Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 07-0284 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, February 23, 2007 MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2007 In January, employers took 1,237 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 126,368, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of mass layoff events increased by 36 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims de- creased by 7,450. During January, 389 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 51,141 initial claims. Compared with the prior month, mass layoff activity in manufac- turing decreased by 1 event and by 2,687 initial claims. (See table 1.) The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in January, seasonally adjusted, essentially unchanged from the prior month (4.5 percent) and from a year earlier (4.7 percent). Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 111,000 over the month and by 2.1 million over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 34 percent of the total initial claims in January. The industry with the highest number of initial claims was temporary help services with 10,332, followed by heavy duty truck manufacturing with 6,238, and motion picture and video production with 5,122. Together, these three industries accounted for 16 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs during the month. (See table A.) The manufacturing sector accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 40 percent of all related initial claims filed in January; a year earlier, manufacturing made up 27 percent of events and 30 percent of initial claims. In January 2007, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (22,315, mostly in motor vehicle manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (4,525), and wood product manufacturing (4,342). (See table 3.) Administrative and waste services comprised 12 percent of events and initial claims filed over the month, with the majority of layoffs in temporary help services. Construction accounted for 14 percent of mass layoff events and 9 percent of initial claims in January, largely from specialty trade contractors. Eight percent of all mass layoff events and 7 percent of related initial claims filed were from retail trade, primarily from general merchandise stores. Transportation and warehousing made up 6 percent of events and 7 percent of associated initial claims, primarily from the school and employee bus transportation industry. Government establishments accounted for 4 percent of events and initial claims, largely from executive, legislative, and general government. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in January 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | January peak Industry |Initial |------------------------- | claims | | | | Year | Initial claims ------------------------------------------|--------|---------|--------------- | | | Temporary help services...................| 10,332 | 1998 | 26,224 Heavy duty truck manufacturing............| 6,238 | 2007 | 6,238 Motion picture and video production.......| 5,122 | 1998 | 12,038 School and employee bus transportation....| 4,738 | 2005 | 14,526 Professional employer organizations ......| 3,542 | 2005 | 5,258 Light truck and utility vehicle | | | manufacturing..........................| 3,477 | 2001 | 8,450 Highway, street, and bridge construction..| 3,436 | 2000 | 9,680 Automobile manufacturing..................| 3,391 | 2001 | 21,093 Farm labor contractors and crew leaders ..| 2,906 | 1999 | 5,859 Department stores, except discount .......| 2,071 | 1998 | 5,773 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in January, at 1,407, was up by 162 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 17,038 to 134,984. (See table 2.) The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+10,894), administrative and sup- port services (+4,538), and specialty trade contractors (+2,285). For transportation equipment manufacturing, states with the largest over-the- year increases in initial claims were Kentucky (+4,255), Illinois (+2,390), Ohio (+1,526), and Louisiana (+1,467). The largest over-the-year decreases in mass layoff initial claims were reported in general merchandise stores (-4,527), motion picture and sound recording industries (-2,528), and elec- trical equipment and appliance manufacturing (-1,451). Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in January due to mass layoffs was in the West, 41,239. Administrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording industries together accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest had the second largest number of initial claims among the regions, 38,412, followed by the South, 29,870, and the Northeast, 25,463. (See table 5.) The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year in three of the four regions--the South (+7,676), the West (+5,014), and the Midwest (+4,662). The Northeast region was almost unchanged, with initial claims declining by 314. Eight geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the numbers of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the Pacific (+3,843), the East South Central (+3,822), and the East North Central (+3,039). The only division with an over-the-year decrease was the Middle Atlantic (-1,898). - 3 - Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in January (33,560), followed by New York (10,678), Ohio (8,883), Pennsylvania (8,699), and Michigan (7,914). These five states accounted for 52 percent of all mass layoff events and associated initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) Kentucky had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+3,934), mostly due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufac- turing. States having the next largest increases in initial claims were California (+3,172), Ohio (+2,399), Illinois (+2,025), and Florida (+1,829). The largest over-the-year decreases in claims occurred in New York (-2,612), Virginia (-1,378), Michigan (-872), and Tennessee (-850). Note The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private nonfarm establishments, information on the length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days (referred to as "extended mass layoffs"). The quarterly release provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See table 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in February 2007 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 22. - 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, February 2003 to January 2007, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2003 February ................... 1,848 192,197 1,664 178,963 650 81,370 March ...................... 1,787 174,936 1,592 159,242 610 73,015 April ...................... 1,707 172,348 1,557 162,117 634 82,756 May ........................ 1,731 184,479 1,550 170,984 635 87,049 June ....................... 1,733 164,442 1,523 147,609 638 68,976 July ....................... 1,649 164,146 1,443 148,650 567 72,023 August ..................... 1,498 169,799 1,362 156,687 546 74,509 September .................. 1,562 147,054 1,370 132,262 479 57,332 October .................... 1,536 158,137 1,328 140,298 420 52,105 November ................... 1,366 138,079 1,223 126,597 377 49,716 December ................... 1,412 139,423 1,243 127,356 445 50,923 2004 January .................... 1,428 146,692 1,232 128,191 394 45,544 February ................... 1,320 134,626 1,170 122,329 367 40,849 March ...................... 1,372 139,716 1,237 130,737 401 59,987 April ...................... 1,374 140,190 1,202 124,962 349 38,197 May ........................ 1,209 113,091 1,047 99,615 330 38,965 June ....................... 1,403 141,048 1,231 128,137 366 47,015 July ....................... 1,330 137,484 1,180 126,106 372 51,424 August ..................... 1,394 127,671 1,224 113,376 345 36,963 September .................. 1,277 125,351 1,154 115,343 338 46,955 October .................... 1,288 132,250 1,172 122,831 362 47,571 November ................... 1,314 130,558 1,171 118,904 378 46,276 December ................... 1,170 114,641 1,013 103,434 301 33,022 2005 January .................... 1,489 160,986 1,353 150,640 383 56,133 February ................... 1,172 123,377 1,045 112,752 358 45,794 March ...................... 1,219 132,035 1,079 122,013 377 55,061 April ...................... 1,263 137,381 1,132 126,747 398 60,826 May ........................ 1,226 133,221 1,085 120,899 382 54,886 June ....................... 1,194 126,834 1,074 117,712 359 57,018 July ....................... 1,248 131,500 1,101 118,800 353 47,136 August ..................... 1,109 123,125 986 111,879 338 46,915 September .................. 2,217 292,177 1,998 246,227 419 56,289 October .................... 1,098 108,665 977 99,402 321 44,666 November ................... 