Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 08-0091 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Thursday, January 24, 2008 MASS LAYOFFS IN DECEMBER 2007 AND ANNUAL TOTALS FOR 2007 In December, employers took 1,433 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 employer; the number of workers involved totaled 141,750 on a seasonally adjusted basis. December layoff events were the highest since September 2005 (which reflected the impact of Hurricane Katrina) and were the highest for the month of December since 2002. The number of mass layoff events in December 2007 increased by 104 from the prior month, while the num- ber of associated initial claims increased by 2,079. In December, 462 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 58,108 initial claims. Over the month, mass layoff activity in manufacturing increased by 48 events, and initial claims increased by 1,143. (See table 1.) For all of 2007, the total numbers of mass layoff events, at 15,493, and initial claims, at 1,598,875, were higher than in 2006, when the totals were 13,998 and 1,484,391, respectively. The finance and insurance industry registered series highs for mass layoff events and initial claims in 2007. This reflected increased layoffs in the credit intermediation and related activities industry, which includes real estate credit, commercial banking, and mortgage and nonmortgage lending brokers. For all of 2006, layoff events had hit a series low, and the number of initial claimants was the lowest reported since 1996. The national unemployment rate was 5.0 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, up from 4.7 percent in the prior month and from 4.4 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 18,000 in December and by 1.3 million from a year earlier. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 35 percent of all such claims in December. The industry with the highest number of initial claims was highway, street, and bridge construction with 14,684, followed by food ser- vice contractors (12,518), school and employee bus transportation (11,362), and temporary help services (9,745). Together, these four industries ac- counted for 22 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs during the month. (See table A.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data | | | | Seasonally adjusted mass layoffs data have been revised using | | updated seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2007 data. | | Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2003 were subject | | to revision. Revised seasonally adjusted data from January 2004 | | forward are shown in table 1. The originally published and re- | | vised figures for January 2003-December 2007 are available at | | http://www.bls.gov/mls/home.htm, along with additional informa- | | tion about the revisions. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in December 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | December peak Industry |Initial |---------------------- | claims | | | | Year |Initial claims -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Highway, street, and bridge construction..| 14,684 | 2005 | 20,088 Food service contractors .................| 12,518 | 2006 | 13,903 School and employee bus transportation ...| 11,362 | 2006 | 14,747 Temporary help services ..................| 9,745 | 2005 | 16,656 Motion picture and video production ......| 7,061 | 1998 | 16,192 Heavy duty truck manufacturing ...........| 6,875 | 2006 | 7,443 Automobile manufacturing .................| 4,371 | 2005 | 9,021 All other motor vehicle parts | | | manufacturing ..........................| 3,847 | 2007 | 3,847 AC, refrigeration, and forced air | | | heating ................................| 3,625 | 2007 | 3,625 Professional employer organizations ......| 3,565 | 2000 | 4,032 | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The manufacturing sector accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 41 percent of all related initial claims filed in December; a year earlier, manufacturing made up 33 percent of events and 41 percent of initial claims. In December 2007, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (31,910--largely in heavy duty truck manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (10,267) and machinery manufacturing (6,864). (See table 3.) Construction accounted for 21 percent of mass layoff events and 16 percent of initial claims in December, primarily from heavy and civil engineering construction. Administrative and waste services comprised 10 percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims, primarily from temporary help services and professional employer organizations. Accommodation and food services made up 7 percent of all mass layoff events and 8 percent of related initial claims, mainly from food service contractors. Seven percent of all mass layoff events and related initial claims filed were from transportation and warehousing, largely from the school and employee bus