Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 04-1831 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, September 23, 2004 MASS LAYOFFS IN AUGUST 2004 In August 2004, employers took 809 mass layoff actions, 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 69,033. (See table 1.) Both the number of events and initial claims were lower than a year ago. It should be noted that August 2004 contained 4 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 5 weeks in each August of the prior 3 years. (See the Tech- nical Note for an explanation of how the number of weeks for data collection can vary from month to month.) From January through August 2004, the total number of events, at 11,017, and of initial claims, at 1,118,574, were lower than in January-August 2003 (13,205 and 1,316,863, respectively). Industry Distribution The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 23,342 initial claims in August, 34 percent of the total (See table A.) Temporary help services, with 4,978 initial claims, and school and employee bus transportation, with 4,718 initial claims, together accounted for 14 percent of all initial claims in August. The manufacturing sector had 24 percent of all mass layoff events and 26 percent of all initial claims filed in August--the smallest shares for any August since 1995, when the monthly series began. A year ago, manufacturing reported 32 percent of events and 39 percent of initial claims. Within manu- facturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (2,846, mainly automotive-related), followed by food processing (2,797) and fabricated metal products (2,031). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 15 percent of events and initial claims filed in August, with layoffs mainly in temporary help services. Temporary help services, at 4,978 initial claims, accounted for more than 7 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in August. Twelve percent of all layoff events and 13 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in retail trade, primarily in general merchandise stores. Construction accounted for 9 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, mainly among specialty trade contractors. Transportation and warehousing accounted for 6 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, mostly in school and employee bus transportation. An additional 5 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims were from the information sector, largely in motion picture and sound recording. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in August 2004p -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | August peak Industry | Initial |------------------------ | claims | Year | Initial claims --------------------------------------------|----------|--------|--------------- | | | Temporary help services.....................| 4,978 | 1999 | 11,533 School and employee bus transportation......| 4,718 | 2003 | 6,538 Motion picture and video production.........| 2.445 | 2003 | 6,812 Discount department stores..................| 2,106 | 2002 | 2,271 Professional employer organizations.........| 2,082 | 2002 | 2,855 Supermarkets and other grocery stores.......| 1,615 | 2001 | 2,357 Elementary and secondary schools............| 1,525 | 2003 | 2,020 Wired telecommunications carriers...........| 1,500 | 2000 | 2,560 Nonresidential electrical contractors.......| 1,284 | 2004 | 1,284 All other personal services.................| 1,089 | 2002 | 1,267 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p=preliminary. Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and initial claims filed during the month, mostly in elementary and secondary schools. Compared with August 2003, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-6,679), administrative and support services (-5,966), and textile mills (-5,841). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was reported in telecommunications (+811). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in August due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 20,866. (See table 3.) Administrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording industries accounted for 34 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The Northeast region was next, with 17,163 initial claims, followed closely by the South, with 16,351, and the Midwest, with 14,653. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs fell over the year in each of the four regions. The largest decrease was in the West (-26,156), followed by the South (-18,322) and the Midwest (-16,219). Each of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the Pacific (-23,175), East North Central (-13,821), and South Atlantic (-10,281) divisions. Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in August (18,768), mostly in administrative and support services and in motion picture and sound recording industries. New York reported 8,063 initial claims, followed by Pennsylvania (4,847) and Florida (4,842). These four states accounted for 56 percent of all layoff events and 53 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-19,046), followed by North Carolina (-6,103), Illinois (-4,638), and Ohio (-4,567). The largest over-the-year increase occurred in Minnesota (+392). From January to August, California reported 271,098 mass layoff initial claims, 24 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were New York (74,552), Michigan (73,486), Ohio (67,776), and Pennsylvania (61,030). - 3 - 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. For private nonfarm establishments, 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"). The quarterly release 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. ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in September 2004 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 21, 2004. - 4 - 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 establish- ments 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 long- er, 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 ter- minated 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 indi- viduals 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, July 2002 to August 2004 Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Realization Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days rates (1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 3,927 461,502 1,186 254,955 30.2 55.2 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 5,454 618,371 1,916 370,592 35.1 59.9 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 4,451 431,650 1,502 297,608 33.7 68.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 4,344 441,409 1,799 348,966 41.4 79.1 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 Third Quarter .............. 4,213 442,921 3,734 404,946 1,190 227,878 31.9 56.3 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,890 489,416 4,292 443,980 1,690 326,261 39.4 73.5 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 First Quarter .............. 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 1,339 236,521 34.3 61.4 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 Second Quarter ............. 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 (2)(p) 1,233 (2)(p) 178,381 (p)37.7 (p)53.7 July(p) .................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 August(p) .................. 809 69,033 745 63,876 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available. 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 August June July August August June July August 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total (1) ................................. 1,258 1,379 2,094 809 133,839 134,588 253,929 69,033 Total, private .................................. 1,201 1,156 1,945 769 126,266 115,626 241,601 65,294 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 38 79 85 24 2,135 4,822 6,724 1,418 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,163 1,077 1,860 745 124,131 110,804 234,877 63,876 Mining ........................................ 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 283 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Construction .................................. 114 77 119 75 7,862 4,924 8,700 5,266 Manufacturing ................................. 405 222 885 194 52,620 27,307 145,895 17,698 Food ...................................... 42 38 82 28 5,803 2,677 7,418 2,797 Beverage and tobacco products ............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 447 216 Textile mills ............................. 21 9 26 10 7,154 1,957 2,309 1,313 Textile product mills ..................... 8 ( 2 ) 15 ( 2 ) 739 ( 2 ) 1,966 ( 2 ) Apparel ................................... 25 7 46 12 2,255 641 5,521 898 Leather and allied products ............... ( 2 ) 4 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 459 841 ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 21 7 33 7 1,773 634 5,523 566 Paper ..................................... 13 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 1,083 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 193 Printing and related support activities ... 4 13 10 6 231 1,324 1,195 447 Petroleum and coal products ............... - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 7 11 17 3 549 803 2,032 189 Plastics and rubber products .............. 24 4 98 9 2,203 360 13,053 614 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 6 4 16 4 463 304 2,242 369 Primary metals ............................ 23 9 50 10 1,988 1,078 8,177 740 Fabricated metal products ................. 32 11 62 21 2,806 1,464 6,961 2,031 Machinery ................................. 39 16 39 15 6,606 1,362 5,426 1,946 Computer and electronic products .......... 34 11 31 12 2,675 1,418 4,012 963 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 21 5 17 4 2,564 1,222 1,661 293 Transportation equipment .................. 50 51 288 30 9,476 9,303 72,492 2,846 Furniture and related products ............ 21 11 23 4 2,513 1,323 2,331 394 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 11 4 14 7 1,351 265 1,798 534 Wholesale trade ............................... 18 23 30 11 1,322 2,142 2,853 749 Retail trade .................................. 99 76 104 98 9,980 7,410 10,541 8,752 Transportation and warehousing ................ 86 120 112 52 9,025 14,557 9,522 5,130 Information ................................... 51 48 40 37 9,114 6,748 6,778 4,909 Finance and insurance ......................... 41 22 35 29 3,113 1,502 2,438 2,117 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 4 4 17 ( 2 ) 349 231 1,580 ( 2 ) Professional and technical services ........... 41 27 55 21 3,775 3,174 8,562 1,641 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 935 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 168 148 253 124 16,242 14,058 22,955 10,220 Educational services .......................... 7 11 16 5 592 692 1,219 368 Health care and social assistance ............. 32 149 69 32 2,427 12,457 4,623 2,117 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 19 25 30 7 1,386 1,390 2,092 459 Accommodation and food services ............... 