Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-30 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, February 1, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 1999 In November 1999, there were 1,336 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 139,508. Both the number of layoff events and the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower this November than in November 1998. The total of layoff events from January through November 1999, at 13,354, and the total number of initial claimants, at 1,530,379, were lower than in January-November 1998 (14,132 and 1,581,602, respectively). (See table 1.) 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 November 1999, manufacturing industries accounted for 26 percent of all mass layoff events and 32 percent of all initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were food and kindred products (7,384), primarily in frozen fruits and vegetables and in canned fruits and vegetables; electronic and other electrical equipment (6,766), mostly in household refrigerators and freezers; and industrial machinery and equipment (6,419), particularly in refrigeration and heating equipment. (See table 2.) Agriculture accounted for 25 percent of all mass layoff events and 18 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in agricultural services (particularly farm labor contractors). Services accounted for 20 percent of all layoffs and 22 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in business services (especially help supply services). Layoffs in this industry, however, are more likely than those in most other industries to last less than 30 days. Construction accounted for 13 percent of all layoff events and 11 percent of initial claims during the month, largely in highway and street construction. - 2 - Compared with November 1998, the largest decreases in initial claims occurred in the following manufacturing industries: transportation equipment (-7,832), primary metals (-3,652), and apparel and textiles (-3,497). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in business services (+4,426), followed by agricultural services (+2,839) and electronic and other electrical equipment (+2,700). Geographic Distribution In November, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the West (70,453) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in agricultural services and agricultural production crops accounted for 34 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (12,914). Over-the-year decreases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, with the largest decrease in the Northeast (-12,992). Among the divisions, lower levels of initial claims over the year were reported mainly in the Middle Atlantic, with sharply lower numbers of layoffs in eating and drinking places. Seven of the nine divisions reported over-the-year declines; increases occurred in the Mountain and Pacific divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for November, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (59,425), primarily in agricultural services and business services, followed by Wisconsin (8,092), Pennsylvania (7,640), Texas (5,525), and Illinois (5,407). These five states accounted for 65 percent of all layoff events and 62 percent of all initial claimants for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From November 1998 to November 1999, New Jersey reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-4,854), mostly in eating and drinking places. California had the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+4,897). 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: 202-606-5886; 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 1997 to November 1999 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1997 October .................... 1,414 139,297 November ................... 1,156 100,051 December ................... 1,634 172,029 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,204 411,377 1,697 316,035 40.4 1998 January .................... 2,360 255,203 February ................... 970 81,455 March ...................... 762 78,210 First Quarter .............. 4,092 414,868 1,320 247,315 32.3 April ...................... 1,253 132,476 May ........................ 1,180 107,952 June ....................... 1,208 183,590 Second Quarter ............. 3,641 424,018 1,563 402,276 42.9 July ....................... 2,220 286,055 August ..................... 617 53,665 September .................. 637 79,629 Third Quarter .............. 3,474 419,349 1,234 256,805 35.5 October .................... 1,553 160,830 November(r) ................ 1,372 162,537 December ................... 1,644 193,072 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,569 516,439 1,736 326,109 38.0 1999 January .................... 2,415 296,404 February ................... 1,076 117,223 March ...................... 850 90,958 First Quarter .............. 4,341 504,585 1,509 251,332 34.8 April ...................... 1,250 161,269 May ........................ 1,033 102,815 June ....................... 1,140 130,951 Second Quarter ............. 3,423 395,035 1,445 241,828 42.2 July ....................... 1,741 221,334 August ..................... 698 75,691 September .................. 717 75,288 Third Quarter .............. 3,156 372,313 (p)1,072 (p)153,142 (p)34.0 October .................... 1,098 118,938 November ................... 1,336 139,508 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of events lasting more than 30 days. p = preliminary. r = revised.Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, November 1998 and November 1999 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry November November November November 1998(r) 1999 1998(r) 1999 Total(1) ....................................... 1,372 1,336 162,537 139,508 Total, private ...................................... 1,324 1,299 157,918 135,031 Agriculture ....................................... 248 328 21,689 25,546 Nonagriculture .................................... 1,045 958 130,394 107,599 Manufacturing ................................... 471 348 62,873 45,029 Durable goods ................................. 251 183 36,274 26,418 Lumber and wood products .................... 42 43 4,203 4,429 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 10 4 1,034 306 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 11 13 1,386 1,220 Primary metal industries .................... 35 12 4,691 1,039 Fabricated metal products ................... 