Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Economic News Release
PRINT:Print
MLS MLS Program Links

Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, January 27, 2010          USDL-10-0098

Technical information:  (202) 691-6392  *  mlsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                         MASS LAYOFFS -- DECEMBER 2009
                             ANNUAL TOTALS -- 2009


Employers took 1,726 mass layoff actions in December that resulted in the 
separation of 153,127 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new fil-
ings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau 
of Labor Statistics reported today. Each action involved at least 50 per-
sons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in December 
decreased by 87 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial 
claims decreased by 10,696. Both figures reached their lowest level since 
July 2008. In December, 433 mass layoff events were reported in the manu-
facturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,072 initial claims. 
Both figures decreased over the month to their lowest levels since November 
and August 2007, respectively. (See table 1.)

During the 25 months from December 2007 through December 2009, the total 
number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 51,978, and the as-
sociated number of initial claims was 5,242,840. (December 2007 was the 
start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Re-
search.)

In 2009, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total numbers of mass
layoff events, at 28,030, and initial claims, at 2,796,456, reached
their highest annual levels on record. (Annual data began in 1996. See
table B.) Among the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy,
12 registered annual program highs for both mass layoff events and ini-
tial claims. All 4 regions, all 9 divisions, and 43 states and the
District of Columbia experienced increases in total annual initial
claims from 2008 to 2009. In addition, 3 of the 4 regions, 6 of the 9
divisions, and 26 states recorded program highs in terms of initial
claims activity in 2009.

The national unemployment rate was 10.0 percent in December 2009, sea-
sonally adjusted, unchanged from the prior month but up from 7.4 per-
cent a year earlier. In December, nonfarm payroll employment decreased 
by 85,000 over the month and by 4,164,000 from a year earlier.



 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                         |
|            Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data             |
|                                                                         |
| Seasonally adjusted mass layoff data have been revised using updated    |
| seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2009 data. Seasonally      |
| adjusted estimates back to January 2005 were subject to revision. Re-   |
| vised seasonally adjusted data from January 2006 forward are shown in   |
| table 1. The originally published and revised figures for January 2006- |
| November 2009 are available at www.bls.gov/mls/mlssarevision.htm, along |
| with additional information about the revisions.                        |
|                                                                         |
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------



Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial 
claims in December 2009, not seasonally adjusted


                                                           December peak
                  Industry
                                                Initial   Year   Initial
                                                claims            claims

Food service contractors ...................    14,565    2009    14,565
Highway, street, and bridge construction ...    13,893    2005    20,088
School and employee bus transportation .....    13,206    2006    14,747
Temporary help services (1) ................    10,339    2005    16,656
Motion picture and video production ........     4,439    1998    16,192
Professional employer organizations (1) ....     3,630    2008     6,101
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ....     3,460    2008     3,528
Commercial building construction ...........     3,120    2009     3,120
Discount department stores .................     2,720    2006     3,255
Ready-mix concrete manufacturing ...........     2,683    2005     3,232

   1  See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.



Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The number of mass layoff events in December was 2,310 on a not season-
ally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 214,648. 
Over the year, the number of mass layoff events decreased by 1,067, and 
associated initial claims decreased by 136,657. (See table 2.) Thirteen 
of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-
the-year decreases in initial claimants, led by manufacturing (-107,989). 
(See table 3.) Three sectors reported December program highs in terms of 
average weekly initial claimants: retail trade; educational services; 
and accommodation and food services. (Average weekly analysis mitigates 
the effect of differing lengths of months. See the Technical Note.)

The manufacturing sector accounted for 27 percent of all mass layoff
events and 30 percent of initial claims filed in December 2009. A year
earlier, manufacturing made up 41 percent of events and 49 percent of
initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in
December was greatest in transportation equipment, machinery, and food. 
All 21 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manufac-
turing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in initial claims, 
led by transportation equipment (-50,799) and plastics and rubber pro-
ducts (-10,728). (See table 3.)

The six-digit NAICS industry with the largest number of initial claims
in December 2009 was food service contractors. Of the 10 six-digit in-
dustries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims, food
service contractors and commercial building construction reached pro-
gram highs for the month of December. (See table A.)

