Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 05-486 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, March 24, 2005 MASS LAYOFFS IN FEBRUARY 2005 In February 2005, employers took 1,128 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 117,684, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events fell by 329 from January and was the lowest for any month since October 2000. The number of initial claims due to mass layoff actions declined by 33,306 over the month and was the lowest for any month since May 2004. There were 345 mass layoff events in the manufacturing sector during February 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 43,186 initial claims, both numbers lower than a month earlier. Over the full historical seasonally adjusted series, the total number of mass layoff events was at its lowest level of 938 in October 2000. The total number of mass layoff initial claims had its low of 89,262 in September 1996. For the manufacturing sector, the seasonally adjusted numbers of events and initial claims reached their lows in December 2004 (283 and 34,940, respectively). Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 27,314 initial claims in February, 37 percent of the total. (See table A.) Temporary help ser- vices, with 8,817 initial claims, and motion picture and video produc- tion, with 4,359, together accounted for 18 percent of all initial claims in February. The manufacturing sector accounted for 28 percent of all mass layoff events and 33 percent of all initial claims filed in February. A year earlier, in February 2004, manufacturing comprised 26 percent of events and 27 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing in February 2005, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (6,915, mostly automotive-related), followed by food processing (5,237). (See table 3.) Administrative and waste services accounted for 15 percent of events and 17 percent of initial claims filed in February 2005, with layoffs mainly in temporary help services. Fifteen percent of all layoff events and 10 percent of initial claims filed during the month were from con- struction, primarily among specialty trade contractors. Retail trade accounted for 9 percent of events and initial claims in February, mostly in general merchandise stores. An additional 3 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims were from the information sector, largely from motion picture and sound recording industries. Government establishments accounted for 4 percent of events and 3 per- cent of initial claims filed in February, mostly in executive, legislative, and general government agencies. Over the year, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in professional and technical services (-3,449), general merchandise stores (-2,748), transit and ground passenger transportation (-1,528), food process- ing (-1,280), and food services and drinking places (-1,060). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+4,244) and administrative and support services (+1,156). - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in February 2005p ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Initial| February peak Industry | claims |-------------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ------------------------------------------|--------|---------|---------------- Temporary help services ..................| 8,817 | 2001 | 18,893 Motion picture and video production ......| 4,359 | 2002 | 5,844 Heavy duty truck manufacturing ...........| 2,627 | 2005 | 2,627 Farm labor contractors and crew leaders ..| 2,416 | 2000 | 12,516 Professional employer organizations ......| 1,655 | 2001 | 3,241 Supermarket and other grocery stores .....| 1,579 | 2002 | 1,982 School and employee bus transportation ...| 1,572 | 2004 | 2,997 Light truck and utility vehicle mfg. .....| 1,523 | 1998 | 2,133 Food service contractors .................| 1,499 | 2003 | 1,700 Highway, street, and bridge construction .| 1,267 | 2003 | 3,316 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p=preliminary. Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in February due to mass layoffs was in the West (31,501). (See table 5.) Administrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording industries accounted for 38 percent of all mass-layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest had the second largest number of initial claims (17,129), followed by the South (14,788) and the North- east (11,226). The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in each of the four regions. The largest decrease was in the South (-2,982), followed by the West (-2,952), the Midwest (-2,054), and the Northeast (-1,569). Seven of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the Pacific (-2,944) and South Atlantic (-2,812) divisions. The largest over-the-year increase occurred in the East South Central division (+2,176). