Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-188 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, June 30, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN MAY 2000 In May 2000, there were 984 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 92,193. Both the number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the lowest for May since 1996. The total of layoff events from January through May 2000, at 5,873, and the total number of initial claimants, at 627,520, were lower than in January-May 1999 (6,670 and 648,308, 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 establish- ment 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 May 2000, services industries accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 27 percent of all initial claims filed, 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. (See table 2.) Manufacturing accounted for 26 percent of all layoff events and 27 percent of initial claimants during the month. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were food and kindred products (5,009), primarily in frozen fruits, vegetables and specialties; transportation equip- ment (3,148), mostly in motor homes; and apparel and other textile products (2,929), largely in women's and misses' outerwear. Retail trade accounted for 12 percent of all layoff events and 14 percent of initial claimants during the month, mostly in eating and drinking places. Agriculture accounted for 8 percent of all mass layoff events and 6 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in agricultural services such as farm labor contractors. Compared with May 1999, the largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in motion pictures (-7,349), industrial machinery and equipment (-4,154), and general merchandise stores (-2,380). The largest increases in initial claims occurred in lumber and wood products (+1,589) and heavy construction (+1,267). - 2 - Geographic Distribution In May, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the West (32,290) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in business services, agricultural services, and food and kindred products accounted for 33 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (13,426). Over-the-year decreases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in the West (-8,575) and Midwest regions (-6,409). The South and Northeast showed modest over-the-year increases (+1,176 and +3,263, respectively). Among the geographic divisions, lower levels of initial claims over the year were reported mainly in the Pacific and East North Central, and higher levels were reported in the Middle Atlantic and East South Central divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for May, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (26,068), primarily in business services and agricultural services, followed by Texas (6,866) and Pennsylvania (6,637). California accounted for 36 percent of all layoff events and 28 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From May 1999 to May 2000, California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-6,952), mostly in motion pictures. Among the 21 states that reported over-the-year increases in initial claims, Kentucky had the largest (+2,253), mostly in electronic and other electric equipment. 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 1998 to May 2000 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1998 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 1,234 256,803 35.5 October ....................... 1,553 160,830 November ...................... (r)1,367 (r)144,274 December ...................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter ................ (r)4,696 (r)512,765 1,734 325,990 36.9 1999 January ....................... 2,421 226,995 February ...................... 1,067 89,800 March ......................... 880 91,890 First Quarter ................. 4,368 408,685 1,509 252,122 34.5 April ......................... 1,270 136,885 May ........................... 1,032 102,738 June .......................... 1,140 130,951 Second Quarter ................ 3,442 370,574 1,444 242,351 42.0 July .......................... 1,741 221,334 August ........................ 698 75,691 September ..................... 717 75,288 Third Quarter ................. 3,156 372,313 1,097 189,732 34.8 October ....................... 1,098 118,938 November ...................... 1,336 139,508 December ...................... 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ................ 3,943 420,827 1,625 286,538 41.2 2000 January ....................... 1,934 223,322 February ...................... 1,045 103,898 March ......................... 986 106,748 First Quarter ................. 3,965 433,968 (p)1,268 (p)175,233 (p)32.0 April(p) ..................... 924 101,359 May(p) ....................... 984 92,193 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. 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 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ....................................... 1,032 986 924 984 102,738 106,748 101,359 92,193 Total, private ...................................... 977 958 894 928 98,030 104,069 98,620 86,882 Agriculture ....................................... 82 131 58 83 4,954 11,530 5,296 5,356 Nonagriculture .................................... 885 812 822 825 92,236 90,412 91,818 78,439 Manufacturing ................................... 298 327 314 253 32,406 37,624 32,656 25,160 Durable goods ................................. 145 163 148 124 18,374 19,238 15,854 14,006 Lumber and wood products .................... ( 2 ) 33 18 18 ( 2 ) 3,252 1,473 1,668 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 12 13 8 10 1,324 1,060 720 966 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. ( 2 ) 10 11 4 ( 2 ) 716 804 546 Primary metal industries .................... 14 5 18 9 1,052 708 2,175 656 Fabricated metal products ................... 16 21 17 11 1,580 2,453 1,743 1,338 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 25 26 20 16 5,439 3,089 1,699 1,285 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 27 17 18 16 2,874 1,478 2,393 2,767 Transportation equipment .................... 26 24 27 25 3,786 5,293 4,092 3,148 Instruments and related products ............ 10 7 5 6 716 426 274 541 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 7 7 6 9 776 763 481 1,091 Nondurable goods .............................. 153 164 166 129 14,032 18,386 16,802 11,154 Food and kindred products ................... 62 73 75 58 6,513 8,713 8,209 5,009 Tobacco products ............................ - 5 ( 2 ) - - 1,168 ( 2 ) - Textile mill products ....................... 13 11 19 6 1,209 1,498 2,214 536 Apparel and other textile products .......... 36 33 33 35 2,967 2,561 2,855 2,929 Paper and allied products ................... 14 12 12 9 1,109 823 821 1,001 Printing and publishing ..................... 8 9 8 9 619 808 623 754 Chemicals and allied products ............... 5 6 3 ( 2 ) 493 1,461 157 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products ................. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 10 11 9 8 789 1,076 1,131 628 Leather and leather products ................ 5 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 333 ( 2 ) 459 ( 2 ) Nonmanufacturing ................................ 587 485 508 572 59,830 52,788 59,162 53,279 Mining ........................................ 9 5 ( 2 ) 5 774 338 ( 2 ) 409 Construction .................................. 85 86 71 77 6,288 6,003 5,878 6,394 Transportation and public utilities ........... 33 44 76 33 3,841 5,414 9,103 4,185 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 166 138 114 146 14,904 14,755 11,652 14,841 Wholesale trade ............................ 22 29 25 28 1,404 3,346 2,668 2,311 Retail trade ............................... 144 109 89 118 13,500 11,409 8,984 12,530 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 17 21 ( 2 ) 30 1,179 2,032 ( 2 ) 2,211 Services ...................................... 277 191 219 281 32,844 24,246 30,555 25,239 Not identified .................................... 10 15 14 20 840 2,127 1,506 3,087 Government .......................................... 55 28 30 56 4,708 2,679 2,739 5,311 Federal ........................................... 10 4 9 15 1,452 606 676 1,977 State ............................................. 12 12 7 8 967 1,112 894 930 Local ............................................. 33 12 14 33 2,289 961 1,169 2,404 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 May March April May May March April May 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) United States(1) ...... 1,032 986 924 984 102,738 106,748 101,359 92,193 Northeast ..................... 124 99 186 140 10,163 10,686 18,570 13,426 New England ............... 25 20 43 25 2,038 2,834 5,398 2,297 Middle Atlantic ........... 99 79 143 115 8,125 7,852 13,172 11,129 South ......................... 271 179 187 234 24,517 17,976 19,695 25,693 South Atlantic ............ 132 91 89 85 11,119 9,419 9,492 9,702 East South Central ........ 41 27 37 49 4,046 2,459 3,371 6,205 West South Central ........ 98 61 61 100 9,352 6,098 6,832 9,786 Midwest ....................... 206 199 201 187 27,193 26,477 22,434 20,784 East North Central ........ 154 144 161 133 19,581 17,973 17,412 14,752 West North Central ........ 52 55 40 54 7,612 8,504 5,022 6,032 West .......................... 431 509 350 423 40,865 51,609 40,660 32,290 Mountain .................. 42 45 47 31 4,336 4,052 4,739 3,211 Pacific ................... 389 464 303 392 36,529 47,557 35,921 29,079 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 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ................ 1,032 986 924 984 102,738 106,748 101,359 92,193 Alabama .................... 16 3 7 20 1,904 394 561 2,065 Alaska ..................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 296 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Arizona .................... 15 18 14 6 1,549 1,901 1,612 917 Arkansas ................... 7 4 4 6 630 291 622 613 California ................. 348 418 269 358 33,020 43,357 33,018 26,068 Colorado ................... 8 5 3 7 1,328 503 312 669 Connecticut ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 236 473 Delaware ................... - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ....... 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 267 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Florida .................... 67 28 39 38 4,792 2,453 3,113 3,508 Georgia .................... 14 14 6 9 1,404 1,010 622 951 Hawaii ..................... 6 4 6 ( 2 ) 443 341 382 ( 2 ) Idaho ...................... 5 9 9 7 393 524 783 639 Illinois ................... 44 37 41 35 7,903 5,110 4,729 4,061 Indiana .................... 8 9 14 11 899 984 1,294 1,947 Iowa ....................... 11 6 10 8 1,189 696 946 864 Kansas ..................... 6 5 4 7 486 2,720 592 570 Kentucky ................... 4 13 14 11 334 1,280 1,190 2,587 Louisiana .................. 14 12 8 23 1,174 774 488 1,807 Maine ...................... 5 4 4 4 332 954 339 290 Maryland ................... 6 3 3 3 426 199 251 291 Massachusetts .............. 17 6 17 10 1,498 903 2,424 1,078 Michigan ................... 40 24 18 39 4,067 3,690 1,526 4,038 Minnesota .................. 6 13 8 5 691 1,394 1,313 490 Mississippi ................ 5 6 5 11 334 431 256 779 Missouri ................... 24 28 18 29 4,490 3,459 2,171 3,665 Montana .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 289 381 Nebraska ................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Nevada ..................... 6 11 12 7 480 974 1,322 523 New Hampshire .............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 335 ( 2 ) New Jersey ................. 14 22 46 30 1,368 1,955 4,869 3,325 New Mexico ................. 4 - 4 ( 2 ) 267 - 297 ( 2 ) New York ................... 5 5 10 13 467 351 689 1,167 North Carolina ............. 8 13 12 12 965 1,889 1,046 2,467 North Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio ....................... 32 28 40 20 3,857 3,104 4,645 1,770 Oklahoma ................... 7 5 ( 2 ) 4 616 801 ( 2 ) 500 Oregon ..................... 18 29 18 24 1,814 2,908 1,751 2,232 Pennsylvania ............... 80 52 87 72 6,290 5,546 7,614 6,637 Rhode Island ............... - 4 9 ( 2 ) - 341 1,417 ( 2 ) South Carolina ............. 22 20 16 6 2,146 1,992 2,239 631 South Dakota ............... 3 - - 3 320 - - 318 Tennessee .................. 16 5 11 7 1,474 354 1,364 774 Texas ...................... 70 40 47 67 6,932 4,232 5,465 6,866 Utah ....................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Vermont .................... - 3 6 3 - 280 647 277 Virginia ................... 12 11 12 13 1,119 1,617 1,175 1,627 Washington ................. 13 12 8 8 956 889 566 623 West Virginia .............. - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Wisconsin .................. 30 46 48 28 2,855 5,085 5,218 2,936 Wyoming .................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................ 7 8 12 9 797 668 1,122 636 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.