Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 06-1061 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, June 22, 2006 MASS LAYOFFS IN MAY 2006 In May 2006, employers took 1,074 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 109,858, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events declined by 74, and the number of associated initial claims de- creased by 8,646 from April 2006. In the manufacturing sector, 293 mass layoff events were reported during May 2006, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 42,006 initial claims. Both figures were lower than a month earlier. (See table 1.) In May 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, compared with 4.7 percent in April 2006 and 5.1 percent in May 2005. Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 75,000 from April to May 2006 and by 1.9 million over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 29,094 initial claims in May, 34 percent of the total. (See table A.) Temporary help services, with 8,156 initial claims, and food service contractors, with 5,078 claims, together accounted for 16 percent of all initial claims in May. The manufacturing sector accounted for 22 percent of all mass layoff events and 28 percent of all initial claims filed in May; a year earlier, manufacturing comprised 25 percent of events and 30 percent of initial claims. In May 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (7,657, mostly automotive-related), followed by food manufacturing (3,335). (See table 3.) Administrative and waste services accounted for 14 percent of events and 15 percent of initial claims filed in May 2006, with layoffs mainly in temporary help services. Nine percent of all layoff events and initial claims filed during the month were from retail trade, primarily in general merchandise stores. Accommodation and food services accounted for 8 percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims in May, mostly in food service contractors. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass layoff initial claims in May 2006 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Initial | May peak Industry | claims |------------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ---------------------------------------|---------|---------|--------------- | | | Temporary help services ...............| 8,156 | 2002 | 16,992 Food service contractors ..............| 5,078 | 1998 | 7,267 Motion picture and video production ...| 3,328 | 1999 | 8,985 Child day care services ...............| 2,824 | 2002 | 3,894 Discount department stores ............| 2,092 | 2002 | 3,981 Farm machinery and equipment mfg. .... | 2,004 | 2003 | 2,320 Professional employer organizations ...| 1,783 | 2003 | 3,446 Other social advocacy organizations ...| 1,565 | 2002 | 2,500 Department stores, except discount ....| 1,257 | 2002 | 2,391 Industrial building construction ......| 1,007 | 2003 | 3,463 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Government establishments accounted for 7 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims filed in May, largely in executive, legislative, and gen- eral government and in educational services. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events in May 2006, at 872, was down by 114 from a year earlier, and the number of as- sociated initial claims decreased by 16,549 to 84,809. This was the lowest number of layoff events reported for any May on record. It also was the lowest initial claims total since 1996. The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims were reported in transit and ground passenger transportation (-3,712), transportation equipment manufacturing (-3,249), motion picture and sound recording industries (-2,242), and specialty trade contractors (-1,996). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (+2,950) and machinery manufacturing (+1,303). Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in May due to mass layoffs was in the West, 27,009. (See table 5.) Administrative and support services, and motion picture and sound recording industries ac- counted for 34 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest had the second largest number of initial claims, 26,538, followed by the South with 18,518, and the Northeast with 12,744. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs decreased over the year in all four of the regions. The largest decrease was in the Northeast (-6,462), followed by the South (-4,175), the Midwest (-4,150), and the West (-1,762). Eight of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the num- ber of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the East North Central (-5,961) and Middle Atlantic (-5,506) divisions. The West North Central division had the only over-the-year increase (+1,811). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in May (22,138), followed by Illinois (6,641), New York (4,570), Michigan (4,028), and Texas (3,688). These five states accounted for 48 percent of all mass layoff events and initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) Michigan had the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-5,697), largely due to fewer layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing and in food manufacturing. New York had the next largest decrease in initial claims (-4,305), followed by Texas (-2,541). The largest over-the-year increase in claims occurred in Iowa (+2,754). From January to May, California reported 126,059 mass layoff initial claims, 25 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were New York (37,956), Michigan (31,688), and Ohio (31,496). - 3 - 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 lay- offs 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 June 2006 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 20, 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, June 2002 to May 2006, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 June ....................... 1,620 170,724 1,443 156,813 550 70,936 July ....................... 1,635 179,806 1,460 164,944 564 74,834 August ..................... 1,478 162,040 1,324 150,118 569 67,779 September .................. 1,911 218,875 1,747 203,849 617 80,528 October .................... 1,774 186,940 1,582 169,660 625 73,904 November ................... 1,652 178,402 1,507 167,335 613 71,693 December ................... 1,841 198,678 1,659 184,368 661 84,048 2003 January .................... 1,358 131,963 1,168 117,636 387 48,685 February ................... 1,825 190,928 1,647 178,363 646 78,819 March ...................... 1,782 175,671 1,595 160,170 617 72,409 April ...................... 1,722 174,608 1,564 163,607 640 83,303 May ........................ 1,719 184,003 1,542 170,961 625 86,535 June ....................... 1,716 164,299 1,524 148,542 636 68,143 July ....................... 1,642 163,179 1,442 148,299 580 74,070 August ..................... 1,517 171,861 1,367 158,049 551 74,602 September .................. 1,562 147,383 1,374 133,383 484 56,472 October .................... 1,558 156,814 1,336 138,691 427 52,009 November ................... 1,393 141,383 1,244 129,231 401 50,460 December ................... 1,426 144,456 1,265 132,324 434 50,994 2004 January .................... 1,421 142,704 1,223 124,192 395 48,519 February ................... 1,293 132,640 1,145 120,811 362 39,360 March ...................... 1,364 140,957 1,234 132,152 407 60,296 April ...................... 1,381 141,909 1,207 126,106 341 37,686 May ........................ 1,189 111,173 1,030 98,230 314 37,405 June ....................... 1,390 141,948 1,226 129,344 360 45,398 July ....................... 1,329 137,724 1,185 126,945 371 53,248 August ..................... 1,436 131,807 1,243 116,672 342 38,192 September .................. 1,283 125,344 1,155 115,499 344 45,691 October .................... 1,302 129,237 1,181 119,653 369 47,888 November ................... 1,350 135,036 1,202 122,954 407 47,517 December ................... 1,188 120,602 1,038 109,508 293 33,123 2005 January .................... 1,465 153,676 1,330 143,295 380 58,778 February ................... 1,135 120,190 1,010 109,964 350 43,966 March ...................... 1,204 133,935 1,071 124,273 384 56,253 April ...................... 1,278 139,575 1,145 128,478 390 60,726 May ........................ 1,194 129,214 1,059 117,660 359 52,055 June ....................... 1,184 128,430 1,065 119,271 349 53,930 July ....................... 1,248 131,136 1,107 118,994 356 49,070 August ..................... 1,145 127,592 1,006 116,011 334 48,904 September .................. 2,219 283,772 1,975 237,831 438 53,399 October .................... 1,114 104,584 986 94,798 328 45,475 November ................... 1,205 120,783 1,074 109,680 359 45,069 December ................... 1,308 149,565 1,185 138,234 365 49,641 2006 January .................... 1,113 108,378 985 97,832 274 29,541 February ................... 1,073 111,468 973 103,268 321 45,073 March ...................... 1,082 118,555 984 110,275 328 49,023 April ...................... 1,148 118,504 1,023 109,150 358 48,086 May ........................ 1,074 109,858 963 101,080 293 42,006 Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, June 2002 to May 2006, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 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 .................... 