Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 06-695 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, April 20, 2006 MASS LAYOFFS IN MARCH 2006 In March 2006, employers took 1,082 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 118,555, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events rose by 9, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 7,087 from February 2006. In the manufacturing sector, 328 mass layoff events were reported during March 2006, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 49,023 initial claims. Both figures were higher than a month earlier. (See table 1.) In March 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, season- ally adjusted, compared with 4.8 percent in February 2006 and 5.1 percent in March 2005. Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, in- creased by 211,000 over the month and by 2.1 million over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 43,791 initial claims in March, 39 percent of the total. (See table A.) Temporary help services, with 9,620 initial claims, and automobile manufacturing, with 8,399, to- gether accounted for 16 percent of all initial claims in March. The manufacturing sector accounted for 31 percent of all mass layoff events and 40 percent of all initial claims filed in March; a year earlier, manufacturing comprised 31 percent of events and 37 percent of initial claims. In March 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (14,958, mostly automotive- related), followed by food manufacturing (7,519). (See table 3.) Administrative and waste services accounted for 13 percent of events and initial claims filed in March 2006, with layoffs mainly in temporary help services. Nine percent of all layoff events and initial claims filed during the month were from accommodation and food services, primarily in food service contractors. Construction accounted for 13 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims in March, mostly in specialty trade con- tractors. - 2 - Table A. Industries with the largest mass layoff initial claims in March 2006p -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Initial | March peak Industry | claims |--------------------------- | | Year | Initial claims ------------------------------------------|---------|---------|----------------- Temporary help services...................| 9,620 | 2002 | 14,388 Automobile manufacturing..................| 8,399 | 1996 | 15,411 Food service contractors..................| 6,466 | 2005 | 6,490 School and employee bus transportation....| 5,051 | 2002 | 6,064 Motion picture and video production.......| 4,543 | 2005 | 7,192 Iron and steel mills......................| 2,784 | 2006 | 2,784 Professional employer organizations.......| 2,398 | 2002 | 2,987 Highway, street, and bridge construction..| 1,690 | 2001 | 2,640 Department stores, except discount........| 1,568 | 1999 | 3,799 Discount department stores................| 1,272 | 2003 | 2,460 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p = preliminary. Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed in March, largely in educational services. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events in March 2006, at 921, was up by 115 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 22,901 to 111,838. The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in administrative and support ser- vices (+7,923), electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing (+2,785), food manufacturing (+2,470), and primary metal manufacturing (+2,012). The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims were reported in motion picture and sound recording industries (-2,685) and in professional and tech- nical services (-1,242). Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in March due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 40,581. (See table 5.) Trans- portation equipment manufacturing, primary metal manufacturing, administrative and support services, and transit and ground passenger transportation accounted for 51 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The West had the second largest number of initial claims, 37,301, followed by the South with 21,001, and the Northeast with 12,955. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year in each of the four regions. The largest increase was in the Midwest (+12,168), followed by the West (+4,867), South (+3,830), and the Northeast (+2,036). Six of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest in the East North Central division (+10,289). The West South Central division reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-719). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in March (29,527), followed by Michigan (9,395), Illinois (7,478), Ohio (6,956), and Wisconsin (6,448). These five states ac- counted for 50 percent of all mass layoff events and 53 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.) Illinois had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+5,443), largely due to layoffs in transportation equipment manu- facturing and in transit and ground passenger transportation. Michigan had the next largest increase in initial claims (+4,393), followed by California (+2,800). The largest over-the-year decrease occurred in Ohio (-1,963). - 3 - 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 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 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. ______________________________ The report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the First Quarter of 2006 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, May 11, 2006. The report on Mass Layoffs in April 2006 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 23, 2006. - 4 - 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 quar- terly 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, April 2002 to March 2006, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 April ...................... 