Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 01-317 http://www.bls.gov/mlshome.htm For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Wednesday, September 26, 2001 MASS LAYOFFS IN AUGUST 2001 In August 2001, there were 1,474 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 163,263. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of August since the series began in April 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. (August 2001 contained 5 weeks that ended in the month compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior three Augusts.) In January-August 2001, the total number of events, at 13,089, and initial claims, at 1,564,317, were substantially higher than in January-August 2000, at 9,554 and 1,081,738, 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 In August 2001, manufacturing industries accounted for 41 percent of all mass layoff events and 49 percent of all initial claims filed. A year earlier, layoffs in manufacturing accounted for 34 percent of events and 36 percent of initial claims. Manufacturing industries with the highest number of initial claimants were electronic and other electrical equipment (16,820, largely in semiconductors), transportation equipment (15,357, mostly in motor vehicles and car bodies), and industrial machinery and equipment (11,347, primarily in refrigeration and heating equipment). (See table 2.) Compared with August 2000, 18 of the 20 manufacturing industry groups had increases in the number of initial claims. Services accounted for 24 percent of events and initial claims filed during the month. Layoffs in services were concentrated in business services (particularly help supply services) and in motion pictures. These industries, however, are more likely than most other industries to lay off workers for fewer than 30 days. Ten percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of initial claims during the month were in retail trade industries, largely in general merchandise stores (department stores). Transportation and public utilities accounted for 8 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims during the month, mostly in local and interurban passenger transit (school buses). Construc- tion accounted for an additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims, primarily in special trade contractors. Compared with August 2000, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in electronic and other electrical equipment (+13,536), transporta- tion equipment (+9,319), business services (+7,718), and industrial machinery and equipment (+6,621). The largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims was reported in engineering and management services (-4,774). - 2 - Geographic Distribution In August, the highest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was in the West--62,826, largely in business services and motion pictures. (See table 3.) These two industries accounted for 35 percent of all claimants in the region. The Northeast region continued to register the lowest number of mass layoff-related initial claims, 24,891. Over the year, all four regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) reported increases in mass layoff events and initial claims, with the largest increase occurring in the Midwest (+26,430). Seven of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the Pacific and East North Central divisions. Over-the-year declines were reported in the New England and Mountain divisions. California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events, 50,343, mostly in motion pictures and in business services, followed by Michigan, 12,914, and Pennsylvania, 12,425. These three states accounted for 46 percent of all layoff events and initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) In August 2001, California reported the largest over-the-year increase (+19,637) in initial claims, followed by Michigan (+11,679). The largest over-the-year decrease occurred in Massachusetts (-5,281). 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 1999 to August 2001 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Realization rates(1) Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 1999 July ....................... 1,741 221,334 August ..................... 698 75,691 September .................. 717 75,288 Third Quarter .............. 3,156 372,313 1,097 189,973 34.8 51.0 October .................... 1,098 118,938 November ................... 1,336 139,508 December ................... 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ............. 3,943 420,827 1,625 287,685 41.2 68.4 2000 January .................... 1,934 223,322 February ................... 1,045 103,898 March ...................... 986 106,748 First Quarter .............. 