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in February (27,567), mostly in administrative and support services and motion picture and sound recording industries. Kentucky had the next highest with 4,585 initial claims reported, followed by Illinois (4,138), Wisconsin (3,530), New York (3,384), and New Jersey (3,282). These six states accounted for 60 percent of all mass layoff events and 62 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) California had the largest over-the-year decrease in the number of initial claims (-2,298), followed by Ohio (-2,287) and Texas (-1,864). The largest over-the-year increases occurred in Kentucky (+3,635) and Minnesota (+1,447). Note 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. For private nonfarm establishments, 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 quarterly 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 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. ____________________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in March 2005 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 26, 2005. 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 con- tacted 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 quart- erly 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, the number of weeks in a given month may be different from year to year, and the number of weeks in a year may vary. Therefore, analysis of over-the-month and over-the-year change in not seasonally adjusted series 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. Seasonal adjustment Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS began publish- ing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS series. The six series are the numbers of mass layoff events and mass layoff initial claims for the total, private nonfarm, and manufacturing sectors. Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect on time series data of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays, and the beginning and ending of the school year. The use of seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental changes in time series, particularly those associated with general economic expan- sions and contractions. The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjust- ment method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in devel- oping seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most recent 5 years of seasonally adjusted data will be made once a year with the issuance of December data. Before the data are seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments are made to the original data to adjust them for differences in the number of weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly unemployment insurance claims are aggregated to form monthly data, a particular month's value could be calculated with 5 weeks of data in one year and 4 weeks in another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal adjustment process. These effects are modeled in the X-12-ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the final seasonally adjusted series. Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, March 2001 to February 2005, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 March ...................... 1,771 202,154 1,578 186,283 797 108,244 April ...................... 1,620 199,764 1,483 186,013 773 106,045 May ........................ 1,679 207,811 1,523 193,998 755 110,133 June ....................... 1,610 195,617 1,433 180,821 739 104,155 July ....................... 1,704 200,376 1,568 188,468 719 93,867 August ..................... 1,744 206,528 1,586 195,051 788 106,632 September .................. 2,409 277,214 2,235 263,192 834 108,615 October .................... 2,109 233,569 1,986 223,808 897 118,136 November ................... 2,094 218,273 1,935 207,129 944 114,556 December ................... 1,799 194,759 1,658 183,178 722 93,193 2002 January .................... 1,801 208,835 1,659 195,862 739 96,689 February ................... 1,773 204,089 1,620 192,450 701 91,285 March ...................... 1,674 187,924 1,517 175,998 610 75,367 April ...................... 1,685 186,574 1,497 169,228 591 69,481 May ........................ 1,720 191,841 1,558 178,993 611 74,809 June ....................... 1,615 170,307 1,438 156,759 551 73,064 July ....................... 1,637 179,165 1,457 164,398 568 73,230 August ..................... 1,475 160,855 1,330 149,148 562 65,564 September .................. 1,909 217,475 1,742 202,640 607 79,413 October .................... 1,716 178,860 1,524 162,411 598 71,765 November ................... 1,644 176,462 1,500 165,578 607 70,640 December ................... 1,825 193,627 1,661 179,368 638 86,714 2003 January .................... 1,383 134,258 1,193 120,033 402 49,440 February ................... 1,771 185,502 1,589 173,392 643 75,331 March ...................... 1,773 176,540 1,577 161,662 618 75,289 April ...................... 1,735 176,645 1,574 165,416 646 86,857 May ........................ 1,709 186,158 1,532 173,123 624 87,615 June ....................... 1,704 163,646 1,515 148,547 636 70,888 July ....................... 1,653 163,061 1,444 147,883 590 71,203 August ..................... 1,502 170,353 1,364 156,731 540 71,944 September .................. 1,559 145,961 1,370 132,233 471 56,274 October .................... 1,541 154,908 1,312 136,604 412 49,518 November ................... 1,400 137,651 1,241 125,115 397 46,955 December ................... 1,425 141,780 1,281 129,464 420 53,436 2004 January .................... 1,458 146,147 1,257 127,917 413 50,074 February ................... 1,237 126,421 1,091 115,302 358 36,783 March ...................... 1,348 142,480 1,211 134,118 409 63,380 April ...................... 1,422 149,049 1,239 132,180 360 43,158 May ........................ 1,178 114,247 1,016 100,499 314 37,950 June ....................... 1,375 141,300 1,215 129,466 361 47,548 July ....................... 