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Among the four census regions, the Midwest registered the highest num-
ber of initial claims in December due to mass layoffs, followed by
the South and the West. Initial claims decreased over the year in all
of the regions, with the Midwest (-69,329) and the South (-46,059)
experiencing the largest decreases. Of the nine geographic divisions,
the East North Central had the highest number of initial claims due to
mass layoffs in December, followed by the Pacific and Middle Atlantic.
All 9 divisions experienced over-the-year decreases in initial claims,
led by the East North Central (-56,114). (See table 5.)



Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants for 
unemployment insurance, 1996-2009, 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



California recorded the highest number of initial claims in December,
followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Thirty-
nine states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year
decreases in initial claims, led by Ohio (-18,948) and Kentucky 
(-16,557). (See table 6.) In 2009, three states reached December pro-
gram highs for average weekly initial claims: Florida, New York, and 
Utah.

Review of 2009

For all of 2009, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total numbers 
of mass layoff events, at 28,030, and initial claims, at 2,796,456,
reached their highest annual levels on record. (See table B.) Among
the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy, manufacturing
had the most initial claims in 2009 (1,137,106), followed by adminis-
trative and waste services (294,709) and construction (205,765). Manu-
facturing also had the largest over-the-year increase in total annual 
initial claims (+266,796), with retail trade (+57,283) and administra-
tive and waste services (+48,039) experiencing the next largest in-
creases. Among the major industry sectors, 12 registered series highs 
for both mass layoff events and initial claims in 2009: mining; con-
struction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and ware-
housing; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; 
management of companies and enterprises; administrative and waste ser-
vices; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and 
recreation; and accommodation and food services.

The manufacturing sector accounted for 36 percent of all mass layoff
events and 43 percent of initial claims filed in the private economy
in 2009; in 2008, manufacturing made up 34 percent of events and 43
percent of initial claims. The number of manufacturing claimants in
2009 was highest in transportation equipment (304,693), followed by
machinery (164,176) and fabricated metal products (84,702). Total
initial claims for 18 of the 21 manufacturing subsectors increased
from 2008 to 2009, with machinery experiencing the largest change
(+110,503). Transportation equipment recorded the largest over-the-
year decrease (-18,929).

The six-digit NAICS industries with the largest total number of ini-
tial claims in 2009 were temporary help services, school and employee 
bus transportation, and food service contractors. Construction ma-
chinery manufacturing entered the top 10 in terms of initial claims, 
displacing heavy duty truck manufacturing. (See table C.) Of the top 
10 industries, 6 reached program highs in 2009: construction machinery 
manufacturing; light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing; school 
and employee bus transportation; professional employer organizations; 
elementary and secondary schools; and food service contractors.

Among the 4 census regions, the Midwest reported the highest number 
of mass layoff initial claims filed during 2009 (892,202), followed 
by the West and the South. All 4 regions experienced over-the-year an-
nual increases, with the largest increases taking place in the Midwest
(+215,611). The Midwest, Northeast, and South also reached program
highs for total initial claims in 2009. All 9 geographic divisions
also experienced higher claimant activity in 2009 when compared with
2008, with the largest increases occurring in the East North Central
(+167,804)--which also had the largest number of claims in 2009, the
Middle Atlantic (+119,644), and the South Atlantic (+118,688). Six of
the 9 divisions reached program highs for total annual claims in 2009:
East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, Mountain,
South Atlantic, and West North Central.

California recorded the largest number of initial claims during 2009
followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio. Forty-three
states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year annual
increases in initial claims; Illinois reported the largest over-the-
year increase in 2009 (+89,810), followed by California (+85,548) and
Pennsylvania (+54,483). Of the 7 states with over-the-year decreases
in initial claims in 2009, the largest were reported in Louisiana 
(-5,566), Mississippi (-3,702), and Kentucky (-2,632). Twenty-six states
recorded series highs in mass layoff claimant activity in 2009: Alaska, 
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, 
Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North 
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, 
Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.



