Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 00-275 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, September 28, 2000 MASS LAYOFFS IN JULY 2000 In July 2000, there were 1,333 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 164,978. (See table 1.) The number of layoffs events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the lowest for the month of July since this series began in April 1995. From January through July 2000, the total number of layoff events (8,803) and the total number of initial claimants (984,523) were lower than in January-July 1999. 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 lay- offs of more than 30 days. (See table 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution In July 2000, manufacturing industries accounted for 49 percent of all mass layoff events and 60 percent of all initial claims filed. The highest number of initial claimants was in transportation equipment (33,094), primarily in motor vehicles and car bodies and in motor vehicles parts and accessories. The large number of layoffs in the industry is a continuation of the earlier-than-usual plant shutdowns related to the automotive model changeover that were reported in the June 2000 data. Other manufacturing industries with high numbers of initial claimants were industrial machinery and equipment (9,232), mostly in lawn and garden equipment; and fabricated metal products (8,797), largely in automotive stampings. (See table 2.) Services accounted for 18 percent of all layoffs and 16 percent of initial claimants during the month, mainly in business services (especially help supply services) and motion pictures. Layoffs in these two industries, however, are more likely than most other industries to last less than 30 days. Six percent of all layoff events and 5 percent of initial claimants during the month were from transportation and public utilities, mostly in local and interurban passenger transit (school buses) and trucking and warehousing (trucking, except local). Agriculture accounted for 7 percent of all mass layoff events and 4 percent of initial claimants during the month, largely in agricultural services such as farm labor contractors. An additional 6 percent of all events and 4 percent of all initial claimants were from government, mostly due to local government layoffs in elementary and secondary education as the school year ended. - 2 - Compared with July 1999, the largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in industrial machinery and equipment (-8,705), textile mill products (-6,729), and rubber and miscellaneous plastics products (-5,048). The largest increase in initial claims occurred in motion pictures (+5,636). Geographic Distribution In July, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was higher in the Midwest (71,049) than in any other region. (See table 3.) Layoffs in transportation equipment, rubber and miscellaneous plastics products, and fabricated metal products accounted for 50 percent of the claims in the Midwest. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (18,226). Over-the-year decreases in mass layoff-related initial claims were reported in all four regions: the Midwest (-30,854), Northeast (-12,841), South (-10,953), and West (-1,708). Among the nine geographic divisions, eight divisions reported over-the-year decreases in initial claims associated with mass layoff events. The largest decreases were reported in the East North Central, West North Central, and Middle Atlantic divisions. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (27,435), primarily in motion pictures, business services, and agricultural services, followed by Ohio (20,416) and Michigan (17,197). These three states accounted for 40 percent of all layoff events and 39 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From July 1999 to July 2000, Michigan reported the largest over-the- year decrease in initial claims (-18,836), mostly in transportation equipment. Among the 11 states that reported over-the-year increases in initial claims, Ohio had the largest increase (+6,659), mostly in transportation equipment. 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 1998 to July 2000 Extended mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Date Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1998 July ......................... 2,220 286,055 August ....................... 617 53,665 September .................... 637 79,629 Third Quarter ................ 3,474 419,349 1,234 256,803 35.5 October ...................... 1,553 160,830 November ..................... 1,368 144,343 December ..................... 1,776 207,661 Fourth Quarter ............... 4,697 512,834 1,734 325,990 36.9 1999 January ...................... 2,421 226,995 February ..................... 1,067 89,800 March ........................ 880 91,890 First Quarter ................ 