45 85 68 41 3,228 10,549 5,100 2,581 Other services, except public administration .. 22 30 15 12 2,234 2,278 987 1,486 Unclassified .................................. 4 2 6 2 259 181 361 72 Government ...................................... 57 223 149 40 7,573 18,962 12,328 3,739 Federal ....................................... 10 9 19 8 1,287 1,040 2,122 602 State ......................................... 16 18 24 8 1,766 1,058 2,247 800 Local ......................................... 31 196 106 24 4,520 16,864 7,959 2,337 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 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division August June July August August June July August 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p United States (1) ... 1,258 1,379 2,094 809 133,839 134,588 253,929 69,033 Northeast ................. 220 204 289 166 21,272 25,047 27,200 17,163 New England ............. 25 39 35 14 2,151 4,263 2,767 1,274 Middle Atlantic ......... 195 165 254 152 19,121 20,784 24,433 15,889 South ..................... 330 337 487 217 34,673 31,374 55,404 16,351 South Atlantic .......... 164 183 225 116 18,195 16,796 23,319 7,914 East South Central ...... 68 48 151 41 8,033 3,702 20,698 3,759 West South Central ...... 98 106 111 60 8,445 10,876 11,387 4,678 Midwest ................... 239 300 706 151 30,872 31,267 118,913 14,653 East North Central ...... 199 234 604 125 25,707 24,316 99,614 11,886 West North Central ...... 40 66 102 26 5,165 6,951 19,299 2,767 West ...................... 469 538 612 275 47,022 46,900 52,412 20,866 Mountain ................ 42 53 53 17 4,080 3,979 5,010 1,099 Pacific ................. 427 485 559 258 42,942 42,921 47,402 19,767 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 August June July August August June July August 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total (1) ............ 1,258 1,379 2,094 809 133,839 134,588 253,929 69,033 Alabama ................. 24 8 48 10 3,740 579 6,033 1,080 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) 4 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 256 - ( 2 ) Arizona ................. 10 17 19 5 703 1,307 1,812 353 Arkansas ................ ( 2 ) 6 6 3 ( 2 ) 440 763 261 California .............. 383 438 504 246 37,814 39,179 41,702 18,768 Colorado ................ ( 2 ) 5 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 431 217 ( 2 ) Connecticut ............. 3 10 4 4 237 1,117 255 268 Delaware ................ 3 4 ( 2 ) - 598 801 ( 2 ) - District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 470 - Florida ................. 80 93 90 78 5,554 6,466 6,491 4,842 Georgia ................. 20 26 27 21 2,077 2,873 2,338 1,827 Hawaii .................. ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 205 214 ( 2 ) Idaho ................... 11 4 11 5 1,500 291 944 266 Illinois ................ 50 52 71 30 7,996 5,869 8,625 3,358 Indiana ................. 29 26 96 19 3,478 2,564 20,435 1,707 Iowa .................... 10 13 22 5 1,650 1,417 3,552 491 Kansas .................. 6 11 17 4 775 1,042 2,023 587 Kentucky ................ 21 16 79 15 2,377 1,210 12,944 1,182 Louisiana ............... 17 31 22 16 1,215 2,686 1,501 1,155 Maine ................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Maryland ................ 5 6 14 ( 2 ) 422 480 1,274 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ........... 15 16 19 7 1,388 1,573 1,435 678 Michigan ................ 11 55 253 25 2,369 5,277 35,562 2,409 Minnesota ............... 6 20 13 7 505 2,258 1,884 897 Mississippi ............. 8 8 8 6 571 427 500 613 Missouri ................ 15 21 43 6 1,521 2,138 10,635 540 Montana ................. 4 3 3 - 599 171 402 - Nebraska ................ - ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 1,119 ( 2 ) Nevada .................. 11 14 11 4 915 1,152 1,094 302 New Hampshire ........... 3 4 6 ( 2 ) 195 391 530 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 33 50 46 26 2,708 9,167 4,096 2,979 New Mexico .............. 3 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 127 268 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York ................ 94 36 94 73 10,633 4,031 9,615 8,063 North Carolina .......... 32 13 13 9 6,680 1,014 1,118 577 North Dakota ............ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Ohio .................... 54 61 122 23 6,389 6,755 26,605 1,822 Oklahoma ................ 6 10 10 ( 2 ) 603 2,690 1,919 ( 2 ) Oregon .................. 27 21 32 ( 2 ) 2,447 1,772 3,921 ( 2 ) Pennsylvania ............ 68 79 114 53 5,780 7,586 10,722 4,847 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) 6 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 992 381 ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 10 19 51 ( 2 ) 870 3,438 6,843 ( 2 ) South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Tennessee ............... 15 16 16 10 1,345 1,486 1,221 884 Texas ................... 74 59 73 40 6,571 5,060 7,204 3,201 Utah .................... ( 2 ) 5 5 - ( 2 ) 359 499 - Vermont ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Virginia ................ 13 17 24 4 1,887 1,318 2,989 272 Washington .............. 14 19 20 8 1,714 1,509 1,565 753 West Virginia ........... - 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 277 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 55 40 62 28 5,475 3,851 8,387 2,590 Wyoming ................. - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ............. 10 10 14 9 1,035 896 1,234 803 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.