Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 04-1104 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 MASS LAYOFFS IN MAY 2004 In May 2004, employers took 988 mass layoff actions, 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 87,501. (See table 1.) Both the number of events and initial claims were sharply lower than a year ago. The number of mass layoff events was at its lowest level for any May since 2000, and the number of associated initial claims was at its lowest level for any May since 1996. (May 2004 contained 4 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 5 weeks in each May of the prior 2 years.) From January through May 2004, the total number of events, at 6,735, and of initial claims, at 661,024, were lower than in January-May 2003 (8,169 and 799,037, respectively). Industry Distribution Food service contractors, with 5,310 initial claims, and temporary help services, with 5,256 initial claims, together accounted for 12 percent of all initial claims in May. The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 25,796 initial claims in May, 29 percent of the total. (See table A.) The manufacturing sector had 22 percent of all mass layoff events and 25 percent of all initial claims filed in May--the lowest shares for any May since 1995, when the monthly series began. A year ago, manufacturing re- ported 29 percent of events and 35 percent of initial claims. Within manu- facturing, the number of claimants was highest in food processing (3,897), followed by transportation equipment (2,911) and textile product mills (2,820). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 12 percent of events and 11 percent of initial claims filed in May, with layoffs mostly in temporary help services. Eight percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in accommodation and food ser- vices, mainly among food service contractors. Retail trade accounted for 9 percent of events and initial claims, largely in general merchandise stores. Healthcare and social assistance accounted for 7 percent of events and 6 per- cent of initial claims during the month, primarily in child day care services. An additional 8 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims were in con- struction, mostly among specialty trade contractors. Government establishments accounted for 7 percent of events and initial claims filed during the month. Compared with May 2003, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-10,432) and adminis- trative and waste services (-9,920). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was reported in textile product mills (+1,872). - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in May 2004p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | May peak Industry | Initial |----------------------- | claims | Year |Initial claims -------------------------------------------|----------|--------|-------------- | | | Food service contractors...................| 5,310 | 1998 | 7,267 Temporary help services....................| 5,256 | 2002 | 16,992 Child day care services....................| 3,484 | 2002 | 3,894 Other household textile product mills......| 2,567 | 2004 | 2,567 Professional employer organizations........| 1,850 | 2003 | 3,446 Other social advocacy organizations........| 1,846 | 2002 | 2,500 Supermarkets and other grocery stores......| 1,550 | 1996 | 4,492 School and employee bus transportation.....| 1,326 | 2003 | 3,747 Motion picture and video production........| 1,308 | 1999 | 8,985 Full-service restaurants...................| 1,299 | 2002 | 1,319 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in May due to mass layoffs was reported in the South, 27,666. (See table 3.) Administra- tive and support services and textile product mills accounted for 23 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. This is the third time that the South reported the most mass-layoff initial claims; the others were in May 1995 and August 1995. The West region was next, with 25,629 initial claims, followed by the Midwest, with 22,294, and the Northeast, with 11,912. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in all four regions. The largest decrease was in the West (-26,782), followed closely by the Midwest (-24,107). Each of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decrease in the Pacific division (-24,258). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in May (20,148), mostly in administrative and sup- port services. Illinois reported 5,640 initial claims, followed by Florida (5,152), Texas (4,683), and Pennsylvania (3,789). These five states accounted for 49 percent of all layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-21,709), followed by New York (-8,027), Texas (-7,852), and Pennsylvania (-7,104). The largest over-the-year increase occurred in New Jersey (+853). From January to May, California reported 171,449 mass layoff initial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were New York (52,843), Pennsylvania (37,875), and Ohio (32,594). - 3 - Note The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private nonfarm establishments, information on the length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass lay- offs lasting more than 30 days (referred to as "extended mass layoffs"). The quarterly release provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See table 1.) See the Techni- cal Note for more detailed definitions. ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in June 2004 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 22, 2004. - 4 - Technical Note The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state program that uses a standardized, automated approach to identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks, using data from each state's unemployment insurance database. Each month, states report on establish- ments 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 long- er, 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 ter- minated 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 indi- viduals 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, April 2002 to May 2004 Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Realization Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days rates(1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,802 4,215 456,441 1,624 299,598 38.5 65.6 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 3,927 461,502 1,186 254,955 30.2 55.2 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 5,454 618,371 1,916 370,592 35.1 59.9 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 4,451 431,650 1,502 297,607 33.7 68.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 4,344 441,409 1,799 348,890 41.4 79.0 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 Third Quarter .............. 4,213 442,921 3,734 404,946 1,190 227,568 31.9 56.2 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,890 489,416 4,292 443,980 1,690 325,765 39.4 73.4 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 First Quarter .............. 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 (2)(p) 1,204 (2)(p) 165,272 (p)30.8 (p)42.9 April (p) .................. 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 May (p) .................... 988 87,501 878 78,786 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 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry May March April May May March April May 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total(1) .................................. 1,703 920 1,458 988 174,204 92,554 157,314 87,501 Total, private .................................. 1,591 884 1,396 915 164,028 89,955 149,806 81,381 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 53 37 80 37 3,299 2,173 7,149 2,595 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,538 847 1,316 878 160,729 87,782 142,657 78,786 Mining ........................................ 9 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,749 206 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Utilities ..................................... 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 529 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 159 106 149 76 13,279 7,288 11,904 5,424 Manufacturing ................................. 499 258 343 219 61,278 34,686 36,172 22,141 Food ...................................... 70 56 112 41 7,655 6,220 13,582 3,897 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 5 9 5 ( 2 ) 548 1,039 319 ( 2 ) Textile mills ............................. 21 6 8 12 2,204 456 1,091 1,099 Textile product mills ..................... 10 ( 2 ) 5 13 948 ( 2 ) 420 2,820 Apparel ................................... 31 13 12 18 3,705 1,050 922 1,382 Leather and allied products ............... 7 - 5 ( 2 ) 544 - 399 ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 24 16 16 5 2,361 1,540 1,684 389 Paper ..................................... 15 7 7 7 1,072 529 499 665 Printing and related support activities ... 16 7 15 13 1,249 501 1,618 985 Petroleum and coal products ............... 3 - - - 190 - - - Chemicals ................................. 8 7 11 ( 2 ) 930 416 677 ( 2 ) Plastics and rubber products .............. 22 14 12 8 1,480 1,061 936 508 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 13 12 7 ( 2 ) 1,080 860 452 ( 2 ) Primary metals ............................ 27 4 9 ( 2 ) 3,920 375 920 ( 2 ) Fabricated metal products ................. 34 16 22 9 2,957 1,103 2,030 660 Machinery ................................. 39 10 19 14 6,179 693 1,658 1,359 Computer and electronic products .......... 46 15 17 13 4,029 1,274 1,375 1,081 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 20 12 7 10 3,665 2,789 1,252 1,572 Transportation equipment .................. 52 38 32 28 13,288 13,430 4,625 2,911 Furniture and related products ............ 21 11 11 12 1,985 985 835 1,098 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 15 ( 2 ) 11 5 1,289 ( 2 ) 878 376 Wholesale trade ............................... 31 19 21 11 2,431 1,518 1,944 819 Retail trade .................................. 117 77 118 91 12,107 6,733 12,659 7,851 Transportation and warehousing ................ 80 38 145 40 7,755 4,682 20,292 3,822 Information ................................... 63 32 42 32 8,819 4,912 7,851 2,966 Finance and insurance ......................... 31 27 31 23 2,414 2,228 2,594 1,944 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 5 5 11 ( 2 ) 478 332 1,214 ( 2 ) Professional and technical services ........... 65 29 54 44 5,542 2,619 6,939 4,116 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 5 ( 2 ) 4 4 369 ( 2 ) 269 232 Administrative and waste services ............. 204 129 194 119 19,751 11,546 20,812 9,839 Educational services .......................... 8 3 4 4 536 163 374 309 Health care and social assistance ............. 