transportation industry. Due, in part, to a calendar effect, the number of mass layoff events in December, at 2,167, was down by 82 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 30,289 to 224,214. (See table 2.) (December 2007 contained 4 weeks compared with 5 weeks in December 2006.) The average weekly number of events in December 2007 compared with December 2006 increased from 450 to 542, and the average weekly initial claimants increased from 50,901 to 56,054. Both weekly averages are at the highest levels for the month of December since 2002. The largest over-the-year increases in December 2007 average weekly initial claims associated with mass layoffs occurred in food manufacturing (+855), specialty trade contractors (+804), machinery manufacturing (+581), motion picture and sound recording (+534), construction of buildings (+526), and food and drinking places (+513). The largest decrease occurred in electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing (-766). - 3 - Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the 4 census regions, the highest number of initial claims in December due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 97,346. Two industries-- transportation equipment manufacturing and heavy and civil engineering construction--accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The South had the second largest number of initial claims among the regions, 47,505, followed by the West with 42,504 and the Northeast with 36,859. (See table 5.) The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs decreased over the year in all 4 regions and in 8 of the 9 divisions, due, in part, to a calendar effect. However, all 4 regions experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims--the Midwest (+2,438), the South (+1,072), the Northeast (+1,067), and the West (+577). Seven of the 9 divisions had over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, led by the East North Central (+2,900). California recorded the highest number of initial claims in December due to mass layoff events (30,590), reflecting layoffs in motion picture and sound recording industries and in administrative and support services. Other states with large numbers of mass layoff-related claims were Michigan (25,005), Pennsylvania (15,993), Illinois (15,012), and Ohio (14,909). These five states accounted for 48 percent of all mass layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance in December. (See table 6.) The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs decreased over the year in 33 states and the District of Columbia, due, in part, to a calendar effect. Twenty-five states reported over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims associated with mass layoffs, led by Michigan (+1,683) and Pennsylvania (+1,109). For Michigan, the highest average initial claims occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing, and for Pennsylvania, food manufacturing had the highest activity. States with the largest over- the-year decreases were New York (-671) and Virginia (-596). Review of 2007 For all of 2007, the total numbers of mass layoff events, at 15,493, and initial claims, at 1,598,875, were higher than in 2006, when the totals were 13,998 and 1,484,391, respectively. For all of 2006, layoff events had hit a series low, and the number of initial claimants was the lowest reported since 1996. (See table B.) - 4 - Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, 1996-2007 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Initial claimants for Year | Layoff events | unemployment insurance | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1996 ........................| 14,111 | 1,437,628 1997 ........................| 14,960 | 1,542,543 1998 ........................| 15,904 | 1,771,069 1999 ........................| 14,909 | 1,572,399 2000 ........................| 15,738 | 1,835,592 2001 ........................| 21,467 | 2,514,862 2002 ........................| 20,277 | 2,245,051 2003 ........................| 18,963 | 1,888,926 2004 ........................| 15,980 | 1,607,158 2005 ........................| 16,466 | 1,795,341 2006 ........................| 13,998 | 1,484,391 2007 ........................| 15,493 | 1,598,875 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The 10 detailed industries with the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in 2007 accounted for 30 percent of the total for the year. (See table C.) Temporary help services and school and employee bus transportation ranked first and second among the 10 industries in both 2007 and 2006. In 2007, elementary and secondary schools entered the top 10 industries in terms of initial claims, displacing light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing. Manufacturing accounted for 30 percent of all mass layoff events and 38 percent of initial claims filed during 2007, about the same as 2006 (31 and 39 percent, respectively). The number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing, 