Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-84 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, March 24, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2000 In January 2000, there were 1,936 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to 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 223,784. Both the number of layoff events and the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower than in January of the previous two years. (See table 1.) 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 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. 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 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution In January 2000, manufacturing industries accounted for 38 percent of all mass layoff events and 44 percent of all initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were transportation equipment (18,923), primarily in motor vehicles and car bodies; and food and kindred products (10,287), mostly in canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. (See table 2.) Services accounted for 19 percent of all mass layoff events and 22 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in business services (especially help supply services). Layoffs in help supply services are more likely than those in most other industries to last less than 30 days. Construction accounted for 15 percent of all layoffs and 10 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in heavy construction. Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of all layoff events and initial claims during the month, mostly in general merchandise stores. Compared with January 1999, the largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in agricultural services (-5,102) and in special trade contractor construction (-4,433). The largest increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment (+8,954), in business services (+6,183), and in motion pictures (+5,783). - 2 - Geographic Distribution In January, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the Midwest (73,864) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in transportation equipment, industrial machinery and equipment, and lumber and wood products accounted for 32 percent of the claims in the Midwest. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (39,529). Over-the-year decreases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in the South (-3,908) and West (-2,895). Among the divisions, lower levels of initial claims over the year were reported mainly in the West South Central and in the Pacific. Four of the nine divisions reported over-the-year declines; modest increases occurred mainly in the Middle Atlantic and East North Central divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for January, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (54,083), primarily in business services and motion pictures, followed by Pennsylvania (20,192), Ohio (16,264), Illinois (14,210), Michigan (13,643), and Wisconsin (13,409). These six states accounted for 56 percent of all layoff events and 59 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From January 1999 to January 2000, Washington reported the largest over- the-year decrease in initial claims (-5,298), mostly in business services. Virginia had the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+4,245). 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, January 1998 to January 2000 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1998 January .......................... 2,360 255,203 February ......................... 970 81,455 March ............................ 762 78,210 First Quarter .................... 4,092 414,868 1,320 247,315 32.3 April ............................ 1,253 132,476 May .............................. 1,180 107,952 June ............................. 1,208 183,590 Second Quarter ................... 3,641 424,018 1,563 402,276 42.9 July ............................. 2,220 286,055 August ........................... 617 53,665 September ........................ 637 79,629 Third Quarter .................... 3,474 419,349 1,234 (r)256,803 35.5 October .......................... 1,553 160,830 November ......................... 1,368 144,343 December ......................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter ................... 4,697 512,834 1,736 (r)326,122 37.0 1999 January .......................... 2,421 226,995 February ......................... 1,067 89,800 March ............................ 880 91,890 First Quarter .................... 4,368 408,685 1,509 (r)252,060 34.5 April ............................ 1,270 136,885 May .............................. 1,032 102,738 June ............................. 1,140 130,951 Second Quarter ................... 3,442 370,574 1,445 (r)242,197 42.0 July ............................ 1,741 221,334 August ........................... 698 75,691 September ........................ 