Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 02-493 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, August 22, 2002 MASS LAYOFFS IN JULY 2002 Employers initiated 2,041 mass layoff actions in July 2002, as mea- sured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to 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 245,457. (See table 1.) A year earlier, in July 2001, there were 2,117 mass layoff events involving 273,807 workers. From January through July 2002, the total number of initial claims, at 1,317,394, was lower than January-July 2001 (1,407,980), while the number of events, at 11,843, was somewhat higher (11,658). 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 establish- ment 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 44 percent of all mass layoff events and 55 percent of all initial claims filed in July. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 54 percent of events and 62 percent of initial claims. The number of initial claimants was highest in transporta- tion equipment (47,583, mostly in light truck and utility vehicles), followed by machinery manufacturing (12,778, largely in construction machinery), com- puter and electronic products (11,987, primarily in semiconductors and re- lated devices), and plastics and rubber products (10,080, mainly in miscel- laneous plastic products). (See table 2.) Eleven percent of all layoff events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in administrative and waste services, mostly in temporary help services. From January through July, 91,480 mass layoff initial claims were filed from this industry. Four percent of the events and 5 percent of initial claims were from the information sector, mainly in motion picture and sound recording. Retail trade accounted for an additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims, primarily in general merchandise stores. Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims filed during the month, largely in educational services, particularly elementary and secondary schools. Compared with July 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in manufacturing industries--machinery manufacturing (-7,052), primary metals (-5,397), and computer and electronic products (-4,973). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in educational services (+2,940), food services and drinking places (+2,408), and general merchandise stores (+2,185). - 2 - Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in July due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 89,068. (See table 3.) The manufacture of transportation equipment, machinery, and plastics and rub- ber products accounted for 56 percent of all initial claims in the Midwest during the month. The West followed with 64,961 initial claims (mainly in administrative and waste services), then the South, with 56,416 (largely in transportation equipment manufacturing), and the Northeast, with 35,012 (mostly in fabricated metal product manufacturing). The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in 2 of the 4 geographic regions, with the largest decrease occurring in the Midwest (-27,049). The largest over-the-year increase was reported in the Northeast (+1,522). Six of the nine geographic divisions reported over- the-year declines in the number of initial claims associated with mass lay- offs, with the largest decline in the East North Central (-30,155). The largest increase was reported in the East South Central (+6,078). California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this July, 52,556, mostly in administrative and support services and in motion picture and sound recording industries. Michigan reported 15,700 initial claims in mass layoffs, followed by Ohio (15,236), Wisconsin (14,530), and Pennsylvania (12,930). These five states accounted for 49 percent of all layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) Thus far this year, 331,796 mass layoff initial claims were filed in California, 25 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims were Pennsylvania (77,528) and Texas (76,293). Michigan reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-12,950), followed by Ohio (-7,907) and Illinois (-6,510). The largest over-the-year increases occurred in Alabama (+5,978) and New York (+5,644). ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in August 2002 will be issued on Wednesday, September 25, 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 imple- | | mented the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classifi- | | cation System (NAICS) as the basis for the assignment and tabu- | | lation 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 the previously used Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) | | structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to | | the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly his- | | torical 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 industry. NAICS focuses on how products and services are | | created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced. This ap- | | proach 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, July 2000 to July 2002 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2000 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 (r)340,210 38.8 (r)62.5 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 (r)401,168 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 (r)370,620 36.8 (r)61.7 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 (r)2,698 (r)500,925 38.6 (r)64.2 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 (r)1,749 (r)313,686 (r)35.1 (r)55.6 April ...................... 