Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 02-354 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, June 27, 2002 MASS LAYOFFS IN MAY 2002 Employers initiated 1,726 mass layoff actions in May 2002, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, accord- ing to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each ac- tion involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 180,007. (See table 1.) A year earlier, in May 2001, there were 1,434 mass layoff events involving 159,365 workers. The number of events and initial claims this year were the highest for the month of May since the series began in 1995. (May 2002 contained 5 weeks for pos- sible mass layoffs, compared with 4 weeks in each May of the prior 3 years.) From January through May 2002, the total number of events, at 8,222, and of initial claims, at 910,009, were higher than January-May 2001 (7,434 and 880,347, respectively). The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. Information on the length of the layoff 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 Manufacturing industries accounted for 28 percent of all mass layoff events and 29 percent of all initial claims filed in May. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 37 percent of events and 41 percent of initial claims. The number of initial claimants was highest in food production (9,335, mostly in fruit and vegetable processing), followed by transportation equipment (6,869, primarily in aircraft manufacturing) and computer and electronic products (5,813, mainly in bare printed circuit board manufacturing). (See table 2.) The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 13 percent of events and 15 percent of initial claims filed during the month, with layoffs almost entirely in administrative and support services, particu- larly temporary help services. Eight percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in retail trade, mostly in general merchandise stores. Ten percent of the events and 8 percent of initial claims were from construction, primarily among specialty trade contractors. The information sector accounted for an additional 5 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, largely in motion picture and sound recording industries. Compared with May 2001, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (+9,232), general merchan- dise stores (+3,988), and motion pictures and sound recording (+3,607). The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims were reported in professional and technical services (-6,493) and computer and electronic product manufacturing (-5,050). - 2 - Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in May due to mass layoffs was in the West, 61,715. (See table 3.) Temporary help services and motion picture and video production accounted for 31 percent of all initial claims in the West during the month. Following was the South with 48,506 initial claims (mainly in temporary help services), the Midwest with 44,788 (largely in school and employee bus transportation), and the Northeast with 24,998 (mostly in food service contractors). The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs rose over the year in all four regions. The South region had the largest increase in initial claims (+8,405), followed by the Midwest (+5,835). Seven of the nine geographic divisions experienced over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increase in the Middle Atlantic (+5,777) division. The New England division had the largest decrease over the year (-1,780). California registered the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this May, 50,063, mostly in temporary help services and motion picture and video production. Texas reported 16,870 initial claims in mass layoffs, followed by Illinois (10,079), and Pennsylvania (10,064). These four states accounted for 47 percent of all layoff events and 48 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) Texas reported the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+5,384), followed by New York (+4,677). The largest over-the-year decrease occurred in Oklahoma (-2,201). ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in June 2002 will be issued on Wednesday, July 24, 2002. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Change in Industry Classification System | | | | Beginning with the release of January 2002 mass layoff data on | |February 28, 2002, the Mass Layoff Statistics program implemented the | |2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) | |as the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by indus- | |try. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the | |statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to | |differences in NAICS and the previously used Standard Industrial Classi- | |fication (SIC) structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be compara- | |ble to the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly histor-| |ical industry series from April 1995 through December 2001 are available | |on both SIC and NAICS bases. | | | | NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic units. | |Units with similar production processes are classified in the same indus- | |try. NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed | |to the SIC focus on what is produced. This approach yields significantly | |different industry groupings than those produced by the SIC approach. | | | | Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the BLS Web | |page at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm or the Bureau of the Census Web | |page at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, April 2000 to May 2002 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Realization rates(1) Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2000 April ...................... 