3,965 433,968 1,330 221,368 33.5 51.0 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 1,014 188,641 33.6 51.1 October .................... 874 103,755 November ................... 1,697 216,514 December ................... 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,024 38.2 58.1 2001 January .................... 1,522 200,343 February ................... 1,501 172,908 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter .............. 4,550 544,717 1,768 335,877 38.9 61.7 April ...................... 1,450 175,911 May ........................ 1,426 157,759 June ....................... 2,081 250,359 Second Quarter ............. 4,957 584,029 (2)(p)1,911 (2)(p)268,809 (p)38.6 (p)46.0 July(p) .................... 2,108 272,308 August(p) .................. 1,474 163,263 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. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry August June July August August June July August 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ...................................... 751 2,081 2,108 1,474 97,215 250,359 272,308 163,263 Total, private ..................................... 717 1,892 2,034 1,444 93,717 233,470 264,922 160,685 Agriculture ...................................... 38 118 92 74 2,898 9,360 7,396 5,247 Nonagriculture ................................... 668 1,762 1,935 1,367 89,554 222,500 256,578 155,244 Manufacturing .................................. 252 745 1,144 607 35,370 116,626 167,427 79,663 Durable goods ................................ 147 484 802 415 22,823 78,747 126,136 59,811 Lumber and wood products ................... 17 19 28 11 1,882 1,631 3,375 882 Furniture and fixtures ..................... 12 44 41 30 1,853 6,237 5,962 4,102 Stone, clay, and glass products ............ ( 2 ) 16 20 8 ( 2 ) 1,788 2,796 1,233 Primary metal industries ................... 16 44 85 35 3,118 5,639 13,746 3,448 Fabricated metal products .................. 11 66 137 42 1,098 7,055 16,156 3,402 Industrial machinery and equipment ......... 29 66 146 93 4,726 9,662 24,895 11,347 Electronic and other electrical equipment .. 20 115 130 119 3,284 18,636 20,502 16,820 Transportation equipment ................... 32 91 174 56 6,038 26,431 34,976 15,357 Instruments and related products ........... 5 12 21 15 380 925 2,210 2,529 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ..... ( 2 ) 11 20 6 ( 2 ) 743 1,518 691 Nondurable goods ............................. 105 261 342 192 12,547 37,879 41,291 19,852 Food and kindred products .................. 28 65 82 53 3,264 5,989 9,239 5,291 Tobacco products ........................... - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Textile mill products ...................... 17 39 50 29 2,656 11,104 7,323 3,315 Apparel and other textile products ......... 20 50 48 34 1,719 5,941 6,009 3,534 Paper and allied products .................. 13 16 20 16 2,019 1,766 2,436 2,876 Printing and publishing .................... ( 2 ) 20 16 18 ( 2 ) 1,690 1,471 1,182 Chemicals and allied products .............. 5 12 17 11 358 1,390 2,071 910 Petroleum and coal products ................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products . 14 54 97 21 1,822 9,588 11,586 1,860 Leather and leather products ............... 4 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 419 411 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nonmanufacturing ............................... 416 1,017 791 760 54,184 105,874 89,151 75,581 Mining ....................................... 3 4 8 7 311 1,519 1,259 514 Construction ................................. 52 88 64 75 4,361 6,375 5,022 6,058 Transportation and public utilities .......... 57 146 114 111 7,311 21,002 11,387 10,272 Wholesale and retail trade ................... 109 230 170 181 10,594 26,030 18,352 16,742 Wholesale trade ........................... 14 58 48 37 1,562 5,747 5,016 2,800 Retail trade .............................. 95 172 122 144 9,032 20,283 13,336 13,942 Finance, insurance, and real estate .......... 17 33 44 31 1,649 3,059 3,409 2,667 Services ..................................... 178 516 391 355 29,958 47,889 49,722 39,328 Not identified ................................... 11 12 7 3 1,265 1,610 948 194 Government ......................................... 34 189 74 30 3,498 16,889 7,386 2,578 Federal .......................................... 14 17 18 5 1,646 2,870 2,020 480 State ............................................ 7 28 7 12 916 2,419 592 1,094 Local ............................................ 13 144 49 13 936 11,600 4,774 1,004 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 August June July August August June July August 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) United States(1) ... 