Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 03-563 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, October 23, 2003 MASS LAYOFFS IN SEPTEMBER 2003 Employers initiated 868 mass layoff actions in September 2003, 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 sin- gle establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 82,647. (See table 1.) With fewer layoffs in long distance freight trucking, temporary help services, and department stores compared with September 2002, the number of layoff events and the number of initial claims were down sharply, falling to their lowest levels for September since 1999. From January through September 2003, the total number of events, at 14,073, and the number of initial claims, at 1,399,510, were lower than the January-September period a year ago. 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"). 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 in- clude 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 detail- ed definitions. Industry Distribution Temporary help services, with 5,737 claims, accounted for 7 percent of all initial claims in September. (See table A.) Five of the 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims recorded their peak level for September this year. The manufacturing sector recorded 31 percent of all mass layoff events and 38 percent of all initial claims filed in September. A year ago, manu- facturing reported 33 percent of events and 35 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (4,825), followed by computer and electronic products (4,820), food manufacturing (4,145), and textile mills (3,510). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 13 percent of events and 12 percent of initial claims filed in September, with layoffs mostly in temporary help services. The information sector accounted for 3 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims during the month, mainly in motion picture and video production. Eight percent of the events and 7 percent of the initial claims were from retail trade, largely from general merchandise stores. An additional 9 percent of all layoff events and 6 per- cent of initial claims filed during September were from construction firms, primarily among specialty trade contractors. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass layoff initial claims in September 2003p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | September peak Industry |Initial claims|---------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ----------------------------------------|--------------|------|--------------- Temporary help services.................| 5,737 | 2001 | 12,752 Motion picture and video production.....| 4,422 | 1997 | 11,176 Semiconductors and related device mfg...| 3,652 | 2003 | 3,652 Broadwoven fabric mills.................| 2,652 | 2003 | 2,652 Payroll services........................| 2,051 | 1999 | 4,737 Professional employer organizations.....| 1,711 | 2001 | 2,435 Elementary and secondary schools........| 1,544 | 2002 | 2,297 Public finance activities...............| 1,153 | 2003 | 1,153 Supermarkets and other grocery stores...| 1,095 | 2003 | 1,095 Nonresidential electrical contractors...| 1,072 | 2003 | 1,072 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Government establishments accounted for 8 percent of events and initial claims filed during the month, particularly in local executive, legislative, and general government agencies and in educational services. The 6,351 ini- tial claims in government were the most for any September since the mass lay- offs series began in 1995. Compared with September 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in truck transportation (-11,270), administrative and support services (-4,760), and general merchandise stores (-3,689). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was in motion picture and sound recording (+1,397). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in September due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 34,377. (See table 3.) Admin- istrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording account- ed for 32 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The South region was next, with 19,287 initial claims, followed by the Midwest, with 16,868, and the Northeast, with 12,115. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in all four regions, with the largest decrease in the West (-16,849). Eight of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the Pacific (-15,298), South Atlantic (-7,698), and East North Central (-7,258). The New England division had the only increase (+2,640). California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this September, 29,429, mostly in administrative and support services and in the motion picture and sound recording industries. Texas reported 5,587 initial claims, followed by Illinois (4,510), Pennsylvania (3,481), and New York (3,384). These five states accounted for 60 percent of all layoff events and 56 percent of initial claims for unemployment in- surance. (See table 4.) California registered the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-10,262), followed by Oregon (-3,590). - 3 - From January through September, California reported 352,098 initial claims, 25 percent of the national total. The states with the next high- est numbers of initial claims were Pennsylvania (84,460), Ohio (78,391), New York (74,632), and Texas (71,116). ______________________________ The report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the Third Quarter of 2003 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 20, 2003. The report on Mass Layoffs in October 2003 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 26, 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 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, July 2001 to September 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 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 371,541 36.8 61.9 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,697 502,502 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 February ................... 