Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 03-762 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Wednesday, November 26, 2003 MASS LAYOFFS IN OCTOBER 2003 Employers initiated 1,523 mass layoff actions in October 2003, 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 158,240. (See table 1.) Fewer mass-layoff initial claims were filed against employers in temporary help services, discount department stores, semiconductors and related devices, and broadwoven fabric mills compared with October 2002. The number of initial claims fell to their lowest levels for October since 2000. From January through October 2003, the total number of events, at 15,596, and the number of initial claims, at 1,557,750, were lower than the January-October period a year ago (15,650 events and 1,740,722 initial claims). 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"). The quar- terly 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 Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution Supermarkets and other grocery stores, with 13,682 initial claimants, and temporary help services, with 11,964 initial claimants, together ac- counted for 16 percent of all initial claims in October. (See table A.) The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 34 percent of the total. The manufacturing sector recorded 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 34 percent of all initial claims filed in October. A year ago, manu- facturing reported 33 percent of events and 38 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (10,229) and food processing (10,034). (See table 2.) Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of events and 14 percent of initial claims filed in October, with layoffs mostly in supermarkets and other gro- cery stores. Administrative and waste services accounted for 15 percent of events and 14 percent of initial claims during the month, mainly in temporary help services. Twelve percent of the events and 8 percent of the initial claims were from the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector, large- ly among farm labor contractors and crew leaders. An additional 9 percent of all layoff events and 7 percent of initial claims filed during October were from construction firms, primarily among specialty trade contractors. Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and initial claims filed during the month, particularly in transit and ground passenger transportation. The 7,527 initial claims in government were the most for an October since 1997. The total number of events and initial claims in government from January through October of this year have already exceeded those for all of 2002. Compared with October 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (-5,512) and computer and electronic products manufacturing (-4,562). The largest over-the-year in- crease in initial claims was in food and beverage stores (+11,257). - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass layoff initial claims in October 2003p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | October peak Industry |Initial claims|---------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ----------------------------------------|--------------|------|--------------- Supermarkets and other grocery stores...| 13,682 | 2003 | 13,682 Temporary help services.................| 11,964 | 1998 | 18,760 Farm labor contractors and crew leaders.| 5,824 | 1998 | 9,617 Motion picture and video production.....| 5,403 | 1997 | 7,692 Professional employer organizations.....| 3,478 | 2001 | 3,523 Fruit and vegetable canning.............| 3,394 | 2002 | 4,500 Farm machinery and equipment mfg. ......| 3,061 | 1999 | 3,986 Automobile manufacturing................| 2,441 | 2001 | 7,563 Discount department stores..............| 2,310 | 2002 | 4,959 Other postharvest crop activities.......| 2,191 | 1998 | 2,529 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in October due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 68,376. (See table 3.) Admin- istrative and support services, agriculture and forestry support activities, and food and beverage stores accounted for 37 percent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest region was next, with 43,432 initial claims, followed by the South, with 29,371, and the Northeast, with 17,061. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in three of the four regions, with the largest decrease in the West (-8,687). Eight of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest de- creases in the Pacific (-8,056) and South Atlantic (-4,549). The West North Central division had the only increase (+8,791). California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this October, 57,322, mostly in administrative and support services and in agriculture and forestry support activities. Pennsylvania reported 9,143 initial claims, followed by Missouri (8,165) and Illinois (7,890). These four states accounted for 53 percent of all layoff events and 52 percent of initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) California registered the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-7,722), followed by South Carolina (-3,849). The largest over-the-year increase occurred in Missouri (+6,927). From January through October, California reported 409,420 initial claims, 26 percent of the national total. The states with the next highest numbers of initial claims were Pennsylvania (93,603), Ohio (85,707), New York (78,487), and Texas (78,108). ______________________________ Mass Layoffs in November 2003 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, December 23, 2003. 