717 75,288 Third Quarter .................... 3,156 372,313 (r)1,099 (r)189,366 (r)34.8 October .......................... 1,098 118,938 November ........................ 1,336 139,508 December ......................... 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ................... 3,943 420,827 (p)1,571 (p)212,196 (p)39.8 2000 January(p) ....................... 1,936 223,784 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of events lasting more than 30 days. p = preliminary. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry January November December January January November December January 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) Total(1) ....................................... 2,421 1,336 1,509 1,936 226,995 139,508 162,381 223,784 Total, private ...................................... 2,322 1,299 1,458 1,880 218,906 135,031 157,932 218,694 Agriculture ....................................... 180 328 120 72 12,232 25,546 8,730 5,401 Nonagriculture .................................... 2,059 958 1,314 1,771 195,284 107,599 146,160 208,064 Manufacturing ................................... 842 348 444 738 92,298 45,029 59,141 97,382 Durable goods ................................. 469 183 237 420 50,874 26,418 35,086 63,521 Lumber and wood products .................... 50 43 37 56 5,709 4,429 3,170 9,228 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 27 4 9 37 3,084 306 1,076 4,536 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 50 13 32 39 4,021 1,220 3,817 3,378 Primary metal industries .................... 33 12 15 23 3,263 1,039 2,183 2,870 Fabricated metal products ................... 75 20 16 54 6,985 1,965 1,290 4,993 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 57 35 34 45 8,151 6,419 6,581 8,281 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 62 20 24 53 6,846 6,766 6,477 7,804 Transportation equipment .................... 80 24 44 75 9,969 3,155 7,642 18,923 Instruments and related products ............ 17 6 8 17 1,347 607 759 1,272 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 18 6 18 21 1,499 512 2,091 2,236 Nondurable goods .............................. 373 165 207 318 41,424 18,611 24,055 33,861 Food and kindred products ................... 128 65 70 99 13,338 7,384 8,105 10,287 Tobacco products ............................ - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 367 ( 2 ) Textile mill products ....................... 37 27 18 46 6,498 4,216 2,741 7,157 Apparel and other textile products .......... 84 35 42 83 8,201 3,583 4,193 8,057 Paper and allied products ................... 21 ( 2 ) 5 19 2,850 ( 2 ) 422 1,814 Printing and publishing ..................... 23 ( 2 ) 8 12 2,472 ( 2 ) 672 829 Chemicals and allied products ............... 12 9 4 7 1,405 691 227 752 Petroleum and coal products ................. 5 6 12 ( 2 ) 371 571 1,208 ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 42 11 36 33 4,374 943 4,145 3,066 Leather and leather products ................ 21 ( 2 ) 9 13 1,915 ( 2 ) 1,975 1,315 Nonmanufacturing ................................ 1,217 610 870 1,033 102,986 62,570 87,019 110,682 Mining ........................................ 43 6 19 25 4,020 476 2,231 2,034 Construction .................................. 365 171 269 283 27,241 15,498 23,467 22,277 Transportation and public utilities ........... 100 37 77 129 8,133 3,405 11,644 11,228 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 242 107 200 205 23,163 10,305 20,806 24,357 Wholesale trade ............................ 42 22 35 41 3,905 2,013 4,503 5,775 Retail trade ............................... 200 85 165 164 19,258 8,292 16,303 18,582 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 32 24 24 26 2,875 1,798 1,804 2,193 Services ...................................... 435 265 281 365 37,554 31,088 27,067 48,593 Not identified .................................... 83 13 24 37 11,390 1,886 3,042 5,229 Government .......................................... 99 37 51 56 8,089 4,477 4,449 5,090 Federal ........................................... 25 5 5 16 2,615 496 688 1,561 State ............................................. 25 16 18 8 2,104 1,910 1,761 633 Local ............................................. 49 16 28 32 3,370 2,071 2,000 2,896 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: Dash represents zero. Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Census region and division January November December January January November December January 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) United States(1) .... 2,421 1,336 1,509 1,936 226,995 139,508 162,381 223,784 Northeast ................... 381 128 197 398 36,296 12,914 21,597 39,529 New England ............. 74 25 41 79 7,971 2,122 4,598 8,497 Middle Atlantic ......... 307 103 156 319 28,325 10,792 16,999 31,032 South ....................... 436 178 245 369 47,846 21,945 26,449 43,938 South Atlantic .......... 