16 20 1,762 1,965 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 46 35 5,515 6,419 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 37 20 4,066 6,766 Transportation equipment .................... 30 24 10,987 3,155 Instruments and related products ............ 13 6 1,317 607 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 11 6 1,313 512 Nondurable goods .............................. 220 165 26,599 18,611 Food and kindred products ................... 72 65 7,825 7,384 Tobacco products ............................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Textile mill products ....................... 38 27 4,854 4,216 Apparel and other textile products .......... 55 35 7,080 3,583 Paper and allied products ................... 16 ( 2 ) 1,686 ( 2 ) Printing and publishing ..................... 5 ( 2 ) 500 ( 2 ) Chemicals and allied products ............... ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) 691 Petroleum and coal products ................. 4 6 470 571 Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 13 11 1,688 943 Leather and leather products ................ 13 ( 2 ) 2,207 ( 2 ) Nonmanufacturing ................................ 574 610 67,521 62,570 Mining ........................................ 13 6 1,382 476 Construction .................................. 181 171 18,582 15,498 Transportation and public utilities ........... 35 37 5,741 3,405 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 110 107 12,051 10,305 Wholesale trade ............................ 35 22 3,973 2,013 Retail trade ............................... 75 85 8,078 8,292 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 22 24 2,008 1,798 Services ...................................... 213 265 27,757 31,088 Not identified .................................... 31 13 5,835 1,886 Government .......................................... 48 37 4,619 4,477 Federal ........................................... 4 5 538 496 State ............................................. 27 16 2,439 1,910 Local ............................................. 17 16 1,642 2,071 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. r = revised. NOTE: Dash represents zero. Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, November 1998 and November 1999 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Census region and division November November November November 1998(r) 1999 1998(r) 1999 United States(1) ........ 1,372 1,336 162,537 139,508 Northeast ....................... 237 128 25,906 12,914 New England ................. 36 25 4,629 2,122 Middle Atlantic ............. 201 103 21,277 10,792 South ........................... 235 178 27,543 21,945 South Atlantic .............. 112 82 12,583 10,017 East South Central .......... 36 25 4,092 2,075 West South Central .......... 87 71 10,868 9,853 Midwest ......................... 303 282 43,813 34,196 East North Central .......... 222 210 29,954 25,302 West North Central .......... 81 72 13,859 8,894 West ............................ 597 748 65,275 70,453 Mountain .................... 41 57 5,173 6,279 Pacific ..................... 556 691 60,102 64,174 1 See footnote 1, table 2. r = revised. NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the various 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, November 1998 and November 1999 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State November November November November 1998(r) 1999 1998(r) 1999 Total(1) ....................... 1,372 1,336 162,537 139,508 Alabama ........................... 8 5 1,314 400 Alaska ............................ ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 392 Arizona ........................... 6 6 1,129 510 Arkansas .......................... 11 12 1,501 3,362 California ........................ 495 638 54,528 59,425 Colorado .......................... 11 13 1,365 1,175 Connecticut ....................... 5 ( 2 ) 424 ( 2 ) Delaware .......................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia .............. 4 - 453 - Florida ........................... 24 15 2,355 991 Georgia ........................... 17 15 1,369 1,728 Hawaii ............................ 4 ( 2 ) 375 ( 2 ) Idaho ............................. 10 12 1,353 1,475 Illinois .......................... 50 47 9,528 5,407 Indiana ........................... 18 22 3,097 5,120 Iowa .............................. 18 15 2,953 1,911 Kansas ............................ ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 658 Kentucky .......................... 17 5 1,488 503 Louisiana ......................... 11 5 1,393 363 Maine ............................. 7 ( 2 ) 581 ( 2 ) Maryland .......................... - 3 - 247 Massachusetts ..................... 21 16 3,361 1,400 Michigan .......................... 14 40 1,534 3,660 Minnesota ......................... 37 31 5,640 3,367 Mississippi ....................... 4 7 417 452 Missouri .......................... 22 19 4,855 2,610 Montana ........................... 3 4 328 594 Nebraska .......................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nevada ............................ 8 15 688 2,062 New Hampshire ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey ........................ 38 19 7,035 2,181 New Mexico ........................ - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) New York .......................... 68 12 5,816 971 North Carolina .................... 9 8 908 1,839 North Dakota ...................... - - - - Ohio .............................. 42 34 6,647 3,023 Oklahoma .......................... 8 7 825 603 Oregon ............................ 26 28 2,240 2,425 Pennsylvania ...................... 95 72 8,426 7,640 Rhode Island ...................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina .................... 36 32 5,156 4,234 South Dakota ...................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Tennessee ......................... 7 8 873 720 Texas ............................. 57 47 7,149 5,525 Utah .............................. 3 5 310 342 Vermont ........................... - 3 - 260 Virginia .......................... 13 6 1,317 787 Washington ........................ 29 19 2,802 1,867 West Virginia ..................... 8 ( 2 ) 885 ( 2 ) Wisconsin ......................... 98 67 9,148 8,092 Wyoming ........................... - - - - Puerto Rico ....................... 5 5 976 340 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. r = revised. NOTE: Dash represents zero.