For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 25, 2013 USDL-13-0106
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
MASS LAYOFFS -- DECEMBER 2012
ANNUAL TOTALS -- 2012
Employers took 1,509 mass layoff actions in December involving 137,839
workers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits
during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
(Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50
workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events decreased by 240 from
November, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 35,040.
In December, 330 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing
sector resulting in 35,211 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff data are
identified using administrative data sources without regard to layoff
duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this release.)
__________________________________________________________________
| |
| Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data |
| |
| Seasonally adjusted mass layoffs data have been revised using |
| updated seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2012 data. |
| Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2008 were subject |
| to revision. Revised seasonally adjusted data from January 2009 |
| forward are shown in table 1. The originally published and |
| revised figures for January 2008-November 2012 will be available |
| at www.bls.gov/mls/mlssarevision.htm, along with additional |
| information about the revisions. |
|__________________________________________________________________|
The national unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in December, unchanged from
the prior month and down from 8.5 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm
payroll employment increased by 155,000 over the month and by 1,835,000
over the year.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in December was 1,973, not seasonally
adjusted, resulting in 187,137 initial claims for unemployment insurance.
(See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff
events for December increased by 6 to 493, while associated average weekly
initial claims decreased by 5,949 to 46,784. Ten of the 19 major industry
sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average
weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in manufacturing.
(See table 3.) The six-digit industry with the largest number of private
nonfarm initial claims due to mass layoffs was food service contractors.
(See table A.)
Table A. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in December 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted
Industry December peak
Initial claims Year Initial claims
Food service contractors ................... 16,517 2011 19,639
School and employee bus transportation ..... 15,909 2012 15,909
Temporary help services (1) ................ 12,609 2011 19,987
Highway, street, and bridge construction ... 11,478 2005 20,030
Motion picture and video production ........ 3,527 1998 16,192
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels .... 2,872 2008 3,528
Landscaping services ....................... 2,323 2011 3,146
Wood kitchen cabinet and countertop mfg. ... 1,960 2006 2,296
Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. 1,942 2008 3,455
Professional employer organizations (1) .... 1,927 2008 6,101
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
In December, the manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of mass
layoff events and 28 percent of associated initial claims in the private
economy. Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff claimants were
highest in transportation equipment and in food. Sixteen of the 21
manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average
weekly initial claims. (See table 3.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the census regions, the Midwest registered the largest number of
initial claims due to mass layoffs in December. Three of the 4 regions
experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims,
with the largest decrease occurring in the West. (See table 4.)
Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff
initial claims in December, followed by Michigan, Pennsylvania, and
Illinois. Twenty-five states experienced over-the-year decreases
in average weekly initial claims, with the largest declines in California
and Pennsylvania. (See table 4.)
Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants for
unemployment insurance, 1996-2012, not seasonally adjusted
Year Layoff events Initial claimants for
unemployment insurance
1996 ............. 14,111 1,437,628
1997 ............. 14,960 1,542,543
1998 ............. 15,904 1,771,069
1999 ............. 14,909 1,572,399
2000 ............. 15,738 1,835,592
2001 ............. 21,467 2,514,862
2002 ............. 20,277 2,245,051
2003 ............. 18,963 1,888,926
2004 ............. 15,980 1,607,158
2005 ............. 16,466 1,795,341
2006 ............. 13,998 1,484,391
2007 ............. 15,493 1,598,875
2008 ............. 21,137 2,130,220
2009 ............. 28,030 2,796,456
2010 ............. 19,564 1,854,596
2011 ............. 18,521 1,808,451
2012 ............. 17,080 1,666,931
Review of 2012
In 2012, the annual totals of mass layoff events, at 17,080, and of initial
claims, at 1,666,931, declined to their lowest levels since 2007.
(See table B.) Eleven of the 19 major industry sectors in the private
economy reported decreases in initial claims in 2012, led by administrative
and waste services, manufacturing, and information. In 2012, total initial
claims in the manufacturing sector declined to a series low 448,687.