226 82 119 185 25,571 10,017 12,019 25,391 East South Central ...... 65 25 36 70 6,807 2,075 3,652 8,156 West South Central ...... 145 71 90 114 15,468 9,853 10,778 10,391 Midwest ..................... 720 282 531 602 73,505 34,196 67,805 73,864 East North Central ...... 566 210 385 471 58,106 25,302 47,465 60,276 West North Central ...... 154 72 146 131 15,399 8,894 20,340 13,588 West ........................ 884 748 536 567 69,348 70,453 46,530 66,453 Mountain ................ 54 57 70 75 4,678 6,279 6,733 6,378 Pacific ................. 830 691 466 492 64,670 64,174 39,797 60,075 1 See footnote 1, table 2. p = preliminary. NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the various 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 January November December January January November December January 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) 1999 1999 1999 2000(p) Total(1) ................. 2,421 1,336 1,509 1,936 226,995 139,508 162,381 223,784 Alabama ..................... 6 5 7 9 451 400 768 929 Alaska ...................... 9 5 ( 2 ) 3 787 392 ( 2 ) 212 Arizona ..................... 10 6 4 11 1,095 510 279 743 Arkansas .................... 16 12 17 10 1,807 3,362 2,187 874 California .................. 721 638 410 426 53,485 59,425 33,517 54,083 Colorado .................... 9 13 10 8 927 1,175 943 755 Connecticut ................. 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 10 682 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,031 Delaware .................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 224 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,710 District of Columbia ........ 4 - 5 3 282 - 590 253 Florida ..................... 58 15 34 42 4,521 991 2,504 3,193 Georgia ..................... 22 15 18 9 2,054 1,728 1,378 871 Hawaii ...................... 11 ( 2 ) 3 12 829 ( 2 ) 342 1,086 Idaho ....................... 15 12 13 10 1,270 1,475 1,202 904 Illinois .................... 93 47 98 70 11,518 5,407 12,107 14,210 Indiana ..................... 32 22 37 31 3,547 5,120 7,911 2,750 Iowa ........................ 49 15 37 46 5,789 1,911 4,931 5,832 Kansas ...................... 12 6 10 14 1,232 658 1,023 989 Kentucky .................... 35 5 10 23 4,332 503 936 2,725 Louisiana ................... 26 5 12 21 1,818 363 801 1,558 Maine ....................... 14 ( 2 ) 7 6 1,643 ( 2 ) 494 969 Maryland .................... 17 3 5 17 1,265 247 507 1,156 Massachusetts ............... 26 16 20 36 3,314 1,400 2,169 3,789 Michigan .................... 181 40 132 128 15,749 3,660 17,255 13,643 Minnesota ................... 22 31 41 21 2,370 3,367 5,209 2,399 Mississippi ................. 3 7 ( 2 ) 10 310 452 ( 2 ) 1,659 Missouri .................... 65 19 55 37 5,537 2,610 8,654 3,281 Montana ..................... - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 594 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nebraska .................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 12 314 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 988 Nevada ...................... 9 15 31 35 576 2,062 3,267 3,263 New Hampshire ............... 10 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 1,029 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 790 New Jersey .................. 51 19 33 73 5,445 2,181 3,063 7,270 New Mexico .................. 9 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 659 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 441 New York .................... 57 12 33 37 4,932 971 2,750 3,570 North Carolina .............. 16 8 14 14 3,573 1,839 1,466 2,818 North Dakota ................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio ........................ 136 34 57 119 13,726 3,023 4,852 16,264 Oklahoma .................... 15 7 10 7 2,855 603 1,736 536 Oregon ...................... 35 28 33 39 3,393 2,425 4,052 3,816 Pennsylvania ................ 199 72 90 209 17,948 7,640 11,186 20,192 Rhode Island ................ 16 ( 2 ) 9 18 1,244 ( 2 ) 1,413 1,728 South Carolina .............. 61 32 20 38 8,218 4,234 1,944 5,526 South Dakota ................ ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - - Tennessee ................... 21 8 17 28 1,714 720 1,691 2,843 Texas ....................... 88 47 51 76 8,988 5,525 6,054 7,423 Utah ........................ ( 2 ) 5 8 3 ( 2 ) 342 745 205 Vermont ..................... ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 260 223 ( 2 ) Virginia .................... 43 6 22 55 5,323 787 3,585 9,568 Washington .................. 54 19 18 12 6,176 1,867 1,674 878 West Virginia ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 296 Wisconsin ................... 124 67 61 123 13,566 8,092 5,340 13,409 Wyoming ..................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................. 17 5 11 14 1,706 340 1,132 1,055 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.