4,368 408,685 1,509 252,122 34.5 April ........................ 1,270 136,885 May .......................... 1,032 102,738 June ......................... 1,140 130,951 Second Quarter ............... 3,442 370,574 1,444 (r)242,464 42.0 July ......................... 1,741 221,334 August ....................... 698 75,691 September .................... 717 75,288 Third Quarter ................ 3,156 372,313 1,097 (r)189,948 34.8 October ...................... 1,098 118,938 November ..................... 1,336 139,508 December ..................... 1,509 162,381 Fourth Quarter ............... 3,943 420,827 1,625 (r)287,078 41.2 2000 January ...................... 1,934 223,322 February ..................... 1,045 103,898 March ........................ 986 106,748 First Quarter ................ 3,965 433,968 (r)1,332 (r)219,603 (r)33.6 April ........................ 924 101,359 May .......................... 984 92,193 June(p)....................... 1,597 192,025 Second Quarter(p) ............ 3,505 385,577 1,187 162,726 33.9 July(p) ...................... 1,333 164,978 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff 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 July May June July July May June July 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) ....................................... 1,741 984 1,597 1,333 221,334 92,193 192,025 164,978 Total, private ...................................... 1,632 928 1,435 1,252 211,923 86,882 175,973 158,672 Agriculture ....................................... 129 83 161 91 9,921 5,356 15,057 6,038 Nonagriculture .................................... 1,458 825 1,235 1,136 195,208 78,439 157,034 149,693 Manufacturing ................................... 794 253 398 652 135,496 25,160 60,269 99,807 Durable goods ................................. 474 124 235 425 89,782 14,006 41,753 71,405 Lumber and wood products .................... 25 18 21 32 2,652 1,668 2,063 3,487 Furniture and fixtures ...................... 36 10 19 25 5,546 966 2,808 3,955 Stone, clay, and glass products ............. 16 4 11 10 3,640 546 1,320 1,158 Primary metal industries .................... 40 9 12 35 4,986 656 1,277 4,230 Fabricated metal products ................... 78 11 36 70 10,872 1,338 4,659 8,797 Industrial machinery and equipment .......... 80 16 30 63 17,937 1,285 5,918 9,232 Electronic and other electrical equipment ... 48 16 29 38 5,733 2,767 3,451 5,839 Transportation equipment .................... 123 25 66 133 36,323 3,148 19,529 33,094 Instruments and related products ............ 10 6 7 8 649 541 433 663 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ...... 18 9 4 11 1,444 1,091 295 950 Nondurable goods .............................. 320 129 163 227 45,714 11,154 18,516 28,402 Food and kindred products ................... 78 58 53 74 7,645 5,009 6,563 7,584 Tobacco products ............................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Textile mill products ....................... 55 6 10 22 9,699 536 953 2,970 Apparel and other textile products .......... 72 35 29 44 9,125 2,929 2,966 5,711 Paper and allied products ................... 6 9 11 ( 2 ) 599 1,001 946 ( 2 ) Printing and publishing ..................... 9 9 15 9 1,084 754 1,301 631 Chemicals and allied products ............... 14 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 1,911 ( 2 ) 371 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products ................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .. 68 8 31 51 13,645 628 4,504 8,597 Leather and leather products ................ 14 ( 2 ) 5 10 1,426 ( 2 ) 395 822 Nonmanufacturing ................................ 664 572 837 484 59,712 53,279 96,765 49,886 Mining ........................................ 8 5 4 ( 2 ) 2,150 409 363 ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 75 77 64 52 6,510 6,394 4,919 4,040 Transportation and public utilities ........... 103 33 129 79 10,570 4,185 14,925 8,538 Wholesale and retail trade .................... 137 146 180 103 12,441 14,841 20,838 9,488 Wholesale trade ............................ 38 28 33 30 3,605 2,311 2,694 3,055 Retail trade ............................... 99 118 147 73 8,836 12,530 18,144 6,433 Finance, insurance, and real estate ........... 34 30 24 ( 2 ) 2,890 2,211 1,710 ( 2 ) Services ...................................... 307 281 436 235 25,151 25,239 54,010 26,158 Not identified .................................... 45 20 39 25 6,794 3,087 3,882 2,941 Government .......................................... 109 56 162 81 9,411 5,311 16,052 6,306 Federal ........................................... 22 15 31 16 2,713 1,977 3,834 1,851 State ............................................. 18 8 18 13 1,676 930 1,435 1,063 Local ............................................. 