1,507 165,861 May ........................ 1,726 180,007 June(p) .................... 1,580 161,928 Second Quarter(p) .......... 4,813 507,796 (2)1,754 (2)256,338 36.4 50.5 July(p) .................... 2,041 245,457 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 available. 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. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry July May June July July May June July 2001r 2002 2002p 2002p 2001r 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................................... 2,117 1,726 1,580 2,041 273,807 180,007 161,928 245,457 Total, private .................................. 2,042 1,635 1,356 1,936 266,358 170,712 142,567 235,792 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 90 62 92 118 7,230 3,802 6,256 8,734 Mining ........................................ 8 15 8 12 1,308 1,553 1,210 1,450 Utilities ..................................... 3 6 3 4 1,019 597 303 320 Construction .................................. 65 165 84 74 5,167 13,521 5,809 5,675 Manufacturing ................................. 1,144 488 336 908 168,877 52,720 42,117 135,392 Food ...................................... 81 79 49 60 9,832 9,335 5,851 6,102 Beverage and tobacco products ............. ( 2 ) 3 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 224 452 ( 2 ) Textile mills ............................. 41 19 10 33 5,807 2,072 1,118 4,801 Textile product mills ..................... 10 8 5 11 933 617 663 2,336 Apparel ................................... 46 33 15 34 7,116 2,578 1,363 3,196 Leather and allied products ............... 11 - ( 2 ) 6 1,056 - ( 2 ) 378 Wood products ............................. 26 23 18 28 3,239 2,348 2,359 2,893 Paper ..................................... 19 10 8 13 2,362 1,141 1,078 1,244 Printing and related support activities ... 10 21 13 13 1,023 1,892 1,057 1,331 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 184 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 22 11 6 14 2,690 815 606 1,473 Plastics and rubber products .............. 83 9 10 71 9,333 798 898 10,080 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 21 10 8 18 2,871 1,190 754 2,813 Primary metals ............................ 79 27 18 64 13,048 2,787 2,681 7,651 Fabricated metal products ................. 96 25 20 60 10,190 2,252 2,103 7,556 Machinery ................................. 101 35 27 76 19,830 3,902 4,543 12,778 Computer and electronic products .......... 129 69 36 94 16,960 5,813 2,959 11,987 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 47 28 25 31 7,949 4,490 5,281 5,046 Transportation equipment .................. 258 53 34 234 47,285 6,869 5,594 47,583 Furniture and related products ............ 33 12 17 27 4,639 2,513 2,005 4,191 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 26 10 7 17 2,427 900 527 1,699 Wholesale trade ............................... 31 35 23 29 2,591 2,937 2,165 3,017 Retail trade .................................. 96 131 83 93 10,996 16,192 7,257 10,447 Transportation and warehousing ................ 86 52 141 71 7,378 5,680 18,068 6,691 Information ................................... 59 86 42 72 11,329 13,036 4,210 12,555 Finance and insurance ......................... 34 44 35 52 2,814 3,327 2,431 4,394 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 13 7 7 11 939 452 602 1,066 Professional and technical services ........... 59 80 36 74 6,597 6,199 8,902 6,818 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 4 4 3 3 595 395 621 323 Administrative and waste services ............. 205 222 165 233 28,056 26,191 14,236 24,853 Educational services .......................... 6 3 18 15 435 190 1,128 1,239 Health care and social assistance ............. 38 76 117 54 2,406 7,006 10,987 3,652 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 13 33 29 23 1,038 2,267 1,983 1,599 Accommodation and food services ............... 53 88 80 70 4,271 10,807 9,966 5,930 Other services, except public administration .. 10 34 49 17 596 3,228 3,976 1,385 Unclassified .................................. 25 4 5 3 2,716 612 340 252 Government ...................................... 75 91 224 105 7,449 9,295 19,361 9,665 Federal ....................................... 18 21 13 6 2,020 2,739 1,791 787 State ......................................... 