924 101,359 May ........................ 984 92,193 June ....................... 1,597 192,025 Second Quarter ............. 3,505 385,577 1,271 231,471 36.3 60.0 July ....................... 1,333 164,978 August ..................... 751 97,215 September .................. 936 106,842 Third Quarter .............. 3,020 369,035 1,014 189,250 33.6 51.3 October .................... 874 103,755 November ................... 1,697 216,514 December ................... 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,611 38.2 58.2 2001 January .................... 1,522 200,343 February ................... 1,501 172,908 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter .............. 4,550 544,717 1,765 340,151 38.8 62.4 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 401,294 41.5 68.1 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 371,124 36.8 61.8 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,700 497,136 38.6 63.7 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 (2)(p)1,669 (2)(p)236,891 (p)33.5 (p)42.0 April(p) ................... 1,507 165,861 May(p) ..................... 1,726 180,007 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more data on these layoffs become avaliable. Recent experience suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and the number of initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent. p = preliminary. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry May March April May May March April May 2001(r) 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) 2001(r) 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) Total(1) .................................... 1,434 1,460 1,507 1,726 159,365 161,336 165,861 180,007 Total, private ................................... 1,398 1,414 1,458 1,635 155,799 157,100 161,342 170,712 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..... 67 79 79 62 4,613 5,775 8,079 3,802 Mining ......................................... ( 2 ) 22 15 15 ( 2 ) 1,882 1,409 1,553 Utilities ...................................... ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 727 ( 2 ) 597 Construction ................................... 109 150 105 165 10,558 11,826 9,135 13,521 Manufacturing .................................. 528 500 461 488 64,887 59,644 50,897 52,720 Food ....................................... 69 74 80 79 6,839 9,070 9,291 9,335 Beverage and tobacco products .............. 4 8 8 3 308 802 899 224 Textile mills .............................. 20 14 9 19 2,514 1,468 1,120 2,072 Textile product mills ...................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 8 226 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 617 Apparel .................................... 31 17 30 33 3,719 1,536 3,742 2,578 Leather and allied products ................ 3 ( 2 ) 5 - 416 ( 2 ) 437 - Wood products .............................. 12 19 19 23 1,125 2,319 1,637 2,348 Paper ...................................... 9 18 15 10 1,168 2,688 1,330 1,141 Printing and related support activities .... 19 26 10 21 1,818 2,105 874 1,892 Petroleum and coal products ................ - - ( 2 ) 3 - - ( 2 ) 184 Chemicals .................................. 10 14 10 11 1,025 1,659 664 815 Plastics and rubber products ............... 20 20 11 9 2,047 1,613 857 798 Nonmetallic mineral products ............... 13 21 9 10 1,695 1,537 717 1,190 Primary metals ............................. 21 21 22 27 3,071 3,000 1,979 2,787 Fabricated metal products .................. 38 34 22 25 4,050 3,319 1,781 2,252 Machinery .................................. 49 43 35 35 6,053 6,588 5,045 3,902 Computer and electronic products ........... 94 65 74 69 10,863 6,902 7,336 5,813 Electrical equipment and appliances ........ 34 26 19 28 6,133 3,602 2,427 4,490 Transportation equipment ................... 45 46 53 53 8,247 8,531 7,428 6,869 Furniture and related products ............. 24 19 18 12 2,730 1,772 1,919 2,513 Miscellaneous manufacturing ................ 10 11 7 10 840 837 735 900 Wholesale trade ................................ 23 25 27 35 1,975 2,694 2,212 2,937 Retail trade ................................... 91 108 122 131 8,802 12,067 13,715 16,192 Transportation and warehousing ................. 33 76 104 52 3,127 10,441 15,442 5,680 Information .................................... 66 36 86 86 9,268 4,456 12,127 13,036 Finance and insurance .......................... 29 32 34 44 2,462 2,697 3,142 3,327 Real estate and rental and leasing ............. 5 9 4 7 407 629 684 452 Professional and technical services ............ 72 50 62 80 12,692 8,260 7,767 6,199 Management of companies and enterprises ........ 5 3 ( 2 ) 4 399 182 ( 2 ) 395 Administrative and waste services .............. 177 185 177 222 16,885 21,704 18,110 26,191 Educational services ........................... 5 3 5 3 423 232 356 190 Health care and social assistance .............. 45 22 29 76 4,490 1,671 2,406 7,006 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ............ 22 13 33 33 1,809 1,013 3,507 2,267 Accommodation and food services ................ 86 76 74 88 8,877 9,721 7,378 10,807 Other services, except public administration ... 19 7 26 34 2,297 609 3,279 3,228 Unclassified .................................. 