Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 98-19 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 606-5902 Friday, January 23, 1998 MASS LAYOFFS IN OCTOBER 1997 In October 1997, there were 1,362 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to preliminary 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 134,742 persons. (Preliminary figures may not include all states.) The number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance was about the same as a year earlier. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers 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. See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Because the 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. For example, 3,378 layoff events involving 391,403 initial claimants for unemployment insurance occurred in July, August, and September of 1997 combined. The third-quarter 1997 figures for mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days, however, were 978 events and 138,545 claimants. Twenty-nine percent of all mass layoffs in the July-September period lasted for more than a month. (See table 1.) In all quarters for which data are available, the proportion of "extended" mass layoffs to all mass layoffs varied from about 29 to 47 percent. Industry Distribution In October 1997, manufacturing industries accounted for 27 percent of all mass layoff events and 33 percent of all initial claims filed. (See table 3.) Manufacturing industries that had the largest numbers of initial claimants were food and kindred products (10,588), primarily in canned and frozen fruits and vegetables; transportation equipment (8,591), mostly in motor vehicles and car bodies; and apparel and other textile products (5,334), mainly in men's and boy's work clothing. Within private-sector nonmanufacturing industries (including agriculture), the services industry accounted for 37 percent of the layoff events and 46 percent of the initial claims (primarily in business services and motion pictures). It should be noted that layoff events in business services (specifically help supply services) and the motion picture industry are more likely than those in other industries to last less than 31 days. Agriculture (mostly in farm labor contractors) contributed an additional 24 percent to layoff events and 18 percent to initial claims. Nonmanufacturing industries with the largest numbers of initial claims filed in mass layoff events were business services (18,665), agricultural services (9,937), and motion pictures (8,460). Compared with October 1996, the largest increases in initial claims occurred in business services (5,832), motion pictures (3,502) and food and kindred products (3,005). Transportation equipment experienced the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-11,089). State Distribution Among the 47 states and the District of Columbia reporting preliminary data for October, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (62,824), followed by Pennsylvania (13,578). These two states accounted for 62 percent of the total number of layoff events and 57 percent of initial claims reported. (At the time these figures were compiled, information for Arkansas, Iowa, and Michigan was not available.) California alone accounted for 51 percent of the layoff events and 47 percent of the initial claims. (See table 2.) From October 1996 to October 1997, California reported the largest over- the-year rise in initial claims (7,911), primarily in business services and motion pictures. Ohio had the sharpest over-the-year decline in initial claims (-4,373), 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 one month on a quarterly basis. 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: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577. 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, July 1996 to October 1997 Extended mass layoffs Event Date Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days realization rate (1) Events Initial Events Initial claimants claimants 1996 July................... 1,531 191,955 August................. 912 82,783 September.............. 509 42,132 Third quarter...... 2,952 316,870 1,018 195,007 34.5 October................ 1,289 131,879 November............... 1,429 130,310 December............... 1,811 203,115 Fourth quarter..... 4,529 465,304 1,908 366,052 42.1 1997 January................ 2,098 208,783 February............... 755 63,260 March.................. 771 83,148 First quarter...... 3,624 355,191 1,252 219,170 34.5 April ................. 1,266 151,958 May.................... 1,143 100,733 June(2) .............. 1,230 120,304 Second quarter..... 3,639 372,995 (2)1,539 (2)282,535 42.3 July(2) .............. (r)1,874 (r)234,586 August(2) ............ (r)969 (r)99,298 September(3) .......... (r)535 (r)57,519 Third quarter(p) .. 3,378 391,403 (4)978 (4)138,545 29.0 October(3) ............ (p)1,362 (p)134,742 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. 2 Data exclude Iowa. 3 Data exclude Arkansas, Iowa, and Michigan. 4 Data exclude Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, and Tennessee. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 1996 and October 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance State October October October October 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total( 1 ) ........................ r1,289 1,362 r131,879 134,742 Alabama ............................... 4 3 231 205 Alaska ................................ 3 5 188 376 Arizona ............................... 6 7 504 603 Arkansas .............................. 11 ( 1 ) 851 ( 1 ) California ............................ 645 698 54,913 62,824 Colorado .............................. 10 12 791 1,623 Connecticut ........................... 5 ( 2 ) 1,038 ( 2 ) Delaware .............................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - District of Columbia .................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida ............................... 32 63 1,719 3,963 Georgia ............................... 16 10 1,343 763 Hawaii ................................ 3 ( 2 ) 282 ( 2 ) Idaho ................................. 7 8 416 1,634 Illinois .............................. 44 35 4,139 3,186 Indiana ............................... 12 13 1,360 1,091 Iowa .................................. 4 ( 1 ) 276 ( 1 ) Kansas ................................ 4 6 1,503 414 Kentucky .............................. 5 8 350 889 Louisiana ............................. 4 8 305 987 Maine ................................. 4 - 309 - Maryland .............................. 6 10 799 3,269 Massachusetts ......................... 10 3 675 181 Michigan .............................. 15 ( 1 ) 3,181 ( 1 ) Minnesota ............................. 14 12 2,513 1,164 Mississippi ........................... 4 3 211 248 Missouri .............................. 20 20 3,651 1,950 Montana ............................... 3 ( 2 ) 233 ( 2 ) Nebraska .............................. - - - - Nevada ................................ 4 6 303 421 New Hampshire ......................... 3 ( 2 ) 371 ( 2 ) New Jersey ............................ 23 19 2,876 1,924 New Mexico ............................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York .............................. r27 41 r2,661 4,561 North Carolina ........................ 7 6 1,423 612 North Dakota .......................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Ohio .................................. 40 40 11,724 7,351 Oklahoma .............................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Oregon ................................ 9 15 1,588 1,256 Pennsylvania .......................... 123 144 11,961 13,578 Rhode Island .......................... 3 ( 2 ) 429 ( 2 ) South Carolina ........................ 18 4 2,499 259 South Dakota .......................... - - - - Tennessee ............................. 12 21 1,143 1,673 Texas ................................. 63 42 6,197 6,413 Utah .................................. - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Vermont .............................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Virginia .............................. 12 23 1,883 2,141 Washington ............................ 10 16 735 1,425 West Virginia ......................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............................. 32 44 2,685 5,578 Wyoming ............................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Puerto Rico ........................... 9 14 768 1,487 1 For October 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Arkansas, Iowa, and Michigan. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero. r = revised. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 1996 and October 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Industry October October October October 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total( 1 ) ...................................... 1,289 1,362 131,879 134,742 Total, private ....................................... 1,224 1,278 126,745 126,999 Agriculture.......................................... 192 212 14,267 14,198 Nonagriculture....................................... 940 1,036 102,333 109,629 Manufacturing...................................... 405 372 54,049 44,359 Durable Goods................................... 200 162 36,157 23,951 Lumber and wood products..................... 16 25 1,418 2,361 Furniture and fixtures....................... 19 8 1,703 1,043 Stone, clay, and glass products.............. 10 8 586 572 Primary metal industries..................... 13 15 3,246 1,918 Fabricated metal products.................... 13 17 1,347 1,780 Industrial machinery and equipment........... 33 22 4,651 4,296 Electronic and other electrical equipment.... 24 16 2,203 1,976 Transportation equipment..................... 55 32 19,680 8,591 Instruments and related products............. 10 10 691 741 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries....... 7 9 632 673 Nondurable goods................................ 205 210 17,892 20,408 Food and kindred products.................... 84 105 7,583 10,588 Textile mill products........................ 14 14 1,614 1,528 Apparel and other textile products........... 59 50 4,765 5,334 Paper and allied products.................... 13 12 1,222 816 Printing and publishing...................... 12 11 929 728 Chemicals and allied products................ 6 ( 2 ) 410 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products.................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products... 12 10 943 698 Leather and leather products................. ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 436 Nonmanufacturing................................... 535 664 48,284 65,270 Mining........................................... 8 7 578 404 Construction..................................... 88 95 6,061 6,915 Transportation and public utilities.............. 42 41 4,021 3,263 Wholesale and retail trade....................... 136 174 12,499 16,553 Wholesale trade............................... 27 26 1,982 2,334 Retail trade.................................. 109 148 10,517 14,219 Finance, insurance, and real estate.............. 16 23 1,056 1,828 Services......................................... 245 324 24,069 36,307 Not identified....................................... 92 30 10,145 3,172 Government............................................. 65 84 5,134 7,743 Federal............................................ 17 21 1,341 2,123 State.............................................. 16 21 1,182 1,994 Local.............................................. 32 42 2,611 3,626 1 For October 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Arkansas, Iowa, and Michigan. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for October 1996 due to the inclusion of new data for New York.