Table C. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 
2009, not seasonally adjusted


                                                     2009              2008
                  Industry
                                                Initial   Rank    Initial   Rank
                                                 claims            claims

Temporary help services (1) ................... 151,957     1     134,699      1
School and employee bus transportation ........  92,324     2      79,083      2
Food service contractors ......................  68,888     3      54,677      3
Professional employer organizations (1) .......  65,280     4      54,016      4
Elementary and secondary schools ..............  62,774     5      28,996     10
Construction machinery manufacturing ..........  55,334     6       4,496    102
Motion picture and video production ...........  53,275     7      45,394      6
Automobile manufacturing ......................  46,306     8      51,804      5
Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing .  40,422     9      38,450      8
Highway, street, and bridge construction ......  40,186    10      39,467      7

   1  See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.



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 (re-
ferred 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 Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter 2009 news release is
scheduled to be released on Friday, February 12, 2010, at 10:00 a.m.
(EST). The Mass Layoffs in January news release is scheduled to be
released on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 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.

   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; Federal Relay
Service:  (800) 877-8339.

Definitions

   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 adminis-
tered 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 insur-
ance 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 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 1 year and 4 weeks in 
another.  The effects of these differences could seriously distort the sea-
sonal 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 2006 to
December 2009, seasonally adjusted

                                      Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing   
             Date                                                                              
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial 
                                Events    claimants   Events    claimants    Events   claimants
                                                                                              
             2006                                                                             

January ....................     1,110     112,550       979     102,802       289      34,737
February ...................       938      96,542       846      88,629       304      40,029
March ......................     1,069     117,725       965     109,241       312      45,687
April ......................     1,189     123,056     1,055     112,922       352      48,731
May ........................     1,121     117,834     1,003     107,929       302      40,703
June .......................     1,150     125,318     1,039     115,883       349      43,476
July .......................     1,182     121,056     1,056     111,432       373      51,691
August .....................     1,238     135,707     1,104     125,704       372      58,962
September ..................     1,154     124,200     1,043     115,261       393      45,972
October ....................     1,208     123,691     1,094     115,102       409      53,957
November ...................     1,244     135,465     1,128     125,976       413      58,509
December ...................     1,227     134,176     1,123     124,570       376      51,403

             2007                                                                             

January ....................     1,264     130,834     1,113     119,874       404      55,217
February ...................     1,191     121,289     1,075     112,607       374      54,581
March ......................     1,225     126,391     1,113     117,760       386      48,298
April ......................     1,268     129,098     1,135     118,175       362      43,205
May ........................     1,172     118,648     1,070     111,103       345      44,391
June .......................     1,241     131,394     1,125     122,123       338      37,931
July .......................     1,274     130,331     1,169     122,381       403      55,973
August .....................     1,247     126,108     1,158     118,575       323      34,902
September ..................     1,255     123,632     1,160     116,744       436      51,814
October ....................     1,370     137,108     1,248     128,387       449      58,360
November ...................     1,415     148,952     1,289     139,665       424      58,543
December ...................     1,569     155,095     1,448     145,666       483      60,368

             2008                                                                             

January ....................     1,481     151,269     1,348     140,570       436      57,147
February ...................     1,578     162,152     1,432     150,712       470      60,276
March ......................     1,487     151,539     1,372     141,574       436      56,919
April ......................     1,327     133,318     1,201     122,651       460      59,377
May ........................     1,604     170,619     1,465     160,529       468      62,345
June .......................     1,674     170,329     1,523     158,084       501      68,403
July .......................     1,531     152,447     1,389     141,707       461      61,417
August .....................     1,845     189,798     1,711     179,737       607      78,172
September ..................     2,222     235,755     2,049     220,832       634      81,989
October ....................     2,287     239,768     2,125     226,098       721      95,301
November ...................     2,489     240,181     2,334     227,368       929     107,072
December ...................     2,461     243,505     2,277     229,171       962     115,961