12 11 10 4 1,291 870 1,106 612 Government ....................................... 36 46 49 91 3,566 4,236 4,519 9,295 Federal ........................................ 7 7 7 21 720 777 543 2,739 State .......................................... 10 16 15 14 1,130 1,652 1,717 1,510 Local .......................................... 19 23 27 56 1,716 1,807 2,259 5,046 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. r = revised. NOTE: Beginning with data for January 2002, the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series from April 1995 to December 2001 are available on both SIC and NAICS bases. Dash represents zero. Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division May March April May May March April May 2001 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) 2001 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) United States(1) ..... (r)1,434 1,460 1,507 1,726 (r)159,365 161,336 165,861 180,007 Northeast .................. 192 210 306 266 21,001 20,443 38,576 24,998 New England .............. 59 33 62 41 5,545 2,995 7,263 3,765 Middle Atlantic .......... 133 177 244 225 15,456 17,448 31,313 21,233 South ...................... (r)353 347 331 467 (r)40,101 37,291 35,740 48,506 South Atlantic ........... 171 157 158 211 17,312 16,644 16,451 18,633 East South Central ....... 57 73 58 88 5,783 7,076 6,629 9,448 West South Central ....... (r)125 117 115 168 (r)17,006 13,571 12,660 20,425 Midwest .................... 304 327 314 377 38,953 42,491 37,119 44,788 East North Central ....... 220 253 260 266 29,057 32,058 31,127 31,152 West North Central ....... 84 74 54 111 9,896 10,433 5,992 13,636 West ....................... 585 576 556 616 59,310 61,111 54,426 61,715 Mountain ................. 47 52 61 48 4,972 4,841 7,382 4,604 Pacific .................. 538 524 495 568 54,338 56,270 47,044 57,111 1 See footnote 1, table 2. p = preliminary. r = revised. 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 2001 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) 2001 2002 2002(p) 2002(p) Total(1) ................ (r)1,434 1,460 1,507 1,726 (r)159,365 161,336 165,861 180,007 Alabama .................... 15 10 25 38 1,568 1,295 2,529 4,352 Alaska ..................... ( 2 ) - 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 361 ( 2 ) Arizona .................... 11 12 24 11 1,200 879 3,649 1,256 Arkansas ................... 7 5 7 8 533 488 509 629 California ................. 488 466 436 517 49,009 48,376 39,943 50,063 Colorado ................... 12 10 11 9 1,294 845 1,121 858 Connecticut ................ 13 4 4 9 1,039 377 232 665 Delaware ................... ( 2 ) 4 3 - ( 2 ) 790 508 - District of Columbia ....... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida .................... 65 64 69 102 5,328 5,689 6,303 7,045 Georgia .................... 15 20 16 30 2,044 2,202 1,686 3,083 Hawaii ..................... 3 6 7 6 233 658 512 462 Idaho ...................... 7 13 6 9 1,031 1,628 625 1,014 Illinois ................... 55 53 61 67 9,232 7,645 9,583 10,079 Indiana .................... 24 21 24 26 2,311 2,212 2,998 3,267 Iowa ....................... 15 12 12 19 1,739 1,510 1,530 2,203 Kansas ..................... 6 7 9 14 730 1,357 797 1,620 Kentucky ................... 23 31 20 21 2,853 3,354 2,315 2,258 Louisiana .................. (r)14 19 19 22 (r)2,026 1,501 1,982 2,166 Maine ...................... 5 4 7 5 498 226 822 353 Maryland ................... 10 ( 2 ) 3 6 708 ( 2 ) 218 534 Massachusetts .............. 27 15 24 21 2,686 1,652 2,891 2,065 Michigan ................... 40 56 30 44 4,935 6,483 2,714 4,408 Minnesota .................. 18 16 14 23 2,108 2,238 1,936 2,768 Mississippi ................ 10 13 5 9 657 890 287 821 Missouri ................... 38 29 11 43 4,759 4,109 974 5,656 Montana .................... ( 2 ) 3 3 3 ( 2 ) 264 224 212 Nebraska ................... - 9 6 ( 2 ) - 1,133 499 ( 2 ) Nevada ..................... 9 6 9 8 848 461 1,169 714 New Hampshire .............. 6 3 10 ( 2 ) 584 247 1,099 ( 2 ) New Jersey ................. 28 35 35 42 2,797 3,749 4,439 4,384 New Mexico ................. 3 3 ( 2 ) 5 219 176 ( 2 ) 355 New York ................... 24 19 126 80 2,108 1,568 17,889 6,785 North Carolina ............. 23 23 25 21 2,115 2,686 2,832 1,637 North Dakota ............... 5 - ( 2 ) 5 284 - ( 2 ) 653 Ohio ....................... 47 52 80 70 5,035 5,780 9,034 7,231 Oklahoma ................... 9 10 5 7 2,961 1,887 324 760 Oregon ..................... 25 27 24 25 2,974 3,507 3,118 3,291 Pennsylvania ............... 81 123 83 103 10,551 12,131 8,985 10,064 Rhode Island ............... ( 2 ) 4 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 323 1,431 ( 2 ) South Carolina ............. 33 21 21 24 4,247 2,750 2,450 2,492 South Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 562 Tennessee .................. 9 19 8 20 705 1,537 1,498 2,017 Texas ...................... 95 83 84 131 11,486 9,695 9,845 16,870 Utah ....................... 4 5 6 3 325 588 460 195 Vermont .................... 6 3 9 ( 2 ) 612 170 788 ( 2 ) Virginia ................... 23 16 17 23 2,671 1,794 1,959 3,355 Washington ................. 20 25 24 18 1,999 3,729 3,110 3,154 West Virginia .............. - 7 3 4 - 571 346 347 Wisconsin .................. 54 71 65 59 7,544 9,938 6,798 6,167 Wyoming .................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................ 6 9 12 12 1,791 1,082 1,591 1,390 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. r = revised. NOTE: Dash represents zero.