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 Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry May March April May May March April May 2005 2006 2006 2006 2005 2006 2006 2006 Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,194 1,082 1,148 1,074 129,214 118,555 118,504 109,858 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,059 984 1,023 963 117,660 110,275 109,150 101,080 Manufacturing ............................... 359 328 358 293 52,055 49,023 48,086 42,006 Not seasonally adjusted Total(1) .................................. 986 921 1,140 872 101,358 111,838 121,589 84,809 Total, private .................................. 915 897 1,098 813 95,006 109,302 118,236 79,738 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 24 41 60 19 1,674 3,125 5,272 1,075 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 891 856 1,038 794 93,332 106,177 112,964 78,663 Mining ...................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 385 213 Utilities ................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction ................................ 104 123 98 90 7,885 9,007 6,324 6,116 Manufacturing ............................... 249 285 296 192 30,424 44,688 39,538 23,570 Food .................................... 52 73 80 39 5,057 7,519 8,192 3,335 Beverage and tobacco products ........... ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 776 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Textile mills ........................... 5 8 14 8 507 951 2,935 780 Textile product mills ................... 4 ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) 260 ( 2 ) 773 ( 2 ) Apparel ................................. 14 10 12 6 1,007 1,012 1,724 525 Leather and allied products ............. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ........................... 15 18 24 12 2,191 2,430 2,342 853 Paper ................................... 9 7 5 7 737 668 333 527 Printing and related support activities . 11 9 9 10 764 616 804 860 Petroleum and coal products ............. - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Chemicals ............................... ( 2 ) 5 4 8 ( 2 ) 436 272 464 Plastics and rubber products ............ 9 15 12 5 686 1,492 912 341 Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 7 12 14 5 537 837 914 526 Primary metals .......................... 6 11 11 4 456 3,667 731 448 Fabricated metal products ............... 19 9 16 8 1,363 894 1,083 508 Machinery ............................... 14 20 10 9 1,129 2,024 1,387 2,432 Computer and electronic products ........ 17 11 13 11 1,678 1,296 946 1,058 Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 12 11 7 6 1,715 3,570 762 1,449 Transportation equipment ................ 40 42 39 35 10,906 14,958 14,093 7,657 Furniture and related products .......... 6 5 8 8 603 436 709 709 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 4 7 5 5 262 712 394 615 Wholesale trade ............................. 13 11 19 11 1,158 688 1,933 847 Retail trade ................................ 69 65 86 77 5,519 7,315 7,780 7,570 Transportation and warehousing .............. 67 47 152 30 6,782 6,326 19,558 2,270 Information ................................. 24 28 30 33 6,479 5,779 4,570 4,360 Finance and insurance ....................... 14 22 26 24 1,048 1,610 1,670 1,864 Real estate and rental and leasing .......... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 411 ( 2 ) 424 Professional and technical services ......... 35 22 41 35 4,895 2,467 5,776 3,019 Management of companies and enterprises ..... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ........... 113 120 134 122 9,384 14,361 10,725 12,323 Educational services ........................ 6 ( 2 ) 5 5 460 ( 2 ) 572 384 Health care and social assistance ........... 61 18 21 49 5,205 1,167 1,676 4,598 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 15 14 25 21 806 1,187 1,895 1,257 Accommodation and food services ............. 78 79 74 69 7,719 9,792 7,937 7,535 Other services, except public administration 32 ( 2 ) 17 23 3,290 ( 2 ) 2,000 2,078 Unclassified ............................... 1 7 4 1 42 556 240 39 Government ...................................... 71 24 42 59 6,352 2,536 3,353 5,071 Federal ..................................... 12 6 9 9 1,235 757 796 767 State ....................................... 12 7 10 6 712 844 909 308 Local ....................................... 47 11 23 44 4,405 935 1,648 3,996 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, April 2004 to May 2006, 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 2004 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 1,142 185,486 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 1,203 212,452 38.9 61.6 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 1,136 190,119 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 1,400 244,943 35.0 57.5 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 (2)(p)892 (2)(p)129,607 (p)33.8 (p)46.8 April ................