             2009                                                                             

January ....................     2,279     251,807     2,115     238,990       764     109,124
February ...................     2,737     289,162     2,592     274,040     1,186     141,264
March ......................     2,913     295,970     2,715     279,671     1,202     146,381
April ......................     2,663     263,162     2,461     247,329     1,033     125,093
May ........................     2,794     306,788     2,589     289,012     1,183     145,166
June .......................     2,598     260,596     2,371     241,864     1,072     135,844
July .......................     2,039     196,578     1,818     176,542       565      66,918
August .....................     2,480     238,911     2,244     218,425       798      87,201
September ..................     2,326     221,639     2,109     204,462       783      90,440
October ....................     2,055     205,502     1,856     187,880       594      65,801
November ...................     1,813     163,823     1,650     151,810       485      54,858
December ...................     1,726     153,127     1,542     138,747       433      44,072




Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2006 to
December 2009, not seasonally adjusted

                                       Total           Private nonfarm         Manufacturing  
             Date                                                                             
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial 
                                Events    claimants   Events    claimants    Events   claimants
                                                                                              
             2006                                                                             

January ....................     1,245     117,946     1,123     108,701       331      35,097
February ...................       719      66,555       658      62,208       210      24,892
March ......................       921     111,838       856     106,177       285      44,688
April ......................     1,140     121,589     1,038     112,964       296      39,538
May ........................       872      84,809       794      78,663       192      23,570
June .......................     1,489     164,761     1,224     140,687       319      41,095
July .......................     1,511     166,857     1,335     154,342       648      96,152
August .....................       708      72,844       656      69,054       203      28,494
September ..................       865      87,699       785      81,274       296      39,076
October ....................       964      98,804       820      88,133       311      46,737
November ...................     1,315     136,186     1,172     125,009       455      58,473
December ...................     2,249     254,503     2,126     244,783       735     105,462

             2007                                                                             

January ....................     1,407     134,984     1,263     124,475       456      53,615
February ...................       935      86,696       861      82,097       273      36,170
March ......................     1,082     123,974     1,015     118,431       367      49,886
April ......................     1,219     127,444     1,115     118,040       309      35,229
May ........................       923      85,816       856      81,153       224      26,527
June .......................     1,599     172,810     1,318     148,669       313      36,571
July .......................     1,599     175,419     1,450     164,939       684     101,390
August .....................       963      93,458       908      88,345       220      23,361
September ..................       717      67,385       667      64,026       246      29,381
October ....................     1,083     108,455       929      97,716       338      50,918
November ...................     1,799     198,220     1,593     181,184       514      75,413
December ...................     2,167     224,214     2,071     216,898       699      91,754

             2008                                                                             

January ....................     1,647     154,503     1,520     144,191       488      54,418
February ...................     1,269     119,508     1,178     113,587       361      42,527
March ......................     1,089     114,541     1,039     110,147       333      43,740
April ......................     1,272     130,810     1,172     121,625       394      48,188
May ........................     1,552     159,471     1,438     150,462       388      51,698
June .......................     1,622     166,742     1,315     140,916       309      42,097
July .......................     1,891     200,382     1,687     186,018       760     108,733
August .....................     1,427     139,999     1,343     133,146       414      51,912
September ..................     1,292     129,586     1,202     122,505       361      46,391
October ....................     2,125     221,784     1,917     205,553       689     100,457
November ...................     2,574     241,589     2,389     226,657       997     107,620
December ...................     3,377     351,305     3,232     340,220     1,378     172,529

             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




Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance


                                                                                                     Initial claimants for         
                                                              Mass layoff events                    unemployment insurance         
                     Industry                                                                                                      
                                                   December  October  November  December   December    October   November  December
                                                     2008      2009     2009      2009       2008       2009       2009      2009  
                                                                                                                                   
                Seasonally adjusted                                                                                                


      Total .....................................    2,461     2,055    1,813     1,726     243,505    205,502   163,823    153,127

  Total, private nonfarm ........................    2,277     1,856    1,650     1,542     229,171    187,880   151,810    138,747
    Manufacturing ...............................      962       594      485       433     115,961     65,801    54,858     44,072

              Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                              

      Total (1) .................................    3,377     1,934    1,870     2,310     351,305    193,904   164,496    214,648
      
Total, private ..................................    3,278     1,806    1,791     2,219     343,963    181,476   158,146    206,930
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..       46       128      112        53       3,743      8,593     7,395      3,275