Table C. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted
2011 2012
Industry
Initial Rank Initial Rank
claims claims
Temporary help services (1) .................. 143,938 1 126,304 1
School and employee bus transportation ....... 95,287 2 104,960 2
Food service contractors ..................... 75,006 3 80,468 3
Motion picture and video production .......... 47,988 4 40,022 4
Highway, street, and bridge construction ..... 40,349 5 37,848 5
Professional employer organizations (1) ...... 31,916 6 26,394 6
Discount department stores ................... 29,807 7 24,425 7
Child day care services ...................... 23,237 8 22,180 8
Supermarkets and other grocery stores ........ 19,781 9 19,490 9
Casino hotels ................................ 11,148 24 18,722 10
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 24 percent of all mass layoff events
and 29 percent of initial claims filed in the private economy in 2012, down
slightly from 2011 percentages. The number of manufacturing claimants in
2012 was highest in transportation equipment and in food. Total initial
claims in 17 of the 21 manufacturing subsectors decreased in 2012 from 2011,
with transportation equipment and wood products experiencing the largest
declines.
The six-digit industry in the private nonfarm sector with the greatest
number of initial claims in 2012 was temporary help services. Casino hotels
entered the list of 10 industries with the highest initial claims for the
entire year and reached a program high. (See table C.) Two other industries
among these 10 reached program highs in 2012--school and employee bus
transportation and food service contractors.
Three of the 4 census regions reported over-the-year decreases in total
annual initial claims from 2011 to 2012, with the largest decline occurring
in the West. Among the states, California recorded the highest number of
total annual mass layoff initial claims in 2012, followed by New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Thirty-six states and the
District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in total initial
claims for the year, led by California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and
Florida.
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. The monthly data series in this release are subjected
to average weekly analysis, which mitigates the effect of differing lengths
of months. See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions and for a
description of average weekly analysis.
_____________
The Extended Mass Layoffs news release for Fourth Quarter 2012 and Annual
Totals for 2012 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 14, 2013,
at 10:00 a.m. (EST) and will include information on the impact of Hurricane
Sandy on MLS data. The Mass Layoffs new release for January 2013 is
scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EST).
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
employers which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during
a consecutive 5-week period. These employers 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.
The monthly data present preliminary mass layoff activity in the
reference month and are not revised in subsequent months except in special
circumstances (e.g., layoffs in states affected by Hurricane Katrina).
Counts of initial claims associated with mass layoff events reflect
activity through the end of the reference month. Additional mass layoff
event and initial claims activity received after data for the reference
month have been published by BLS are not updated in the monthly mass layoff
series and, therefore, may not match revised mass layoff data issued in
state publications. However, any additional mass layoff information
meeting the extended mass layoff criteria will be reflected in BLS’
quarterly publication of extended mass layoff data.
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, data users who intend to perform analysis of over-the-year
change in the not seasonally adjusted series should use the average weekly
mass layoff figures displayed in tables 3 and 4 of this release. The average
weekly adjustment process produces a consistent series for each month across
all years, permitting over-the-year analysis to be performed using strictly
comparable data.
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; Federal Relay
Service: (800) 877-8339.
Definitions
Average weekly mass layoff events and initial claimants. The number of
events and initial claimants in a given month divided by the number of weeks
contained within that month.
Employer. Employers in the MLS program include those covered by state
unemployment insurance laws. Information on employers is obtained from the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which is administered
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 version of the
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For temporary help
and professional employers organization industries, monthly MLS-related
statistics generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client companies
in other industries. An individual layoff action at a client company can
be small, but when initial claimants associated with many such layoffs are
assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a
mass layoff event may trigger.
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 employer during a 5-week period, regardless of
duration.
Seasonal adjustment
Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS began publishing
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 expansions
and contractions.
