 2 ) 1,080 Services......................................... 314 341 26,650 37,482 Not identified....................................... 63 58 9,867 8,459 Government............................................. 21 101 2,009 11,406 Federal............................................ 2 24 226 2,893 State.............................................. 5 15 646 1,383 Local.............................................. 14 62 1,137 7,130 1 For July 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for July 1996 due to the inclusion of new data for New York.