1,681 186,095 1,494 168,902 590 68,210 May ........................ 1,723 190,797 1,559 177,743 610 73,953 June ....................... 1,620 170,724 1,443 156,813 550 70,936 July ....................... 1,635 179,806 1,460 164,944 564 74,834 August ..................... 1,478 162,040 1,324 150,118 569 67,779 September .................. 1,911 218,875 1,747 203,849 617 80,528 October .................... 1,774 186,940 1,582 169,660 625 73,904 November ................... 1,652 178,402 1,507 167,335 613 71,693 December ................... 1,841 198,678 1,659 184,368 661 84,048 2003 January .................... 1,358 131,963 1,168 117,636 387 48,685 February ................... 1,825 190,928 1,647 178,363 646 78,819 March ...................... 1,782 175,671 1,595 160,170 617 72,409 April ...................... 1,722 174,608 1,564 163,607 640 83,303 May ........................ 1,719 184,003 1,542 170,961 625 86,535 June ....................... 1,716 164,299 1,524 148,542 636 68,143 July ....................... 1,642 163,179 1,442 148,299 580 74,070 August ..................... 1,517 171,861 1,367 158,049 551 74,602 September .................. 1,562 147,383 1,374 133,383 484 56,472 October .................... 1,558 156,814 1,336 138,691 427 52,009 November ................... 1,393 141,383 1,244 129,231 401 50,460 December ................... 1,426 144,456 1,265 132,324 434 50,994 2004 January .................... 1,421 142,704 1,223 124,192 395 48,519 February ................... 1,293 132,640 1,145 120,811 362 39,360 March ...................... 1,364 140,957 1,234 132,152 407 60,296 April ...................... 1,381 141,909 1,207 126,106 341 37,686 May ........................ 1,189 111,173 1,030 98,230 314 37,405 June ....................... 1,390 141,948 1,226 129,344 360 45,398 July ....................... 1,329 137,724 1,185 126,945 371 53,248 August ..................... 1,436 131,807 1,243 116,672 342 38,192 September .................. 1,283 125,344 1,155 115,499 344 45,691 October .................... 1,302 129,237 1,181 119,653 369 47,888 November ................... 1,350 135,036 1,202 122,954 407 47,517 December ................... 1,188 120,602 1,038 109,508 293 33,123 2005 January .................... 1,465 153,676 1,330 143,295 380 58,778 February ................... 1,135 120,190 1,010 109,964 350 43,966 March ...................... 1,204 133,935 1,071 124,273 384 56,253 April ...................... 1,278 139,575 1,145 128,478 390 60,726 May ........................ 1,194 129,214 1,059 117,660 359 52,055 June ....................... 1,184 128,430 1,065 119,271 349 53,930 July ....................... 1,248 131,136 1,107 118,994 356 49,070 August ..................... 1,145 127,592 1,006 116,011 334 48,904 September .................. 2,219 283,772 1,975 237,831 438 53,399 October .................... 1,114 104,584 986 94,798 328 45,475 November ................... 1,205 120,783 1,074 109,680 359 45,069 December ................... 1,308 149,565 1,185 138,234 365 49,641 2006 January .................... 1,113 108,378 985 97,832 274 29,541 February(p) ................ 1,073 111,468 973 103,268 321 45,073 March(p) ................... 1,082 118,555 984 110,275 328 49,023 p = preliminary. Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, April 2002 to March 2006, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2002 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 .................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985 February ................... 810 74,644 722 68,372 230 24,931 March ...................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 246 33,030 April ...................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 395 59,129 May ........................ 986 101,358 891 93,332 249 30,424 June ....................... 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 216 32,783 July ....................... 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 856 136,210 August ..................... 645 67,582 598 63,484 188 22,531 September .................. 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 318 47,497 October .................... 905 91,941 757 80,694 249 37,276 November ................... 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442 December ................... 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 706 96,382 2006 January .................... 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 331 35,097 February(p) ................ 719 66,555 658 62,208 210 24,892 March(p) ................... 921 111,838 856 106,177 285 44,688 p = preliminary. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry March January February March March January February March 2005 2006 2006p 2006p 2005 2006 2006p 2006p Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 1,204 1,113 1,073 1,082 133,935 108,378 111,468 118,555 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,071 985 973 984 124,273 97,832 103,268 110,275 Manufacturing ............................... 