The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjustment
method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available
monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in developing 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 1 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, January 2009 to
December 2012, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2009
January .................... 2,256 237,182 2,087 223,230 716 91,179
February ................... 3,079 334,171 2,921 318,194 1,274 152,592
March ...................... 3,022 304,175 2,827 287,023 1,261 158,119
April ...................... 2,537 246,938 2,332 231,211 1,022 114,682
May ........................ 2,712 286,089 2,522 270,051 1,206 151,114
June ....................... 2,470 248,680 2,261 231,529 1,063 140,105
July ....................... 2,184 222,776 1,976 203,347 639 76,345
August ..................... 2,358 218,380 2,119 198,877 743 75,387
September .................. 2,274 216,959 2,054 200,863 754 90,250
October .................... 1,970 196,370 1,775 178,648 567 64,681
November ................... 1,764 159,283 1,598 146,802 469 51,887
December ................... 1,720 155,738 1,549 141,699 425 44,455
2010
January .................... 1,699 169,561 1,522 155,298 461 53,303
February ................... 1,647 161,694 1,480 147,259 387 47,272
March ...................... 1,703 153,784 1,501 138,188 373 43,022
April ...................... 1,622 154,962 1,442 138,849 378 44,860
May ........................ 1,585 150,959 1,345 131,482 317 31,677
June ....................... 1,701 152,080 1,481 133,366 335 34,653
July ....................... 1,521 137,750 1,315 121,313 303 32,064
August ..................... 1,612 162,455 1,409 138,849 384 41,123
September .................. 1,526 137,074 1,303 117,582 310 33,906
October .................... 1,661 149,985 1,454 132,373 349 38,157
November ................... 1,584 153,394 1,407 138,925 353 38,097
December ................... 1,476 136,252 1,277 121,849 322 36,611
2011
January .................... 1,522 150,406 1,335 132,659 327 37,431
February ................... 1,456 137,938 1,263 123,141 312 30,036
March ...................... 1,307 119,691 1,156 106,721 269 31,699
April ...................... 1,526 145,315 1,366 130,841 352 37,177
May ........................ 1,573 144,824 1,387 129,296 399 42,238
June ....................... 1,522 144,060 1,342 129,136 359 38,630
July ....................... 1,566 144,543 1,347 123,815 342 35,458
August ..................... 1,585 168,266 1,364 153,081 374 46,267
September .................. 1,463 150,165 1,319 136,564 346 37,505
October .................... 1,349 118,135 1,220 106,478 335 32,310
November ................... 1,312 123,078 1,177 113,239 312 33,715
December ................... 1,392 144,661 1,247 129,994 346 38,469
2012
January .................... 1,435 129,169 1,298 118,127 325 32,503
February ................... 1,275 120,199 1,134 109,458 283 28,236
March ...................... 1,290 125,195 1,141 112,889 269 28,300
April ...................... 1,403 138,164 1,235 122,236 294 34,929
May ........................ 1,370 131,603 1,220 119,788 277 31,873
June ....................... 1,320 133,080 1,178 120,857 282 31,737
July ....................... 1,354 138,694 1,217 128,186 355 43,427
August ..................... 1,297 130,266 1,172 120,391 322 39,389
September .................. 1,346 125,692 1,223 116,792 365 40,287
October .................... 1,400 136,153 1,249 125,026 346 42,927
November ................... 1,749 172,879 1,574 159,872 412 47,171
December ................... 1,509 137,839 1,334 125,505 330 35,211
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2009 to
December 2012, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2009
January .................... 3,806 388,813 3,633 375,293 1,461 172,757
February ................... 2,262 218,438 2,173 210,755 945 103,588
March ...................... 2,191 228,387 2,107 221,397 940 114,747
April ...................... 2,547 256,930 2,385 243,321 887 100,872