1,382 138,808 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 First Quarter .............. 4,988 563,901 1,750 316,489 35.1 56.1 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,802 1,905 353,017 39.6 69.5 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 September .................. 1,062 124,522 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 1,383 284,511 31.8 57.1 October .................... 1,497 171,100 November ................... 2,153 240,171 December ................... 2,474 264,158 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 2,257 421,025 36.9 62.3 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 February ................... 1,363 124,965 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 1,700 329,153 34.8 71.0 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 (2)(p) 1,894 (2)(p) 285,884 (p)38.1 (p)58.0 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 August (p) ................. 1,258 133,839 September (p) .............. 868 82,647 Third Quarter (p) ......... 4,213 442,921 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. p = preliminary. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry September July August September September July August September 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................................... 1,062 2,087 1,258 868 124,522 226,435 133,839 82,647 Total, private .................................. 1,008 1,932 1,201 799 118,537 215,170 126,266 76,296 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 51 117 38 43 3,801 8,269 2,135 2,382 Mining ........................................ 7 7 4 4 513 505 283 259 Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 80 88 114 82 5,735 5,970 7,862 5,205 Manufacturing ................................. 352 946 405 271 43,755 136,410 52,620 31,428 Food ...................................... 39 74 42 44 4,688 6,460 5,803 4,145 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 7 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 454 614 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Textile mills ............................. 17 27 21 21 3,406 2,828 7,154 3,510 Textile product mills ..................... 13 12 8 ( 2 ) 2,543 1,048 739 ( 2 ) Apparel ................................... 19 36 25 10 2,225 3,093 2,255 1,212 Leather and allied products ............... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 240 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 12 31 21 11 1,312 3,976 1,773 969 Paper ..................................... 9 16 13 10 1,007 1,035 1,083 834 Printing and related support activities ... 7 12 4 ( 2 ) 650 723 231 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products ............... - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Chemicals ................................. 8 15 7 9 977 1,332 549 602 Plastics and rubber products .............. 15 90 24 10 1,322 11,122 2,203 886 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 5 30 6 5 410 3,954 463 420 Primary metals ............................ 20 66 23 24 2,273 8,676 1,988 2,011 Fabricated metal products ................. 22 59 32 5 2,365 6,235 2,806 826 Machinery ................................. 28 65 39 21 3,657 8,669 6,606 2,073 Computer and electronic products .......... 48 60 34 26 5,222 5,534 2,675 4,820 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 23 33 21 9 2,679 5,445 2,564 1,142 Transportation equipment .................. 32 265 50 31 4,984 60,173 9,476 4,825 Furniture and related products ............ 17 20 21 11 2,834 2,391 2,513 1,254 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 8 19 11 10 507 1,648 1,351 662 Wholesale trade ............................... 20 36 18 22 1,708 2,776 1,322 1,808 Retail trade .................................. 92 108 99 69 10,029 9,065 9,980 5,789 Transportation and warehousing ................ 68 84 86 20 18,128 7,489 9,025 1,723 Information ................................... 47 44 51 26 6,585 3,700 9,114 5,791 Finance and insurance ......................... 26 35 41 35 2,530 2,569 3,113 2,371 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ ( 2 ) 11 4 5 ( 2 ) 751 349 382 Professional and technical services ........... 29 53 41 29 2,811 4,970 3,775 3,730 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 438 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 133 212 168 109 14,255 18,427 16,242 9,606 Educational services .......................... 5 25 7 8 369 1,714 592 634 Health care and social assistance ............. 