751 2,081 2,108 1,474 97,215 250,359 272,308 163,263 Northeast .................. 112 299 319 224 18,394 38,111 33,490 24,891 New England ............ 13 67 70 34 7,882 7,145 8,574 3,180 Middle Atlantic ........ 99 232 249 190 10,512 30,966 24,916 21,711 South ...................... 199 479 453 302 22,630 62,023 54,895 30,929 South Atlantic ......... 110 249 236 149 12,435 34,834 28,391 14,245 East South Central ..... 29 110 89 52 4,192 14,057 10,772 5,444 West South Central ..... 60 120 128 101 6,003 13,132 15,732 11,240 Midwest .................... 139 569 763 315 18,187 87,401 116,117 44,617 East North Central ..... 112 452 618 245 15,263 65,836 96,509 35,511 West North Central ..... 27 117 145 70 2,924 21,565 19,608 9,106 West ....................... 301 734 573 633 38,004 62,824 67,806 62,826 Mountain ............... 44 77 74 53 5,623 8,012 8,156 4,883 Pacific ................ 257 657 499 580 32,381 54,812 59,650 57,943 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 August June July August August June July August 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) 2000 2001 2001(p) 2001(p) Total(1) ................. 751 2,081 2,108 1,474 97,215 250,359 272,308 163,263 Alabama ..................... 7 26 13 10 1,981 2,649 1,312 678 Alaska ...................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Arizona ..................... 4 17 22 10 406 2,215 2,149 655 Arkansas .................... 5 5 13 6 356 489 1,043 854 California .................. 244 590 444 519 30,706 46,675 51,198 50,343 Colorado .................... 3 14 12 5 333 1,274 1,248 492 Connecticut ................. ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 783 ( 2 ) 308 Delaware .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,021 ( 2 ) District of Columbia ........ - 4 - - - 338 - - Florida ..................... 38 106 80 71 3,073 8,319 6,692 5,822 Georgia ..................... 13 44 15 16 1,616 4,361 1,413 1,368 Hawaii ...................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Idaho ....................... 15 11 12 8 2,404 1,084 2,104 804 Illinois .................... 33 85 68 56 6,582 13,605 16,031 6,441 Indiana ..................... 14 42 83 24 1,359 8,600 12,304 3,291 Iowa ........................ 4 14 49 15 431 1,789 8,154 1,373 Kansas ...................... ( 2 ) 8 9 11 ( 2 ) 1,972 883 1,104 Kentucky .................... 12 41 52 24 1,450 7,560 7,227 3,422 Louisiana ................... 13 10 6 3 844 745 610 220 Maine ....................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 586 211 Maryland .................... ( 2 ) 9 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 649 691 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ............... 5 36 44 15 6,527 3,613 5,051 1,246 Michigan .................... 12 181 231 57 1,235 26,714 28,650 12,914 Minnesota ................... 8 38 24 11 812 6,327 2,792 1,421 Mississippi ................. 5 15 12 3 301 1,276 1,171 182 Missouri .................... 13 46 57 27 1,442 9,019 6,939 4,474 Montana ..................... 3 5 - ( 2 ) 625 355 - ( 2 ) Nebraska .................... - 6 4 ( 2 ) - 1,098 434 ( 2 ) Nevada ...................... 16 17 20 23 1,533 2,067 2,095 1,958 New Hampshire ............... ( 2 ) 7 11 7 ( 2 ) 698 1,846 840 New Jersey .................. 25 52 43 30 3,562 9,745 4,963 3,108 New Mexico .................. - 7 5 ( 2 ) - 564 252 ( 2 ) New York .................... 22 32 39 53 1,775 3,045 4,071 6,178 North Carolina .............. 26 23 28 22 2,383 2,505 3,705 1,732 North Dakota ................ - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 430 Ohio ........................ 28 77 127 50 2,992 9,401 23,143 6,153 Oklahoma .................... 3 11 14 3 209 1,355 1,720 211 Oregon ...................... 7 32 33 33 1,252 4,572 6,336 4,986 Pennsylvania ................ 52 148 167 107 5,175 18,176 15,882 12,425 Rhode Island ................ 3 11 4 5 336 1,700 338 525 South Carolina .............. 16 39 63 26 2,242 12,225 9,790 3,583 South Dakota ................ - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Tennessee ................... 5 28 12 15 460 2,572 1,062 1,162 Texas ....................... 39 94 95 89 4,594 10,543 12,359 9,955 Utah ........................ 3 6 ( 2 ) 4 322 453 ( 2 ) 242 Vermont ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Virginia .................... 11 21 35 10 2,604 4,233 4,971 1,372 Washington .................. 5 29 20 25 322 2,944 1,928 2,337 West Virginia ............... 4 - ( 2 ) - 272 - ( 2 ) - Wisconsin ................... 25 67 109 58 3,095 7,516 16,381 6,712 Wyoming ..................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico ................. 10 17 8 9 879 1,816 896 862 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.