Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 01-496 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, December 28, 2001 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 2001 In November 2001, there were 2,699 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 293,074. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemploy- ment insurance were the highest for the month of November since the series began in April 1995. (November 2001 contained 5 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior three Novembers.) Over the January-November 2001 period, the total number of events, at 18,920, and initial claims, at 2,228,945, were substantially higher than in January- November 2000, at 13,061 and 1,508,849, respectively. The BLS also tabulated data through November 17 on the direct and indirect effects of the September 11 attacks on plant closings and mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days. See page 2. Industry Distribution Manufacturing industries accounted for 42 percent of all mass layoff events and 52 percent of all initial claims filed in November 2001. A year earlier, layoffs in manufacturing accounted for 36 percent of events and 43 percent of initial claims. Manufacturing industries with the highest number of initial claimants were transportation equipment (24,691, mostly in motor vehicles and car bodies), industrial machinery and equipment (19,587, largely in refrigeration and heating equipment and in construction machinery), and electronic and other electrical equipment (18,295). (See table 2.) Services accounted for 18 percent of events and 15 percent of initial claims filed during the month. Layoffs in services were concentrated in business services (particularly help supply services). This industry is more likely than most other industries to lay off workers for fewer than 30 days. Twelve percent of all layoff events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in construction, mostly in heavy construction, except buildings. Agriculture accounted for 12 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims in November, mostly in agricultural services (farm labor contractors). Retail trade accounted for an additional 6 percent of both events and initial claims, primarily in eating and drinking places. Compared with November 2000, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in electronic and other electrical equipment (+11,077), industrial machinery and equipment (+9,688), and primary metal industries (+8,455). The largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims was reported in motion pictures (-2,282). - 2 - Geographic Distribution In November, the highest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest--101,147--largely in transportation equipment, heavy construction (except buildings), and industrial machinery and equipment. (See table 3.) These three industries accounted for 36 percent of all claimants in the region. The Northeast region continued to register the lowest number of mass layoff-related initial claims, 41,738. The largest over-the-year increase in initial claimants in mass layoffs occurred in the Midwest (+35,861), followed by the South (+22,812) and the Northeast (+20,249). Only the West reported an over-the-year decrease (-2,362). Eight of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the East North Central, Middle Atlantic, and South Atlantic divisions. Over the year, the number of initial claims decreased in the Pacific division. California registered the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events, 57,804, mostly in agricultural services and in business services, followed by Wisconsin (23,522, primarily in electronic and other electrical equipment), Michigan (23,102, largely in transportation equipment), and Pennsylvania (22,386, mostly in electronic and other electrical equipment). These four states accounted for 49 percent of all layoff events and 43 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) Michigan reported the largest over-the-year increase (+13,544) in initial claims, followed by Pennsylvania (+11,022). The largest over- the-year decrease occurred in California (-13,198). Impact of the September 11 Attacks After the events of September 11, BLS added a new code for reason for layoff, 'non-natural disaster,' for use in the quarterly reporting of extended mass layoffs (those lasting more than 30 days). This allows for the identification of workers separated from companies as a direct or indirect effect of situations such as the September 11 attacks. BLS also implemented interim reporting of extended mass layoffs in order to analyze the layoff impact of those attacks on a more timely basis. In the 10 weeks following the September 11 attacks (the weeks ending September 15 through November 17), employers reported 350 events involving 103,781 workers separated as a direct or indirect effect of the attacks. Thirty-one states reported extended mass layoff activity related to the September 11 incidents. However, 69 percent of these events and 64 percent of the associated separations occurred in just six states--California, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Texas, and Florida. Among the workers laid off because of the terrorist attacks, 42 percent, or 43,795, had been employed in the scheduled air transportation industry. An additional 29 percent, or 30,399 workers, had been employed in hotels and motels. Thirty-one percent of the employers reporting extended mass layoffs related to the attacks indicated they anticipated some type of recall. 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. 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 - 3 - 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 lay- offs of more than 30 days. (See table 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in December 2001 will be issued in the week of January 28, 2002. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Change in Industry Classification System | | | | December 2001 data will be the last from the Mass Layoff Statistics | |(MLS) program using the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) | |system. Beginning with the release of data for January 2002 in late | |February 2002, the program will switch to the 2002 version of the North | |American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for the | |assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the | |product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies | |of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS | |and SIC structures, data for 2002 will not be comparable to the SIC-based| |data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series | |from April 1995 through December 2001 will be available on both SIC and | |NAICS bases. | | | | NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic units.| |Units with similar production processes are classified in the same indus-| |try. NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed | |to the SIC focus on what is produced. This approach yields significantly | |different industry groupings than those produced by the SIC approach. | | | | Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the BLS Web| |page at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm or the Bureau of the Census Web | |page at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, October 1999 to November 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 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 1,330 221,368 33.5 51.0 April ...................... 924 101,359 May ........................ 984 92,193 June ....................... 1,597 192,025 Second Quarter ............. 3,505 385,577 1,271 231,471 36.3 60.0 July ....................... 1,333 164,978 August ..................... 751 97,215 September .................. 936 106,842 Third Quarter .............. 3,020 369,035 1,014 189,250 33.6 51.3 October .................... 874 103,755 November ................... 1,697 216,514 December ................... 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,362 38.2 58.2 2001 January .................... 1,522 200,343 February ................... 1,501 172,908 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter .............. 4,550 544,717 1,765 338,596 38.8 62.2 April ...................... 1,450 175,911 May ........................ 1,426 157,759 June ....................... 2,081 250,359 Second Quarter ............. 4,957 584,029 2,055 387,880 41.5 66.4 July ....................... 2,108 272,308 August ..................... 1,474 163,263 September................... 1,316 158,859 Third Quarter .............. 4,898 594,430 (2)(p)1,689 (2)(p)233,780 (p)34.5 (p)39.3 October(p) ................. 1,816 212,695 November(p) ................ 2,699 293,074 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 November September October November November September October November 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ....................................... 1,697 1,316 1,816 2,699 216,514 158,859 212,695 293,074 Total, private ...................................... 1,651 1,281 1,753 2,645 212,318 154,697 206,622 288,224 Agriculture ....................................... 254 77 99 312 21,916 5,033 8,134 22,476 Nonagriculture .................................... 1,374 1,200 1,653 2,330 186,788 149,273 198,431 265,506 Manufacturing ................................... 607 485 729 1,129 92,805 58,953 105,505 152,916 Durable goods ................................. 363 315 503 750 59,217 39,270 78,371 104,309 Lumber and wood products .................... 61 6 28 59 7,725 499 3,205 7,256 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 20 24 27 46 2,576 2,496 3,193 5,025 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 26 11 20 33 2,559 1,068 2,596 3,397 Primary metal industries .................... 35 28 58 103 4,643 2,820 8,334 13,098 Fabricated metal products ................... 44 38 49 75 4,332 3,181 6,858 7,559 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 48 62 91 139 9,899 10,479 11,988 19,587 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 32 77 101 121 7,218 7,159 13,080 18,295 Transportation equipment .................... 77 48 99 133 18,322 9,960 25,524 24,691 Instruments and related products ............ 8 14 21 14 769 989 2,677 1,686 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 12 7 9 27 1,174 619 916 3,715 Nondurable goods .............................. 244 170 226 379 33,588 19,683 27,134 48,607 Food and kindred products ................... 84 50 73 121 9,927 6,175 8,467 12,398 Tobacco products ............................ - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Textile mill products ....................... 48 35 30 57 9,379 5,216 6,073 8,445 Apparel and other textile products .......... 37 36 43 44 4,147 3,547 5,078 6,637 Paper and allied products ................... 16 8 13 30 2,243 727 1,315 4,363 Printing and publishing ..................... 7 12 14 24 585 1,233 1,063 2,342 Chemicals and allied products ............... 6 10 16 13 420 684 1,429 1,377 Petroleum and coal products ................. 6 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 548 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 31 13 34 68 5,182 1,534 3,401 10,876 Leather and leather products ................ 9 6 ( 2 ) 11 1,157 567 ( 2 ) 958 Nonmanufacturing ................................ 767 715 924 1,201 93,983 90,320 92,926 112,590 Mining ........................................ 9 ( 2 ) 10 22 984 ( 2 ) 1,191 2,396 Construction .................................. 241 67 99 312 22,983 4,657 8,692 28,508 Transportation and public utilities ........... 