228,213, followed by food manufacturing, 62,141, and machinery manufacturing, 45,831. Among the major industry sectors, manufacturing had the largest over-the- year increase in mass layoff-related initial claims (+26,941) from 2006 to 2007. Within manufacturing, transportation equipment (+6,956), wood products (+6,876), machinery (+5,762), and primary metals (+5,150) experienced the largest increases from the previous year. Construction had the second largest increase (+26,335) among the major industry sectors, due to more layoff acti- vity in specialty trade contractors (+11,445), heavy civil engineering (+10,076), and construction of buildings (+4,814). Finance and insurance registered series highs for mass layoff events and initial claims in 2007. This reflected increased layoffs in the credit inter- mediation and related activities industry, which includes real estate credit, commercial banking, and mortgage and nonmortgage lending brokers. For the second straight year, mining had a series low in mass layoff initial claimants during 2007. The Midwest reported the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoffs during 2007 than any other region with 509,431. Layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of the claims in the Midwest. Administrative and support services, heavy and civil engineering construction, and machinery manufacturing accounted for an additional 17 percent of layoffs in that region in 2007. The fewest number of mass layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast (273,079). From 2006 to 2007, all 4 regions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims from mass layoffs, led by the West (+51,536) and South (+43,920). Seven of the 9 divisions also experienced higher claimant activity in mass layoffs when compared with 2006, with the largest increases occurring in the Pacific (+43,924), the Middle Atlantic (+20,894), and the East South Central (+19,253) divisions. - 5 - Table C. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 2007 | 2006 |---------------------------------- Industry | Initial | | Initial | | claims | Rank | claims | Rank ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Temporary help services ..................| 96,991 | 1 | 93,740 | 1 School and employee bus transportation ...| 76,230 | 2 | 74,116 | 2 Food service contractors .................| 57,131 | 3 | 52,428 | 4 Automobile manufacturing .................| 51,746 | 4 | 59,711 | 3 Motion picture and video production ......| 51,133 | 5 | 50,553 | 5 Highway, street, and bridge construction .| 40,804 | 6 | 36,264 | 6 Heavy duty truck manufacturing ...........| 31,076 | 7 | 25,280 | 8 Professional employer organizations ......| 31,062 | 8 | 25,291 | 7 Discount department stores ...............| 20,887 | 9 | 22,372 | 10 Elementary and secondary schools .........| 20,385 | 10 | 20,132 | 11 | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events during 2007 (357,994), 22 percent of the national total. The states with the next highest numbers of initial claims were Michigan (125,942), Pennsylvania (108,128), Ohio (83,429), and Illinois (80,477). Forty-nine percent of events and 47 percent of all initial claims during 2007 were from these five states. New Mexico was the only state to report a series high in mass layoff claimant activity, while 5 states--Alaska, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Virginia--recorded series lows. California reported the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+40,087), followed by Pennsylvania (+18,569) and Alabama (+16,013). The largest over-the-year decreases were reported in Indiana (-8,472), Virginia (-8,146), and Minnesota (-6,498). 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 quar- terly 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 Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter 2007 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 14, 2008. The report on Mass Layoffs in January 2008 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 27. -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Upcoming Changes to Mass Layoff Data | | | | With the release of January 2008 data on February 27, 2008, | | the Mass Layoff Statistics program will revise the basis for | | industry classification from the 2002 North American Industry | | Classification System (NAICS) to the 2007 NAICS. The new class- | | ification reflects minor definitional changes within manufactur- | | ing, telecommunications, financial activities, and professional, | | scientific, and technical services. Several industry titles and | | descriptions will also be updated. | | | | For additional information on the 2007 NAICS, see http://www. | | census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. | -------------------------------------------------------------------- - 6 - 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 employers which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive 5-week period. These employers 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 Employer. Employers in the MLS program include those covered by state unemployment insurance laws. Information on employers is obtained from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which is administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 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 employer 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, January 2004 to December 2007, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2004 January .................... 