Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 03-331 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, June 26, 2003 MASS LAYOFFS IN MAY 2003 Employers initiated 1,699 mass layoff actions in May 2003, as mea- sured 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 173,784. (See table 1.) Compared with a year ago, both the number of layoff events and the number of workers involved declined slightly. From January through May 2003, the total number of events, at 8,159, and initial claims, at 798,185, were lower than in January-May 2002--8,222 and 910,009, respec- tively. 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 Temporary help services, with 11,087 claims, accounted for over 6 per- cent of all initial claims in May. (See table A.) Despite declining mass layoff activity in 2003, 5 of the 10 industries with the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims recorded their peak May level this year. The manufacturing sector accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 35 percent of all initial claims filed in May. A year ago, manufacturing accounted for 28 percent of events and 29 percent of initial claims. The total number of initial claims in the sector this May, at 61,174, has only been exceeded in May 2001. The number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (13,288, mainly in automobile manufac- turing), followed by food production (7,592) and machinery manufacturing (6,179). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 12 percent of events and 11 percent of initial claims filed in May, with layoffs mostly in temporary help services. Construction accounted for 9 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, primarily among specialty trade contractors. Seven percent of the events and ini- tial claims were from retail trade, mostly from general merchandise stores, largely in discount department stores. Six percent of all layoff events and initial claims filed during this May were in accommodations and food services, mostly in food services and drinking places. Government establishments accounted for 7 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims filed during the month; layoffs were largely in educational services. The 10,158 initial claims in this sector were the most for any May since the series began in 1995. Compared with May 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were report- ed in administrative and support services (-6,651), motion picture and sound recording (-2,347), and general merchandise stores (-2,249). The largest over -the-year increase in initial claims was reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+6,474). - 2 - Table A. Industries with largest mass layoff initial claims in May 2003p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | May peak Industry |Initial claims|---------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ----------------------------------------|--------------|------|--------------- Temporary help services.................| 11,087 | 2002 | 16,992 Automobile manufacturing................| 7,851 | 2003 | 7,851 Food service contractors................| 5,711 | 1998 | 7,267 Motion picture and video production.....| 5,577 | 1999 | 8,985 School and employee bus transportation..| 3,747 | 2003 | 3,747 Child day care services.................| 3,720 | 2002 | 3,894 Industrial building construction........| 3,463 | 2003 | 3,463 Professional employer organizations ....| 3,446 | 2003 | 3,446 Iron and steel mills....................| 2,487 | 2003 | 2,487 Other social advocacy organizations.....| 2,363 | 2002 | 2,500 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in May due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 51,991. (See table 3.) Admini- strative and support services and motion picture and sound recording account- ed for 28 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The South followed, with 48,321 initial claims, then the Midwest, with 46,401, and the Northeast, with 27,071. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in two of the four regions, with the largest decrease in the West (-9,724). The Northeast had the largest over-the-year increase (+2,073). Five of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of ini- tial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decline in the Pacific (-10,804). The East North Central division had the largest increase (+3,088). California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this May, 41,857, mostly in administrative and support ser- vices and in motion picture and sound recording. Texas reported 12,535, followed by New York (11,375) and Pennsylvania (10,893). These four states accounted for 49 percent of all layoff events and 44 percent of initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-8,206), followed by Texas (-4,335). The largest over-the- year increases occurred in New York (+4,590) and Oklahoma (+3,893). From January to May 2003, California registered 204,939 mass layoff ini- tial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims during this period were Pennsylvania (55,102), New York (48,168), Ohio (43,576), and Texas (42,733). ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in June 2003 will be issued on Thursday, July 24, 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 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, April 2001 to May 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 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 401,270 41.5 68.1 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 370,942 36.8 61.8 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,698 (r)502,724 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 (r)1,747 (r)315,781 35.0 56.0 April ...................... 1,507 165,861 May ........................ 1,726 180,007 June ....................... 1,580 161,928 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,796 1,905 (r)352,807 39.6 (r)69.5 July ....................... 2,041 245,211 August ..................... 1,247 128,080 September .................. 1,062 124,512 Third Quarter .............. 4,350 497,803 (r)1,382 (r)278,483 31.8 (r)55.9 October .................... 1,497 171,088 November ................... 2,150 240,028 December ................... 2,470 263,775 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,117 674,891 2,259 421,669 36.9 62.5 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,415 February ................... 1,363 124,977 March ...................... 1,206 112,914 First Quarter .............. 4,884 463,306 (2)(p)1,508 (2)(p)210,674 (p)30.9 (p)45.5 April (3)(p) ............... 1,576 161,095 May (3)(p).................. 1,699 173,784 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. 3 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, except Wyoming. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry May March April May May March April May 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................................... 1,726 1,206 1,576 1,699 180,007 112,914 161,095 173,784 Total, private .................................. 1,635 1,162 1,529 1,587 170,712 109,305 157,244 163,626 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 62 64 64 53 3,802 4,949 4,624 3,299 Mining ........................................ 15 7 ( 2 ) 9 1,553 708 ( 2 ) 1,749 Utilities ..................................... 6 ( 2 ) 5 7 597 ( 2 ) 326 529 Construction .................................. 165 125 150 159 13,521 7,640 10,042 13,279 Manufacturing ................................. 488 390 500 497 52,720 41,063 62,429 61,174 Food ...................................... 79 72 85 69 9,335 7,607 8,468 7,592 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 3 ( 2 ) 7 5 224 ( 2 ) 450 548 Textile mills ............................. 19 9 17 21 2,072 764 2,725 2,204 Textile product mills ..................... 8 5 9 10 617 432 697 948 Apparel ................................... 33 11 19 31 2,578 950 2,385 3,705 Leather and allied products ............... - - 5 7 - - 398 544 Wood products ............................. 23 35 30 24 2,348 3,104 2,858 2,361 Paper ..................................... 10 9 14 15 1,141 937 1,083 1,072 Printing and related support activities ... 21 7 8 16 1,892 658 848 1,249 Petroleum and coal products ............... 3 - - 3 184 - - 190 Chemicals ................................. 11 ( 2 ) 6 8 815 ( 2 ) 1,752 930 Plastics and rubber products .............. 9 6 24 21 798 552 3,789 1,439 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 10 19 14 13 1,190 1,882 1,190 1,080 Primary metals ............................ 27 21 27 27 2,787 1,766 3,195 3,920 Fabricated metal products ................. 25 24 35 34 2,252 1,734 2,478 2,957 Machinery ................................. 35 35 35 39 3,902 3,761 4,368 6,179 Computer and electronic products .......... 69 41 53 46 5,813 5,077 4,985 4,029 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 28 26 17 20 4,490 3,787 1,836 3,665 Transportation equipment .................. 53 44 67 52 6,869 5,061 15,454 13,288 Furniture and related products ............ 12 14 22 21 2,513 1,727 2,829 1,985 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 10 8 6 15 900 830 641 1,289 Wholesale trade ............................... 35 21 31 31 2,937 1,811 2,425 2,431 Retail trade .................................. 131 102 121 118 16,192 10,480 11,656 12,190 Transportation and warehousing ................ 52 37 132 80 5,680 4,382 14,386 7,755 Information ................................... 86 50 51 63 13,036 6,971 11,131 8,819 Finance and insurance ......................... 44 33 34 31 3,327 2,130 2,061 2,414 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 7 8 10 5 452 483 569 478 Professional and technical services ........... 80 40 60 65 6,199 3,187 5,852 5,542 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 395 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 369 Administrative and waste services ............. 222 163 186 203 26,191 15,062 16,593 19,518 Educational services .......................... 3 ( 2 ) 6 8 190 ( 2 ) 463 536 Health care and social assistance ............. 76 24 24 83 7,006 1,569 1,695 6,948 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 33 12 33 32 2,267 663 2,551 2,293 Accommodation and food services ............... 88 71 95 98 10,807 7,111 8,014 10,068 Other services, except public administration .. 34 4 17 38 3,228 280 1,504 4,090 Unclassified .................................. 4 3 5 2 612 284 389 145 Government ...................................... 91 44 47 112 9,295 3,609 3,851 10,158 Federal ....................................... 