  Total, private nonfarm ........................    3,232     1,678    1,679     2,166     340,220    172,883   150,751    203,655
    Mining ......................................       43        15       22        34       4,191      1,038     1,551      2,807
    Utilities ...................................        6         6        3         6         355        550       206        444
    Construction ................................      544       205      308       485      40,579     15,258    23,902     35,718
    Manufacturing ...............................    1,378       566      517       615     172,529     69,655    55,053     64,540
        Food ....................................       77        91       61        63       7,797      8,999     6,631      6,447
        Beverage and tobacco products ...........       12        12        9         5       1,222      1,001       682        396
        Textile mills ...........................       44         9       12        14       4,725      1,407     1,337      2,242
        Textile product mills ...................        7         3        -         3         672        419         -        300
        Apparel .................................       22         7       17        19       2,479        438     1,361      1,661
        Leather and allied products .............        4         -      (2)         5         800          -       (2)        324
        Wood products ...........................       86        41       40        40       8,465      4,326     3,505      3,218
        Paper ...................................       34        14      (2)        12       4,384      1,216       (2)        850
        Printing and related support activities .       20        17       10        14       1,904      1,337       888      1,659
        Petroleum and coal products .............       12         3       11        10       1,124        312       852        866

        Chemicals ...............................       23         8       13        10       2,046        533     1,239        768
        Plastics and rubber products ............      136        35       29        35      14,215      2,672     2,802      3,487
        Nonmetallic mineral products ............       89        16       30        59       9,104      1,172     2,514      4,990
        Primary metals ..........................       83        44       38        34       8,558      4,703     3,426      3,456
        Fabricated metal products ...............      145        49       36        54      12,576      4,702     2,764      4,387
        Machinery ...............................       75        51       44        53       7,531     10,892     5,080      6,827
        Computer and electronic products ........       53        29       25        23       5,245      2,169     2,788      1,429
        Electrical equipment and appliances .....       51        29       18        19       9,049      3,394     1,379      2,191
        Transportation equipment ................      352        72       86       106      64,336     17,069    13,806     13,537
        Furniture and related products ..........       37        22       19        28       4,764      1,865     2,407      4,617
        Miscellaneous manufacturing .............       16        14       11         9       1,533      1,029       931        888

    Wholesale trade .............................       60        50       33        50       5,374      4,645     2,389      3,858
    Retail trade ................................      142       124       99       121      12,104     12,914     7,083     12,300
    Transportation and warehousing ..............      196        61       83       157      22,751      5,541     6,651     17,909
    Information .................................       71        57       52        51       9,138      9,567     5,414      7,042
    Finance and insurance .......................       40        49       33        30       2,998      3,716     2,691      2,357
    Real estate and rental and leasing ..........       16        13       13        12       1,382        870       963        763
    Professional and technical services .........       76        57       55        47       6,280      5,974     4,651      3,746
    Management of companies and enterprises .....       17         6        3         5       2,433        812       290        545
    Administrative and waste services ...........      348       260      220       253      31,069     25,694    18,219     21,653
    Educational services ........................       11         3        6        12         634        226       453        755
    Health care and social assistance ...........       36        37       38        38       2,626      2,165     2,886      2,653
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation .........       23        34       45        19       1,503      2,435     3,705      1,734
    Accommodation and food services .............      199       126      129       214      22,312     11,346    13,264     23,507
    Other services, except public administration        24         9       20        16       1,821        477     1,380      1,171
    Unclassified ................................        2         -        -         1         141          -         -        153

Government ......................................       99       128       79        91       7,342     12,428     6,350      7,718
    Federal .....................................       10        28       12        11       1,011      2,550     1,155        921
    State .......................................       19        32       25        26       1,296      3,433     2,213      2,560
    Local .......................................       70        68       42        54       5,035      6,445     2,982      4,237
                                                                                                                                   
 
    1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.   
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.   




Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2007 to December 2009, 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
             2007                                                                                                                 

October ....................    1,083      108,455       929      97,716                                                          
November ...................    1,799      198,220     1,593     181,184                                                          
December ...................    2,167      224,214     2,071     216,898                                                          

Fourth Quarter .............    5,049      530,889     4,593     495,798         1,814         347,151             39.5       70.0

             2008                                                                                                                 

January ....................    1,647      154,503     1,520     144,191                                                          
February ...................    1,269      119,508     1,178     113,587                                                          
March ......................    1,089      114,541     1,039     110,147                                                          

First Quarter ..............    4,005      388,552     3,737     367,925         1,340         259,292             35.9       70.5

April ......................    1,272      130,810     1,172     121,625                                                          
May ........................    1,552      159,471     1,438     150,462                                                          
June .......................    1,622      166,742     1,315     140,916                                                          

Second Quarter .............    4,446      457,023     3,925     413,003         1,756         339,630             44.7       82.2

July .......................    1,891      200,382     1,687     186,018                                                          
August .....................    1,427      139,999     1,343     133,146                                                          
September ..................    1,292      129,586     1,202     122,505                                                          

Third Quarter ..............    4,610      469,967     4,232     441,669         1,581         304,340             37.4       68.9

October ....................    2,125      221,784     1,917     205,553                                                          
November ...................    2,574      241,589     2,389     226,657                                                          
December ...................    3,377      351,305     3,232     340,220                                                          

Fourth Quarter .............    8,076      814,678     7,538     772,430         3,582         766,592             47.5       99.2

             2009                                                                                                                 

January ....................    3,806      388,813     3,633     375,293                                                          
February ...................    2,262      218,438     2,173     210,755                                                          
March ......................    2,191      228,387     2,107     221,397                                                          

First Quarter ..............    8,259      835,638     7,913     807,445         3,979         835,017             50.3      103.4

April ......................    2,547      256,930     2,385     243,321                                                          
May ........................    2,738      289,628     2,572     274,047                                                          
June .......................    2,519      256,357     2,051     216,063                                                          

Second Quarter .............    7,804      802,915     7,008     733,431         3,396         727,494             48.5       99.2

July .......................    3,054      336,654     2,659     296,589                                                          
August .....................    1,428      125,024     1,334     117,193                                                          
September ..................    1,371      123,177     1,258     115,141                                                          

Third Quarter ..............    5,853      584,855     5,251     528,923   (2)(p)1,776   (2)(p)266,938          (p)33.8    (p)50.5

October ....................    1,934      193,904     1,678     172,883                                                          
November ...................    1,870      164,496     1,679     150,751                                                          
December ...................    2,310      214,648     2,166     203,655                                                          
Fourth Quarter .............    6,114      573,048     5,523     527,289                                                          


   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                                                                                         
  
                                 December   October   November  December   December   October    November    December
                                   2008       2009      2009      2009       2008       2009       2009        2009  
                                                                                                                     
        United States (1) ...      3,377     1,934     1,870     2,310     351,305    193,904     164,496    214,648
        
Northeast ...................        491       260       285       461      44,901     22,709      26,974     41,913
    New England .............         70        30        40        71       7,024      2,134       3,750      6,743
    Middle Atlantic .........        421       230       245       390      37,877     20,575      23,224     35,170

South .......................        815       499       413       494      94,307     45,772      37,708     48,248
    South Atlantic ..........        362       279       207       284      33,456     23,144      19,029     25,236
    East South Central ......        296        87        83       115      42,388      9,545       6,656     13,749
    West South Central ......        157       133       123        95      18,463     13,083      12,023      9,263

Midwest .....................      1,278       483       530       739     146,155     60,792      51,989     76,826
    East North Central ......        961       375       382       508     108,017     49,277      39,265     51,903
    West North Central ......        317       108       148       231      38,138     11,515      12,724     24,923

West ........................        793       692       642       616      65,942     64,631      47,825     47,661
    Mountain ................        139       103        98       126      12,780      9,020       9,393     10,700
    Pacific .................        654       589       544       490      53,162     55,611      38,432     36,961
                                                                                                                    
 
   1 See footnote 1, table 3.
   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                                                                                                      
                            December     October    November   December    December     October    November   December
                              2008        2009        2009       2009        2008         2009       2009       2009  

   Total (1) ............    3,377        1,934      1,870      2,310      351,305      193,904     164,496    214,648
                                                                                                                      