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, October 2001 to October 2003 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,697 502,502 38.6 64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 February ................... 1,382 138,808 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 First Quarter .............. 4,988 563,901 1,750 316,489 35.1 56.1 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,802 1,905 353,017 39.6 69.5 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 September .................. 1,062 124,522 Third Quarter .............. 4,352 497,919 1,383 (r)284,629 31.8 (r)57.2 October .................... 1,497 171,100 November ................... 2,153 240,171 December ................... 2,474 264,158 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,124 675,429 2,257 (r)421,570 36.9 (r)62.4 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 February ................... 1,363 124,965 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 1,700 (r)333,197 34.8 (r)71.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 (r)2,131 (r)415,316 (r)42.8 (r)84.2 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 September (p) .............. 868 82,647 Third Quarter (p) .......... 4,213 442,921 (2)1,375 (2)181,793 32.6 41.0 October (p) ................ 1,523 158,240 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. r = revised. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry October August September October October August September October 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ................................... 1,497 1,258 868 1,523 171,100 133,839 82,647 158,240 Total, private .................................. 1,448 1,201 799 1,453 165,372 126,266 76,296 150,713 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 178 38 43 188 16,045 2,135 2,382 13,007 Mining ........................................ 8 4 4 5 565 283 259 343 Utilities ..................................... 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 532 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 116 114 82 143 9,738 7,862 5,205 11,422 Manufacturing ................................. 493 405 271 438 64,655 52,620 31,428 53,741 Food ...................................... 84 42 44 96 12,169 5,803 4,145 10,034 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 16 477 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,237 Textile mills ............................. 24 21 21 9 4,786 7,154 3,510 1,533 Textile product mills ..................... 12 8 ( 2 ) 8 1,511 739 ( 2 ) 881 Apparel ................................... 18 25 10 25 2,445 2,255 1,212 2,592 Leather and allied products ............... 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 384 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 22 21 11 15 2,114 1,773 969 1,163 Paper ..................................... 11 13 10 12 968 1,083 834 1,049 Printing and related support activities ... 8 4 ( 2 ) 11 710 231 ( 2 ) 998 Petroleum and coal products ............... 5 - - ( 2 ) 651 - - ( 2 ) Chemicals ................................. 8 7 9 7 598 549 602 546 Plastics and rubber products .............. 18 24 10 16 1,658 2,203 886 1,390 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 12 6 5 13 874 463 420 1,193 Primary metals ............................ 24 23 24 29 3,687 1,988 2,011 3,444 Fabricated metal products ................. 21 32 5 23 1,722 2,806 826 2,093 Machinery ................................. 47 39 21 35 8,309 6,606 2,073 7,212 Computer and electronic products .......... 63 34 26 26 6,923 2,675 4,820 2,361 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 25 21 9 11 4,879 2,564 1,142 2,493 Transportation equipment .................. 49 50 31 55 6,856 9,476 4,825 10,229 Furniture and related products ............ 14 21 11 15 1,749 2,513 1,254 1,995 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 15 11 10 11 1,185 1,351 662 883 Wholesale trade ............................... 23 18 22 22 1,948 1,322 1,808 1,760 Retail trade .................................. 112 99 69 115 15,506 9,980 5,789 21,870 Transportation and warehousing ................ 41 86 20 37 5,022 9,025 1,723 3,003 Information ................................... 53 51 26 52 9,019 9,114 5,791 7,755 Finance and insurance ......................... 25 41 35 35 2,123 3,113 2,371 2,541 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ ( 2 ) 4 5 12 ( 2 ) 349 382 718 Professional and technical services ........... 42 41 29 30 3,525 3,775 3,730 2,447 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 224 168 109 233 26,896 16,242 9,606 21,380 Educational services .......................... - 7 8 ( 2 ) - 592 634 ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ............. 28 32 13 37 1,902 2,427 945 2,407 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 17 19 19 28 1,263 1,386 1,237 2,039 Accommodation and food services ............... 58 45 37 62 5,057 3,228 2,623 5,176 Other services, except public administration .. 