May ........................ 2,738 289,628 2,572 274,047 1,005 123,683
June ....................... 2,519 256,357 2,051 216,063 674 85,726
July ....................... 3,054 336,654 2,659 296,589 1,133 154,208
August ..................... 1,428 125,024 1,334 117,193 436 41,151
September .................. 1,371 123,177 1,258 115,141 448 51,126
October .................... 1,934 193,904 1,678 172,883 566 69,655
November ................... 1,870 164,496 1,679 150,751 517 55,053
December ................... 2,310 214,648 2,166 203,655 615 64,540
2010
January .................... 2,860 278,679 2,682 265,074 962 104,846
February ................... 1,183 102,818 1,091 96,022 282 30,728
March ...................... 1,197 111,727 1,111 105,514 273 29,745
April ...................... 1,840 199,690 1,697 184,654 424 55,178
May ........................ 1,354 123,333 1,170 109,203 216 19,334
June ....................... 1,861 171,190 1,355 125,872 212 21,083
July ....................... 2,124 206,254 1,732 172,248 532 64,200
August ..................... 976 92,435 897 83,021 230 23,088
September .................. 920 77,654 806 67,987 187 19,403
October .................... 1,642 148,638 1,373 127,865 351 40,861
November ................... 1,676 158,048 1,477 142,591 389 41,383
December ................... 1,931 184,130 1,763 172,881 465 52,816
2011
January .................... 2,558 246,463 2,372 229,765 693 75,006
February ................... 1,024 85,585 919 78,718 222 18,471
March ...................... 908 85,095 844 80,014 191 20,869
April ...................... 1,750 189,919 1,625 176,478 397 47,104
May ........................ 1,367 119,911 1,221 108,531 270 25,199
June ....................... 1,661 159,930 1,238 122,821 226 22,986
July ....................... 2,176 216,774 1,759 174,078 602 71,814
August ..................... 961 99,213 875 93,159 228 26,916
September .................. 1,189 117,232 1,095 107,300 296 32,058
October .................... 1,101 96,914 950 83,748 265 28,447
November ................... 1,393 127,750 1,245 117,474 349 37,799
December ................... 2,433 263,665 2,258 247,916 658 75,033
2012
January .................... 1,705 141,703 1,587 132,754 415 38,021
February ................... 895 73,974 820 69,076 196 16,555
March ...................... 1,125 117,817 1,040 110,954 242 24,241
April ...................... 1,421 146,358 1,293 132,697 256 32,518
May ........................ 1,201 109,259 1,081 100,434 186 18,800
June ....................... 1,890 198,537 1,485 158,334 255 28,570
July ....................... 1,515 157,753 1,321 144,340 559 74,963
August ..................... 1,063 104,045 992 97,694 251 31,193
September .................. 811 70,570 749 66,214 221 22,748
October .................... 1,142 109,829 968 97,390 277 37,702
November ................... 2,339 249,949 2,078 228,124 551 72,690
December ................... 1,973 187,137 1,822 177,452 477 50,686
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted
Industry Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs (1)
Events Initial claimants Events Initial claimants
December December December December December December December December
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Total (2) .................................. 2,433 1,973 263,665 187,137 487 493 52,733 46,784
Total, private ................................... 2,322 1,882 252,259 180,516 464 471 50,452 45,129
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ... 64 60 4,343 3,064 13 15 869 766
Total, private nonfarm ......................... 2,258 1,822 247,916 177,452 452 456 49,583 44,363
Mining ....................................... 26 28 2,404 2,169 5 7 481 542
Utilities .................................... 5 4 476 337 1 1 95 84
Construction ................................. 402 312 32,402 24,737 80 78 6,480 6,184
Construction of buildings ................ 38 29 3,075 2,119 8 7 615 530
Heavy and civil engineering construction . 252 184 21,638 15,854 50 46 4,328 3,964
Specialty trade contractors .............. 112 99 7,689 6,764 22 25 1,538 1,691
Manufacturing ................................ 658 477 75,033 50,686 132 119 15,007 12,672