Alabama .................       88           27         16         36       14,160        3,179       1,266      4,592
Alaska ..................      (2)            8          3          7          (2)          755         361        650
Arizona .................       13           20          9          9        1,213        1,666         709        817
Arkansas ................       25           17          9          7        2,517        1,954         973        581
California ..............      546          514        472        412       43,265       48,169      31,922     30,229
Colorado ................       24           19         14         24        2,023        1,554       1,064      1,941
Connecticut .............       10            9          5          8          799          671         424        890
Delaware ................        8            3          6          5          817          251         347        266
District of Columbia ....      (2)          (2)        (2)          4          (2)          (2)         (2)        301
Florida .................      104          167         86         96        6,931       11,851       6,010      7,715
Georgia .................       83           39         26         56        8,508        3,880       3,225      5,244
Hawaii ..................       15            7          7          7        1,650          630         488        637
Idaho ...................       25           10         19         16        2,347        1,088       2,071      1,099

Illinois ................      202           93        101        142       25,885       12,917      10,794     17,639
Indiana .................      156           37         43         57       16,762        4,759       4,323      6,256
Iowa ....................       82           35         25         51       10,005        4,732       2,648      6,087
Kansas ..................       38           13          8         28        7,949        1,562         741      4,878
Kentucky ................      131           36         41         44       21,570        4,656       3,649      5,013
Louisiana ...............       17           24         35         22        2,430        2,169       2,795      1,641
Maine ...................        7            3          6          3          530          177         674        204
Maryland ................       15            6          6         16        1,002          479         486      1,251
Massachusetts ...........       38            9         11         28        4,289          596         803      2,990
Michigan ................      248           70         78        119       24,508        9,543       8,549     10,913
Minnesota ...............       67           24         55         45        7,374        1,985       4,905      3,690
Mississippi .............       27           10          9         12        2,399          602         512      1,000
Missouri ................      107           31         48         86       10,625        2,556       3,195      8,373

Montana .................        8           11         10         12          630        1,062         758        896
Nebraska ................       12            4          6         12        1,334          559         611      1,166
Nevada ..................       41           19         33         36        4,303        1,361       3,891      3,677
New Hampshire ...........        4            3          4         11          255          263         279        867
New Jersey ..............       80           37         52         67        6,910        2,850       5,277      6,716
New Mexico ..............       16           11          7         12        1,170          761         476        954
New York ................      111           68         75        126       10,511        6,961       6,281     12,704
North Carolina ..........       33           19         30         18        3,314        1,672       4,273      1,455
North Dakota ............        8          (2)          5          7          666          (2)         557        595
Ohio ....................      224           75         59         91       27,836       10,569       5,233      8,888
Oklahoma ................       20            7         10         10        3,210          582       1,438        893
Oregon ..................       51           35         35         29        4,413        3,936       3,464      2,617
Pennsylvania ............      230          125        118        197       20,456       10,764      11,666     15,750

Rhode Island ............        7          (2)          3          6          820          (2)         297        713
South Carolina ..........       84           19         20         45        9,381        2,692       1,456      4,780
South Dakota ............        3            -        (2)        (2)          185            -         (2)        (2)
Tennessee ...............       50           14         17         23        4,259        1,108       1,229      3,144
Texas ...................       95           85         69         56       10,306        8,378       6,817      6,148
Utah ....................       12            9          4         16        1,094        1,058         256      1,256
Vermont .................        4            3         11         15          331          254       1,273      1,079
Virginia ................       27           22         31         40        2,782        1,955       3,021      3,903
Washington ..............       40           25         27         35        3,663        2,121       2,197      2,828
West Virginia ...........        6            3        (2)          4          416          250         (2)        321
Wisconsin ...............      131          100        101         99       13,026       11,489      10,366      8,207
Wyoming .................        -            4        (2)        (2)            -          470         (2)        (2)

Puerto Rico .............       16           12         22         11        1,285        1,079       2,177      1,093
 
   1 See footnote 1, table 3.
   2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.     
   NOTE: Dash represents zero.  




Last Modified Date: January 27, 2010