Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-233 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, August 15, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 2000 In June 2000, there were 1,597 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 192,025. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of June since this series began in April 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. June 2000 contained 5 weeks for possible mass layoffs compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior 4 Junes. From January through June 2000, the total number of layoff events (7,470) was lower than in January-June 1999, while the total number of initial claimants (819,545) was somewhat higher. 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 June 2000, manufacturing industries accounted for 25 percent of all mass layoff events and 31 percent of all initial claims filed. The highest number of initial claimants was in transportation equipment (19,529), primarily in motor vehicles and car bodies and in motor vehicle parts and accessories. This was largely due to the temporary plant shutdowns related to the automotive model changeover, which in past years has typically occurred in July. Other manufacturing industries with high numbers of initial claimants were food and kindred products (6,563), mostly in canned fruits and vegetables and in meat packing plants; and industrial machinery (5,918), largely in lawn and garden equipment. (See table 2.) - 2 - Services accounted for 27 percent of all layoffs and 28 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in business services (especially help supply services) and social services (primarily in child day care services). Layoffs in the help supply services industry are more likely than most other industries to last less than 30 days. Nine percent of all layoff events and initial claimants during the month were from retail trade, mostly in eating and drinking places and general merchandise stores. Agriculture accounted for 10 percent of all mass layoff events and 8 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in agricultural services such as farm labor contractors. An additional 10 percent of all events and 8 percent of all initial claimants were from government, mostly due to local government layoffs in elementary and secondary education as the school year ended. Forty percent of the layoffs in the federal government were due to the winding down of Census 2000. Compared with June 1999, the largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment (+14,420), business services (+9,233), and general merchandise stores (+3,530). The largest decrease in initial claims occurred in local interurban transit (-2,196). Geographic Distribution In June, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the West (75,727) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in business services, motion pictures, and agricultural services accounted for 45 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (22,824). Over-the-year increases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in all four regions: the West (+25,136), Midwest (+24,137), South (+7,664), and Northeast (+4,137). Among the geographic divisions, all nine divisions reported over-the-year increases in initial claims associated with mass layoff events. The largest increases were reported in the Pacific and East North Central divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (64,697), primarily in business services, motion pictures, and agricultural services, followed by Michigan (26,171), Pennsylvania (11,079), and Illinois (8,900). California accounted for 33 percent of all layoff events and 34 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From June 1999 to June 2000, California reported the largest over-the- year increase in initial claims (+24,534), mostly in business services and motion pictures. Among the 20 states that reported over-the-year decreases in initial claims, Missouri had the largest decline (-2,685), mostly in transportation 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 June 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)1,368 (r)144,343 December .................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter .............. (r)4,697 (r)512,834 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 ....................... 924 101,359 May (p)...................... 984 92,193 June (p)..................... 1,597 192,025 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 June April May June June April May June 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ....................................... 1,140 924 984 1,597 130,951 101,359 92,193 192,025 Total, private ...................................... 1,035 894 928 1,435 122,193 98,620 86,882 175,973 Agriculture ....................................... 103 58 83 161 11,848 5,296 5,356 15,057 Nonagriculture .................................... 907 822 825 1,235 107,122 91,818 78,439 157,034 Manufacturing ................................... 265 314 253 398 31,943 32,656 25,160 60,269 Durable goods ................................. 128 148 124 235 17,842 15,854 14,006 41,753 Lumber and wood products .................... 9 18 18 21 867 1,473 1,668 2,063 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 9 8 10 19 1,349 720 966 2,808 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 4 11 4 11 194 804 546 1,320 Primary metal industries .................... 8 18 9 12 1,217 2,175 656 1,277 Fabricated metal products ................... 18 17 11 36 1,737 1,743 1,338 4,659 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 19 20 16 30 3,768 1,699 1,285 5,918 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 17 18 16 29 2,314 2,393 2,767 3,451 Transportation equipment .................... 28 27 25 66 5,109 4,092 3,148 19,529 Instruments and related products ............ 6 5 6 7 453 274 541 433 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 10 6 9 4 834 481 1,091 295 Nondurable goods .............................. 137 166 129 163 14,101 16,802 11,154 18,516 Food and kindred products ................... 50 75 58 53 5,486 8,209 5,009 6,563 Tobacco products ............................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Textile mill products ....................... 13 19 6 10 1,737 2,214 536 953 Apparel and other textile products .......... 28 33 35 29 2,629 2,855 2,929 2,966 Paper and allied products ................... ( 2 ) 12 9 11 ( 2 ) 821 1,001 946 Printing and publishing ..................... 