7 14 16 17 592 1,510 1,665 1,321 Local ......................................... 50 56 195 82 4,837 5,046 15,905 7,557 1 For July 2002, 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 July May June July July May June July 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p United States(1) ..... (r)2,117 1,726 1,580 2,041 (r)273,807 180,007 161,928 245,457 Northeast .................. 319 266 258 315 33,490 24,998 30,153 35,012 New England .............. 70 41 57 68 8,574 3,765 6,746 7,000 Middle Atlantic .......... 249 225 201 247 24,916 21,233 23,407 28,012 South ...................... (r)462 467 380 485 (r)56,394 48,506 37,559 56,416 South Atlantic ........... 236 211 197 202 28,391 18,633 17,657 22,536 East South Central ....... 89 88 67 137 10,772 9,448 7,935 16,850 West South Central ....... (r)137 168 116 146 (r)17,231 20,425 11,967 17,030 Midwest .................... 763 377 311 574 116,117 44,788 36,493 89,068 East North Central ....... 618 266 238 468 96,509 31,152 27,739 66,354 West North Central ....... 145 111 73 106 19,608 13,636 8,754 22,714 West ....................... 573 616 631 667 67,806 61,715 57,723 64,961 Mountain ................. 74 48 59 66 8,156 4,604 7,073 6,399 Pacific .................. 499 568 572 601 59,650 57,111 50,650 58,562 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 July May June July July May June July 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................ (r)2,117 1,726 1,580 2,041 (r)273,807 180,007 161,928 245,457 Alabama .................... 13 38 24 56 1,312 4,352 3,415 7,290 Alaska ..................... - ( 2 ) 4 - - ( 2 ) 401 - Arizona .................... 22 11 23 28 2,149 1,256 2,576 2,528 Arkansas ................... 13 8 3 11 1,043 629 210 999 California ................. 444 517 507 545 51,198 50,063 43,520 52,556 Colorado ................... 12 9 3 15 1,248 858 277 1,658 Connecticut ................ ( 2 ) 9 14 6 ( 2 ) 665 2,018 598 Delaware ................... 6 - ( 2 ) 4 1,021 - ( 2 ) 642 District of Columbia ....... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida .................... 80 102 104 92 6,692 7,045 7,222 6,405 Georgia .................... 15 30 20 9 1,413 3,083 2,966 824 Hawaii ..................... ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 462 ( 2 ) 256 Idaho ...................... 12 9 7 7 2,104 1,014 1,571 864 Illinois ................... 68 67 58 62 16,031 10,079 6,074 9,521 Indiana .................... 83 26 27 72 12,304 3,267 4,628 11,367 Iowa ....................... 49 19 13 25 8,154 2,203 1,615 6,494 Kansas ..................... 9 14 4 15 883 1,620 439 3,701 Kentucky ................... 52 21 20 59 7,227 2,258 2,252 7,580 Louisiana .................. (r)15 22 28 18 (r)2,109 2,166 2,757 1,294 Maine ...................... 5 5 4 ( 2 ) 586 353 225 ( 2 ) Maryland ................... 7 6 10 11 691 534 1,095 1,225 Massachusetts .............. 44 21 23 44 5,051 2,065 1,851 4,130 Michigan ................... 231 44 50 144 28,650 4,408 5,002 15,700 Minnesota .................. 24 23 19 16 2,792 2,768 2,900 1,702 Mississippi ................ 12 9 6 5 1,171 821 405 583 Missouri ................... 57 43 26 42 6,939 5,656 2,665 9,917 Montana .................... - 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 212 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nebraska ................... 4 ( 2 ) 5 8 434 ( 2 ) 429 900 Nevada ..................... 20 8 15 11 2,095 714 1,933 991 New Hampshire .............. 11 ( 2 ) 5 5 1,846 ( 2 ) 1,229 696 New Jersey ................. 43 42 57 44 4,963 4,384 9,137 5,367 New Mexico ................. 5 5 3 ( 2 ) 252 355 168 ( 2 ) New York ................... 39 80 40 88 4,071 6,785 3,072 9,715 North Carolina ............. 28 21 18 23 3,705 1,637 1,771 2,490 North Dakota ............... ( 2 ) 5 5 - ( 2 ) 653 644 - Ohio ....................... 127 70 46 98 23,143 7,231 5,247 15,236 Oklahoma ................... 14 7 7 20 1,720 760 450 2,757 Oregon ..................... 33 25 30 27 6,336 3,291 3,446 2,829 Pennsylvania ............... 167 103 104 115 15,882 10,064 11,198 12,930 Rhode Island ............... 4 ( 2 ) 8 9 338 ( 2 ) 1,246 1,163 South Carolina ............. 63 24 19 35 9,790 2,492 1,848 6,590 South Dakota ............... - 5 ( 2 ) - - 562 ( 2 ) - Tennessee .................. 12 20 17 17 1,062 2,017 1,863 1,397 Texas ...................... 95 131 78 97 12,359 16,870 8,550 11,980 Utah ....................... ( 2 ) 3 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 195 422 ( 2 ) Vermont .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 177 353 Virginia ................... 35 23 20 24 4,971 3,355 2,193 3,974 Washington ................. 20 18 29 26 1,928 3,154 3,163 2,921 West Virginia .............. ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 347 ( 2 ) 308 Wisconsin .................. 109 59 57 92 16,381 6,167 6,788 14,530 Wyoming .................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................ 8 12 9 11 896 1,390 998 2,251 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.