Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-171 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, June 13, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN APRIL 2000 In April 2000, there were 924 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 101,359. Both the number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the lowest for April since data collection for this program began in April 1995. (See table 1.) 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 April 2000, manufacturing industries accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff events and 32 percent of all initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were food and kindred products (8,209), primarily in canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and in canned and frozen specialties; and transportation equipment (4,092), mostly in motor vehicles and car bodies and in aircraft. (See table 2.) Services accounted for 24 percent of all layoffs and 30 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in business services (especially help supply services) and motion pictures. Layoffs in these two industries, however, are more likely than those in most other industries to last less than 30 days. Retail trade accounted for 10 percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of initial claimants during the month, mostly in eating and drinking places and general merchandise stores. Transportation and public utilities accounted for 8 percent of all mass layoff events and 9 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in local and interurban passenger transit. Compared with April 1999, the largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in industrial machinery and equipment (-7,790), food and kindred products (-3,747), and apparel and other textile products (-3,000). The largest increases in initial claims occurred in motion pictures (+3,044) and business services (+1,712). - 2 - Geographic Distribution In April, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the West (40,660) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in business services, motion pictures, and agricultural services accounted for 52 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (18,570). Over-the-year decreases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in all four regions: the Midwest (-12,938), South (-11,083), West (-6,691), and Northeast (-4,814). Among the geographic divisions, lower levels of initial claims over the year were reported mainly in the East North Central and South Atlantic. Eight of the nine divisions reported over-the-year decreases. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for April, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (33,018), primarily in motion pictures, business services, and agricultural services, followed by Pennsylvania (7,614), Texas (5,465), and Wisconsin (5,218). California accounted for 29 percent of all layoff events and 33 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From April 1999 to April 2000, Texas reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-4,720), mostly in oil and gas extraction and in heavy construction. Among the 10 states that reported over-the-year increases in initial claims, Tennessee had the largest (+1,313), mostly in transportation equipment. Technical Note The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state program that uses a standardized, automated approach to identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks, using data from each state's unemployment insurance database. Each month, states report on establishments which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive 5-week period. These establishments then are contacted by the state agency to determine whether these separations lasted 31 days or longer, and, if so, other information concerning the layoff is collected. States report on layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a quarterly basis. A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly unemployment insurance claims filings for the Sunday through Saturday weeks in that month. All weeks are included for the particular month, except if the first day of the month falls on Saturday. In this case, the week is included in the prior month's tabulations. This means that some months will contain 4 weeks and others 5 weeks, and the number of weeks in a given month may be different from year to year. Therefore, analysis of over-the- month and over-the-year change should take this calendar effect into consideration. The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 after it had been terminated in November 1992 due to lack of funding. Prior to April 1995, monthly layoff statistics were not available. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339. Definitions Initial claimant. A person who files any notice of unemployment to initiate a request either for a determination of entitlement to and eligibility for compensation, or for a subsequent period of unemployment within a benefit year or period of eligibility. Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed against an establishment during a 5-week period, regardless of duration. Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, April 1998 to April 2000 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1998 April ......................... 1,253 132,476 May ........................... 1,180 107,952 June .......................... 1,208 183,590 Second Quarter ................ 3,641 424,018 1,563 402,276 42.9 July .......................... 2,220 286,055 August ........................ 617 53,665 September ..................... 637 79,629 Third Quarter ................. 3,474 419,349 1,234 256,803 35.5 October ....................... 1,553 160,830 November ...................... 1,368 144,343 December ...................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter ................ 4,697 512,834 1,734(r) 325,990(r) 36.9(r) 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(r) 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(r) 242,351(r) 42.0 July .......................... 1,741 221,334 August ........................ 698 75,691 September ..................... 717 75,288 Third Quarter ................. 3,156 372,313 1,097(r) 189,732(r) 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(r) 286,538(r) 41.2(r) 2000 January ....................... 1,934 223,322 February ...................... 1,045 103,898 March(p) ...................... 986 106,748 First Quarter(p)............... 3,965 433,968 1,268 175,233 32.0 April(p) ...................... 924 101,359 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry April February March April April February March April 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ....................................... 1,270 1,045 986 924 136,885 103,898 106,748 101,359 Total, private ...................................... 1,216 1,022 958 894 132,699 101,817 104,069 98,620 Agriculture ....................................... 116 245 131 58 8,420 20,938 11,530 5,296 Nonagriculture .................................... 1,070 769 812 822 120,103 80,212 90,412 91,818 Manufacturing ................................... 445 260 327 314 56,080 29,907 37,624 32,656 Durable goods ................................. 196 125 163 148 27,623 16,945 19,238 15,854 Lumber and wood products .................... 14 18 33 18 888 2,198 3,252 1,473 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 6 10 13 8 671 856 1,060 720 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 6 7 10 11 421 382 716 804 Primary metal industries .................... 26 8 5 18 2,663 663 708 2,175 Fabricated metal products ................... 20 21 21 17 1,775 1,892 2,453 1,743 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 36 17 26 20 9,489 1,724 3,089 1,699 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 39 16 17 18 4,952 1,366 1,478 2,393 Transportation equipment .................... 34 23 24 27 5,384 7,438 5,293 4,092 Instruments and related products ............ 10 5 7 5 840 426 426 274 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 5 - 7 6 540 - 763 481 Nondurable goods .............................. 249 135 164 166 28,457 12,962 18,386 16,802 Food and kindred products ................... 106 73 73 75 11,956 6,490 8,713 8,209 Tobacco products ............................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,168 ( 2 ) Textile mill products ....................... 34 9 11 19 4,694 1,502 1,498 2,214 Apparel and other textile products .......... 48 21 33 33 5,855 2,342 2,561 2,855 Paper and allied products ................... 16 5 12 12 1,381 317 823 821 Printing and publishing ..................... 18 6 9 8 1,809 490 808 623 Chemicals and allied products ............... 7 7 6 3 623 508 1,461 157 Petroleum and coal products ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 9 8 11 9 878 599 1,076 1,131 Leather and leather products ................ 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 711 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 459 Nonmanufacturing ................................ 625 509 485 508 64,023 50,305 52,788 59,162 Mining ........................................ 21 8 5 ( 2 ) 2,469 726 338 ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 101 156 86 71 9,076 12,045 6,003 5,878 Transportation and public utilities ........... 83 31 44 76 9,682 2,957 5,414 9,103 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 145 114 138 114 14,259 10,081 14,755 11,652 Wholesale trade ............................ 34 26 29 25 3,282 2,054 3,346 2,668 Retail trade ............................... 111 88 109 89 10,977 8,027 11,409 8,984 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 33 25 21 ( 2 ) 2,444 1,510 2,032 ( 2 ) Services ...................................... 242 175 191 219 26,093 22,986 24,246 30,555 Not identified .................................... 30 8 15 14 4,176 667 2,127 1,506 Government .......................................... 54 23 28 30 4,186 2,081 2,679 2,739 Federal ........................................... 11 4 4 9 967 242 606 676 State ............................................. 19 12 12 7 1,694 1,120 1,112 894 Local ............................................. 