1,363 139,374 1,200 127,011 390 49,276 August ..................... 1,392 130,483 1,208 115,035 330 36,422 September .................. 1,281 123,761 1,153 114,223 332 45,917 October .................... 1,274 125,414 1,145 116,042 350 44,908 November ................... 1,361 130,168 1,201 117,545 402 43,504 December ................... 1,211 119,649 1,064 108,157 283 34,940 2005 January(p) ................. 1,457 150,990 1,321 140,826 379 58,908 February(p) ................ 1,128 117,684 1,001 107,415 345 43,186 p = preliminary. Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, March 2001 to February 2005, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2001 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 1,371 158,108 659 86,874 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 1,353 166,167 608 78,845 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 1,331 151,186 528 64,887 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 1,784 226,022 737 116,005 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 1,952 259,128 1,144 168,877 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 1,386 158,307 603 79,515 September .................. 1,327 160,402 1,214 151,161 485 58,544 October .................... 1,831 215,483 1,676 202,053 742 107,030 November ................... 2,721 295,956 2,373 270,268 1,122 151,969 December ................... 2,440 268,893 2,319 259,497 1,103 136,820 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,777 2,028 252,245 892 128,825 February ................... 1,382 138,808 1,253 129,849 481 58,784 March ...................... 1,460 161,316 1,335 151,305 500 59,613 April ...................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 461 50,897 May ........................ 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 488 52,720 June ....................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 336 42,130 July ....................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 907 135,271 August ..................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 427 48,668 September .................. 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 352 43,755 October .................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 493 64,655 November ................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 719 92,712 December ................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 984 126,826 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 822 90,244 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 435 48,161 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 390 41,063 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 499 62,349 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 499 61,278 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 389 40,845 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 946 136,410 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 405 52,620 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 271 31,428 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 438 53,741 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 408 48,419 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 648 77,915 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 848 89,551 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 240 23,043 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 258 34,686 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 343 36,172 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 219 22,141 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 222 27,307 July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895 August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698 September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808 October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265 November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243 December ................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726 2005 January(p) ................. 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985 February(p) ................ 810 74,644 722 68,372 230 24,931 p = preliminary. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry February December January February February December January February 2004 2004 2005p 2005p 2004 2004 2005p 2005p Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,237 1,211 1,457 1,128 126,421 119,649 150,990 117,684 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,091 1,064 1,321 1,001 115,302 108,157 140,826 107,415 Manufacturing ................................. 358 283 379 345 36,783 34,940 58,908 43,186 Not seasonally adjusted Total(1) .................................. 941 1,614 2,564 810 84,201 161,271 263,952 74,644 Total, private .................................. 905 1,527 2,488 779 81,093 154,496 257,761 72,331 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 73 40 67 57 4,516 2,404 4,352 3,959 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 832 1,487 2,421 722 76,577 152,092 253,409 68,372 Mining ........................................ 4 18 17 ( 2 ) 505 1,492 1,272 ( 2 ) Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,395 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction .................................. 131 342 470 118 8,586 27,433 33,590 7,245 Manufacturing ................................. 