69 33 113 52 5,022 2,404 10,783 3,392 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 July May June July July May June July 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) United States(1) ..... 1,741 984 1,597 1,333 221,334 92,193 192,025 164,978 Northeast .................... 300 140 216 176 31,067 13,426 22,824 18,226 New England .............. 60 25 40 36 6,103 2,297 3,797 3,953 Middle Atlantic .......... 240 115 176 140 24,964 11,129 19,027 14,273 South ........................ 395 234 360 312 49,985 25,693 34,187 39,032 South Atlantic ........... 200 85 196 166 27,628 9,702 17,754 22,269 East South Central ....... 59 49 52 66 7,132 6,205 4,846 6,881 West South Central ....... 136 100 112 80 15,225 9,786 11,587 9,882 Midwest ...................... 558 187 386 481 101,903 20,784 59,287 71,049 East North Central ....... 454 133 307 399 80,500 14,752 48,307 60,565 West North Central ....... 104 54 79 82 21,403 6,032 10,980 10,484 West ......................... 488 423 635 364 38,379 32,290 75,727 36,671 Mountain ................. 66 31 58 36 7,734 3,211 5,919 4,374 Pacific .................. 422 392 577 328 30,645 29,079 69,808 32,297 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 July May June July July May June July 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) 1999 2000 2000(p) 2000(p) Total(1) .................. 1,741 984 1,597 1,333 221,334 92,193 192,025 164,978 Alabama ...................... 9 20 16 4 788 2,065 1,308 305 Alaska ....................... ( 2 ) - 5 - ( 2 ) - 708 - Arizona ...................... 21 6 20 9 3,277 917 2,029 912 Arkansas ..................... 11 6 8 10 1,442 613 890 1,158 California ................... 377 358 532 287 26,197 26,068 64,697 27,435 Colorado ..................... 6 7 4 3 687 669 445 234 Connecticut .................. 7 5 7 5 544 473 738 490 Delaware ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ......... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida ...................... 64 38 105 68 4,845 3,508 6,580 4,711 Georgia ...................... 23 9 26 8 1,845 951 2,998 574 Hawaii ....................... 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 351 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Idaho ........................ 12 7 10 7 1,660 639 919 824 Illinois ..................... 54 35 50 54 12,548 4,061 8,900 5,981 Indiana ...................... 54 11 25 50 9,492 1,947 4,813 9,562 Iowa ......................... 30 8 18 23 7,447 864 4,187 3,004 Kansas ....................... 14 7 8 10 2,108 570 1,052 836 Kentucky ..................... 24 11 14 40 3,118 2,587 1,337 4,888 Louisiana .................... 18 23 32 13 1,576 1,807 2,940 1,236 Maine ........................ 7 4 3 6 749 290 161 457 Maryland ..................... 5 3 8 7 396 291 639 896 Massachusetts ................ 25 10 21 15 2,496 1,078 2,227 1,472 Michigan ..................... 198 39 148 138 36,033 4,038 26,171 17,197 Minnesota .................... 12 5 12 12 2,507 490 1,053 1,663 Mississippi .................. 8 11 ( 2 ) 10 761 779 ( 2 ) 757 Missouri ..................... 42 29 37 33 8,764 3,665 4,299 4,614 Montana ...................... 3 3 ( 2 ) 4 239 381 ( 2 ) 915 Nebraska ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nevada ....................... 17 7 13 10 1,389 523 1,795 1,290 New Hampshire ................ 9 ( 2 ) 3 5 1,137 ( 2 ) 199 768 New Jersey ................... 48 30 50 28 5,776 3,325 6,431 2,950 New Mexico ................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 438 ( 2 ) New York ..................... 83 13 16 45 7,954 1,167 1,517 4,373 North Carolina ............... 6 12 12 10 2,035 2,467 1,054 1,933 North Dakota ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Ohio ......................... 82 20 35 104 13,757 1,770 4,076 20,416 Oklahoma ..................... 12 4 4 5 1,151 500 286 848 Oregon ....................... 22 24 20 30 2,442 2,232 2,423 4,063 Pennsylvania ................. 109 72 110 67 11,234 6,637 11,079 6,950 Rhode Island ................. 11 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,083 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina ............... 61 6 24 36 10,770 631 2,467 6,517 South Dakota ................. ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 318 ( 2 ) - Tennessee .................... 18 7 20 12 2,465 774 1,912 931 Texas ........................ 95 67 68 52 11,056 6,866 7,471 6,640 Utah ......................... 5 - 3 ( 2 ) 381 - 242 ( 2 ) Vermont ...................... ( 2 ) 3 4 4 ( 2 ) 277 287 688 Virginia ..................... 39 13 17 33 5,599 1,627 1,518 6,974 Washington ................... 17 8 19 9 1,443 623 1,904 649 West Virginia ................ - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin .................... 66 28 49 53 8,670 2,936 4,347 7,409 Wyoming ...................... - - - - - - - - Puerto Rico .................. 15 9 9 17 1,767 636 1,461 1,909 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.