1,413 145,872 1,225 128,287 393 48,671 February ................... 1,300 133,526 1,151 120,918 366 39,682 March ...................... 1,364 139,304 1,228 130,123 398 58,980 April ...................... 1,360 139,185 1,193 124,432 351 37,760 May ........................ 1,224 114,810 1,059 100,854 339 39,045 June ....................... 1,400 141,168 1,231 128,245 371 47,243 July ....................... 1,329 137,805 1,178 126,301 376 50,799 August ..................... 1,426 128,759 1,233 113,809 343 36,539 September .................. 1,285 127,833 1,154 116,843 336 45,690 October .................... 1,283 132,766 1,169 123,471 363 47,046 November ................... 1,320 130,873 1,174 119,029 380 45,416 December ................... 1,148 111,060 991 99,784 287 31,935 2005 January .................... 1,475 160,725 1,346 151,028 382 61,324 February ................... 1,146 121,455 1,020 110,480 353 43,568 March ...................... 1,207 131,271 1,066 120,945 372 53,673 April ...................... 1,252 136,752 1,125 126,550 401 60,681 May ........................ 1,248 136,420 1,104 123,495 398 54,999 June ....................... 1,196 127,084 1,078 118,012 368 58,300 July ....................... 1,250 132,445 1,103 119,566 357 46,602 August ..................... 1,144 125,686 1,000 113,762 341 47,598 September .................. 2,248 297,544 2,028 251,185 417 55,304 October .................... 1,101 110,035 982 100,934 321 43,230 November ................... 1,176 114,965 1,042 103,535 332 42,071 December ................... 1,261 134,461 1,132 123,418 360 46,863 2006 January .................... 1,107 110,800 988 101,494 283 34,037 February ................... 1,031 109,798 940 101,828 322 43,147 March ...................... 1,084 119,049 983 110,668 323 48,119 April ...................... 1,171 121,580 1,043 112,175 368 49,568 May ........................ 1,124 117,115 1,005 107,181 314 43,087 June ....................... 1,146 123,827 1,030 114,080 352 44,869 July ....................... 1,179 121,017 1,051 111,336 372 48,534 August ..................... 1,270 135,400 1,107 124,427 377 60,906 September .................. 1,173 123,767 1,056 114,677 385 45,767 October .................... 1,191 121,827 1,076 113,123 399 53,601 November ................... 1,232 133,803 1,121 124,559 414 58,385 December ................... 1,194 131,062 1,092 121,796 374 51,408 2007 January .................... 1,254 128,223 1,118 117,824 391 52,858 February ................... 1,352 143,837 1,238 135,066 416 61,749 March ...................... 1,277 130,981 1,169 122,488 412 52,606 April ...................... 1,243 126,977 1,116 116,926 382 43,930 May ........................ 1,199 120,587 1,096 113,069 370 48,910 June ....................... 1,238 129,858 1,116 120,165 351 40,670 July ....................... 1,247 127,687 1,140 119,614 392 51,333 August ..................... 1,228 121,886 1,128 114,628 335 36,518 September .................. 1,307 128,487 1,204 121,294 430 53,432 October .................... 1,347 136,124 1,224 127,163 430 57,695 November ................... 1,329 139,671 1,215 131,390 414 56,965 December ................... 1,433 141,750 1,315 133,024 462 58,108 Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2004 to December 2007, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 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 February ................... 935 86,696 861 82,097 273 36,170 March ...................... 1,082 123,974 1,015 118,431 367 49,886 April ...................... 1,219 127,444 1,115 118,040 309 35,229 May ........................ 923 85,816 856 81,153 224 26,527 June ....................... 1,599 172,810 1,318 148,669 313 36,571 July ....................... 1,599 175,419 1,450 164,939 684 101,390 August ..................... 963 93,458 908 88,345 220 23,361 September .................. 717 67,385 667 64,026 246 29,381 October .................... 1,083 108,455 929 97,716 338 50,918 November ................... 1,799 198,220 1,593 181,184 514 75,413 December ................... 2,167 224,214 2,071 216,898 699 91,754 Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry December October November December December October November December 2006 2007 2007 2007 2006 2007 2007 2007 Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,194 1,347 1,329 1,433 131,062 136,124 139,671 141,750 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,092 1,224 1,215 1,315 121,796 127,163 131,390 133,024 Manufacturing ............................... 