14 8 9 15 1,249 623 754 1,301 Chemicals and allied products ............... 4 3 ( 2 ) 4 344 157 ( 2 ) 371 Petroleum and coal products ................. - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 20 9 8 31 2,111 1,131 628 4,504 Leather and leather products ................ ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 459 ( 2 ) 395 Nonmanufacturing ................................ 642 508 572 837 75,179 59,162 53,279 96,765 Mining ........................................ 9 ( 2 ) 5 4 693 ( 2 ) 409 363 Construction .................................. 57 71 77 64 4,707 5,878 6,394 4,919 Transportation and public utilities ........... 100 76 33 129 16,258 9,103 4,185 14,925 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 114 114 146 180 13,597 11,652 14,841 20,838 Wholesale trade ............................ 19 25 28 33 2,070 2,668 2,311 2,694 Retail trade ............................... 95 89 118 147 11,527 8,984 12,530 18,144 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 18 ( 2 ) 30 24 1,337 ( 2 ) 2,211 1,710 Services ...................................... 344 219 281 436 38,587 30,555 25,239 54,010 Not identified .................................... 25 14 20 39 3,223 1,506 3,087 3,882 Government .......................................... 105 30 56 162 8,758 2,739 5,311 16,052 Federal ........................................... 7 9 15 31 816 676 1,977 3,834 State ............................................. 15 7 8 18 1,266 894 930 1,435 Local ............................................. 83 14 33 113 6,676 1,169 2,404 10,783 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 June April May June June April May June 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) United States(1) ...... 1,140 924 984 1,597 130,951 101,359 92,193 192,025 Northeast ..................... 160 186 140 216 18,687 18,570 13,426 22,824 New England ............... 25 43 25 40 3,253 5,398 2,297 3,797 Middle Atlantic ........... 135 143 115 176 15,434 13,172 11,129 19,027 South ......................... 280 187 234 360 26,523 19,695 25,693 34,187 South Atlantic ............ 153 89 85 196 12,867 9,492 9,702 17,754 East South Central ........ 41 37 49 52 4,464 3,371 6,205 4,846 West South Central ........ 86 61 100 112 9,192 6,832 9,786 11,587 Midwest ....................... 269 201 187 386 35,150 22,434 20,784 59,287 East North Central ........ 195 161 133 307 25,087 17,412 14,752 48,307 West North Central ........ 74 40 54 79 10,063 5,022 6,032 10,980 West .......................... 431 350 423 635 50,591 40,660 32,290 75,727 Mountain .................. 44 47 31 58 4,890 4,739 3,211 5,919 Pacific ................... 387 303 392 577 45,701 35,921 29,079 69,808 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 June April May June June April May June 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ................. 1,140 924 984 1,597 130,951 101,359 92,193 192,025 Alabama ..................... 16 7 20 16 1,483 561 2,065 1,308 Alaska ...................... 5 ( 2 ) - 5 521 ( 2 ) - 708 Arizona ..................... 8 14 6 20 852 1,612 917 2,029 Arkansas .................... 6 4 6 8 627 622 613 890 California .................. 333 269 358 532 40,163 33,018 26,068 64,697 Colorado .................... 3 3 7 4 323 312 669 445 Connecticut ................. 5 3 5 7 653 236 473 738 Delaware .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ........ 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 392 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida ..................... 78 39 38 105 5,156 3,113 3,508 6,580 Georgia ..................... 16 6 9 26 1,610 622 951 2,998 Hawaii ...................... 11 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 977 382 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Idaho ....................... 6 9 7 10 970 783 639 919 Illinois .................... 39 41 35 50 7,547 4,729 4,061 8,900 Indiana ..................... 20 14 11 25 2,223 1,294 1,947 4,813 Iowa ........................ 7 10 8 18 539 946 864 4,187 Kansas ...................... 7 4 7 8 680 592 570 1,052 Kentucky .................... 7 14 11 14 891 1,190 2,587 1,337 Louisiana ................... 11 8 23 32 1,100 488 1,807 2,940 Maine ....................... ( 2 ) 4 4 3 ( 2 ) 339 290 161 Maryland .................... 6 3 3 8 387 251 291 639 Massachusetts ............... 11 17 10 21 924 2,424 1,078 2,227 Michigan .................... 60 18 39 148 7,302 1,526 4,038 26,171 Minnesota ................... 17 8 5 12 1,324 1,313 490 1,053 Mississippi ................. 5 5 11 ( 2 ) 575 256 779 ( 2 ) Missouri .................... 37 18 29 37 6,984 2,171 3,665 4,299 Montana ..................... ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 289 381 ( 2 ) Nebraska .................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nevada ...................... 12 12 7 13 1,496 1,322 523 1,795 New Hampshire ............... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 335 ( 2 ) 199 New Jersey .................. 28 46 30 50 3,787 4,869 3,325 6,431 New Mexico .................. 9 4 ( 2 ) 7 784 297 ( 2 ) 438 New York .................... 7 10 13 16 497 689 1,167 1,517 North Carolina .............. 8 12 12 12 744 1,046 2,467 1,054 North Dakota ................ 4 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 391 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Ohio ........................ 39 40 20 35 4,130 4,645 1,770 4,076 Oklahoma .................... 7 ( 2 ) 4 4 1,522 ( 2 ) 500 286 Oregon ...................... 22 18 24 20 2,111 1,751 2,232 2,423 Pennsylvania ................ 100 87 72 110 11,150 7,614 6,637 11,079 Rhode Island ................ 7 9 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,084 1,417 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina .............. 24 16 6 24 2,830 2,239 631 2,467 South Dakota ................ ( 2 ) - 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 318 ( 2 ) Tennessee ................... 13 11 7 20 1,515 1,364 774 1,912 Texas ....................... 62 47 67 68 5,943 5,465 6,866 7,471 Utah ........................ 3 ( 2 ) - 3 271 ( 2 ) - 242 Vermont ..................... - 6 3 4 - 647 277 287 Virginia .................... 15 12 13 17 1,546 1,175 1,627 1,518 Washington .................. 16 8 8 19 1,929 566 623 1,904 West Virginia ............... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ................... 37 48 28 49 3,885 5,218 2,936 4,347 Wyoming ..................... ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Puerto Rico ................. 13 12 9 9 1,557 1,122 636 1,461 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.