240 436 823 230 23,043 50,726 108,985 24,931 Food ...................................... 62 59 88 60 6,517 6,309 8,703 5,237 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 6 7 11 4 557 497 888 384 Textile mills ............................. 4 15 17 5 310 1,249 2,635 560 Textile product mills ..................... 7 8 19 10 560 932 2,677 874 Apparel ................................... 5 16 38 7 389 2,720 3,893 1,083 Leather and allied products ............... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 757 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ............................. 18 25 61 16 1,438 2,346 8,243 1,606 Paper ..................................... 4 7 13 6 391 575 1,048 493 Printing and related support activities ... 10 3 15 9 828 331 1,237 668 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) 11 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 1,126 ( 2 ) - Chemicals ................................. 4 8 15 ( 2 ) 324 669 1,294 ( 2 ) Plastics and rubber products .............. 10 30 58 13 917 2,327 6,006 902 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 5 32 55 10 312 3,168 4,815 877 Primary metals ............................ 9 23 39 ( 2 ) 913 2,246 4,359 ( 2 ) Fabricated metal products ................. 18 34 59 11 1,720 2,546 5,796 833 Machinery ................................. 12 16 48 9 803 2,218 6,828 765 Computer and electronic products .......... 12 19 30 15 815 2,039 2,918 897 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 11 13 39 6 2,109 3,741 5,662 1,352 Transportation equipment .................. 23 85 165 29 2,671 12,547 35,324 6,915 Furniture and related products ............ 9 13 30 8 679 1,096 4,757 644 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 8 8 14 5 553 1,287 1,154 316 Wholesale trade ............................... 13 18 35 18 956 1,853 2,954 1,229 Retail trade .................................. 102 80 198 75 9,383 8,092 18,822 6,398 Transportation and warehousing ................ 35 96 197 26 4,658 10,687 22,226 2,955 Information ................................... 19 30 47 26 4,716 8,002 6,141 5,059 Finance and insurance ......................... 25 18 35 24 1,562 1,455 3,289 1,561 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ ( 2 ) 4 16 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 249 1,491 ( 2 ) Professional and technical services ........... 30 48 48 14 4,247 5,955 4,729 798 Management of companies and enterprises ....... 6 3 5 - 587 296 358 - Administrative and waste services ............. 139 163 302 119 11,065 13,192 28,865 12,354 Educational services .......................... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 245 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ............. 16 28 35 12 954 2,539 2,739 662 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 11 30 40 8 677 1,967 4,558 430 Accommodation and food services ............... 46 146 117 37 4,455 14,923 9,364 3,475 Other services, except public administration .. 8 13 28 5 629 1,342 3,408 300 Unclassified .................................. 2 4 3 1 191 249 264 56 Government ..................................... 36 87 76 31 3,108 6,775 6,191 2,313 Federal ....................................... 6 8 23 7 504 842 1,920 591 State ......................................... 13 16 18 11 1,121 1,472 1,736 784 Local ......................................... 17 63 35 13 1,483 4,461 2,535 938 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 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2003 to February 2005, not seasonally adjusted Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Realization Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days rates (1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2003 January .................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 February ................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 March ...................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 First Quarter .............. 4,885 463,421 4,451 431,650 1,502 297,608 33.7 68.9 April ...................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 May ........................ 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 June ....................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 Second Quarter ............. 4,975 493,168 4,344 441,409 1,799 348,966 41.4 79.1 July ....................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 August ..................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 September .................. 868 82,647 756 73,914 Third Quarter .............. 4,213 442,921 3,734 404,946 1,190 227,909 31.9 56.3 October .................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 November ................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 December ................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,890 489,416 4,292 443,980 1,690 326,328 39.4 73.5 2004 January .................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 First Quarter .............. 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 1,339 238,305 34.3 61.9 April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 Second Quarter ............. 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 1,358 253,231 41.5 76.2 July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 Third Quarter .............. 