Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 08-0260
http://www.bls.gov/mls/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, February 27, 2008
MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2008
In January, employers took 1,438 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted,
as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer; the
number of workers involved totaled 144,111, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The number of mass layoff events in January 2008 increased by 5 from the prior
month, while the number of associated initial claims increased by 2,361. The
number of initial claims due to mass layoffs have increased for five consecu-
tive months. In January, 427 mass layoff events were reported in the manufac-
turing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 55,488 initial claims. Over
the month, mass layoff activity in manufacturing decreased by 35 events, and
initial claims decreased by 2,620. (See table 1.)
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, seasonally adjusted,
down from 5.0 percent in the prior month and up from 4.6 percent a year earlier.
Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 17,000 in January from the previous
month and increased by 994,000 from a year earlier.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial claims,
not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 30 percent of all such claims in January.
The industry with the highest number of initial claims was temporary help services
with 12,509, followed by school and employee bus transportation (7,444), automobile
manufacturing (4,575), and professional employer organizations (3,705). Together,
these four industries accounted for 18 percent of all initial claims due to mass
layoffs during the month. (See table A.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Changes to Mass Layoff Data |
| |
| Effective with this news release, the Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) pro- |
|gram has switched the basis for their industry classification from the 2002|
|North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to the 2007 NAICS. |
|The change in classification resulted in minor definitional changes within |
|manufacturing; telecommunications; financial activities; and professional, |
|scientific, and technical services. Several industry titles and descrip- |
|tions also were updated. For more information on the impact of the change |
|to the 2007 NAICS on the MLS program’s data, see http://www.bls.gov/mls/ |
|mls2007naics.htm. |
| |
| For additional information on the 2007 NAICS, see http://www.census.gov/|
|epcd/www/naics.html. |
| |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 2 -
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in January 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | January peak
Industry |Initial |----------------------
| claims | |
| | Year |Initial claims
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
Temporary help services ..................| 12,509 | 1998 | 26,224
School and employee bus transportation ...| 7,444 | 2005 | 14,526
Automobile manufacturing .................| 4,575 | 2001 | 21,093
Professional employer organizations ......| 3,705 | 2005 | 5,258
Discount department stores ...............| 3,560 | 2004 | 6,063
Light truck and utility vehicle | | |
manufacturing ...........................| 3,191 | 2001 | 8,450
Highway, street, and bridge construction..| 2,858 | 2000 | 9,680
Motion picture and video production ......| 2,844 | 1998 | 12,038
Wood kitchen cabinet and countertop | | |
manufacturing ...........................| 2,602 | 2008 | 2,602
Farm labor contractors and crew leaders ..| 2,354 | 1999 | 5,859
| | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The manufacturing sector accounted for 30 percent of all mass layoff events
and 35 percent of all related initial claims filed in January; a year earlier,
manufacturing made up 32 percent of events and 40 percent of initial claims. In
January 2008, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transporta-
tion equipment manufacturing (17,920), followed by food manufacturing (5,024)
and wood product manufacturing (4,780). (See table 3.)
Administrative and waste services accounted for 14 percent of mass layoff
events and 13 percent of initial claims in January, primarily from administra-
tive and support services. Construction comprised 12 percent of events and
9 percent of initial claims, primarily from specialty trade contractors and from
heavy and civil engineering construction. Transportation and warehousing made up
8 percent of all mass layoff events and related initial claims, mainly from tran-
sit and ground passenger transportation. Seven percent of all mass layoff events
and 8 percent of related initial claims filed were from retail trade, largely from
general merchandise stores.
On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in January
2008, at 1,647, was up by 240 from a year earlier, and the number of associated
initial claims increased by 19,519 to 154,503. (See table 2.) The largest over-
the-year increases in initial claims for all layoff events were reported in admin-
istrative and support services (+3,799) and transit and ground passenger transporta-
tion (+2,799). The largest over-the-year decrease in mass layoff initial claims was
reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-4,395). The average weekly num-
bers of events and initial claimants for the United States were at their highest
levels (412 and 38,626, respectively) for the month of January since 2005.
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the 4 census regions, the highest number of initial claims in January 2008
due to mass layoffs was in the West (46,556). Temporary help services accounted for
13 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The
Midwest had the second largest number of initial claims among the regions, 42,229,
followed by the Northeast with 32,949 and the South with 32,769. (See table 5.)
The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year in all
four of the regions. The Northeast (+7,486) experienced the largest increase; the
South reported the smallest over-the-year increase (+2,899). Seven of the 9 geo-
graphic divisions had over-the-year increases in the numbers of initial claims asso-
ciated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the Middle Atlantic (+8,779)
and Pacific (+5,068) divisions. The division with the largest over-the-year decrease
was the West South Central (-2,198).