24 7 12 14 1,525 719 961 1,169 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 April February March April April February March April 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) United States(1) ........... 1,270 1,045 986 924 136,885 103,898 106,748 101,359 Northeast .......................... 218 100 99 186 23,384 8,920 10,686 18,570 New England .................... 43 14 20 43 5,507 1,665 2,834 5,398 Middle Atlantic ................ 175 86 79 143 17,877 7,255 7,852 13,172 South .............................. 245 135 179 187 30,778 12,418 17,976 19,695 South Atlantic ................. 113 58 91 89 16,071 5,754 9,419 9,492 East South Central ............. 24 28 27 37 2,260 2,433 2,459 3,371 West South Central ............. 108 49 61 61 12,447 4,231 6,098 6,832 Midwest ............................ 271 127 199 201 35,372 12,971 26,477 22,434 East North Central ............. 215 101 144 161 26,535 10,046 17,973 17,412 West North Central ............. 56 26 55 40 8,837 2,925 8,504 5,022 West ............................... 536 683 509 350 47,351 69,589 51,609 40,660 Mountain ....................... 62 34 45 47 7,401 3,237 4,052 4,739 Pacific ........................ 474 649 464 303 39,950 66,352 47,557 35,921 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 April February March April April February March April 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ................... 1,270 1,045 986 924 136,885 103,898 106,748 101,359 Alabama ....................... 7 8 3 7 641 777 394 561 Alaska ........................ 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 778 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Arizona ....................... 19 4 18 14 2,698 381 1,901 1,612 Arkansas ...................... 6 ( 2 ) 4 4 730 ( 2 ) 291 622 California .................... 416 627 418 269 33,453 60,111 43,357 33,018 Colorado ...................... 8 3 5 3 670 286 503 312 Connecticut ................... 6 - ( 2 ) 3 478 - ( 2 ) 236 Delaware ...................... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) District of Columbia .......... - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - Florida ....................... 39 15 28 39 3,777 1,038 2,453 3,113 Georgia ....................... 10 10 14 6 1,387 1,390 1,010 622 Hawaii ........................ 8 ( 2 ) 4 6 615 ( 2 ) 341 382 Idaho ......................... 11 11 9 9 1,783 1,192 524 783 Illinois ...................... 47 22 37 41 6,599 2,330 5,110 4,729 Indiana ....................... 15 15 9 14 1,759 1,467 984 1,294 Iowa .......................... 14 6 6 10 2,545 555 696 946 Kansas ........................ 7 4 5 4 1,147 301 2,720 592 Kentucky ...................... 9 10 13 14 969 836 1,280 1,190 Louisiana ..................... 11 5 12 8 872 242 774 488 Maine ......................... 5 ( 2 ) 4 4 587 ( 2 ) 954 339 Maryland ...................... 5 4 3 3 345 254 199 251 Massachusetts ................. 23 7 6 17 2,920 580 903 2,424 Michigan ...................... 35 20 24 18 3,371 1,805 3,690 1,526 Minnesota ..................... 9 ( 2 ) 13 8 1,442 ( 2 ) 1,394 1,313 Mississippi ................... 7 6 6 5 599 468 431 256 Missouri ...................... 23 14 28 18 3,481 1,888 3,459 2,171 Montana ....................... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 289 Nebraska ...................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Nevada ........................ 19 10 11 12 1,853 923 974 1,322 New Hampshire ................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 335 New Jersey .................... 45 25 22 46 4,816 2,489 1,955 4,869 New Mexico .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 297 New York ...................... 25 9 5 10 2,676 671 351 689 North Carolina ................ 10 10 13 12 1,922 882 1,889 1,046 North Dakota .................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Ohio .......................... 47 18 28 40 5,691 1,604 3,104 4,645 Oklahoma ...................... 7 6 5 ( 2 ) 660 652 801 ( 2 ) Oregon ........................ 15 12 29 18 1,309 1,029 2,908 1,751 Pennsylvania .................. 105 52 52 87 10,385 4,095 5,546 7,614 Rhode Island .................. 7 5 4 9 1,331 928 341 1,417 South Carolina ................ 34 8 20 16 5,937 1,203 1,992 2,239 South Dakota .................. ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Tennessee ..................... ( 2 ) 4 5 11 ( 2 ) 352 354 1,364 Texas ......................... 84 37 40 47 10,185 3,216 4,232 5,465 Utah .......................... 4 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 304 320 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Vermont ....................... - - 3 6 - - 280 647 Virginia ...................... 12 7 11 12 1,970 504 1,617 1,175 Washington .................... 29 7 12 8 3,795 4,994 889 566 West Virginia ................. ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 483 ( 2 ) - Wisconsin ..................... 71 26 46 48 9,115 2,840 5,085 5,218 Wyoming ....................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................... 10 13 8 12 803 1,105 668 1,122 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.