3,611 391,934 3,242 361,855 887 145,889 27.4 40.3 October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 December ................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 Fourth Quarter ............. 4,255 419,612 3,789 385,016 (2)(p)1,295 (2)(p)178,834 (p)34.2 (p)46.4 2005 January(p) ................. 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 February(p) ................ 810 74,644 722 68,372 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available. 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 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, not seasonally adjusted Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Census region and division February December January February February December January February 2004 2004 2005p 2005p 2004 2004 2005p 2005p United States(1) .... 941 1,614 2,564 810 84,201 161,271 263,952 74,644 Northeast ................. 117 285 556 120 12,795 27,387 54,866 11,226 New England ............. 26 47 88 17 3,321 4,894 8,009 2,126 Middle Atlantic ......... 91 238 468 103 9,474 22,493 46,857 9,100 South ..................... 191 288 490 143 17,770 29,948 57,126 14,788 South Atlantic .......... 87 140 216 75 8,799 13,620 22,965 5,987 East South Central ...... 32 76 173 32 3,602 8,995 20,528 5,778 West South Central ...... 72 72 101 36 5,369 7,333 13,633 3,023 Midwest ................... 211 588 774 173 19,183 61,277 90,975 17,129 East North Central ...... 172 414 601 144 15,385 42,598 72,600 13,041 West North Central ...... 39 174 173 29 3,798 18,679 18,375 4,088 West ...................... 422 453 744 374 34,453 42,659 60,985 31,501 Mountain ................ 28 60 60 31 2,323 5,295 5,467 2,315 Pacific ................. 394 393 684 343 32,130 37,364 55,518 29,186 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 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 6. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State February December January February February December January February 2004 2004 2005p 2005p 2004 2004 2005p 2005p Total(1) ............. 941 1,614 2,564 810 84,201 161,271 263,952 74,644 Alabama ................. ( 2 ) 22 85 8 ( 2 ) 2,244 12,310 620 Alaska .................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Arizona ................. 3 5 7 ( 2 ) 214 358 642 ( 2 ) Arkansas ................ ( 2 ) 3 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 218 622 ( 2 ) California .............. 365 344 602 321 29,865 32,279 47,222 27,567 Colorado ................ 5 13 10 4 523 1,347 871 307 Connecticut ............. 5 5 7 ( 2 ) 351 510 629 ( 2 ) Delaware ................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Florida ................. 46 44 62 36 3,480 3,567 4,800 2,018 Georgia ................. 17 37 62 14 2,448 3,082 6,433 1,415 Hawaii .................. ( 2 ) - 7 3 ( 2 ) - 643 210 Idaho ................... ( 2 ) 10 9 6 ( 2 ) 736 719 431 Illinois ................ 47 99 91 42 4,108 10,222 8,596 4,138 Indiana ................. 24 68 72 15 2,195 9,331 11,308 1,248 Iowa .................... 7 36 48 4 698 3,442 7,250 367 Kansas .................. 6 16 34 5 517 1,864 3,061 519 Kentucky ................ 10 38 52 15 950 5,474 5,222 4,585 Louisiana ............... 13 16 24 7 757 1,297 3,417 503 Maine ................... 5 7 10 ( 2 ) 347 570 776 ( 2 ) Maryland ................ ( 2 ) 7 23 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 924 1,902 ( 2 ) Massachusetts ........... 5 15 44 8 352 2,085 4,116 450 Michigan ................ 23 115 182 26 2,150 10,841 20,127 2,270 Minnesota ............... 6 55 33 6 460 6,064 2,857 1,907 Mississippi ............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 308 Missouri ................ 16 41 44 11 1,479 5,231 3,711 904 Montana ................. 3 6 6 3 336 474 511 157 Nebraska ................ 3 18 10 3 548 1,375 1,212 391 Nevada .................. 9 17 25 10 594 1,630 2,481 730 New Hampshire ........... 3 5 7 ( 2 ) 480 423 741 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 25 46 94 29 2,749 4,979 8,505 3,282 New Mexico .............. ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 319 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York ................ 26 88 180 41 3,612 8,101 22,185 3,384 North Carolina .......... 10 16 21 7 912 1,187 1,897 777 North Dakota ............ - 6 ( 2 ) - - 526 ( 2 ) - Ohio .................... 46 67 140 26 4,142 5,310 18,132 1,855 Oklahoma ................ 5 13 14 4 413 1,041 2,735 246 Oregon .................. 13 23 50 4 986 2,798 5,427 301 Pennsylvania ............ 40 104 194 33 3,113 9,413 16,167 2,434 Rhode Island ............ 7 7 14 3 1,716 628 1,357 1,135 South Carolina .......... 3 11 13 4 325 1,679 1,371 525 South Dakota ............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Tennessee ............... 19 15 33 4 1,723 1,219 2,771 265 Texas ................... 52 40 57 24 4,062 4,777 6,859 2,198 Utah .................... 4 4 - 3 295 431 - 252 Vermont ................. ( 2 ) 8 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 678 390 ( 2 ) Virginia ................ 8 21 30 11 574 2,836 4,620 1,085 Washington .............. 13 24 22 15 1,023 2,149 1,939 1,108 West Virginia ........... - 3 ( 2 ) - - 276 ( 2 ) - Wisconsin ............... 32 65 116 35 2,790 6,894 14,437 3,530 Wyoming ................. - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ............. 9 10 25 15 891 706 3,080 1,494 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.