1,167 115,803 1,036 104,576 330 43,307 December ................... 1,253 135,721 1,125 124,632 372 48,592 2006 January .................... 1,112 109,429 984 99,277 282 29,911 February ................... 1,065 112,742 973 105,055 329 46,548 March ...................... 1,105 120,954 1,003 112,730 335 50,149 April ...................... 1,175 121,376 1,041 111,369 365 48,038 May ........................ 1,098 113,195 982 103,839 297 42,993 June ....................... 1,130 123,558 1,007 113,037 331 40,500 July ....................... 1,160 118,843 1,038 109,509 372 49,069 August ..................... 1,218 131,105 1,083 120,923 367 58,983 September .................. 1,158 120,795 1,043 111,876 392 46,802 October .................... 1,186 119,914 1,069 111,036 401 55,795 November ................... 1,220 136,340 1,111 127,286 411 60,599 December ................... 1,201 133,818 1,099 124,526 390 53,828 2007 January .................... 1,237 126,368 1,095 115,615 389 51,141 Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, February 2003 to January 2007, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2003 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 .................... 905 91,941 757 80,694 249 37,276 November ................... 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442 December ................... 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 706 96,382 2006 January .................... 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 331 35,097 February ................... 719 66,555 658 62,208 210 24,892 March ...................... 921 111,838 856 106,177 285 44,688 April ...................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964 296 39,538 May ........................ 872 84,809 794 78,663 192 23,570 June ....................... 1,489 164,761 1,224 140,687 319 41,095 July ....................... 1,511 166,857 1,335 154,342 648 96,152 August ..................... 708 72,844 656 69,054 203 28,494 September .................. 865 87,699 785 81,274 296 39,076 October .................... 964 98,804 820 88,133 311 46,737 November ................... 1,315 136,186 1,172 125,009 455 58,473 December ................... 2,249 254,503 2,126 244,783 735 105,462 2007 January .................... 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475 456 53,615 Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry January November December January January November December January 2006 2006 2006 2007 2006 2006 2006 2007 Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,112 1,220 1,201 1,237 109,429 136,340 133,818 126,368 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 984 1,111 1,099 1,095 99,277 127,286 124,526 115,615 Manufacturing ............................... 282 411 390 389 29,911 60,599 53,828 51,141 Not seasonally adjusted Total (1) ................................. 1,245 1,315 2,249 1,407 117,946 136,186 254,503 134,984 Total, private .................................. 1,185 1,273 2,176 1,344 112,837 132,337 248,383 129,715 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 62 101 50 81 4,136 7,328 3,600 5,240 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,123 1,172 2,126 1,263 108,701 125,009 244,783 124,475 Mining ...................................... 4 7 28 10 309 648 3,048 769 Utilities ................................... (2) 3 3 (2) (2) 161 154 (2) Construction ................................ 125 212 423 194 7,942 17,364 36,426 12,426 Manufacturing ............................... 331 455 735 456 35,097 58,473 105,462 53,615 Food .................................... 46 59 80 59 3,589 7,222 8,557 4,525 Beverage and tobacco products ........... 9 8 6 6 599 502 468 456 Textile mills ........................... 13 14 18 16 1,214 2,247 2,480 1,703 Textile product mills ................... 7 9 9 9 655 1,325 758 1,132 Apparel ................................. 11 6 21 12 769 820 2,323 1,020 Leather and allied products ............. (2) (2) 5 (2) (2) (2) 493 (2) Wood products ........................... 27 53 59 46 2,995 5,044 6,359 4,342 Paper ................................... 6 9 13 7 405 854 1,415 572 Printing and related support activities . (2) (2) 12 13 (2) (2) 1,178 1,110 Petroleum and coal products ............. - 8 14 (2) - 635 1,396 (2) Chemicals ............................... 8 6 7 9 531 489 608 771 Plastics and rubber products ............ 