Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 03-917 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, December 23, 2003 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 2003 Employers initiated 1,438 mass layoff actions in November 2003, 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 138,543. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claims were sharply lower than a year ago, with the number of initial claims at the lowest level for November since 1997. (November 2003 contained 4 weeks for pos- sible mass layoffs, compared with 5 weeks in each November of the prior 2 years.) Fewer mass-layoff initial claims were filed against employers in tem- porary help services, payroll services, farm labor, and highway, street, and bridge construction in November 2003 compared with November 2002. From January through November 2003, both the total number of events, at 17,034, and the number of initial claims, at 1,696,293, were lower than the January- November period a year ago (17,803 events and 1,980,893 initial claims). 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"). The quarterly release provides more information on the industry classification and lo- cation 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 Highway, street, and bridge construction, with 11,242 initial claimants, and temporary help services, with 7,002 initial claimants, together accounted for 13 percent of all initial claims in November. (See table A.) The 10 in- dustries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 28 percent of the total. The manufacturing sector recorded 28 percent of all mass layoff events and 35 percent of all initial claims filed in November. A year ago, manu- facturing reported 33 percent of events and 39 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (9,696) and food processing (8,410). (See table 2.) Construction accounted for 18 percent of events and 15 percent of initial claims filed in November, with layoffs mostly in highway, street, and bridge construction. Administrative and waste services accounted for 11 percent of events and 10 percent of initial claims during the month, mainly in temporary help services. Ten percent of the events and 7 per- cent of the initial claims were from the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector, largely among farm labor contractors and crew leaders. An additional 5 percent of all layoff events and initial claims filed during November were from accommodation and food services, primarily among food service contractors. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in November 2003p ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Initial | November peak Industry | claims |------------------ | | Year | Initial | | | claims ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highway, street, and bridge construction .....| 11,242 | 2001 | 14,805 Temporary help services ......................| 7,002 | 2000 | 19,023 Farm labor contractors and crew leaders ......| 3,524 | 1999 | 11,613 Food service contractors .....................| 2,962 | 2001 | 4,214 Supermarkets and other grocery stores ........| 2,460 | 2003 | 2,460 AC, refrigeration, and forced air heating ....| 2,385 | 2001 | 3,028 Wired telecommunications carriers ............| 2,383 | 2003 | 2,383 Motion picture and video production ..........| 2,188 | 2000 | 8,664 Frozen fruit and vegetable mfg. ..............| 2,029 | 2002 | 3,290 Industrial building construction .............| 2,005 | 2002 | 3,306 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- p=preliminary. Government establishments accounted for 4 percent of events and 3 percent of initial claims filed during the month, particularly in educational services. Compared with November 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (-15,568) and pro- fessional and technical services (-7,404). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was in food and beverage stores (+701). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in November due to mass layoffs was reported in the Midwest, 46,298. (See table 3.) Heavy and civil engineering construction, transportation equipment manufac- turing, and administrative and support services accounted for 43 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The West region was next, with 43,329 initial claims, followed by the South, with 27,438, and the North- east, with 21,478. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in all four of the regions, with the largest decrease in the West (-43,623). The only other November in which all four regions had over-the-year declines was in 1997. This November also marked the first time that 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 (-36,615) and East North Central (-12,228). Among the states, California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this November, 32,200, mostly in administrative and support services and in agriculture and forestry support activities. Wis- consin reported 10,111 initial claims, followed by Pennsylvania (7,563) and Ohio (6,464). These four states accounted for 46 percent of all layoff events and 41 percent of initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California registered the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-30,564), followed by Texas (-8,176). The largest over- the-year increase occurred in Michigan (+3,855). From January through November, California reported 441,620 initial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next highest numbers of initial claims were Pennsylvania (101,166), Ohio (92,171), Texas (84,556), and New York (84,135). ______________________________ Mass Layoffs in December 2003 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, January 22, 2004. 