Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 98-461 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 606-5902 Thursday, November 19, 1998 MASS LAYOFFS IN AUGUST 1998 In August 1998, there were 553 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 49,070. Although the number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower this August than in 1997, this was due in part to a calendar effect. This year, 4 weeks of mass layoff activities were reported in August versus 5 weeks in 1997. (See Technical Note.) The total of layoff events from January through August 1998, at 10,148, was about the same as a year earlier (10,208), while the total number of initial claimants, at 1,123,952, was slightly higher than in January-August 1997 (1,072,104). (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers 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. See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. 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, 3,641 layoff events involving 424,018 initial claimants for unemployment insurance occurred in April, May, and June of 1998 combined. The second-quarter 1998 figures for mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days, however, were 1,500 events and 260,837 claimants. Forty-one percent of all mass layoffs in the April-June period lasted for more than a month. (See table 1.) In all quarters for which data are available, the proportion of mass layoffs that became "extended" mass layoffs varied from about 31 to 47 percent. Industry Distribution In August 1998, manufacturing industries accounted for 43 percent of all mass layoff events and 52 percent of the initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were electronic and electrical equipment (3,834), primarily in semiconductors and related devices; industrial machinery and equipment (3,400), mostly in refrigeration and heating equipment; and food products (3,350), particularly in dehydrated fruits, vegetables, and soups and bread and cake. (See table 3.) - 2 - In nonmanufacturing industries, services accounted for 20 percent of all mass layoff events and 15 percent of all initial claims filed. The layoffs were predominantly in business services (particularly in help supply services) and in health services (mostly in general medical and surgical hospitals). Layoffs in help supply services are more likely than those in other industries to last less than 30 days. Retail trade contributed 10 percent of layoff events and 8 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in general merchandise stores. Transportation and public utilities accounted for 5 percent of layoff events and 8 percent of initial claimants during the month, primarily in communications. Compared with August 1997, the largest increases in initial claims occurred in communications (1,753) and paper and allied products (1,253). Substantially fewer claims occurred in transportation by air (-13,903) than in last August, when a labor dispute generated indirect layoffs. Other significant over-the-year reductions were in transportation equipment (-8,202) and business services (-5,136). State Distribution Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for August, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (6,669), primarily in business services, followed by Texas (5,158), Pennsylvania (4,200), and Florida (3,282). These four states accounted for about 49 percent of all layoff events and 39 percent of all initial claims. (See table 2.) From August 1997 to August 1998, Iowa reported the largest over-the-year rise in initial claims (870), primarily in electronic and other electrical equipment, followed by North Carolina (512), and Louisiana (348). California had the largest over-the-year decline in initial claims (-11,868), mostly in business services. 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: 202-606-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, July 1996 to August 1998 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization Events Initial Events Initial rate(1) claimants claimants 1996 July ......................... 1,534 192,155 August ....................... 918 83,166 September .................... 513 42,376 Third quarter ................ 2,965 317,697 1,020 200,423 34.4 October ...................... 1,289 131,850 November ..................... 1,433 130,774 December ..................... 1,824 204,123 Fourth quarter ............... 4,546 466,747 1,915 384,161 42.1 1997 January ...................... 2,139 212,860 February ..................... 755 63,352 March ........................ 783 84,069 First quarter ................ 3,677 360,281 1,317 253,424 35.8 April ........................ 1,269 152,168 May .......................... 1,152 101,476 June ......................... 1,238 121,256 Second quarter ............... 3,659 374,900 1,574 319,617 43.0 July ......................... 1,899 237,410 August ....................... 973 99,513 September .................... 548 59,062 Third quarter ................ 3,420 395,985 1,077 216,474 31.5 October ...................... 1,414 139,297 November ..................... 1,156 100,051 December ..................... 1,634 172,029 Fourth quarter ............... 4,204 411,377 1,677 311,536 39.9 1998 January ...................... 2,360 255,203 February ..................... 970 81,455 March ........................ 762 78,210 First quarter................. 4,092 414,868 1,289 237,528 31.5 April ........................ 1,253 132,476 May .......................... 1,180 107,952 June ......................... 1,208 183,590 Second quarter ............... 3,641 424,018 1,500 260,837 41.2 July ......................... 1,862 235,996 August ....................... 553 49,070 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. Table 2. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, August 1997 and August 1998 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State August August August August 1997 1998 1997 1998 Total( 1 ).................................. 973 553 99,513 49,070 Alabama ..................................... ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 358 Alaska ...................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Arizona ..................................... 7 5 839 435 Arkansas .................................... 10 10 841 828 California .................................. 297 124 18,537 6,669 Colorado .................................... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 169 Connecticut ................................. 5 ( 2 ) 355 ( 2 ) Delaware .................................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - District of Columbia ........................ - - - - Florida ..................................... 47 38 3,235 3,282 Georgia ..................................... 13 7 1,563 619 Hawaii ...................................... 6 ( 2 ) 504 ( 2 ) Idaho ....................................... 9 8 1,701 925 Illinois .................................... 37 15 8,907 2,017 Indiana ..................................... 18 14 3,013 1,331 Iowa ........................................ 8 9 721 1,591 Kansas ...................................... 8 3 1,397 261 Kentucky .................................... 9 ( 2 ) 2,087 ( 2 ) Louisiana ................................... 7 11 464 812 Maine ....................................... 6 5 430 358 Maryland .................................... 10 ( 2 ) 2,022 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ............................... 12 6 2,062 1,014 Michigan .................................... 25 4 4,325 347 Minnesota ................................... 10 5 1,468 564 Mississippi ................................. ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 336 Missouri .................................... 27 10 3,565 1,423 Montana ..................................... - - - - Nebraska .................................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Nevada ...................................... 4 ( 2 ) 293 ( 2 ) New Hampshire ............................... 3 ( 2 ) 197 ( 2 ) New Jersey .................................. 21 14 3,051 2,016 New Mexico .................................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York .................................... 31 30 2,533 2,563 North Carolina .............................. 7 13 564 1,076 North Dakota ................................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Ohio ........................................ 24 18 2,603 1,584 Oklahoma .................................... 4 3 288 186 Oregon ...................................... 12 10 1,201 1,310 Pennsylvania ................................ 96 52 8,285 4,200 Rhode Island ................................ 4 ( 2 ) 325 ( 2 ) South Carolina .............................. 20 19 2,437 1,889 South Dakota ................................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Tennessee ................................... 19 3 1,603 259 Texas ....................................... 74 56 8,289 5,158 Utah ........................................ 3 ( 2 ) 492 ( 2 ) Vermont ..................................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Virginia .................................... 16 6 2,574 549 Washington .................................. 14 6 1,616 1,801 West Virginia ............................... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 223 Wisconsin ................................... 37 15 3,305 1,406 Wyoming ..................................... - - - - Puerto Rico ................................. 12 6 1,765 612 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for August 1997 due to the inclusion of new data for Louisiana and Oklahoma. Dash represents zero. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, August 1997 and August 1998 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry August August August August 1997 1998 1997 1998 Total( 1 ).............................................. 973 553 99,513 49,070 Total, private .............................................. 927 536 95,440 47,792 Agriculture ............................................... 49 26 2,668 1,264 Nonagriculture ............................................ 859 502 90,971 45,903 Manufacturing ........................................... 366 238 42,950 25,516 Durable goods ......................................... 208 122 27,456 13,642 Lumber and wood products ............................ 8 8 654 530 Furniture and fixtures .............................. 15 5 1,755 813 Stone, clay, and glass products ..................... 8 3 675 189 Primary metal industries ............................ 20 14 1,350 1,219 Fabricated metal products ........................... 28 15 2,530 1,129 Industrial machinery and equipment .................. 38 22 4,590 3,400 Electronic and other electrical equipment ........... 37 33 4,292 3,834 Transportation equipment ............................ 35 12 10,039 1,837 Instruments and related products .................... 7 6 617 291 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries .............. 12 4 954 400 Nondurable goods ...................................... 158 116 15,494 11,874 Food and kindred products ........................... 60 41 6,727 3,350 Tobacco products .................................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Textile mill products ............................... 16 16 2,139 2,468 Apparel and other textile products .................. 43 23 3,658 1,629 Paper and allied products ........................... 3 11 209 1,462 Printing and publishing ............................. 12 8 993 656 Chemicals and allied products ....................... 5 ( 2 ) 387 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products ......................... - - - - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .......... 13 9 886 1,156 Leather and leather products ........................ 6 6 495 569 Nonmanufacturing ........................................ 493 264 48,021 20,387 Mining ................................................ ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 363 Construction .......................................... 76 40 4,979 2,649 Transportation and public utilities ................... 73 30 17,381 4,158 Wholesale and retail trade ............................ 112 70 8,959 5,075 Wholesale trade .................................... 23 16 1,823 1,042 Retail trade ....................................... 89 54 7,136 4,033 Finance, insurance, and real estate ................... ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 585 Services .............................................. 204 112 14,874 7,557 Not identified ............................................ 19 8 1,801 625 Government .................................................. 46 17 4,073 1,278 Federal ................................................... 12 3 1,469 341 State ..................................................... 14 7 1,261 558 Local ..................................................... 20 7 1,343 379 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for August 1997 due to the inclusion of new data for Louisiana and Oklahoma. Dash represents zero.