21 6 4 14 2,739 570 318 1,736 State ......................................... 14 9 13 17 1,510 614 1,470 1,454 Local ......................................... 56 29 30 81 5,046 2,425 2,063 6,968 1 For April and May 2003, data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, except Wyoming. 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 May March April May May March April May 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p United States(1) ..... 1,726 1,206 1,576 1,699 180,007 112,914 161,095 173,784 Northeast .................. 266 157 326 274 24,998 15,230 30,892 27,071 New England .............. 41 29 59 32 3,765 2,987 6,214 2,888 Middle Atlantic .......... 225 128 267 242 21,233 12,243 24,678 24,183 South ...................... 467 263 323 446 48,506 24,630 34,922 48,321 South Atlantic ........... 211 109 151 214 18,633 9,362 14,851 21,217 East South Central ....... 88 55 74 74 9,448 4,752 9,550 7,645 West South Central ....... 168 99 98 158 20,425 10,516 10,521 19,459 Midwest .................... 377 237 334 373 44,788 26,239 43,466 46,401 East North Central ....... 266 174 271 271 31,152 18,946 36,974 34,240 West North Central ....... 111 63 63 102 13,636 7,293 6,492 12,161 West(1) .................... 616 549 593 606 61,715 46,815 51,815 51,991 Mountain(1) .............. 48 47 68 58 4,604 4,251 6,109 5,684 Pacific .................. 568 502 525 548 57,111 42,564 45,706 46,307 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 May March April May May March April May 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ............. 1,726 1,206 1,576 1,699 180,007 112,914 161,095 173,784 Alabama ................. 38 11 24 21 4,352 1,108 4,048 1,996 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) - 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 489 ( 2 ) Arizona ................. 11 13 22 19 1,256 1,148 2,193 1,846 Arkansas ................ 8 5 3 4 629 381 326 266 California .............. 517 438 455 502 50,063 36,360 39,040 41,857 Colorado ................ 9 9 14 7 858 1,126 1,318 721 Connecticut ............. 9 5 3 5 665 412 206 403 Delaware ................ - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 180 ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) Florida ................. 102 60 64 100 7,045 4,188 4,451 8,078 Georgia ................. 30 15 31 38 3,083 1,224 4,299 3,807 Hawaii .................. 6 ( 2 ) 8 6 462 ( 2 ) 621 554 Idaho ................... 9 13 8 11 1,014 1,187 778 1,444 Illinois ................ 67 35 64 70 10,079 3,161 7,210 9,525 Indiana ................. 26 37 37 34 3,267 4,826 6,826 4,685 Iowa .................... 19 14 13 27 2,203 1,572 1,249 4,582 Kansas .................. 14 9 5 7 1,620 1,449 406 811 Kentucky ................ 21 21 29 25 2,258 2,124 4,186 3,100 Louisiana ............... 22 8 20 22 2,166 402 2,777 2,005 Maine ................... 5 ( 2 ) 6 4 353 ( 2 ) 575 265 Maryland ................ 6 ( 2 ) 9 8 534 ( 2 ) 859 969 Massachusetts ........... 21 16 29 16 2,065 1,263 3,307 1,734 Michigan ................ 44 10 32 36 4,408 848 4,704 6,599 Minnesota ............... 23 13 21 22 2,768 1,041 2,848 2,119 Mississippi ............. 9 8 9 10 821 509 547 717 Missouri ................ 43 23 18 28 5,656 2,930 1,441 3,044 Montana ................. 3 ( 2 ) 4 3 212 ( 2 ) 443 236 Nebraska ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 9 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 348 702 Nevada .................. 8 7 13 14 714 475 961 1,099 New Hampshire ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 205 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 42 17 47 22 4,384 1,253 4,523 1,915 New Mexico .............. 5 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 355 ( 2 ) 178 ( 2 ) New York ................ 80 40 91 110 6,785 3,571 9,151 11,375 North Carolina .......... 21 12 21 27 1,637 1,273 1,990 2,790 North Dakota ............ 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 653 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 349 Ohio .................... 70 40 62 68 7,231 4,988 10,704 7,098 Oklahoma ................ 7 10 6 23 760 1,606 1,070 4,653 Oregon .................. 25 41 22 22 3,291 4,336 2,238 2,151 Pennsylvania ............ 103 71 129 110 10,064 7,419 11,004 10,893 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,137 ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 24 6 8 11 2,492 986 1,228 1,436 South Dakota ............ 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 562 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 554 Tennessee ............... 20 15 12 18 2,017 1,011 769 1,832 Texas ................... 131 76 69 109 16,870 8,127 6,348 12,535 Utah .................... 3 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 195 ( 2 ) 238 ( 2 ) Vermont ................. ( 2 ) 3 9 4 ( 2 ) 833 784 315 Virginia ................ 23 14 13 26 3,355 1,392 1,719 2,967 Washington .............. 18 21 34 17 3,154 1,745 3,318 1,684 West Virginia ........... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 347 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 59 52 76 63 6,167 5,123 7,530 6,333 Wyoming ................. - - ( 1 ) ( 1 ) - - ( 1 ) ( 1 ) Puerto Rico ............. 12 5 13 7 1,390 378 1,833 1,098 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.