Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 05-2352 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, December 22, 2005 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 2005 In November 2005, employers took 1,183 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 118,098, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events in November rose by 95 from October and the number of associated initial claims increased by 11,860. In the manufacturing sector, 353 mass layoff events were reported during November 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,595 initial claims. The number of mass layoff events in manufacturing was somewhat higher than a month earlier, while the number of initial claims was lower. (See table 1.) From January through November 2005, the total number of events (seasonally adjusted), at 14,306, was lower than in January-November 2004 (14,689), while the number of initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 1,563,837, was higher (1,468,844). Data have been tabulated on the results of employer interviews for 899 mass layoff events that were potentially related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These layoff events occurred almost entirely in Louisiana and Missis- sippi during the period from August 28 to October 1. Of these events, 343 were identified by the employer as directly or indirectly due to the hurri- canes and lasting more than 30 days. The number of workers in these extend- ed mass layoffs totaled 49,480, not seasonally adjusted. For the remainder of the private sector layoff events potentially related to the hurricanes, employers said that either any layoffs were temporary (30 days or less) or that there were no layoffs at all. Also included in the 899 potential hur- ricane-related events are layoffs at government agencies, for which employer interviews are not conducted. In these cases, a final determination about whether the event was hurricane related could not be made. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in November 2005p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Initial | November peak Industry | claims |-------------------------- | | Year | Initial claims -----------------------------------------------|---------|---------|---------------- Highway, street, and bridge construction.......| 8,425 | 2001 | 14,805 Temporary help services .......................| 5,347 | 2000 | 19,023 Food service contractors ......................| 3,737 | 2004 | 4,356 Professional employer organizations ...........| 2,830 | 2002 | 4,088 Farm labor contractors and crew leaders .......| 2,776 | 1999 | 11,613 School and employee bus transportation ........| 2,039 | 2002 | 2,998 Motion picture and video production ...........| 1,912 | 2000 | 8,664 Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. ..| 1,807 | 2000 | 1,807 Hotels and motels, except casino hotels .......| 1,641 | 2001 | 3,215 Broadwoven fabric mills .......................| 1,581 | 2000 | 4,068 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p = preliminary. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) In November, the 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass- layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 32,095 initial claims, 28 percent of the total. (See table A.) The two indus- tries with the highest number of initial claims were highway, street, and bridge construction, with 8,425, and temporary help services, with 5,347. Together, these two industries accounted for 12 percent of all initial claims during the month. The manufacturing sector accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 36 percent of all initial claims filed in November 2005. A year earlier, manufacturing comprised 29 percent of events and 34 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in November 2005 was highest in transportation equipment (11,665, largely automotive- related), followed by food manufacturing (7,092). (See table 3.) Construction accounted for 15 percent of events and 14 percent of initial claims filed in November, with layoffs mainly from highway, street, and bridge construction. Eleven percent of all layoff events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month were from administrative and waste services, largely from temporary help services. Accommodation and food services account- ed for 7 percent of events and initial claims in November, mostly from food ser- vice and drinking places. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting accounted for 9 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims during the month, large- ly among farm labor contractors and crew leaders. An additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims were from retail trade, primarily from general merchandise stores. Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims filed in November, mostly from executive, legislative, and general government agencies and educational services. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events decreased by 145 over the year to 1,254, and the number of associated initial claims fell by 14,296 to 116,127. These were the lowest event and initial claim totals for any November since 1997. The largest over-the- year decreases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (-6,306), machinery manufacturing (-1,673), computer and electronic products manufacturing (-1,533), and motion picture and sound recording industries (-1,530). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was in trans- portation equipment manufacturing (+4,704). - 3 - Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the largest number of initial claims in November due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest (34,901). (See table 5.) Transportation equipment manufacturing and heavy and civil engineering construction accounted for 35 percent of the Midwest total. The South had the next largest number of initial claims (31,437), followed by the West (30,664) and the Northeast (19,125). The number of initial claimants from mass layoffs decreased over the year in three of the four regions. The largest decrease occurred in the West (-16,190), followed by the Midwest (-4,749) and the Northeast (-221). The South had the only over-the-year increase (+6,864). Five of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest in the Pacific (-14,272), followed by the East North Central (-2,806) division. The South Atlantic (+4,263) and West South Central (+1,956) divisions reported the largest over-the-year increases. Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in November (21,324). Wisconsin had the next highest initial claims total, with 10,176 initial claims, followed by Pennsylvania (9,986), Florida (7,138), and Ohio (5,607). These five states accounted for 54 percent of all mass layoff events and 47 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) California had the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-12,765). Illinois had the next largest over-the-year decrease (-2,862), followed by Indiana (-2,318) and New Jersey (-2,147). The largest over-the-year increases occurred in Florida (+4,031), Penn- sylvania (+2,386), and Louisiana (+2,241). From January to November, California reported 321,212 mass-layoff initial claims, 21 percent of the national total. Louisiana had the next largest number of claims over this period (119,732), followed by Michigan (100,995) and Ohio (100,106). 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 lay- offs. 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 lay- offs"). 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 lay- offs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quar- ter will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See table 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed defini- tions. ____________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in December 2005 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, January 25, 2006. - 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 establishments which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive 5-week period. These establishments then are con- tacted 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 quart- erly 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, the number of weeks in a given month may be different from year to year, and the number of weeks in a year may vary. Therefore, analysis of over-the-month and over-the-year change in not seasonally adjusted series 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. Seasonal adjustment Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS began publish- ing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS series. The six series are the numbers of mass layoff events and mass layoff initial claims for the total, private nonfarm, and manufacturing sectors. Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect on time series data of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays, and the beginning and ending of the school year. The use of seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental changes in time series, particularly those associated with general economic expan- sions and contractions. The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjust- ment method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in devel- oping seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most recent 5 years of seasonally adjusted data will be made once a year with the issuance of December data. Before the data are seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments are made to the original data to adjust them for differences in the number of weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly unemployment insurance claims are aggregated to form monthly data, a particular month's value could be calculated with 5 weeks of data in one year and 4 weeks in another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal adjustment process. These effects are modeled in the X-12-ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the final seasonally adjusted series. Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, December 2001 to November 2005, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 December ................... 1,799 194,759 1,658 183,178 722 93,193 2002 January .................... 1,801 208,835 1,659 195,862 739 96,689 February ................... 1,773 204,089 1,620 192,450 701 91,285 March ...................... 1,674 187,924 1,517 175,998 610 75,367 April ...................... 1,685 186,574 1,497 169,228 591 69,481 May ........................ 1,720 191,841 1,558 178,993 611 74,809 June ....................... 1,615 170,307 1,438 156,759 551 73,064 July ....................... 1,637 179,165 1,457 164,398 568 73,230 August ..................... 1,475 160,855 1,330 149,148 562 65,564 September .................. 1,909 217,475 1,742 202,640 607 79,413 October .................... 1,716 178,860 1,524 162,411 598 71,765 November ................... 1,644 176,462 1,500 165,578 607 70,640 December ................... 1,825 193,627 1,661 179,368 638 86,714 2003 January .................... 1,383 134,258 1,193 120,033 402 49,440 February ................... 1,771 185,502 1,589 173,392 643 75,331 March ...................... 1,773 176,540 1,577 161,662 618 75,289 April ...................... 1,735 176,645 1,574 165,416 646 86,857 May ........................ 