384 274 321 328 56,253 29,541 45,073 49,023 Not seasonally adjusted Total(1) .................................. 806 1,245 719 921 88,937 117,946 66,555 111,838 Total, private .................................. 777 1,185 689 897 86,306 112,837 64,296 109,302 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 44 62 31 41 2,513 4,136 2,088 3,125 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 733 1,123 658 856 83,793 108,701 62,208 106,177 Mining ...................................... ( 2 ) 4 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 309 - ( 2 ) Utilities ................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction ................................ 91 125 82 123 6,648 7,942 5,997 9,007 Manufacturing ............................... 246 331 210 285 33,030 35,097 24,892 44,688 Food .................................... 50 46 42 73 5,049 3,589 4,255 7,519 Beverage and tobacco products ........... 5 9 ( 2 ) 7 308 599 ( 2 ) 776 Textile mills ........................... 8 13 6 8 1,162 1,214 373 951 Textile product mills ................... 4 7 4 ( 2 ) 337 655 301 ( 2 ) Apparel ................................. 9 11 10 10 1,351 769 1,644 1,012 Leather and allied products ............. 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 634 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ........................... 17 27 12 18 1,361 2,995 1,230 2,430 Paper ................................... ( 2 ) 6 4 7 ( 2 ) 405 397 668 Printing and related support activities . 8 ( 2 ) 6 9 493 ( 2 ) 519 616 Petroleum and coal products ............. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Chemicals ............................... ( 2 ) 8 4 5 ( 2 ) 531 315 436 Plastics and rubber products ............ 9 17 9 15 851 1,305 564 1,492 Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 8 20 9 12 372 1,318 694 837 Primary metals .......................... 10 11 7 11 1,655 946 523 3,667 Fabricated metal products ............... 15 32 12 9 1,245 2,305 972 894 Machinery ............................... 9 12 14 20 1,101 899 1,029 2,024 Computer and electronic products ........ 11 22 6 11 1,266 1,678 623 1,296 Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 10 10 9 11 785 1,965 773 3,570 Transportation equipment ................ 48 52 39 42 13,543 11,421 9,113 14,958 Furniture and related products .......... 9 13 7 5 576 1,253 681 436 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 5 9 4 7 363 821 457 712 Wholesale trade ............................. 7 24 8 11 481 1,903 416 688 Retail trade ................................ 64 142 79 65 5,811 14,773 6,781 7,315 Transportation and warehousing .............. 44 102 31 47 5,340 10,634 3,274 6,326 Information ................................. 30 33 28 28 8,303 8,998 3,611 5,779 Finance and insurance ....................... 22 24 26 22 1,506 1,592 1,752 1,610 Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 6 ( 2 ) 3 5 277 ( 2 ) 194 411 Professional and technical services ......... 22 22 24 22 3,709 3,258 2,124 2,467 Management of companies and enterprises ..... 3 4 4 ( 2 ) 315 287 274 ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ........... 89 155 106 120 6,572 12,157 8,492 14,361 Educational services ........................ ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 456 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Health care and social assistance ........... 16 21 15 18 1,097 1,385 938 1,167 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 7 28 7 14 516 1,888 457 1,187 Accommodation and food services ............. 78 81 26 79 9,666 5,898 2,486 9,792 Other services, except public administration ( 2 ) 13 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,704 197 ( 2 ) Unclassified ............................... 2 3 3 7 100 179 162 556 Government ...................................... 29 60 30 24 2,631 5,109 2,259 2,536 Federal ..................................... 7 16 4 6 704 1,596 238 757 State ....................................... 8 10 7 7 802 1,210 764 844 Local ....................................... 14 34 19 11 1,125 2,303 1,257 935 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 2004 to March 2006, not seasonally adjusted Private nonfarm Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Date Mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Initial Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 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 1,339 238,392 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 1,358 254,063 41.5 76.5 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 3,242 361,855 886 148,575 27.3 41.1 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 1,427 262,049 37.7 68.1 2005 January ................. 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 February ................ 810 74,644 722 68,372 March ................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 First Quarter ........... 4,180 427,533 3,876 405,574 1,142 185,420 29.5 45.7 April ................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 May ..................... 986 101,358 891 93,332 June .................... 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 Second Quarter .......... 3,516 380,403 3,095 344,772 1,203 212,364 38.9 61.6 July .................... 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 August .................. 