Food ..................................... 99 63 12,340 6,713 20 16 2,468 1,678
Beverage and tobacco products ............ 10 8 1,225 651 2 2 245 163
Textile mills ............................ 44 10 6,237 846 9 3 1,247 212
Textile product mills .................... 8 8 1,312 791 2 2 262 198
Apparel .................................. 17 12 1,586 1,056 3 3 317 264
Leather and allied products .............. 5 (3) 433 (3) 1 (3) 87 (3)
Wood products ............................ 49 23 4,583 1,979 10 6 917 495
Paper .................................... 10 (3) 1,180 (3) 2 (3) 236 (3)
Printing and related support activities .. 11 7 786 675 2 2 157 169
Petroleum and coal products .............. 14 6 1,298 371 3 2 260 93
Chemicals ................................ 12 10 1,131 723 2 3 226 181
Plastics and rubber products ............. 44 32 4,720 3,067 9 8 944 767
Nonmetallic mineral products ............. 47 35 4,666 3,377 9 9 933 844
Primary metals ........................... 28 23 3,104 3,389 6 6 621 847
Fabricated metal products ................ 41 37 4,047 3,009 8 9 809 752
Machinery ................................ 38 33 5,472 4,250 8 8 1,094 1,063
Computer and electronic products ......... 27 17 2,223 1,428 5 4 445 357
Electrical equipment and appliances ...... 16 13 2,759 1,510 3 3 552 378
Transportation equipment ................. 107 103 12,458 12,281 21 26 2,492 3,070
Furniture and related products ........... 22 19 2,712 2,862 4 5 542 716
Miscellaneous manufacturing .............. 9 11 761 1,122 2 3 152 281
Wholesale trade .............................. 29 23 2,411 1,992 6 6 482 498
Retail trade (4) ............................. 135 114 14,295 9,654 27 29 2,859 2,414
Building material and garden supply stores 15 8 1,797 623 3 2 359 156
Food and beverage stores ................. 20 12 1,580 851 4 3 316 213
Clothing and clothing accessories stores . 12 9 958 513 2 2 192 128
General merchandise stores ............... 41 42 5,876 3,850 8 11 1,175 963
Transportation and warehousing (4) ........... 161 167 21,508 19,556 32 42 4,302 4,889
Truck transportation ..................... 8 13 572 741 2 3 114 185
Transit and ground passenger
transportation ......................... 128 124 18,520 16,621 26 31 3,704 4,155
Support activities for transportation .... 8 4 819 265 2 1 164 66
Information .................................. 54 31 14,865 4,026 11 8 2,973 1,007
Finance and insurance ........................ 24 19 1,843 1,242 5 5 369 311
Real estate and rental and leasing ........... 8 7 495 1,001 2 2 99 250
Professional and technical services .......... 67 58 9,581 5,254 13 15 1,916 1,314
Management of companies and enterprises ...... 4 3 374 390 1 1 75 98
Administrative and waste services ............ 338 277 32,076 22,425 68 69 6,415 5,606
Educational services ......................... 11 17 860 1,702 2 4 172 426
Health care and social assistance ............ 56 59 4,900 4,804 11 15 980 1,201
Arts, entertainment, and recreation .......... 28 19 2,022 1,325 6 5 404 331
Accommodation and food services .............. 232 188 30,635 24,651 46 47 6,127 6,163
Accommodation ............................ 67 46 5,876 3,953 13 12 1,175 988
Food services and drinking places ........ 165 142 24,759 20,698 33 36 4,952 5,175
Other services, except public administration . 19 17 1,681 1,385 4 4 336 346
Unclassified ................................. 1 2 55 116 - 1 11 29
Government ....................................... 111 91 11,406 6,621 22 23 2,281 1,655
Federal ...................................... 9 5 755 322 2 1 151 81
State ........................................ 25 19 2,580 1,324 5 5 516 331
State government education .............. 15 11 1,868 773 3 3 374 193
Local ........................................ 77 67 8,071 4,975 15 17 1,614 1,244
Local government education .............. 46 46 5,123 3,290 9 12 1,025 823
1 Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. There were 5 weeks in December 2011 and 4 weeks in
December 2012. Average weekly events and initial claimants may not sum to subtotals and totals due to rounding.