17 24 48 22 1,305 2,716 5,674 1,513 Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 20 17 56 28 1,318 1,991 5,824 2,059 Primary metals .......................... 11 28 38 13 946 3,154 4,714 1,687 Fabricated metal products ............... 32 35 57 32 2,305 3,710 5,346 2,581 Machinery ............................... 12 34 38 24 899 6,563 5,676 2,309 Computer and electronic products ........ 22 21 24 15 1,678 1,711 2,085 1,351 Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 10 11 25 8 1,965 2,588 5,701 514 Transportation equipment ................ 52 79 159 104 11,421 13,352 38,811 22,315 Furniture and related products .......... 13 21 34 23 1,253 2,075 4,510 2,948 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 9 9 12 6 821 1,145 1,086 454 Wholesale trade ............................. 24 17 26 22 1,903 1,328 2,119 1,603 Retail trade ................................ 142 54 109 112 14,773 4,681 13,055 9,587 Transportation and warehousing .............. 102 48 165 88 10,634 3,583 19,172 9,275 Information ................................. 33 20 33 32 8,998 6,096 7,949 6,296 Finance and insurance ....................... 24 23 34 29 1,592 1,376 2,687 2,197 Real estate and rental and leasing .......... (2) 5 8 6 (2) 270 442 307 Professional and technical services ......... 22 27 50 28 3,258 3,137 5,572 3,088 Management of companies and enterprises ..... 4 5 3 (2) 287 387 130 (2) Administrative and waste services ........... 155 158 258 172 12,157 12,907 22,076 16,699 Educational services ........................ 7 3 4 5 456 200 288 647 Health care and social assistance ........... 21 21 31 14 1,385 1,696 2,450 776 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 28 27 26 26 1,888 2,266 1,760 1,897 Accommodation and food services ............. 81 81 175 56 5,898 9,883 20,735 4,124 Other services, except public administration 13 6 14 8 1,704 553 1,198 772 Unclassified ............................... 3 - 1 2 179 - 60 104 Government ...................................... 60 42 73 63 5,109 3,849 6,120 5,269 Federal ..................................... 16 10 12 21 1,596 970 1,215 2,311 State ....................................... 10 12 16 15 1,210 1,057 1,517 1,272 Local ....................................... 34 20 45 27 2,303 1,822 3,388 1,686 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero. Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2005 to January 2007, not seasonally adjusted Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates (1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 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 1,142 185,486 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 1,203 212,673 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 1,136 190,186 29.5 40.9 October ................. 905 91,941 757 80,694 November ................ 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 December ................ 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 Fourth Quarter .......... 4,482 462,326 4,004 425,629 1,400 (r)246,188 35.0 57.8 2006 January ................. 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 February ................ 719 66,555 658 62,208 March ................... 921 111,838 856 106,177 First Quarter ........... 2,885 296,339 2,637 277,086 963 (r)193,102 36.5 (r)69.7 April ................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964 May ..................... 872 84,809 794 78,663 June .................... 1,489 164,761 1,224 140,687 Second Quarter .......... 3,501 371,159 3,056 332,314 1,353 (r)264,494 44.3 (r)79.6 July .................... 1,511 166,857 1,335 154,342 August .................. 708 72,844 656 69,054 September ............... 865 87,699 785 81,274 Third Quarter ........... 3,084 327,400 2,776 304,670 (r)929 (r)160,813 (r)33.5 (r)52.8 October ................. 964 98,804 820 88,133 November ................ 1,315 136,186 1,172 125,009 December ................ 2,249 254,503 2,126 244,783 Fourth Quarter .......... 4,528 489,493 4,118 457,925 (2)(p)1,444 (2)(p)217,742 (p)35.1 (p)47.5 2007 January ................. 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475 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. r = revised. 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 January November December January January November December January 2006 2006 2006 2007 2006 2006 2006 2007 United States (1) .. 