Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 02-697 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, December 24, 2002 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 2002 Employers initiated 2,150 mass layoff actions in November 2002, as mea- sured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to 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 240,028. (See table 1.) In November 2001, there were 2,721 mass layoff events involving 295,956 workers. In January through November 2002, both the total number of events, 17,799, and initial claims, 1,980,856, were lower than in January-November 2001 (19,027 and 2,245,969, respectively). 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 was obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reported on mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days (referred to as "extended mass lay-offs") and provided 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 are 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 Manufacturing industries accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events and 39 percent of all initial claims filed in November. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 41 percent of events and 51 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of initial claimants was highest in transportation equipment (14,322, mainly in light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing), followed by food processing (12,149, mostly in frozen fruits and vegetables) and machinery (11,280, largely in construction machinery). (See table 2.) Fifteen percent of all layoff events and 13 percent of all initial claims filed during the month were in construction, mostly in highway, street, and bridge construction. Twelve percent of the events and initial claims in November were from administrative and waste services, largely temporary help services. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting accounted for 11 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, pri- marily among farm labor contractors and crew leaders. Professional and technical services contributed an additional 3 percent to all events and 4 percent to all initial claims this November, mainly from payroll services. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Mass Layoff Statistics Program Is Discontinued | | | | This is the final news release for the Mass Layoff Statistics | | (MLS) program. Since 1994, the Department of Labor's Employment | | and Training Administration has funded the program. That funding | | will end on December 31, 2002. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) | | has been unable to acquire funding from alternative sources and must | | discontinue the MLS program. | | | | Limited historical data will continue to be available at | | http://www.bls.gov/mls/ on the BLS Web site. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - 2 - Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and of initial claims filed during the month, particularly in educational services. Compared with November 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-12,260). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in professional and technical services (+5,042). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in November due to mass layoffs was in the West, 86,809. (See table 3.) Administrative and support services and agricultural support activities accounted for 26 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest followed with 65,567 initial claims (mainly in heavy and civil engineering construction), then the South, with 53,960 (largely in admin- istrative and support services). The Northeast continued to report the lowest number of initial claims, 33,692, mostly in food services and drink- ing places. From November 2001 to November 2002, the number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined in three of the four geographic regions. The largest decrease occurred in the Midwest (-35,580), largely in transportation equip- ment manufacturing. Six of the nine geographic divisions reported over-the- year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest declines in the East North Central (-36,050) and South Atlantic (-10,623) divisions. The Pacific division reported the largest increase (+6,789). California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this November, 62,764, mostly in administrative and support services and in agriculture and forestry support activities, followed by Wisconsin (15,544), Texas (14,624), and Illinois (13,657). These four states accounted for 47 percent of all layoff events and 44 percent of initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) Thus far this year, 533,885 mass layoff initial claims were filed in California, 27 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims in that 11-month period were Texas (119,327) and Pennsylvania (109,113). Michigan reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-21,899), followed by Pennsylvania (-11,479). The largest over-the-year increases occurred in Missouri (+5,515) and New York (+5,134). 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 2000 to November 2002 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2000 October .................... 874 103,755 November ................... 1,697 216,514 December ................... 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,611 38.2 58.2 2001 January .................... 1,522 200,343 February ................... 1,501 172,908 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter .............. 4,550 544,717 1,765 340,210 38.8 62.5 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 401,270 41.5 68.1 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 370,942 36.8 61.8 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,698 502,287 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 1,748 314,966 35.0 55.8 April ...................... 1,507 165,861 May ........................ 1,726 180,007 June ....................... 1,580 161,928 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,796 1,905 347,321 39.6 68.4 July ....................... 2,041 245,211 August ..................... 1,247 128,080 September .................. 1,062 124,512 Third Quarter .............. 4,350 497,803 (2)(p)1,309 (2)(p)193,385 (p)30.1 (p)38.8 October (p) ................ 1,497 171,088 November (p) ............... 2,150 240,028 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 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................................... 2,721 1,062 1,497 2,150 295,956 124,512 171,088 240,028 Total, private .................................. 2,669 1,008 1,448 2,090 291,052 118,527 165,360 234,002 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 296 51 178 232 20,784 3,801 16,045 17,867 Mining ........................................ 23 7 8 17 2,707 513 565 1,477 Utilities ..................................... 3 ( 2 ) 7 3 191 ( 2 ) 575 246 Construction .................................. 319 80 116 321 29,219 5,735 9,738 30,604 Manufacturing ................................. 1,122 351 492 719 151,969 43,679 64,600 92,740 Food ...................................... 112 39 83 102 12,104 4,688 12,111 12,149 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 14 7 8 8 1,122 454 477 733 Textile mills ............................. 46 17 24 30 7,262 3,406 4,786 5,065 Textile product mills ..................... 10 13 12 6 1,593 2,543 1,511 655 Apparel ................................... 42 19 18 22 5,865 2,225 2,445 2,257 Leather and allied products ............... 11 3 5 5 905 240 384 645 Wood products ............................. 56 12 22 61 7,090 1,312 2,114 7,934 Paper ..................................... 28 9 11 16 4,248 1,007 968 2,116 Printing and related support activities ... 20 7 8 14 2,047 650 710 1,212 Petroleum and coal products ............... 8 - 5 10 832 - 651 902 Chemicals ................................. 15 8 8 12 1,660 977 598 928 Plastics and rubber products .............. 65 15 18 30 9,315 1,322 1,658 2,974 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 34 5 12 28 3,452 410 874 3,089 Primary metals ............................ 94 20 24 45 11,940 2,273 3,687 5,502 Fabricated metal products ................. 71 22 21 62 7,001 2,365 1,722 5,897 Machinery ................................. 115 28 47 60 17,625 3,657 8,309 11,280 Computer and electronic products .......... 99 47 63 65 12,252 5,146 6,926 5,911 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 50 23 25 22 9,039 2,679 4,879 2,636 Transportation equipment .................. 155 32 49 84 26,582 4,984 6,856 14,322 Furniture and related products ............ 44 17 14 22 4,824 2,834 1,749 4,986 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 33 8 15 15 5,211 507 1,185 1,547 Wholesale trade ............................... 44 20 23 33 3,411 1,708 1,948 3,907 Retail trade .................................. 112 93 112 96 10,411 10,095 15,506 9,094 Transportation and warehousing ................ 79 68 41 55 7,832 18,128 5,022 8,094 Information ................................... 74 47 53 58 8,122 6,585 9,019 6,884 Finance and insurance ......................... 38 26 25 44 3,144 2,530 2,123 3,655 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 12 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 13 954 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,231 Professional and technical services ........... 70 29 42 54 5,537 2,811 3,525 10,579 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 1,236 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 503 Administrative and waste services ............. 269 133 224 258 25,053 14,255 26,896 29,463 Educational services .......................... 3 5 - 4 171 369 - 267 Health care and social assistance ............. 28 18 28 38 3,310 1,299 1,902 3,390 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 34 19 17 34 3,346 2,157 1,263 3,323 Accommodation and food services ............... 95 49 58 91 9,718 4,056 5,057 9,206 Other services, except public administration .. 13 ( 2 ) 14 15 964 ( 2 ) 908 1,289 Unclassified .................................. 27 1 5 2 2,973 103 369 183 Government ...................................... 52 54 49 60 4,904 5,985 5,728 6,026 Federal ....................................... 10 9 9 11 1,020 1,703 815 879 State ......................................... 22 10 14 20 2,070 980 1,991 2,195 Local ......................................... 20 35 26 29 1,814 3,302 2,922 2,952 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: Beginning with data for January 2002, the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series from April 1995 to December 2001 are available on both SIC and NAICS bases. 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 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p United States(1) ..... 2,721 1,062 1,497 2,150 295,956 124,512 171,088 240,028 Northeast .................. 388 158 181 291 41,738 15,981 20,961 33,692 New England .............. 76 21 38 53 8,813 1,919 4,694 5,785 Middle Atlantic .......... 312 137 143 238 32,925 14,062 16,267 27,907 South ...................... 539 259 304 460 69,720 31,878 35,515 53,960 South Atlantic ........... 287 129 159 208 35,748 16,396 17,819 25,125 East South Central ....... 90 51 48 74 13,464 5,877 6,198 8,103 West South Central ....... 162 79 97 178 20,508 9,605 11,498 20,732 Midwest .................... 793 177 293 531 101,147 25,437 37,561 65,567 East North Central ....... 615 134 238 373 79,965 19,904 30,761 43,915 West North Central ....... 178 43 55 158 21,182 5,533 6,800 21,652 West ....................... 1,001 468 719 868 83,351 51,216 77,051 86,809 Mountain ................. 120 35 52 92 14,802 4,109 4,657 11,471 Pacific .................. 881 433 667 776 68,549 47,107 72,394 75,338 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 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................ 2,721 1,062 1,497 2,150 295,956 124,512 171,088 240,028 Alabama .................... 23 16 17 21 2,402 2,174 2,833 2,549 Alaska ..................... 6 ( 2 ) 4 7 651 ( 2 ) 301 662 Arizona .................... 17 9 16 7 1,663 1,618 1,169 572 Arkansas ................... 11 4 10 9 2,500 421 1,117 853 California ................. 782 376 612 663 57,804 39,691 65,044 62,764 Colorado ................... 29 6 13 20 3,044 561 1,142 2,090 Connecticut ................ 9 4 5 8 745 262 516 706 Delaware ................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ....... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Florida .................... 102 55 70 67 10,138 4,143 4,604 4,617 Georgia .................... 26 16 35 23 3,714 4,639 3,219 3,092 Hawaii ..................... 10 4 10 4 924 428 800 317 Idaho ...................... 27 4 5 21 3,250 287 708 3,202 Illinois ................... 106 41 57 105 13,648 6,707 8,676 13,657 Indiana .................... 65 16 22 49 8,775 2,512 3,629 5,762 Iowa ....................... 50 9 12 29 6,647 1,673 2,339 3,282 Kansas ..................... 13 3 8 16 1,613 196 768 2,226 Kentucky ................... 44 16 21 25 8,863 1,773 2,479 2,674 Louisiana .................. 29 12 12 32 3,419 761 954 2,836 Maine ...................... 7 ( 2 ) 4 4 827 ( 2 ) 680 534 Maryland ................... 11 7 10 7 878 815 1,263 1,100 Massachusetts .............. 41 12 21 30 4,617 988 2,318 2,910 Michigan ................... 158 14 39 15 23,102 1,544 4,111 1,203 Minnesota .................. 62 9 17 50 6,934 1,142 2,000 5,096 Mississippi ................ 7 6 5 8 499 782 429 660 Missouri ................... 33 15 16 47 3,704 1,886 1,238 9,219 Montana .................... 5 - 3 8 562 - 327 1,363 Nebraska ................... 10 6 ( 2 ) 12 1,347 583 ( 2 ) 1,264 Nevada ..................... 18 13 11 23 2,730 1,133 1,043 3,099 New Hampshire .............. 6 3 5 6 1,277 514 543 531 New Jersey ................. 48 29 23 49 5,155 3,424 2,561 6,482 New Mexico ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York ................... 51 49 41 82 5,384 5,137 5,226 10,518 North Carolina ............. 46 11 12 32 4,764 1,208 1,494 3,541 North Dakota ............... 8 - ( 2 ) 4 809 - ( 2 ) 565 Ohio ....................... 103 34 58 84 10,918 5,468 7,178 7,749 Oklahoma ................... 14 ( 2 ) 5 16 2,648 ( 2 ) 957 2,419 Oregon ..................... 54 30 20 53 6,674 3,965 3,123 5,958 Pennsylvania ............... 213 59 79 107 22,386 5,501 8,480 10,907 Rhode Island ............... 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 772 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina ............. 61 18 19 39 10,651 2,220 4,555 6,384 South Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Tennessee .................. 16 13 5 20 1,700 1,148 457 2,220 Texas ...................... 108 62 70 121 11,941 8,280 8,470 14,624 Utah ....................... 20 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 11 3,184 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 919 Vermont .................... 7 - ( 2 ) 3 575 - ( 2 ) 957 Virginia ................... 35 19 8 32 5,125 3,092 619 5,718 Washington ................. 29 21 21 49 2,496 2,889 3,126 5,637 West Virginia .............. 3 ( 2 ) 3 5 229 ( 2 ) 468 439 Wisconsin .................. 183 29 62 120 23,522 3,673 7,167 15,544 Wyoming .................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ................ 13 9 4 4 1,524 873 402 399 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.