2 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
4 Includes other industries not shown.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
Table 4. Region and state distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,
not seasonally adjusted
Census region and state Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs (1)
Events Initial Claimants Events Initial Claimants
December December December December December December December December
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Total (2) ............... 2,433 1,973 263,665 187,137 487 493 52,733 46,784
Northeast .................. 450 378 47,617 37,544 90 95 9,523 9,386
Connecticut ............ 5 8 578 841 1 2 116 210
Maine .................. 10 4 771 317 2 1 154 79
Massachusetts .......... 19 31 1,946 3,408 4 8 389 852
New Hampshire .......... 6 7 951 1,051 1 2 190 263
New Jersey ............. 88 78 8,098 8,472 18 20 1,620 2,118
New York ............... 117 100 11,498 9,853 23 25 2,300 2,463
Pennsylvania ........... 186 133 20,719 11,575 37 33 4,144 2,894
Rhode Island ........... 13 10 2,571 1,338 3 3 514 335
Vermont ................ 6 7 485 689 1 2 97 172
South ...................... 602 465 67,741 46,148 120 116 13,548 11,537
Alabama ................ 46 15 5,134 1,444 9 4 1,027 361
Arkansas ............... 24 19 2,759 2,322 5 5 552 581
Delaware ............... 9 (3) 820 (3) 2 (3) 164 (3)
District of Columbia ... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Florida ................ 70 61 6,239 4,655 14 15 1,248 1,164
Georgia ................ 60 52 7,507 5,006 12 13 1,501 1,252
Kentucky ............... 67 54 8,047 5,197 13 14 1,609 1,299
Louisiana .............. 20 17 1,923 1,644 4 4 385 411
Maryland (4) ........... 18 31 1,959 3,079 4 8 392 770
Mississippi ............ 21 25 1,812 2,317 4 6 362 579
North Carolina ......... 82 52 11,050 5,454 16 13 2,210 1,364
Oklahoma ............... 10 8 981 1,062 2 2 196 266
South Carolina ......... 32 19 4,612 2,063 6 5 922 516
Tennessee .............. 24 19 2,157 1,771 5 5 431 443
Texas .................. 52 47 5,033 5,136 10 12 1,007 1,284
Virginia ............... 64 38 7,450 4,364 13 10 1,490 1,091
West Virginia .......... (3) 3 (3) 249 (3) 1 (3) 62
Midwest .................... 743 630 78,074 65,155 149 158 15,615 16,289
Illinois ............... 118 114 13,449 11,418 24 29 2,690 2,855
Indiana ................ 49 38 5,758 4,345 10 10 1,152 1,086
Iowa ................... 58 48 6,797 5,663 12 12 1,359 1,416
Kansas ................. 23 20 2,952 2,325 5 5 590 581
Michigan ............... 135 158 12,542 15,726 27 40 2,508 3,932
Minnesota .............. 49 38 5,073 3,197 10 10 1,015 799
Missouri ............... 67 42 6,586 5,167 13 11 1,317 1,292
Nebraska ............... 15 12 2,252 2,006 3 3 450 502
North Dakota ........... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Ohio ................... 107 90 11,550 8,941 21 23 2,310 2,235
South Dakota ........... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Wisconsin .............. 111 59 10,117 5,218 22 15 2,023 1,305
West ....................... 638 500 70,233 38,290 128 125 14,047 9,573
Alaska ................. 3 3 447 406 1 1 89 102
Arizona ................ 8 10 750 646 2 3 150 162
California ............. 458 359 53,031 25,405 92 90 10,606 6,351
Colorado ............... 13 12 1,179 1,011 3 3 236 253
Hawaii ................. 4 4 388 220 1 1 78 55
Idaho .................. 20 9 1,584 647 4 2 317 162
Montana ................ 11 4 895 324 2 1 179 81
Nevada ................. 31 22 3,127 2,161 6 6 625 540
New Mexico ............. 8 6 590 359 2 2 118 90
Oregon ................. 49 25 4,705 2,923 10 6 941 731
Utah ................... 10 8 693 607 2 2 139 152
Washington ............. 23 38 2,844 3,581 5 10 569 895
Wyoming ................ - - - - - - - -
Puerto Rico ............ 14 10 1,729 1,012 3 3 346 253
1 See footnote 1, table 3
2 See footnote 2, table 3.
3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
4 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance
procedures.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
United States Department of Labor