1,245 1,315 2,249 1,407 117,946 136,186 254,503 134,984 Northeast .................. 281 207 412 299 25,777 20,723 40,738 25,463 New England ............ 25 25 60 41 1,765 2,090 6,612 3,349 Middle Atlantic ........ 256 182 352 258 24,012 18,633 34,126 22,114 South ...................... 228 227 416 283 22,194 27,536 54,023 29,870 South Atlantic ......... 128 113 202 163 12,893 12,800 22,765 14,996 East South Central ..... 61 54 126 71 5,667 6,109 22,085 9,489 West South Central ..... 39 60 88 49 3,634 8,627 9,173 5,385 Midwest .................... 314 429 898 373 33,750 49,067 109,495 38,412 East North Central ..... 264 333 674 295 28,642 39,291 78,466 31,681 West North Central ..... 50 96 224 78 5,108 9,776 31,029 6,731 West ....................... 422 452 523 452 36,225 38,860 50,247 41,239 Mountain ............... 31 49 82 46 2,337 4,457 7,835 3,508 Pacific ................ 391 403 441 406 33,888 34,403 42,412 37,731 1 See footnote 1, table 3. NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the census divisions are: New England: New York, and Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, 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 January November December January January November December January 2006 2006 2006 2007 2006 2006 2006 2007 Total (1) ............ 1,245 1,315 2,249 1,407 117,946 136,186 254,503 134,984 Alabama ................. 9 12 30 19 821 1,512 3,438 1,792 Alaska .................. - 6 (2) (2) - 716 (2) (2) Arizona ................. 4 (2) 5 4 362 (2) 406 409 Arkansas ................ 3 5 7 (2) 346 1,014 836 (2) California .............. 346 327 374 366 30,388 27,433 34,848 33,560 Colorado ................ 8 9 15 11 603 691 1,483 818 Connecticut ............. 3 3 4 8 215 318 452 819 Delaware ................ (2) - - (2) (2) - - (2) District of Columbia .... - - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) Florida ................. 30 35 57 60 1,708 2,207 4,697 3,537 Georgia ................. 54 28 42 48 5,159 3,904 4,421 4,802 Hawaii .................. 5 (2) (2) 5 282 (2) (2) 562 Idaho ................... 6 12 11 10 427 963 1,191 646 Illinois ................ 37 55 149 48 3,499 5,849 17,195 5,524 Indiana ................. 33 44 82 38 4,053 7,285 10,123 3,388 Iowa .................... 12 19 62 15 1,255 2,352 10,039 1,772 Kansas .................. 6 7 23 11 459 822 2,626 689 Kentucky ................ 26 24 64 27 2,152 3,341 15,975 6,086 Louisiana ............... 13 13 9 7 936 1,229 901 1,891 Maine ................... (2) 4 6 7 (2) 322 452 495 Maryland ................ 11 9 28 11 859 1,236 2,825 1,000 Massachusetts ........... 14 9 22 16 1,001 665 2,256 1,235 Michigan ................ 89 82 184 88 8,786 10,636 22,842 7,914 Minnesota ............... 17 39 52 15 1,834 3,360 7,545 1,474 Mississippi ............. 7 8 6 3 469 443 569 236 Missouri ................ 11 26 75 34 1,305 2,448 9,687 2,593 Montana ................. (2) 7 6 5 (2) 789 513 452 Nebraska ................ (2) (2) 8 (2) (2) (2) 815 (2) Nevada .................. 10 15 26 7 724 1,704 2,076 547 New Hampshire ........... (2) (2) 8 (2) (2) (2) 793 (2) New Jersey .............. 28 47 91 38 2,550 7,197 7,948 2,737 New Mexico .............. - 5 10 (2) - 258 1,180 (2) New York ................ 129 33 106 113 13,290 2,918 11,731 10,678 North Carolina .......... 10 13 16 10 1,113 1,423 1,511 1,013 North Dakota ............ (2) 4 (2) (2) (2) 406 (2) (2) Ohio .................... 50 48 137 61 6,484 4,998 15,848 8,883 Oklahoma ................ 5 5 11 7 400 890 1,152 436 Oregon .................. 21 32 41 20 1,719 2,668 4,862 2,006 Pennsylvania ............ 99 102 155 107 8,172 8,518 14,447 8,699 Rhode Island ............ 4 (2) 11 7 311 (2) 1,885 489 South Carolina .......... 9 16 17 14 822 1,994 2,836 1,466 South Dakota ............ (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) Tennessee ............... 19 10 26 22 2,225 813 2,103 1,375 Texas ................... 18 37 61 33 1,952 5,494 6,284 2,845 Utah .................... (2) - 9 7 (2) - 986 494 Vermont ................. (2) 6 9 (2) (2) 582 774 (2) Virginia ................ 12 11 35 17 3,084 1,979 5,969 1,706 Washington .............. 19 36 21 14 1,499 3,390 2,350 1,528 West Virginia ........... (2) (2) 4 - (2) (2) 318 - Wisconsin ............... 55 104 122 60 5,820 10,523 12,458 5,972 Wyoming ................. - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ............. 12 7 17 12 964 626 1,977 1,257 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.