Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-316 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, October 31, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN SEPTEMBER 2000 In September 2000, there were 936 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 106,842. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of September since this series began in April 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. (September 2000 contained 5 weeks that ended in the month compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior 4 Septembers. See Technical Note.) From January through September 2000, the total number of layoff events (10,490) was slightly lower than in January-September 1999, while the total number of initial claims (1,188,580) 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 September 2000, manufacturing industries accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events and 44 percent of all initial claims filed. The highest number of initial claimants was in transportation equipment (18,124), primarily in motor vehicles and car bodies. Other manufacturing industries with high numbers of initial claimants were industrial machinery and equipment (5,816), food and kindred products (4,235), and apparel and other textile products (2,762). (See table 2.) Services accounted for 24 percent of all layoffs and 26 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in business services (particularly help supply services) and motion pictures. Layoffs in these two industries, however, are more likely than most other industries to last less than 30 days. Thirteen percent of all layoff events and 7 percent of initial claimants during the month were from agriculture, mostly in agricultural services (farm labor contractors and crop preparation services). Retail trade accounted for 9 percent of all mass layoff events and 7 percent of all initial claimants during the month, largely in general merchandise stores (department stores). An additional 6 percent of all events and 3 percent of all initial claimants were from construction, mostly in special trade contractors. Compared with September 1999, the largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment (+12,464) and business services (+6,659). The largest decreases in initial claims occurred in electronic and other electrical equipment (-2,843) and motion pictures (-1,920). Geographic Distribution In September, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the West (50,214) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in business services, motion pictures, and agricultural services accounted for 46 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast region (13,642). Over-the-year increases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in all four regions: the West (+11,871), Midwest (+9,525), Northeast (+5,478), and South (+4,680). Among the nine geographic divisions, eight reported over-the-year increases in initial claims associated with mass layoff events, with the largest increases reported in the Pacific, East North Central, and New England divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (43,042), primarily in business services and motion pictures, followed by Pennsylvania (5,814), Illinois (5,592), and Texas (5,529). These four states accounted for 62 percent of all layoff events and 56 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From September 1999 to September 2000, California reported the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+7,893), mostly in business services. Among the 11 states that reported over-the-year decreases in initial claims, South Carolina had the largest decrease (-1,975). 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, July 1998 to September 2000 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1998 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 ...................... 1,368 144,343 December ...................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter ................ 4,697 512,834 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 1,444 242,464 42.0 July .......................... 1,741 221,334 August ........................ 698 75,691 September ..................... 717 75,288 Third Quarter ................. 3,156 372,313 1,097 189,948 34.8 October ....................... 1,098 118,938 November ...................... 1,336 139,508 December ...................... 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ................ 3,943 420,827 1,625 287,078 41.2 2000 January ....................... 1,934 223,322 February ...................... 1,045 103,898 March ......................... 986 106,748 First Quarter ................. 3,965 433,968 1,332 219,603 33.6 April ......................... 924 101,359 May ........................... 984 92,193 June .......................... 1,597 192,025 Second Quarter ................ 3,505 385,577 (p)1,187 (p)162,726 (p)33.9 July .......................... 1,333 164,978 August(p)...................... 751 97,215 September(p)................... 936 106,842 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. p = preliminary. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry September July August September September July August September 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ........................................ 717 1,333 751 936 75,288 164,978 97,215 106,842 Total, private ....................................... 681 1,252 717 885 71,307 158,672 93,717 101,134 Agriculture ........................................ 90 91 38 119 6,432 6,038 2,898 7,747 Nonagriculture ..................................... 581 1,136 668 754 64,016 149,693 89,554 92,220 Manufacturing .................................... 205 652 252 313 28,254 99,807 35,370 46,605 Durable goods .................................. 114 425 147 178 20,055 71,405 22,823 33,403 Lumber and wood products ..................... 6 32 17 18 430 3,487 1,882 1,354 Furniture and fixtures ....................... 7 25 12 10 746 3,955 1,853 1,439 Stone, clay, and glass products .............. 3 10 ( 2 ) 11 156 1,158 ( 2 ) 794 Primary metal industries ..................... 9 35 16 20 1,989 4,230 3,118 2,082 Fabricated metal products .................... 6 70 11 12 361 8,797 1,098 844 Industrial machinery and equipment ........... 29 63 29 24 5,422 9,232 4,726 5,816 Electronic and other electrical equipment .... 18 38 20 17 4,313 5,839 3,284 1,470 Transportation equipment ..................... 23 133 32 51 5,660 33,094 6,038 18,124 Instruments and related products ............. 5 8 5 8 393 663 380 836 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ....... 8 11 ( 2 ) 7 585 950 ( 2 ) 644 Nondurable goods ............................... 91 227 105 135 8,199 28,402 12,547 13,202 Food and kindred products .................... 33 74 28 40 2,892 7,584 3,264 4,235 Tobacco products ............................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Textile mill products ........................ 8 22 17 18 912 2,970 2,656 2,294 Apparel and other textile products ........... 