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, October 2001 to November 2003 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,697 502,502 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 February ................... 1,382 138,808 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 First Quarter .............. 4,988 563,901 1,750 316,489 35.1 56.1 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,802 1,905 353,017 39.6 69.5 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 September .................. 1,062 124,522 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 1,383 284,629 31.8 57.2 October .................... 1,497 171,100 November ................... 2,153 240,171 December ................... 2,474 264,158 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 2,257 421,570 36.9 62.4 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 February ................... 1,363 124,965 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 1,700 333,197 34.8 71.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 2,131 415,316 42.8 84.2 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 September .................. 868 82,647 Third Quarter .............. 4,213 442,921 (2)(p)1,375 (2)(p)181,793 (p)32.6 (p)41.0 October (p) ................ 1,523 158,240 November (p) ............... 1,438 138,543 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more data on these layoffs become avaliable. Recent 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 November September October November November September October November 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................................... 2,153 868 1,523 1,438 240,171 82,647 158,240 138,543 Total, private .................................. 2,092 799 1,453 1,380 234,104 76,296 150,713 133,818 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 232 43 188 146 17,867 2,382 13,007 10,294 Mining ........................................ 17 4 5 8 1,477 259 343 568 Utilities ..................................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 246 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 308 Construction .................................. 321 82 143 263 30,604 5,205 11,422 20,999 Manufacturing ................................. 719 271 438 408 92,712 31,428 53,741 48,419 Food ...................................... 101 44 96 70 12,066 4,145 10,034 8,410 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 8 ( 2 ) 16 9 733 ( 2 ) 1,237 938 Textile mills ............................. 30 21 9 13 5,065 3,510 1,533 1,178 Textile product mills ..................... 6 ( 2 ) 8 8 655 ( 2 ) 881 483 Apparel ................................... 22 10 25 14 2,257 1,212 2,592 1,269 Leather and allied products ............... 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 645 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 61 11 15 29 7,934 969 1,163 3,852 Paper ..................................... 16 10 12 12 2,116 834 1,049 856 Printing and related support activities ... 14 ( 2 ) 11 8 1,212 ( 2 ) 998 570 Petroleum and coal products ............... 10 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 902 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 12 9 7 10 928 602 546 908 Plastics and rubber products .............. 30 10 16 27 2,974 886 1,390 2,085 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 29 5 13 21 3,144 420 1,193 2,089 Primary metals ............................ 45 24 29 22 5,502 2,011 3,444 2,470 Fabricated metal products ................. 62 5 23 31 5,897 826 2,093 2,696 Machinery ................................. 60 21 35 28 11,280 2,073 7,212 4,642 Computer and electronic products .......... 65 26 26 19 5,911 4,820 2,361 1,468 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 22 9 11 12 2,636 1,142 2,493 2,671 Transportation equipment .................. 84 31 55 51 14,322 4,825 10,229 9,696 Furniture and related products ............ 22 11 15 10 4,986 1,254 1,995 856 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 15 10 11 8 1,547 662 883 891 Wholesale trade ............................... 33 22 22 23 3,907 1,808 1,760 2,421 Retail trade .................................. 96 69 115 76 9,094 5,789 21,870 6,877 Transportation and warehousing ................ 55 20 37 42 8,094 1,723 3,003 4,127 Information ................................... 58 26 52 37 6,884 5,791 7,755 5,918 Finance and insurance ......................... 44 35 35 19 3,655 2,371 2,541 1,485 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 13 5 12 8 1,231 382 718 432 Professional and technical services ........... 54 29 30 33 10,579 3,730 2,447 3,175 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 503 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 259 109 233 163 29,522 9,606 21,380 13,925 Educational services .......................... 4 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 267 634 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ............. 