18 59 32 13 1,299 4,048 2,427 945 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 19 27 19 19 2,157 2,559 1,386 1,237 Accommodation and food services ............... 49 50 45 37 4,056 3,764 3,228 2,623 Other services, except public administration .. ( 2 ) 19 22 3 ( 2 ) 1,115 2,234 183 Unclassified .................................. 1 7 4 1 103 631 259 50 Government ...................................... 54 155 57 69 5,985 11,265 7,573 6,351 Federal ....................................... 9 10 10 13 1,703 899 1,287 1,910 State ......................................... 10 24 16 14 980 1,527 1,766 1,417 Local ......................................... 35 121 31 42 3,302 8,839 4,520 3,024 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: 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 September July August September September July August September 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p United States(1) .... 1,062 2,087 1,258 868 124,522 226,435 133,839 82,647 Northeast ................. 158 336 220 107 15,981 30,187 21,272 12,115 New England ............. 21 69 25 19 1,919 6,148 2,151 4,559 Middle Atlantic ......... 137 267 195 88 14,062 24,039 19,121 7,556 South ..................... 259 440 330 196 31,878 48,895 34,673 19,287 South Atlantic .......... 129 200 164 96 16,396 22,033 18,195 8,698 East South Central ...... 51 128 68 31 5,877 14,232 8,033 4,144 West South Central ...... 79 112 98 69 9,605 12,630 8,445 6,445 Midwest ................... 177 697 239 165 25,437 101,533 30,872 16,868 East North Central ...... 134 589 199 125 19,904 79,361 25,707 12,646 West North Central ...... 43 108 40 40 5,533 22,172 5,165 4,222 West ...................... 468 614 469 400 51,226 45,820 47,022 34,377 Mountain ................ 35 53 42 30 4,119 4,179 4,080 2,568 Pacific ................. 433 561 427 370 47,107 41,641 42,942 31,809 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 September July August September September July August September 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ............. 1,062 2,087 1,258 868 124,522 226,435 133,839 82,647 Alabama ................. 16 45 24 8 2,174 5,466 3,740 1,164 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 185 Arizona ................. 9 20 10 4 1,618 1,634 703 423 Arkansas ................ 4 8 ( 2 ) 3 421 621 ( 2 ) 268 California .............. 376 517 383 345 39,691 37,033 37,814 29,429 Colorado ................ 6 7 ( 2 ) 6 561 478 ( 2 ) 439 Connecticut ............. 4 12 3 4 262 833 237 291 Delaware ................ - 3 3 ( 2 ) - 1,430 598 ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Florida ................. 55 76 80 43 4,143 5,356 5,554 2,555 Georgia ................. 16 53 20 19 4,639 7,835 2,077 2,130 Hawaii .................. 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 428 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 196 Idaho ................... 4 9 11 6 287 957 1,500 463 Illinois ................ 41 85 50 41 6,707 11,117 7,996 4,510 Indiana ................. 16 86 29 13 2,512 18,688 3,478 983 Iowa .................... 9 24 10 9 1,673 4,674 1,650 1,108 Kansas .................. 3 14 6 6 196 1,800 775 547 Kentucky ................ 16 57 21 16 1,773 7,110 2,377 2,259 Louisiana ............... 12 20 17 4 761 2,299 1,215 231 Maine ................... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 178 ( 2 ) - Maryland ................ 7 16 5 ( 2 ) 815 1,149 422 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ........... 12 43 15 10 988 3,947 1,388 1,047 Michigan ................ 14 190 11 18 1,544 21,647 2,369 1,861 Minnesota ............... 9 18 6 7 1,142 2,127 505 511 Mississippi ............. 6 8 8 ( 2 ) 782 460 571 ( 2 ) Missouri ................ 15 40 15 13 1,886 12,137 1,521 1,307 Montana ................. - 3 4 ( 2 ) - 172 599 ( 2 ) Nebraska ................ 6 9 - 5 583 1,231 - 749 Nevada .................. 13 10 11 12 1,133 694 915 879 New Hampshire ........... 3 8 3 ( 2 ) 514 944 195 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 29 59 33 8 3,424 5,354 2,708 691 New Mexico .............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 127 ( 2 ) New York ................ 49 92 94 38 5,137 8,253 10,633 3,384 North Carolina .......... 11 11 32 11 1,208 1,298 6,680 897 North Dakota ............ - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Ohio .................... 34 133 54 29 5,468 17,086 6,389 2,979 Oklahoma ................ ( 2 ) 9 6 5 ( 2 ) 1,947 603 359 Oregon .................. 30 24 27 5 3,965 2,891 2,447 375 Pennsylvania ............ 59 116 68 42 5,501 10,432 5,780 3,481 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 246 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 18 17 10 5 2,220 1,815 870 1,548 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Tennessee ............... 13 18 15 5 1,148 1,196 1,345 608 Texas ................... 62 75 74 57 8,280 7,763 6,571 5,587 Utah .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Vermont ................. - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Virginia ................ 19 21 13 14 3,092 2,981 1,887 1,321 Washington .............. 21 18 14 14 2,889 1,579 1,714 1,624 West Virginia ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 29 95 55 24 3,673 10,823 5,475 2,313 Wyoming ................. - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ............. 9 13 10 7 873 1,116 1,035 573 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.