14 22 3 7 908 2,234 183 459 Unclassified .................................. 5 4 1 5 369 259 50 343 Government ...................................... 49 57 69 70 5,728 7,573 6,351 7,527 Federal ....................................... 9 10 13 20 815 1,287 1,910 1,649 State ......................................... 14 16 14 16 1,991 1,766 1,417 1,383 Local ......................................... 26 31 42 34 2,922 4,520 3,024 4,495 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: Industry data reflect the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), 2002. 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 October August September October October August September October 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p United States(1) .... 1,497 1,258 868 1,523 171,100 133,839 82,647 158,240 Northeast ................. 181 220 107 184 20,961 21,272 12,115 17,061 New England ............. 38 25 19 16 4,694 2,151 4,559 1,157 Middle Atlantic ......... 143 195 88 168 16,267 19,121 7,556 15,904 South ..................... 304 330 196 278 35,515 34,673 19,287 29,371 South Atlantic .......... 159 164 96 134 17,819 18,195 8,698 13,270 East South Central ...... 48 68 31 44 6,198 8,033 4,144 5,310 West South Central ...... 97 98 69 100 11,498 8,445 6,445 10,791 Midwest ................... 293 239 165 325 37,561 30,872 16,868 43,432 East North Central ...... 238 199 125 264 30,761 25,707 12,646 27,841 West North Central ...... 55 40 40 61 6,800 5,165 4,222 15,591 West ...................... 719 469 400 736 77,063 47,022 34,377 68,376 Mountain ................ 52 42 30 47 4,669 4,080 2,568 4,038 Pacific ................. 667 427 370 689 72,394 42,942 31,809 64,338 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 October August September October October August September October 2002 2003 2003p 2003p 2002 2003 2003p 2003p Total(1) ............. 1,497 1,258 868 1,523 171,100 133,839 82,647 158,240 Alabama ................. 17 24 8 13 2,833 3,740 1,164 1,671 Alaska .................. 4 ( 2 ) 3 3 301 ( 2 ) 185 295 Arizona ................. 16 10 4 8 1,169 703 423 700 Arkansas ................ 10 ( 2 ) 3 6 1,117 ( 2 ) 268 1,140 California .............. 612 383 345 616 65,044 37,814 29,429 57,322 Colorado ................ 13 ( 2 ) 6 8 1,142 ( 2 ) 439 581 Connecticut ............. 5 3 4 3 516 237 291 200 Delaware ................ ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 598 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Florida ................. 70 80 43 66 4,604 5,554 2,555 4,608 Georgia ................. 35 20 19 23 3,219 2,077 2,130 2,838 Hawaii .................. 10 ( 2 ) 3 6 800 ( 2 ) 196 462 Idaho ................... 5 11 6 10 708 1,500 463 1,203 Illinois ................ 57 50 41 74 8,676 7,996 4,510 7,890 Indiana ................. 22 29 13 22 3,629 3,478 983 2,118 Iowa .................... 12 10 9 18 2,339 1,650 1,108 3,680 Kansas .................. 8 6 6 6 768 775 547 738 Kentucky ................ 21 21 16 23 2,479 2,377 2,259 3,136 Louisiana ............... 12 17 4 12 954 1,215 231 1,045 Maine ................... 4 ( 2 ) - 3 680 ( 2 ) - 180 Maryland ................ 10 5 ( 2 ) 4 1,263 422 ( 2 ) 256 Massachusetts ........... 21 15 10 9 2,318 1,388 1,047 713 Michigan ................ 39 11 18 42 4,111 2,369 1,861 4,263 Minnesota ............... 17 6 7 17 2,000 505 511 2,845 Mississippi ............. 5 8 ( 2 ) 4 429 571 ( 2 ) 200 Missouri ................ 16 15 13 18 1,238 1,521 1,307 8,165 Montana ................. 3 4 ( 2 ) 5 327 599 ( 2 ) 360 Nebraska ................ ( 2 ) - 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - 749 ( 2 ) Nevada .................. 11 11 12 10 1,043 915 879 835 New Hampshire ........... 5 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 543 195 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 23 33 8 27 2,561 2,708 691 2,906 New Mexico .............. ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 127 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York ................ 41 94 38 44 5,226 10,633 3,384 3,855 North Carolina .......... 12 32 11 19 1,494 6,680 897 2,039 North Dakota ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - Ohio .................... 58 54 29 66 7,178 6,389 2,979 7,316 Oklahoma ................ 5 6 5 12 957 603 359 1,614 Oregon .................. 20 27 5 39 3,123 2,447 375 3,784 Pennsylvania ............ 79 68 42 97 8,480 5,780 3,481 9,143 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - South Carolina .......... 19 10 5 7 4,555 870 1,548 706 South Dakota ............ - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - - Tennessee ............... 5 15 5 4 457 1,345 608 303 Texas ................... 70 74 57 70 8,470 6,571 5,587 6,992 Utah .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Vermont ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Virginia ................ 8 13 14 14 619 1,887 1,321 1,376 Washington .............. 21 14 14 25 3,126 1,714 1,624 2,475 West Virginia ........... 3 - ( 2 ) - 468 - ( 2 ) - Wisconsin ............... 62 55 24 60 7,167 5,475 2,313 6,254 Wyoming ................. ( 2 ) - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 216 Puerto Rico ............. 4 10 7 7 402 1,035 573 567 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.