645 67,582 598 63,484 September ............... 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 Third Quarter ........... 4,288 525,079 3,848 464,903 1,136 189,443 29.5 40.7 October ................. 905 91,941 757 80,694 November ................ 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 December ................ 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 Fourth Quarter .......... 4,482 462,326 4,004 425,629 1,299 178,896 32.4 42.0 2006 January ................. 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 February(p) ............. 719 66,555 658 62,208 March(p) ................ 921 111,838 856 106,177 First Quarter(p) ........ 2,885 296,339 2,637 277,086 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 March January February March March January February March 2005 2006 2006p 2006p 2005 2006 2006p 2006p United States(1) ... 806 1,245 719 921 88,937 117,946 66,555 111,838 Northeast .................. 105 281 115 124 10,919 25,777 12,252 12,955 New England ............ 14 25 23 22 1,147 1,765 3,984 1,849 Middle Atlantic ........ 91 256 92 102 9,772 24,012 8,268 11,106 South ...................... 154 228 149 176 17,171 22,194 14,941 21,001 South Atlantic ......... 78 128 66 95 6,642 12,893 7,193 11,298 East South Central ..... 30 61 38 39 4,926 5,667 4,136 4,819 West South Central ..... 46 39 45 42 5,603 3,634 3,612 4,884 Midwest .................... 214 314 168 259 28,413 33,750 16,622 40,581 East North Central ..... 166 264 136 199 22,547 28,642 12,702 32,836 West North Central ..... 48 50 32 60 5,866 5,108 3,920 7,745 West ....................... 333 422 287 362 32,434 36,225 22,740 37,301 Mountain ............... 37 31 16 34 3,386 2,337 1,271 3,380 Pacific ................ 296 391 271 328 29,048 33,888 21,469 33,921 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 March January February March March January February March 2005 2006 2006p 2006p 2005 2006 2006p 2006p Total(1) ............. 806 1,245 719 921 88,937 117,946 66,555 111,838 Alabama ................. 7 9 7 7 725 821 621 660 Alaska .................. - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - Arizona ................. 10 4 - 7 929 362 - 804 Arkansas ................ 4 3 ( 2 ) 3 269 346 ( 2 ) 189 California .............. 274 346 246 283 26,727 30,388 19,455 29,527 Colorado ................ 3 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 643 603 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Connecticut ............. ( 2 ) 3 3 6 ( 2 ) 215 1,353 390 Delaware ................ - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) District of Columbia .... - - - - - - - - Florida ................. 36 30 30 44 2,669 1,708 2,055 4,033 Georgia ................. 15 54 10 20 1,324 5,159 1,081 1,880 Hawaii .................. ( 2 ) 5 3 9 ( 2 ) 282 199 814 Idaho ................... 5 6 ( 2 ) 7 460 427 ( 2 ) 523 Illinois ................ 21 37 36 44 2,035 3,499 3,385 7,478 Indiana ................. 20 33 16 20 2,177 4,053 1,736 2,559 Iowa .................... 10 12 8 7 804 1,255 620 1,866 Kansas .................. 3 6 ( 2 ) 6 202 459 ( 2 ) 751 Kentucky ................ 13 26 20 21 1,912 2,152 2,653 3,310 Louisiana ............... 4 13 10 8 267 936 624 520 Maine ................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 338 ( 2 ) Maryland ................ - 11 3 5 - 859 233 497 Massachusetts ........... 8 14 3 4 684 1,001 163 253 Michigan ................ 46 89 29 50 5,002 8,786 2,288 9,395 Minnesota ............... 12 17 11 10 1,110 1,834 2,300 882 Mississippi ............. - 7 5 ( 2 ) - 469 364 ( 2 ) Missouri ................ 19 11 7 31 3,469 1,305 541 3,297 Montana ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 173 ( 2 ) Nebraska ................ 4 ( 2 ) 4 5 281 ( 2 ) 280 774 Nevada .................. 9 10 6 9 590 724 487 1,251 New Hampshire ........... - ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 265 ( 2 ) New Jersey .............. 14 28 24 15 1,326 2,550 2,115 1,817 New Mexico .............. 5 - ( 2 ) 3 413 - ( 2 ) 161 New York ................ 35 129 30 36 3,150 13,290 3,144 3,566 North Carolina .......... 11 10 10 8 879 1,113 786 849 North Dakota ............ - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio .................... 31 50 23 32 8,919 6,484 2,772 6,956 Oklahoma ................ 3 5 4 6 939 400 437 966 Oregon .................. 10 21 9 22 1,337 1,719 802 2,430 Pennsylvania ............ 42 99 38 51 5,296 8,172 3,009 5,723 Rhode Island ............ ( 2 ) 4 9 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 311 1,746 ( 2 ) South Carolina .......... 5 9 6 10 498 822 514 1,359 South Dakota ............ - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - Tennessee ............... 10 19 6 10 2,289 2,225 498 709 Texas ................... 35 18 29 25 4,128 1,952 2,375 3,209 Utah .................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 235 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 274 Vermont ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 848 Virginia ................ 11 12 7 6 1,272 3,084 2,524 805 Washington .............. 11 19 12 14 910 1,499 951 1,150 West Virginia ........... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Wisconsin ............... 48 55 32 53 4,414 5,820 2,521 6,448 Wyoming ................. - - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ............. 10 12 19 17 1,303 964 1,962 1,742 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero.