Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 02-660 http://www.bls.gov/mls/ For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, November 26, 2002 MASS LAYOFFS IN OCTOBER 2002 Employers initiated 1,497 mass layoff actions in October 2002, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to 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 171,088. (See table 1.) Almost 10 percent of the initial claims in October 2002 (16,548) were in the temporary help services industry. In October 2001, which included the initial direct and indirect effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks, there were 1,831 mass layoff events involving 215,483 workers. In January through October 2002, both the total number of events, 15,649, and initial claims, 1,740,828, were lower than in January-October 2001 (16,306 and 1,950,013, respectively). The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. Information on the length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days (referred to as "extended mass layoffs") and provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See table 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution Manufacturing industries accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events and 38 percent of all initial claims filed in October. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 41 percent of events and 50 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of ini- tial claimants was highest in food processing (12,111, mostly in fruits and vegetables) and machinery (8,309, largely in construction machinery), followed by computer and electronic products (6,926) and transportation equipment (6,856). (See table 2.) Fifteen percent of all layoff events and 16 percent of all initial claims filed during the month were in administrative and waste services, mostly in temporary help services. Twelve percent of the events and 9 percent of initial claims in October were from agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, largely among farm labor contractors and crew leaders. Retail trade accounted for 7 percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims, primarily in general merchandise stores. Construction contributed 8 percent to all events and 6 percent to all initial claims this October, mainly from specialty trade contractors. An additional 4 percent of events and 5 percent of initial claims were from the information sector, mostly in the motion picture and sound recording industries. - 2 - Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and of initial claims filed during the month, particularly in elementary and secondary schools. Compared with October 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-24,780), pro- fessional and technical services (-5,522), air transportation (-5,366), and accommodation services (-5,365). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was reported in agriculture and forestry support ac- tivities (+7,179). Geographic Distribution Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in October due to mass layoffs was in the West, 77,051. (See table 3.) Administrative and support services and agricultural support activities accounted for 36 per- cent of all initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest fol- lowed with 37,561 initial claims (mainly in machinery manufacturing), then the South, with 35,515 (largely in administrative and support services). The Northeast continued to report the lowest number of initial claims, 20,961, mostly in general merchandise stores. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in three of the four geographic regions. The largest decrease occurred in the Midwest (-31,253), largely in transportation equipment manufacturing. Eight of the nine geographic divisions reported over-the-year decreases in the num- ber of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest declines in the East North Central (-20,261) and West North Central (-10,992) divisions. Only the Pacific division reported an increase (+14,049). California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this October, 65,044, mostly in administrative and support services and in agriculture and forestry support activities, followed by Illinois (8,676), Pennsylvania (8,480), and Texas (8,470). These four states accounted for 55 percent of all layoff events and 53 percent of initial claims for unem- ployment insurance. (See table 4.) Thus far this year, 471,121 mass layoff initial claims were filed in California, 27 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims were Texas (104,703) and Pennsylvania (98,206). Missouri reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-7,606), followed by Ohio (-6,257) and Michigan (-6,238). The largest over- the-year increase occurred in California (+16,728). ______________________________ The report on Mass Layoffs in November 2002 will be issued on Tuesday, December 24, 2002. 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, October 2000 to October 2002 Extended mass layoffs Total mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days Realization rates(1) Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2000 October .................... 874 103,755 November ................... 1,697 216,514 December ................... 2,677 326,743 Fourth Quarter ............. 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,611 38.2 58.2 2001 January .................... 1,522 200,343 February ................... 1,501 172,908 March ...................... 1,527 171,466 First Quarter .............. 4,550 544,717 1,765 340,210 38.8 62.5 April ...................... 1,450 176,265 May ........................ 1,434 159,365 June ....................... 2,107 253,826 Second Quarter ............. 4,991 589,456 2,072 (r)401,270 41.5 68.1 July ....................... 2,117 273,807 August ..................... 1,490 166,148 September .................. 1,327 160,402 Third Quarter .............. 4,934 600,357 1,815 (r)370,942 36.8 (r)61.8 October .................... 1,831 215,483 November ................... 2,721 295,956 December ................... 2,440 268,893 Fourth Quarter ............. 6,992 780,332 2,698 (r)502,287 38.6 (r)64.4 2002 January .................... 2,146 263,821 February ................... 1,383 138,984 March ...................... 1,460 161,336 First Quarter .............. 4,989 564,141 (r)1,748 (r)314,966 (r)35.0 (r)55.8 April ...................... 1,507 165,861 May ........................ 1,726 180,007 June ....................... 1,580 161,928 Second Quarter ............. 4,813 507,796 (r)1,905 (r)347,321 (r)39.6 (r)68.4 July ....................... 2,041 245,211 August ..................... 1,247 128,080 September(p) ............... 1,062 124,512 Third Quarter(p) ........... 4,350 497,803 (2)1,309 (2)193,385 30.1 38.8 October(p) ................. 1,497 171,088 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more data on these layoffs become available. Recent experience suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and the number of initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent. p = preliminary. 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 2001r 2002 2002p 2002p 2001r 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................................... 1,831 1,247 1,062 1,497 215,483 128,080 124,512 171,088 Total, private .................................. 1,767 1,189 1,008 1,448 209,350 122,106 118,527 165,360 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .... 91 39 51 178 7,297 2,255 3,801 16,045 Mining ........................................ 12 10 7 8 1,524 701 513 565 Utilities ..................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 575 Construction .................................. 101 98 80 116 9,761 8,241 5,735 9,738 Manufacturing ................................. 742 427 351 492 107,030 48,733 43,679 64,600 Food ...................................... 65 47 39 83 7,944 5,150 4,688 12,111 Beverage and tobacco products ............. 11 5 7 8 809 405 454 477 Textile mills ............................. 24 12 17 24 4,847 1,177 3,406 4,786 Textile product mills ..................... 8 ( 2 ) 13 12 681 ( 2 ) 2,543 1,511 Apparel ................................... 38 24 19 18 4,923 3,127 2,225 2,445 Leather and allied products ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 240 384 Wood products ............................. 26 11 12 22 2,920 1,198 1,312 2,114 Paper ..................................... 14 8 9 11 1,450 741 1,007 968 Printing and related support activities ... 15 5 7 8 1,094 558 650 710 Petroleum and coal products ............... ( 2 ) - - 5 ( 2 ) - - 651 Chemicals ................................. 17 ( 2 ) 8 8 1,548 ( 2 ) 977 598 Plastics and rubber products .............. 29 16 15 18 2,846 1,368 1,322 1,658 Nonmetallic mineral products .............. 21 12 5 12 2,647 1,334 410 874 Primary metals ............................ 49 25 20 24 7,235 2,862 2,273 3,687 Fabricated metal products ................. 56 33 22 21 5,776 3,136 2,365 1,722 Machinery ................................. 70 50 28 47 9,164 9,197 3,657 8,309 Computer and electronic products .......... 96 74 47 63 11,417 6,202 5,146 6,926 Electrical equipment and appliances ....... 35 23 23 25 5,370 3,082 2,679 4,879 Transportation equipment .................. 127 50 32 49 31,580 6,665 4,984 6,856 Furniture and related products ............ 25 11 17 14 3,119 888 2,834 1,749 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............... 11 13 8 15 1,020 931 507 1,185 Wholesale trade ............................... 27 23 20 23 2,077 2,357 1,708 1,948 Retail trade .................................. 97 111 93 112 9,324 11,322 10,095 15,506 Transportation and warehousing ................ 85 68 68 41 11,158 8,140 18,128 5,022 Information ................................... 71 45 47 53 7,674 4,006 6,585 9,019 Finance and insurance ......................... 33 26 26 25 2,798 2,161 2,530 2,123 Real estate and rental and leasing ............ 21 11 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,528 647 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Professional and technical services ........... 57 47 29 42 9,047 6,455 2,811 3,525 Management of companies and enterprises ....... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Administrative and waste services ............. 227 179 133 224 22,995 18,192 14,255 26,896 Educational services .......................... 4 ( 2 ) 5 - 246 ( 2 ) 369 - Health care and social assistance ............. 13 27 18 28 1,031 1,738 1,299 1,902 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........... 24 17 19 17 2,166 1,422 2,157 1,263 Accommodation and food services ............... 135 38 49 58 11,374 2,702 4,056 5,057 Other services, except public administration .. 9 13 ( 2 ) 14 680 1,745 ( 2 ) 908 Unclassified .................................. 13 3 1 5 1,226 737 103 369 Government ...................................... 64 58 54 49 6,133 5,974 5,985 5,728 Federal ....................................... 20 15 9 9 2,151 2,056 1,703 815 State ......................................... 