1,709 186,158 1,532 173,123 624 87,615 June ....................... 1,704 163,646 1,515 148,547 636 70,888 July ....................... 1,653 163,061 1,444 147,883 590 71,203 August ..................... 1,502 170,353 1,364 156,731 540 71,944 September .................. 1,559 145,961 1,370 132,233 471 56,274 October .................... 1,541 154,908 1,312 136,604 412 49,518 November ................... 1,400 137,651 1,241 125,115 397 46,955 December ................... 1,425 141,780 1,281 129,464 420 53,436 2004 January .................... 1,458 146,147 1,257 127,917 413 50,074 February ................... 1,237 126,421 1,091 115,302 358 36,783 March ...................... 1,348 142,480 1,211 134,118 409 63,380 April ...................... 1,422 149,049 1,239 132,180 360 43,158 May ........................ 1,178 114,247 1,016 100,499 314 37,950 June ....................... 1,375 141,300 1,215 129,466 361 47,548 July ....................... 1,363 139,374 1,200 127,011 390 49,276 August ..................... 1,392 130,483 1,208 115,035 330 36,422 September .................. 1,281 123,761 1,153 114,223 332 45,917 October .................... 1,274 125,414 1,145 116,042 350 44,908 November ................... 1,361 130,168 1,201 117,545 402 43,504 December ................... 1,211 119,649 1,064 108,157 283 34,940 2005 January .................... 1,457 150,990 1,321 140,826 379 58,908 February ................... 1,128 117,684 1,001 107,415 345 43,186 March ...................... 1,194 130,848 1,060 121,408 371 55,377 April ...................... 1,274 136,837 1,142 126,807 395 63,121 May ........................ 1,196 128,771 1,060 117,036 359 53,243 June ....................... 1,175 127,887 1,059 118,736 347 55,820 July ....................... 1,249 131,326 1,107 118,835 360 48,967 August ..................... 1,142 127,466 1,002 115,674 328 48,155 September .................. 2,220 287,692 1,970 237,108 426 54,993 October(p) ................. 1,088 106,238 962 97,180 316 45,589 November(p) ................ 1,183 118,098 1,053 107,293 353 44,595 p = preliminary. Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, December 2001 to November 2005, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 December ................... 2,440 268,893 2,319 259,497 1,103 136,820 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 2,028 252,245 892 128,825 February ................... 1,382 138,808 1,253 129,849 481 58,784 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 1,335 151,305 500 59,613 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 461 50,897 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 488 52,720 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 336 42,130 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 907 135,271 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 427 48,668 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 352 43,755 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 493 64,655 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 719 92,712 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 984 126,826 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 822 90,244 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 435 48,161 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 390 41,063 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 499 62,349 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 499 61,278 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 389 40,845 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 946 136,410 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 405 52,620 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 271 31,428 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 438 53,741 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 408 48,419 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 648 77,915 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 848 89,551 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 240 23,043 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 258 34,686 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 343 36,172 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 219 22,141 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 222 27,307 July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895 August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698 September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808 October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265 November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243 December ................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726 2005 January .................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985 February ................... 810 74,644 722 68,372 230 24,931 March ...................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 246 33,030 April ...................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 395 59,129 May ........................ 986 101,358 891 93,332 249 30,424 June ....................... 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 216 32,783 July ....................... 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 856 136,210 August ..................... 645 67,582 598 63,484 188 22,531 September .................. 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 318 47,497 October(p) ................. 905 91,941 757 80,694 249 37,276 November(p) ................ 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442 p = preliminary. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry November September October November November September October November 2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,361 2,220 1,088 1,183 130,168 287,692 106,238 118,098 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,201 1,970 962 1,053 117,545 237,108 97,180 107,293 Manufacturing ................................ 402 426 316 353 43,504 54,993 45,589 44,595 Not seasonally adjusted Total(1) .................................. 1,399 1,662 905 1,254 130,423 213,281 91,941 116,127 Total, private .................................. 1,336 1,528 850 1,187 125,008 180,425 87,226 109,395 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 135 23 93 108 9,459 1,383 6,532 7,213 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,201 1,505 757 1,079 115,549 179,042 80,694 102,182 Mining ........................................ 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 701 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 509 Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 231 116 88 192 17,884 8,885 5,755 15,824 Manufacturing.................................. 412 318 249 363 44,243 47,497 37,276 41,442 Food ...................................... 77 59 61 66 7,717 5,907 5,666 7,092 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 6 4 4 6 387 274 261 416 Textile mills ............................. 15 20 11 19 1,767 2,636 1,296 2,734 Textile product mills ..................... 7 6 5 6 638 958 531 444 Apparel ................................... 20 10 11 13 2,154 2,183 2,589 2,125 Leather and allied products ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 32 22 ( 2 ) 20 3,437 2,253 ( 2 ) 2,353 Paper ..................................... 7 10 9 8 530 1,218 748 479 Printing and related support activities ... 9 5 - 8 610 318 - 574 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 7 6 8 7 525 822 682 510 Plastics and rubber products .............. 17 13 11 19 1,385 1,833 1,097 1,469 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 24 9 8 11 2,126 657 759 1,005 Primary metals ............................ 18 11 9 17 1,616 1,112 1,037 1,475 Fabricated metal products ................. 28 17 12 20 2,548 1,224 863 1,751 Machinery ................................. 25 30 9 24 4,583 4,967 1,288 2,910 Computer and electronic products .......... 27 18 20 12 2,534 1,438 1,764 1,001 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 13 11 4 5 1,757 2,959 1,061 554 Transportation equipment .................. 53 52 49 76 6,961 15,584 15,841 11,665 Furniture and related products ............ 16 9 8 15 1,548 599 762 1,804 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 5 3 6 6 975 242 688 676 Wholesale trade ............................... 24 33 10 21 2,196 2,351 812 1,687 Retail trade .................................. 65 203 72 61 6,498 22,358 5,666 5,176 Transportation and warehousing ................ 32 51 29 45 2,900 6,218 2,697 3,479 Information ................................... 45 41 26 21 5,492 6,046 5,300 2,395 Finance and insurance ......................... 22 32 24 14 1,442 2,580 1,656 1,307 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ ( 2 ) 19 4 3 ( 2 ) 1,125 244 122 Professional and technical services ........... 22 31 28 34 2,303 2,655 2,967 3,056 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 187 206 132 138 17,370 20,616 11,017 11,350 Educational services........................... ( 2 ) 12 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,667 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ............. 27 150 7 34 2,012 17,259 621 2,555 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 25 37 22 40 2,126 7,164 1,568 3,623 Accommodation and food services ............... 81 220 53 88 8,995 29,522 4,168 8,204 Other services, except public administration .. 10 29 3 8 647 2,352 173 668 Unclassified ................................. 1 - 5 6 40 - 356 436 Government ..................................... 63 134 55 67 5,415 32,856 4,715 6,732 Federal ....................................... 12 10 16 15 1,290 966 1,551 1,608 State ......................................... 25 37 12 24 2,342 5,905 992 2,527 Local ......................................... 26 87 27 28 1,783 25,985 2,172 2,597 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 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2003 to November 2005, not seasonally adjusted 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 2003 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 1,690 326,328 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 1,339 238,392 34.3 61.9 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 1,358 254,063 41.5 76.5 July ........................ 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 August ...................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 September ................... 708 68,972 637 63,102 Third Quarter ............... 3,611 391,934 3,242 361,855 886 148,575 27.3 41.1 October ..................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 November .................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 December .................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 Fourth Quarter .............. 4,255 419,612 3,789 385,016 1,427 262,049 37.7 68.1 2005 January ..................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 February .................... 810 74,644 722 68,372 March ....................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 First Quarter ............... 4,180 427,533 3,876 405,574 1,142 185,374 29.5 45.7 April ....................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 May ......................... 986 101,358 891 93,332 June ........................ 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 Second Quarter .............. 3,516 380,403 3,095 344,772 1,203 212,671 38.9 61.7 July ........................ 