84 19 31 67 7,043 1,039 2,118 5,500 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 32 4 40 23 2,293 167 3,368 2,006 Accommodation and food services ............... 98 82 93 82 10,068 8,755 10,067 8,145 Other services, except public administration .. 39 9 26 35 4,143 506 3,240 3,112 Unclassified .................................. 2 1 6 1 145 85 563 62 Government ...................................... 112 36 62 73 10,176 2,599 7,508 6,120 Federal ....................................... 14 5 14 8 1,736 428 1,173 1,033 State ......................................... 17 10 11 17 1,454 763 884 1,389 Local ......................................... 81 21 37 48 6,986 1,408 5,451 3,698 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 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division May March April May May March April May 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p United States(1) .... 1,703 920 1,458 988 174,204 92,554 157,314 87,501 Northeast ................. 274 123 332 128 27,071 12,196 40,728 11,912 New England ............. 32 12 49 21 2,888 912 5,913 2,007 Middle Atlantic ......... 242 111 283 107 24,183 11,284 34,815 9,905 South ..................... 446 207 292 285 48,321 22,094 27,553 27,666 South Atlantic .......... 214 101 139 138 21,217 8,749 12,141 12,730 East South Central ...... 74 41 52 63 7,645 4,141 5,936 7,512 West South Central ...... 158 65 101 84 19,459 9,204 9,476 7,424 Midwest ................... 373 185 275 237 46,401 25,756 31,619 22,294 East North Central ...... 271 138 235 172 34,240 19,002 27,755 17,057 West North Central ...... 102 47 40 65 12,161 6,754 3,864 5,237 West ...................... 610 405 559 338 52,411 32,508 57,414 25,629 Mountain ................ 62 30 52 39 6,104 3,146 5,962 3,580 Pacific ................. 548 375 507 299 46,307 29,362 51,452 22,049 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 May March April May May March April May 2003 2004 2004p 2004p 2003 2004 2004p 2004p Total(1) ............. 1,703 920 1,458 988 174,204 92,554 157,314 87,501 Alabama ................. 21 7 15 11 1,996 654 2,051 2,586 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) - 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 633 ( 2 ) Arizona ................. 19 6 20 14 1,846 593 3,177 1,438 Arkansas ................ 4 3 6 7 266 422 513 525 California .............. 502 341 440 272 41,857 25,730 44,311 20,148 Colorado ................ 7 ( 2 ) 9 5 721 ( 2 ) 973 502 Connecticut ............. 5 - 6 5 403 - 513 327 Delaware ................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 165 - District of Columbia .... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Florida ................. 100 57 69 67 8,078 4,405 5,447 5,152 Georgia ................. 38 11 21 25 3,807 927 2,111 2,674 Hawaii .................. 6 8 7 ( 2 ) 554 788 570 ( 2 ) Idaho ................... 11 10 6 4 1,444 1,156 559 347 Illinois ................ 70 29 54 48 9,525 3,812 7,471 5,640 Indiana ................. 34 13 25 22 4,685 2,609 2,227 2,155 Iowa .................... 27 11 8 6 4,582 1,330 846 515 Kansas .................. 7 5 9 5 811 357 1,222 348 Kentucky ................ 25 18 20 26 3,100 2,164 2,559 2,452 Louisiana ............... 22 10 28 21 2,005 887 2,554 1,869 Maine ................... 4 ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 265 ( 2 ) 662 ( 2 ) Maryland ................ 8 ( 2 ) 9 7 969 ( 2 ) 906 488 Massachusetts ........... 16 6 16 11 1,734 386 1,759 1,333 Michigan ................ 36 27 38 33 6,599 4,548 3,556 3,369 Minnesota ............... 22 9 5 12 2,119 2,979 327 959 Mississippi ............. 10 ( 2 ) 6 10 717 ( 2 ) 419 879 Missouri ................ 28 14 15 27 3,044 1,429 1,242 2,227 Montana ................. 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 236 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nebraska ................ 9 5 3 8 702 363 227 556 Nevada .................. 14 7 6 3 1,099 642 420 291 New Hampshire ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - New Jersey .............. 22 23 47 25 1,915 2,151 4,862 2,768 New Mexico .............. 6 3 4 9 583 323 346 715 New York ................ 110 27 120 40 11,375 2,451 19,056 3,348 North Carolina .......... 27 13 20 16 2,790 1,261 1,768 1,346 North Dakota ............ 5 ( 2 ) - 4 349 ( 2 ) - 290 Ohio .................... 68 31 51 38 7,098 4,167 5,811 3,305 Oklahoma ................ 23 8 5 4 4,653 3,254 425 347 Oregon .................. 22 13 33 9 2,151 1,858 3,899 562 Pennsylvania ............ 110 61 116 42 10,893 6,682 10,897 3,789 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) 3 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 219 1,624 ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 11 6 6 7 1,436 863 796 1,429 South Dakota ............ 4 ( 2 ) - 3 554 ( 2 ) - 342 Tennessee ............... 18 14 11 16 1,832 1,231 907 1,595 Texas ................... 109 44 62 52 12,535 4,641 5,984 4,683 Utah .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 248 ( 2 ) Vermont ................. 4 ( 2 ) 10 ( 2 ) 315 ( 2 ) 1,177 ( 2 ) Virginia ................ 26 10 10 14 2,967 1,010 849 1,536 Washington .............. 17 13 22 15 1,684 986 2,039 1,146 West Virginia ........... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 63 38 67 31 6,333 3,866 8,690 2,588 Wyoming ................. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Puerto Rico ............. 7 4 11 4 1,098 318 1,147 640 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.