45 95 141 120 4,811 11,698 15,950 11,384 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 139 141 182 221 15,743 13,584 16,742 21,240 Wholesale trade ............................ 32 33 39 57 2,649 2,599 3,228 4,601 Retail trade ............................... 107 108 143 164 13,094 10,985 13,514 16,639 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 18 ( 2 ) 43 43 1,562 ( 2 ) 3,620 3,685 Services ...................................... 315 385 449 483 47,900 58,110 46,731 45,377 Not identified .................................... 23 4 1 3 3,614 391 57 242 Government .......................................... 46 35 63 54 4,196 4,162 6,073 4,850 Federal ........................................... 15 9 20 10 1,275 901 2,151 1,020 State ............................................. 20 10 18 20 2,002 1,078 1,890 1,826 Local ............................................. 11 16 25 24 919 2,183 2,032 2,004 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 November September October November November September October November 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) United States(1) .... 1,697 1,316 1,816 2,699 216,514 158,859 212,695 293,074 Northeast ................... 187 220 273 388 21,489 23,678 29,900 41,738 New England ............. 30 30 57 76 2,926 2,785 7,258 8,813 Middle Atlantic ......... 157 190 216 312 18,563 20,893 22,642 32,925 South ....................... 329 298 433 517 44,026 30,703 49,275 66,838 South Atlantic .......... 154 170 238 287 24,888 17,272 24,849 35,748 East South Central ...... 68 54 64 90 7,936 5,591 7,944 13,464 West South Central ...... 107 74 131 140 11,202 7,840 16,482 17,626 Midwest ..................... 464 221 450 793 65,286 31,437 68,814 101,147 East North Central ...... 361 182 360 615 52,987 26,358 51,022 79,965 West North Central ...... 103 39 90 178 12,299 5,079 17,792 21,182 West ........................ 717 577 660 1,001 85,713 73,041 64,706 83,351 Mountain ................ 66 61 68 120 7,552 13,245 6,361 14,802 Pacific ................. 651 516 592 881 78,161 59,796 58,345 68,549 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 November September October November November September October November 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ................. 1,697 1,316 1,816 2,699 216,514 158,859 212,695 293,074 Alabama ..................... 13 12 9 23 2,039 1,067 1,113 2,402 Alaska ...................... 6 ( 2 ) 4 6 399 ( 2 ) 381 651 Arizona ..................... 3 7 12 17 274 506 823 1,663 Arkansas .................... 13 8 5 11 1,254 807 734 2,500 California .................. 581 465 516 782 71,002 54,267 48,316 57,804 Colorado .................... 8 8 16 29 850 787 1,594 3,044 Connecticut ................. 3 ( 2 ) 6 9 233 ( 2 ) 366 745 Delaware .................... 3 ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 2,368 ( 2 ) 970 ( 2 ) District of Columbia ........ - 5 3 ( 2 ) - 704 350 ( 2 ) Florida ..................... 34 75 119 102 2,240 5,575 9,065 10,138 Georgia ..................... 19 14 16 26 2,187 1,505 1,742 3,714 Hawaii ...................... 3 16 20 10 285 2,108 2,130 924 Idaho ....................... 14 6 11 27 1,795 763 1,638 3,250 Illinois .................... 70 60 83 106 16,382 9,708 12,717 13,648 Indiana ..................... 48 20 43 65 6,698 3,241 5,845 8,775 Iowa ........................ 25 13 26 50 4,355 2,041 3,598 6,647 Kansas ...................... 13 4 5 13 1,212 706 2,940 1,613 Kentucky .................... 24 26 28 44 3,711 3,033 4,078 8,863 Louisiana ................... 24 ( 2 ) 5 7 2,214 ( 2 ) 282 537 Maine ....................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 827 Maryland .................... 6 3 7 11 724 175 651 878 Massachusetts ............... 16 21 39 41 1,284 1,910 4,612 4,617 Michigan .................... 90 43 88 158 9,558 6,062 10,349 23,102 Minnesota ................... 45 6 19 62 4,711 507 1,989 6,934 Mississippi ................. 16 5 11 7 1,041 335 1,288 499 Missouri .................... 17 15 36 33 1,730 1,672 8,844 3,704 Montana ..................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 455 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 562 Nebraska .................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 10 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 1,347 Nevada ...................... 23 34 23 18 2,847 10,762 1,797 2,730 New Hampshire ............... ( 2 ) 3 3 6 ( 2 ) 182 1,213 1,277 New Jersey .................. 31 23 40 48 4,912 2,348 6,229 5,155 New Mexico .................. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York .................... 22 77 47 51 2,287 9,427 4,546 5,384 North Carolina .............. 15 10 29 46 1,987 805 3,997 4,764 North Dakota ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 809 Ohio ........................ 53 30 73 103 6,756 3,983 13,435 10,918 Oklahoma .................... 9 6 11 14 2,155 1,479 1,237 2,648 Oregon ...................... 30 14 30 54 3,293 1,291 5,009 6,674 Pennsylvania ................ 104 90 129 213 11,364 9,118 11,867 22,386 Rhode Island ................ 5 ( 2 ) 4 6 518 ( 2 ) 464 772 South Carolina .............. 46 45 36 61 9,339 5,904 5,361 10,651 South Dakota ................ - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Tennessee ................... 15 11 16 16 1,145 1,156 1,465 1,700 Texas ....................... 61 58 110 108 5,579 5,417 14,229 11,941 Utah ........................ 13 ( 2 ) 3 20 1,276 ( 2 ) 307 3,184 Vermont ..................... 3 3 3 7 281 487 462 575 Virginia .................... 29 14 20 35 5,889 2,282 2,713 5,125 Washington .................. 31 19 22 29 3,182 1,986 2,509 2,496 West Virginia ............... ( 2 ) 3 - 3 ( 2 ) 209 - 229 Wisconsin ................... 100 29 73 183 13,593 3,364 8,676 23,522 Wyoming ..................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ................. 7 9 12 13 537 831 1,035 1,524 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.