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964 May ..................... 872 84,809 794 78,663 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 May March April May May March April May 2005 2006 2006 2006 2005 2006 2006 2006 United States(1) ... 986 921 1,140 872 101,358 111,838 121,589 84,809 Northeast .................. 186 124 308 134 19,206 12,955 34,615 12,744 New England ............ 27 22 52 30 4,039 1,849 6,268 3,083 Middle Atlantic ........ 159 102 256 104 15,167 11,106 28,347 9,661 South ...................... 232 176 177 204 22,693 21,001 18,283 18,518 South Atlantic ......... 114 95 98 100 9,445 11,298 10,728 8,321 East South Central ..... 51 39 41 51 5,346 4,819 4,108 5,259 West South Central ..... 67 42 38 53 7,902 4,884 3,447 4,938 Midwest .................... 248 259 243 220 30,688 40,581 34,494 26,538 East North Central ..... 193 199 203 157 23,477 32,836 30,704 17,516 West North Central ..... 55 60 40 63 7,211 7,745 3,790 9,022 West ....................... 320 362 412 314 28,771 37,301 34,197 27,009 Mountain ............... 36 34 47 28 2,859 3,380 5,769 2,637 Pacific ................ 284 328 365 286 25,912 33,921 28,428 24,372 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 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 May March April May May March April May 2005 2006 2006 2006 2005 2006 2006 2006 Total(1) ............. 986 921 1,140 872 101,358 111,838 121,589 84,809 Alabama ................. 9 7 9 13 1,204 660 741 1,347 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) - 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 694 ( 2 ) Arizona ................. 12 7 17 5 1,015 804 2,709 625 Arkansas ................ 6 3 5 ( 2 ) 514 189 432 ( 2 ) California .............. 252 283 321 259 22,741 29,527 24,551 22,138 Colorado ................ 6 ( 2 ) 6 5 458 ( 2 ) 768 443 Connecticut ............. 10 6 8 6 847 390 673 461 Delaware ................ - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) Florida ................. 53 44 34 48 3,192 4,033 2,363 3,165 Georgia ................. 22 20 20 17 1,998 1,880 4,191 1,734 Hawaii .................. 3 9 6 4 241 814 422 359 Idaho ................... 4 7 3 4 223 523 349 255 Illinois ................ 39 44 29 43 3,940 7,478 3,380 6,641 Indiana ................. 23 20 22 22 2,327 2,559 2,260 1,815 Iowa .................... 6 7 7 12 485 1,866 987 3,239 Kansas .................. 9 6 ( 2 ) 9 764 751 ( 2 ) 685 Kentucky ................ 18 21 17 17 1,601 3,310 2,174 2,065 Louisiana ............... 10 8 ( 2 ) 12 998 520 ( 2 ) 973 Maine ................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 234 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 314 Maryland ................ ( 2 ) 5 15 5 ( 2 ) 497 1,277 414 Massachusetts ........... 10 4 17 13 2,676 253 2,001 1,692 Michigan ................ 49 50 41 40 9,725 9,395 7,191 4,028 Minnesota ............... 9 10 12 11 1,314 882 814 2,678 Mississippi ............. 5 ( 2 ) 6 7 562 ( 2 ) 430 495 Missouri ................ 21 31 13 25 3,858 3,297 1,008 1,957 Montana ................. 3 ( 2 ) 3 3 358 ( 2 ) 220 182 Nebraska ................ 6 5 4 4 397 774 495 324 Nevada .................. 3 9 11 ( 2 ) 191 1,251 1,053 ( 2 ) New Hampshire ........... 3 ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 227 ( 2 ) 504 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 30 15 53 16 2,650 1,817 6,259 1,591 New Mexico .............. 4 3 ( 2 ) 4 348 161 ( 2 ) 570 New York ................ 80 36 102 40 8,875 3,566 13,386 4,570 North Carolina .......... 9 8 7 12 1,094 849 568 1,355 North Dakota ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Ohio .................... 42 32 53 30 3,349 6,956 12,182 3,102 Oklahoma ................ ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 966 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Oregon .................. 12 22 16 16 1,502 2,430 1,296 1,242 Pennsylvania ............ 49 51 101 48 3,642 5,723 8,702 3,500 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,528 ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 16 10 11 10 1,566 1,359 1,314 988 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Tennessee ............... 19 10 9 14 1,979 709 763 1,352 Texas ................... 49 25 30 37 6,229 3,209 2,354 3,688 Utah .................... 4 4 4 5 266 274 381 447 Vermont ................. - 8 13 4 - 848 1,311 404 Virginia ................ 11 6 9 7 1,365 805 830 593 Washington .............. 16 14 17 6 1,365 1,150 1,465 570 West Virginia ........... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Wisconsin ............... 40 53 58 22 4,136 6,448 5,691 1,930 Wyoming ................. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Puerto Rico ............. 15 17 8 60 1,308 1,742 767 14,229 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.