374 430 414 462 51,408 57,695 56,965 58,108 Not seasonally adjusted Total (1) ................................. 2,249 1,083 1,799 2,167 254,503 108,455 198,220 224,214 Total, private .................................. 2,176 1,033 1,729 2,102 248,383 103,897 191,917 219,227 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 50 104 136 31 3,600 6,181 10,733 2,329 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 2,126 929 1,593 2,071 244,783 97,716 181,184 216,898 Mining ...................................... 28 (2) 11 2 3,048 (2) 928 2,136 Utilities ................................... 3 - (2) 4 154 - (2) 225 Construction ................................ 423 114 324 461 36,426 7,126 28,277 35,564 Manufacturing ............................... 735 338 514 699 105,462 50,918 75,413 91,754 Food .................................... 80 50 62 68 8,557 5,264 6,642 10,267 Beverage and tobacco products ........... 6 8 9 7 468 603 746 640 Textile mills ........................... 18 8 27 12 2,480 732 5,381 2,281 Textile product mills ................... 9 4 5 8 758 232 608 848 Apparel ................................. 21 6 10 16 2,323 408 625 1,311 Leather and allied products ............. 5 (2) 4 4 493 (2) 376 435 Wood products ........................... 59 31 69 59 6,359 3,582 8,094 5,698 Paper ................................... 13 10 9 5 1,415 708 696 571 Printing and related support activities . 12 7 11 11 1,178 434 763 830 Petroleum and coal products ............. 14 (2) 8 12 1,396 (2) 624 1,163 Chemicals ............................... 7 6 6 12 608 907 668 995 Plastics and rubber products ............ 48 11 27 57 5,674 1,133 2,568 5,069 Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 56 8 24 61 5,824 440 2,493 5,979 Primary metals .......................... 38 16 27 37 4,714 1,579 2,955 4,022 Fabricated metal products ............... 57 18 24 55 5,346 1,367 2,341 5,252 Machinery ............................... 38 18 40 37 5,676 5,459 6,289 6,864 Computer and electronic products ........ 24 10 13 21 2,085 674 987 1,559 Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 25 12 15 16 5,701 1,516 5,418 1,495 Transportation equipment ................ 159 88 93 171 38,811 23,399 23,323 31,910 Furniture and related products .......... 34 18 23 19 4,510 1,504 3,164 2,868 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 12 5 8 11 1,086 538 652 1,697 Wholesale trade ............................. 26 13 40 24 2,119 1,571 3,095 1,762 Retail trade ................................ 109 66 93 103 13,055 5,881 8,199 8,839 Transportation and warehousing .............. 165 31 82 150 19,172 3,153 7,499 15,573 Information ................................. 33 33 28 51 7,949 3,645 5,386 8,770 Finance and insurance ....................... 34 60 43 36 2,687 4,640 3,898 2,311 Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 8 8 7 6 442 616 539 322 Professional and technical services ......... 50 26 51 50 5,572 1,968 7,435 5,303 Management of companies and enterprises ..... 3 5 (2) 5 130 382 (2) 448 Administrative and waste services ........... 258 140 217 218 22,076 10,778 22,050 19,367 Educational services ........................ 4 (2) - 8 288 (2) - 487 Health care and social assistance ........... 31 20 24 31 2,450 1,708 2,522 2,484 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 26 21 36 20 1,760 1,521 3,543 1,238 Accommodation and food services ............. 175 47 107 158 20,735 3,346 10,865 18,717 Other services, except public administration 14 3 10 19 1,198 175 1,062 1,598 Unclassified ................................ 1 1 1 - 60 74 57 - Government ...................................... 73 50 70 65 6,120 4,558 6,303 4,987 Federal ..................................... 12 16 19 10 1,215 1,412 1,928 841 State ....................................... 16 16 20 12 1,517 1,431 1,786 1,016 Local ....................................... 45 18 31 43 3,388 1,715 2,589 3,130 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, October 2005 to December 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 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 1,400 246,188 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 2,637 277,086 963 193,510 36.5 69.8 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 1,353 264,927 44.3 79.7 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 2,776 304,670 929 161,764 33.5 53.1 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 1,640 330,887 39.8 72.3 2007 January .................... 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475 February ................... 935 86,696 861 82,097 March ...................... 1,082 123,974 1,015 118,431 First Quarter .............. 3,424 345,654 3,139 325,003 1,111 198,991 35.4 61.2 April ...................... 1,219 127,444 1,115 118,040 May ........................ 923 85,816 856 81,153 June ....................... 1,599 172,810 1,318 148,669 Second Quarter ............. 