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 August ...................... 645 67,582 598 63,484 September ................... 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 Third Quarter ............... 4,288 525,079 3,848 464,903 (2)(p) 742 (2)(p) 108,647 (p)19.3 (p)23.4 October(p) .................. 905 91,941 757 80,694 November(p) ................. 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 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 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, not seasonally adjusted Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division November September October November November September October November 2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p United States(1) .... 1,399 1,662 905 1,254 130,423 213,281 91,941 116,127 Northeast ................... 198 118 175 218 19,346 9,990 15,362 19,125 New England ............. 26 13 12 24 1,998 1,204 1,233 2,703 Middle Atlantic ......... 172 105 163 194 17,348 8,786 14,129 16,422 South ....................... 255 1,086 158 279 24,573 153,999 17,616 31,437 South Atlantic .......... 116 81 85 165 10,333 10,247 8,903 14,596 East South Central ...... 42 161 25 42 4,651 33,946 4,194 5,296 West South Central ...... 97 844 48 72 9,589 109,806 4,519 11,545 Midwest ..................... 389 161 199 355 39,650 21,024 27,841 34,901 East North Central ...... 306 133 154 279 29,986 17,107 21,404 27,180 West North Central ...... 83 28 45 76 9,664 3,917 6,437 7,721 West ........................ 557 297 373 402 46,854 28,268 31,122 30,664 Mountain ................ 59 22 32 50 6,470 1,901 3,285 4,552 Pacific ................. 498 275 341 352 40,384 26,367 27,837 26,112 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 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 6. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State November September October November November September October November 2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p Total(1) ............. 1,399 1,662 905 1,254 130,423 213,281 91,941 116,127 Alabama ................. 9 20 4 6 915 1,968 569 783 Alaska .................. 7 3 4 4 686 280 264 401 Arizona ................. 3 ( 2 ) 6 4 255 ( 2 ) 606 350 Arkansas ................ 11 - 4 7 1,477 - 767 1,866 California .............. 429 256 315 302 34,089 24,616 25,317 21,324 Colorado ................ 7 3 6 7 533 185 510 758 Connecticut ............. ( 2 ) 3 - 3 ( 2 ) 258 - 235 Delaware ................ - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - District of Columbia .... - - - - - - - - Florida ................. 43 40 36 100 3,107 3,314 2,706 7,138 Georgia ................. 19 14 16 24 1,809 3,230 1,739 2,511 Hawaii .................. ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 249 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Idaho ................... 16 3 5 11 1,888 239 476 976 Illinois ................ 63 46 35 34 6,462 5,793 5,717 3,600 Indiana ................. 40 13 14 29 5,129 2,339 1,940 2,811 Iowa .................... 14 3 13 20 1,159 996 2,473 1,636 Kansas .................. 6 3 ( 2 ) 6 1,090 259 ( 2 ) 647 Kentucky ................ 19 21 10 23 2,160 4,473 2,710 3,521 Louisiana ............... 19 791 3 36 1,789 104,388 215 4,030 Maine ................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 328 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Maryland ................ 4 - 5 ( 2 ) 347 - 451 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ........... 15 4 6 10 1,108 503 669 650 Michigan ................ 63 23 41 62 5,032 3,235 6,276 4,986 Minnesota ............... 35 7 18 27 4,260 741 1,579 2,503 Mississippi ............. - 113 4 ( 2 ) - 26,817 356 ( 2 ) Missouri ................ 23 10 8 19 2,773 981 1,773 2,640 Montana ................. 7 ( 2 ) 6 7 1,023 ( 2 ) 695 770 Nebraska ................ ( 2 ) 4 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 811 447 ( 2 ) Nevada .................. 19 12 6 13 2,219 997 764 1,144 New Hampshire ........... - 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 217 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 42 20 30 32 5,386 2,013 2,248 3,239 New Mexico .............. 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 384 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 201 New York ................ 55 40 52 36 4,362 3,310 4,806 3,197 North Carolina .......... 24 6 16 10 2,294 601 1,423 841 North Dakota ............ 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 238 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio .................... 49 21 33 52 4,219 2,408 4,820 5,607 Oklahoma ................ 9 3 3 4 845 360 500 596 Oregon .................. 31 3 5 16 2,886 342 675 1,610 Pennsylvania ............ 75 45 81 126 7,600 3,463 7,075 9,986 Rhode Island ............ 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 372 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 13 14 4 18 1,619 1,907 428 2,251 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Tennessee ............... 14 7 7 11 1,576 688 559 905 Texas ................... 58 50 38 25 5,478 5,058 3,037 5,053 Utah .................... ( 2 ) - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 218 Vermont ................. ( 2 ) - 3 7 ( 2 ) - 212 1,285 Virginia ................ 10 6 7 10 976 1,086 573 1,570 Washington .............. 29 10 16 29 2,536 880 1,527 2,695 West Virginia ........... 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 181 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 91 30 31 102 9,144 3,332 2,651 10,176 Wyoming ................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ............. 6 20 11 12 562 2,268 854 1,202 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.