19 12 10 14 2,039 1,596 980 1,991 Local ......................................... 25 31 35 26 1,943 2,322 3,302 2,922 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. r = revised. NOTE: Beginning with data for January 2002, the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series from April 1995 to December 2001 are available on both SIC and NAICS bases. 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 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p United States(1) ..... (r)1,831 1,247 1,062 1,497 (r)215,483 128,080 124,512 171,088 Northeast .................. 273 195 158 181 29,900 25,178 15,981 20,961 New England .............. 57 27 21 38 7,258 3,897 1,919 4,694 Middle Atlantic .......... 216 168 137 143 22,642 21,281 14,062 16,267 South ...................... (r)448 308 259 304 (r)52,063 31,764 31,878 35,515 South Atlantic ........... 238 159 129 159 24,849 13,884 16,396 17,819 East South Central ....... 64 30 51 48 7,944 3,574 5,877 6,198 West South Central ....... (r)146 119 79 97 (r)19,270 14,306 9,605 11,498 Midwest .................... 450 251 177 293 68,814 28,016 25,437 37,561 East North Central ....... 360 186 134 238 51,022 21,208 19,904 30,761 West North Central ....... 90 65 43 55 17,792 6,808 5,533 6,800 West ....................... 660 493 468 719 64,706 43,122 51,216 77,051 Mountain ................. 68 38 35 52 6,361 3,933 4,109 4,657 Pacific .................. 592 455 433 667 58,345 39,189 47,107 72,394 1 See footnote 1, table 2. p = preliminary. r = revised. 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 2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p Total(1) ................ (r)1,831 1,247 1,062 1,497 (r)215,483 128,080 124,512 171,088 Alabama .................... 9 5 16 17 1,113 691 2,174 2,833 Alaska ..................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 381 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 301 Arizona .................... 12 7 9 16 823 485 1,618 1,169 Arkansas ................... 5 ( 2 ) 4 10 734 ( 2 ) 421 1,117 California ................. 516 415 376 612 48,316 34,590 39,691 65,044 Colorado ................... 16 7 6 13 1,594 573 561 1,142 Connecticut ................ 6 4 4 5 366 588 262 516 Delaware ................... 8 - - ( 2 ) 970 - - ( 2 ) District of Columbia ....... 3 - ( 2 ) - 350 - ( 2 ) - Florida .................... 119 72 55 70 9,065 5,154 4,143 4,604 Georgia .................... 16 17 16 35 1,742 1,734 4,639 3,219 Hawaii ..................... 20 ( 2 ) 4 10 2,130 ( 2 ) 428 800 Idaho ...................... 11 10 4 5 1,638 1,708 287 708 Illinois ................... 83 51 41 57 12,717 6,185 6,707 8,676 Indiana .................... 43 23 16 22 5,845 2,954 2,512 3,629 Iowa ....................... 26 10 9 12 3,598 939 1,673 2,339 Kansas ..................... 5 11 3 8 2,940 1,378 196 768 Kentucky ................... 28 14 16 21 4,078 2,032 1,773 2,479 Louisiana .................. (r)20 19 12 12 (r)3,070 1,513 761 954 Maine ...................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 680 Maryland ................... 7 8 7 10 651 898 815 1,263 Massachusetts .............. 39 17 12 21 4,612 2,132 988 2,318 Michigan ................... 88 26 14 39 10,349 2,535 1,544 4,111 Minnesota .................. 19 11 9 17 1,989 1,243 1,142 2,000 Mississippi ................ 11 3 6 5 1,288 176 782 429 Missouri ................... 36 28 15 16 8,844 2,884 1,886 1,238 Montana .................... ( 2 ) - - 3 ( 2 ) - - 327 Nebraska ................... ( 2 ) 4 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 287 583 ( 2 ) Nevada ..................... 23 11 13 11 1,797 891 1,133 1,043 New Hampshire .............. 3 3 3 5 1,213 618 514 543 New Jersey ................. 40 33 29 23 6,229 3,371 3,424 2,561 New Mexico ................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New York ................... 47 86 49 41 4,546 11,213 5,137 5,226 North Carolina ............. 29 27 11 12 3,997 3,104 1,208 1,494 North Dakota ............... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio ....................... 73 47 34 58 13,435 5,602 5,468 7,178 Oklahoma ................... 11 5 ( 2 ) 5 1,237 1,008 ( 2 ) 957 Oregon ..................... 30 24 30 20 5,009 2,603 3,965 3,123 Pennsylvania ............... 129 49 59 79 11,867 6,697 5,501 8,480 Rhode Island ............... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 464 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) South Carolina ............. 36 19 18 19 5,361 1,238 2,220 4,555 South Dakota ............... - - ( 2 ) - - - ( 2 ) - Tennessee .................. 16 8 13 5 1,465 675 1,148 457 Texas ...................... 110 93 62 70 14,229 11,660 8,280 8,470 Utah ....................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 307 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Vermont .................... 3 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) 462 ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Virginia ................... 20 15 19 8 2,713 1,693 3,092 619 Washington ................. 22 14 21 21 2,509 1,856 2,889 3,126 West Virginia .............. - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 468 Wisconsin .................. 73 39 29 62 8,676 3,932 3,673 7,167 Wyoming .................... ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) ( 2 ) - - ( 2 ) Puerto Rico ................ 12 10 9 4 1,035 772 873 402 1 See footnote 1, table 2. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. p = preliminary. r = revised. NOTE: Dash represents zero.