3,741 386,070 3,289 347,862 1,421 258,256 43.2 74.2 July ....................... 1,599 175,419 1,450 164,939 August ..................... 963 93,458 908 88,345 September .................. 717 67,385 667 64,026 Third Quarter .............. 3,279 336,262 3,025 317,310 (2)(p)931 (2)(p)115,742 (p)30.8 (p)36.5 October .................... 1,083 108,455 929 97,716 November ................... 1,799 198,220 1,593 181,184 December ................... 2,167 224,214 2,071 216,898 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,049 530,889 4,593 495,798 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 December October November December December October November December 2006 2007 2007 2007 2006 2007 2007 2007 United States (1) ... 2,249 1,083 1,799 2,167 254,503 108,455 198,220 224,214 Northeast ................... 412 141 355 392 40,738 12,152 34,766 36,859 New England ............. 60 9 38 56 6,612 614 3,754 5,777 Middle Atlantic ......... 352 132 317 336 34,126 11,538 31,012 31,082 South ....................... 416 230 350 388 54,023 23,180 42,139 47,505 South Atlantic .......... 202 131 180 192 22,765 11,952 19,924 18,797 East South Central ...... 126 51 91 120 22,085 6,791 9,831 18,538 West South Central ...... 88 48 79 76 9,173 4,437 12,384 10,170 Midwest ..................... 898 261 483 884 109,495 38,853 62,163 97,346 East North Central ...... 674 215 389 667 78,466 32,840 51,952 74,374 West North Central ...... 224 46 94 217 31,029 6,013 10,211 22,972 West ........................ 523 451 611 503 50,247 34,270 59,152 42,504 Mountain ................ 82 38 76 67 7,835 2,905 6,893 4,968 Pacific ................. 441 413 535 436 42,412 31,365 52,259 37,536 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 December October November December December October November December 2006 2007 2007 2007 2006 2007 2007 2007 Total (1) ............ 2,249 1,083 1,799 2,167 254,503 108,455 198,220 224,214 Alabama ................. 30 10 29 33 3,438 1,037 2,917 3,677 Alaska .................. 3 - 8 (2) 206 - 780 (2) Arizona ................. 5 7 3 4 406 610 197 263 Arkansas ................ 7 10 12 8 836 1,486 2,678 680 California .............. 374 380 455 370 34,848 28,004 44,127 30,590 Colorado ................ 15 4 14 12 1,483 322 1,244 767 Connecticut ............. 4 (2) 3 10 452 (2) 232 854 Delaware ................ - (2) 3 4 - (2) 356 241 District of Columbia .... 3 - - (2) 188 - - (2) Florida ................. 57 79 73 62 4,697 5,082 4,499 5,088 Georgia ................. 42 21 39 36 4,421 2,835 7,500 3,111 Hawaii .................. (2) (2) 5 12 (2) (2) 390 1,161 Idaho ................... 11 3 21 12 1,191 192 2,101 844 Illinois ................ 149 39 67 140 17,195 7,710 7,704 15,012 Indiana ................. 82 29 52 64 10,123 5,129 7,638 7,654 Iowa .................... 62 15 23 52 10,039 1,662 2,503 6,337 Kansas .................. 23 3 (2) 27 2,626 347 (2) 3,441 Kentucky ................ 64 28 34 62 15,975 3,449 4,747 12,727 Louisiana ............... 9 7 6 15 901 453 1,672 1,274 Maine ................... 6 - 6 4 452 - 467 278 Maryland ................ 28 7 11 29 2,825 702 1,446 2,628 Massachusetts ........... 22 4 18 22 2,256 234 1,495 2,131 Michigan ................ 184 51 92 213 22,842 5,187 15,578 25,005 Minnesota ............... 52 9 41 46 7,545 745 4,315 4,386 Mississippi ............. 6 (2) 12 9 569 (2) 839 640 Missouri ................ 75 18 19 77 9,687 3,165 2,312 7,517 Montana ................. 6 5 8 4 513 430 760 264 Nebraska ................ 8 (2) 4 9 815 (2) 402 864 Nevada .................. 26 14 18 19 2,076 1,027 1,713 1,370 New Hampshire ........... 8 - (2) 6 793 - (2) 560 New Jersey .............. 91 16 50 93 7,948 1,327 6,234 8,389 New Mexico .............. 10 (2) (2) 7 1,180 (2) (2) 702 New York ................ 106 28 82 72 11,731 3,202 7,658 6,700 North Carolina .......... 16 3 4 7 1,511 212 457 789 North Dakota ............ (2) - 4 5 (2) - 444 356 Ohio .................... 137 53 68 149 15,848 10,896 7,369 14,909 Oklahoma ................ 11 (2) 6 13 1,152 (2) 1,198 1,732 Oregon .................. 41 17 37 32 4,862 2,106 3,866 3,763 Pennsylvania ............ 155 88 185 171 14,447 7,009 17,120 15,993 Rhode Island ............ 11 3 - 10 1,885 249 - 1,465 South Carolina .......... 17 13 28 29 2,836 2,504 3,038 4,236 South Dakota ............ (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) Tennessee ............... 26 11 16 16 2,103 2,122 1,328 1,494 Texas ................... 61 30 55 40 6,284 2,414 6,836 6,484 Utah .................... 9 (2) 9 8 986 (2) 658 706 Vermont ................. 9 (2) 10 4 774 (2) 1,500 489 Virginia ................ 35 6 18 21 5,969 465 2,384 2,390 Washington .............. 21 14 30 21 2,350 1,058 3,096 1,940 West Virginia ........... 4 (2) 4 3 318 (2) 244 250 Wisconsin ............... 122 43 110 101 12,458 3,918 13,663 11,794 Wyoming ................. - (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) Puerto Rico ............ 17 11 15 3 1,977 894 1,385 279 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.