32 44 20 33 2,642 5,711 1,719 2,762 Paper and allied products .................... 6 ( 2 ) 13 19 690 ( 2 ) 2,019 1,899 Printing and publishing ...................... ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 631 ( 2 ) 480 Chemicals and allied products ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 358 265 Petroleum and coal products .................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products ... 6 51 14 12 561 8,597 1,822 976 Leather and leather products ................. - 10 4 3 - 822 419 291 Nonmanufacturing ................................. 376 484 416 441 35,762 49,886 54,184 45,615 Mining ......................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 311 - Construction ................................... 62 52 52 54 4,158 4,040 4,361 3,584 Transportation and public utilities ............ 28 79 57 35 2,161 8,538 7,311 3,046 Wholesale and retail trade ..................... 79 103 109 98 6,482 9,488 10,594 9,159 Wholesale trade ............................. 13 30 14 16 1,196 3,055 1,562 1,773 Retail trade ................................ 66 73 95 82 5,286 6,433 9,032 7,386 Finance, insurance, and real estate ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 17 27 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,649 1,801 Services ....................................... 181 235 178 227 20,882 26,158 29,958 28,025 Not identified ..................................... 10 25 11 12 859 2,941 1,265 1,167 Government ........................................... 36 81 34 51 3,981 6,306 3,498 5,708 Federal ............................................ 6 16 14 22 1,467 1,851 1,646 2,983 State .............................................. 11 13 7 11 1,047 1,063 916 951 Local .............................................. 19 52 13 18 1,467 3,392 936 1,774 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 September July August September September July August September 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) United States(1) ...... 717 1,333 751 936 75,288 164,978 97,215 106,842 Northeast ..................... 91 176 112 106 8,164 18,226 18,394 13,642 New England ............... 12 36 13 17 1,081 3,953 7,882 5,979 Middle Atlantic ........... 79 140 99 89 7,083 14,273 10,512 7,663 South ......................... 128 312 199 158 12,777 39,032 22,630 17,457 South Atlantic ............ 66 166 110 67 7,195 22,269 12,435 6,375 East South Central ........ 10 66 29 39 666 6,881 4,192 4,655 West South Central ........ 52 80 60 52 4,916 9,882 6,003 6,427 Midwest ....................... 81 481 139 179 16,004 71,049 18,187 25,529 East North Central ........ 62 399 112 140 12,174 60,565 15,263 18,454 West North Central ........ 19 82 27 39 3,830 10,484 2,924 7,075 West .......................... 417 364 301 493 38,343 36,671 38,004 50,214 Mountain .................. 7 36 44 31 932 4,374 5,623 2,727 Pacific ................... 410 328 257 462 37,411 32,297 32,381 47,487 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 September July August September September July August September 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ................... 717 1,333 751 936 75,288 164,978 97,215 106,842 Alabama ....................... 4 4 7 8 264 305 1,981 596 Alaska ........................ ( 2 ) - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 282 Arizona ....................... - 9 4 3 - 912 406 240 Arkansas ...................... ( 2 ) 10 5 5 ( 2 ) 1,158 356 548 California .................... 389 287 244 430 35,149 27,435 30,706 43,042 Colorado ...................... - 3 3 ( 2 ) - 234 333 ( 2 ) Connecticut ................... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 490 ( 2 ) - Delaware ...................... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - District of Columbia .......... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Florida ....................... 18 68 38 20 1,137 4,711 3,073 1,662 Georgia ....................... 9 8 13 7 730 574 1,616 550 Hawaii ........................ 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 246 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Idaho ......................... - 7 15 ( 2 ) - 824 2,404 ( 2 ) Illinois ...................... 17 54 33 39 3,072 5,981 6,582 5,592 Indiana ....................... 7 50 14 10 3,086 9,562 1,359 1,411 Iowa .......................... 3 23 4 8 368 3,004 431 1,254 Kansas ........................ ( 2 ) 10 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 836 ( 2 ) 197 Kentucky ...................... 3 40 12 17 233 4,888 1,450 2,988 Louisiana ..................... 3 13 13 ( 2 ) 207 1,236 844 ( 2 ) Maine ......................... ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 457 ( 2 ) 2,119 Maryland ...................... ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 896 ( 2 ) 263 Massachusetts ................. 9 15 5 9 835 1,472 6,527 3,229 Michigan ...................... 10 138 12 28 964 17,197 1,235 3,804 Minnesota ..................... 7 12 8 7 730 1,663 812 1,909 Mississippi ................... ( 2 ) 10 5 8 ( 2 ) 757 301 643 Missouri ...................... 6 33 13 20 2,204 4,614 1,442 3,659 Montana ....................... - 4 3 - - 915 625 - Nebraska ...................... - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Nevada ........................ 6 10 16 20 648 1,290 1,533 1,837 New Hampshire ................. - 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 768 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey .................... 10 28 25 10 1,013 2,950 3,562 931 New Mexico .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) New York ...................... 20 45 22 12 1,846 4,373 1,775 918 North Carolina ................ 4 10 26 8 452 1,933 2,383 833 North Dakota .................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Ohio .......................... 16 104 28 33 3,693 20,416 2,992 4,669 Oklahoma ...................... - 5 3 ( 2 ) - 848 209 ( 2 ) Oregon ........................ 10 30 7 19 845 4,063 1,252 3,209 Pennsylvania .................. 49 67 52 67 4,224 6,950 5,175 5,814 Rhode Island .................. - ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 336 ( 2 ) South Carolina ................ 26 36 16 16 3,687 6,517 2,242 1,712 South Dakota .................. - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Tennessee ..................... ( 2 ) 12 5 6 ( 2 ) 931 460 428 Texas ......................... 47 52 39 44 4,471 6,640 4,594 5,529 Utah .......................... - ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 322 ( 2 ) Vermont ....................... - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 688 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Virginia ...................... 7 33 11 12 969 6,974 2,604 1,182 Washington .................... 6 9 5 9 1,002 649 322 865 West Virginia ................. - ( 2 ) 4 - - ( 2 ) 272 - Wisconsin ..................... 12 53 25 30 1,359 7,409 3,095 2,978 Wyoming ....................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................... 10 17 10 11 903 1,909 879 863 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.