38 13 37 28 3,390 945 2,407 2,243 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 34 19 28 26 3,323 1,237 2,039 1,920 Accommodation and food services ............... 92 37 62 75 9,277 2,623 5,176 7,348 Other services, except public administration .. 15 3 7 15 1,289 183 459 1,081 Unclassified .................................. 2 1 5 2 183 50 343 1,646 Government ...................................... 61 69 70 58 6,067 6,351 7,527 4,725 Federal ....................................... 11 13 20 9 828 1,910 1,649 820 State ......................................... 20 14 16 22 2,195 1,417 1,383 1,917 Local ......................................... 30 42 34 27 3,044 3,024 4,495 1,988 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: Industry data reflect the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), 2002. 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 November September October November November September October November 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p United States(1) .... 2,153 868 1,523 1,438 240,171 82,647 158,240 138,543 Northeast ................. 291 107 184 210 33,692 12,115 17,061 21,478 New England ............. 53 19 16 29 5,785 4,559 1,157 2,282 Middle Atlantic ......... 238 88 168 181 27,907 7,556 15,904 19,196 South ..................... 460 196 278 265 53,960 19,287 29,371 27,438 South Atlantic .......... 208 96 134 135 25,125 8,698 13,270 13,822 East South Central ...... 74 31 44 35 8,103 4,144 5,310 4,212 West South Central ...... 178 69 100 95 20,732 6,445 10,791 9,404 Midwest ................... 531 165 325 426 65,567 16,868 43,432 46,298 East North Central ...... 373 125 264 313 43,915 12,646 27,841 31,687 West North Central ...... 158 40 61 113 21,652 4,222 15,591 14,611 West ...................... 871 400 736 537 86,952 34,377 68,376 43,329 Mountain ................ 95 30 47 51 11,614 2,568 4,038 4,606 Pacific ................. 776 370 689 486 75,338 31,809 64,338 38,723 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 November September October November November September October November 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ............. 2,153 868 1,523 1,438 240,171 82,647 158,240 138,543 Alabama ................. 21 8 13 10 2,549 1,164 1,671 1,384 Alaska .................. 7 3 3 6 662 185 295 561 Arizona ................. 7 4 8 4 572 423 700 257 Arkansas ................ 9 3 6 3 853 268 1,140 777 California .............. 663 345 616 420 62,764 29,429 57,322 32,200 Colorado ................ 20 6 8 7 2,090 439 581 549 Connecticut ............. 8 4 3 4 706 291 200 312 Delaware ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) Florida ................. 67 43 66 55 4,617 2,555 4,608 3,533 Georgia ................. 23 19 23 18 3,092 2,130 2,838 1,771 Hawaii .................. 4 3 6 ( 2 ) 317 196 462 ( 2 ) Idaho ................... 21 6 10 11 3,202 463 1,203 1,408 Illinois ................ 105 41 74 57 13,657 4,510 7,890 5,785 Indiana ................. 49 13 22 42 5,762 983 2,118 4,269 Iowa .................... 29 9 18 29 3,282 1,108 3,680 3,464 Kansas .................. 16 6 6 6 2,226 547 738 696 Kentucky ................ 25 16 23 14 2,674 2,259 3,136 1,649 Louisiana ............... 32 4 12 23 2,836 231 1,045 1,773 Maine ................... 4 - 3 4 534 - 180 306 Maryland ................ 7 ( 2 ) 4 9 1,100 ( 2 ) 256 843 Massachusetts ........... 30 10 9 17 2,910 1,047 713 1,373 Michigan ................ 15 18 42 48 1,203 1,861 4,263 5,058 Minnesota ............... 50 7 17 44 5,096 511 2,845 3,849 Mississippi ............. 8 ( 2 ) 4 3 660 ( 2 ) 200 165 Missouri ................ 47 13 18 22 9,219 1,307 8,165 5,651 Montana ................. 8 ( 2 ) 5 5 1,363 ( 2 ) 360 428 Nebraska ................ 12 5 ( 2 ) 7 1,264 749 ( 2 ) 412 Nevada .................. 23 12 10 14 3,099 879 835 1,156 New Hampshire ........... 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 531 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 49 8 27 43 6,482 691 2,906 5,985 New Mexico .............. 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 206 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 212 New York ................ 82 38 44 59 10,518 3,384 3,855 5,648 North Carolina .......... 32 11 19 23 3,541 897 2,039 3,635 North Dakota ............ 4 - - 4 565 - - 474 Ohio .................... 84 29 66 75 7,749 2,979 7,316 6,464 Oklahoma ................ 16 5 12 3 2,419 359 1,614 406 Oregon .................. 53 5 39 26 5,958 375 3,784 3,058 Pennsylvania ............ 107 42 97 79 10,907 3,481 9,143 7,563 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 39 5 7 7 6,384 1,548 706 547 South Dakota ............ - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Tennessee ............... 20 5 4 8 2,220 608 303 1,014 Texas ................... 121 57 70 66 14,624 5,587 6,992 6,448 Utah .................... 11 - ( 2 ) 6 919 - ( 2 ) 596 Vermont ................. 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 957 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Virginia ................ 32 14 14 16 5,718 1,321 1,376 2,644 Washington .............. 49 14 25 32 5,637 1,624 2,475 2,751 West Virginia ........... 5 ( 2 ) - 5 439 ( 2 ) - 556 Wisconsin ............... 120 24 60 91 15,544 2,313 6,254 10,111 Wyoming ................. ( 2 ) - 3 - ( 2 ) - 216 - Puerto Rico ............. 4 7 7 - 399 573 567 - 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.