- 3 -
California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff
events in January (38,715), reflecting layoffs in administrative and support services.
Other states with large numbers of mass layoff-related claims were New York (18,636),
Alabama (10,160), Pennsylvania (9,644), Ohio (9,352), and Illinois (9,106). (See
table 6.)
Twenty-three states reported over-the-year increases in initial claims associated
with mass layoffs, led by Alabama (+8,368), New York (+7,958), and California (+5,155).
For Alabama, the largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in trans-
portation equipment manufacturing, wood product manufacturing, and administrative
and support services. For New York, transit and ground passenger transportation had
the largest over-the-year increase. In California, general merchandise stores regis-
tered the largest increase in claims over the year. States with the largest over-the-
year decreases in mass layoff claims were Kentucky (-3,782), Louisiana (-1,152), and
Texas (-1,007).
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 employers, 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 inform-
ation on the industry classification and location of the employer, and on the demo-
graphics of the laid-off workers. Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs
of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher
than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See table 4.) See
the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.
______________________________
The report on Mass Layoffs in February 2008 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, March 21.
- 4 -
Technical Note
The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state program
that uses a standardized automated approach to identifying, describing,
and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks, using data from each
state's unemployment insurance database. Each month, states report on
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; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
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).
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 publish-
ing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS series. The six series are the
numbers of mass layoff events and mass layoff initial claims for the total,
private nonfarm, and manufacturing sectors.
Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect
on time series data of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes
in the weather, holidays, and the beginning and ending of the school year.
The use of seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental changes
in time series, particularly those associated with general economic expan-
sions and contractions.
The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjust-
ment method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all
available monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in devel-
oping seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most recent 5 years
of seasonally adjusted data will be made once a year with the issuance of
December data. Before the data are seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments
are made to the original data to adjust them for differences in the number
of weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly unemployment
insurance claims are aggregated to form monthly data, a particular month's
value could be calculated with 5 weeks of data in one year and 4 weeks
in another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the
seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal adjustment process.
These effects are modeled in the X-12-ARIMA program and are permanently
removed from the final seasonally adjusted series.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, February 2004 to
January 2008, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2004
February ................... 1,300 133,526 1,151 120,918 366 39,682
March ...................... 1,364 139,304 1,228 130,123 398 58,980
April ...................... 1,360 139,185 1,193 124,432 351 37,760
May ........................ 1,224 114,810 1,059 100,854 339 39,045
June ....................... 1,400 141,168 1,231 128,245 371 47,243
July ....................... 1,329 137,805 1,178 126,301 376 50,799
August ..................... 1,426 128,759 1,233 113,809 343 36,539
September .................. 1,285 127,833 1,154 116,843 336 45,690
October .................... 1,283 132,766 1,169 123,471 363 47,046
November ................... 1,320 130,873 1,174 119,029 380 45,416
December ................... 1,148 111,060 991 99,784 287 31,935
2005
January .................... 1,475 160,725 1,346 151,028 382 61,324
February ................... 1,146 121,455 1,020 110,480 353 43,568
March ...................... 1,207 131,271 1,066 120,945 372 53,673
April ...................... 1,252 136,752 1,125 126,550 401 60,681
May ........................ 1,248 136,420 1,104 123,495 398 54,999
June ....................... 1,196 127,084 1,078 118,012 368 58,300
July ....................... 1,250 132,445 1,103 119,566 357 46,602
August ..................... 1,144 125,686 1,000 113,762 341 47,598
September .................. 2,248 297,544 2,028 251,185 417 55,304
October .................... 1,101 110,035 982 100,934 321 43,230
November ................... 1,176 114,965 1,042 103,535 332 42,071
December ................... 1,261 134,461 1,132 123,418 360 46,863
2006
January .................... 1,107 110,800 988 101,494 283 34,037
February ................... 1,031 109,798 940 101,828 322 43,147
March ...................... 1,084 119,049 983 110,668 323 48,119
April ...................... 1,171 121,580 1,043 112,175 368 49,568
May ........................ 1,124 117,115 1,005 107,181 314 43,087
June ....................... 1,146 123,827 1,030 114,080 352 44,869
July ....................... 1,179 121,017 1,051 111,336 372 48,534
August ..................... 1,270 135,400 1,107 124,427 377 60,906
September .................. 1,173 123,767 1,056 114,677 385 45,767
October .................... 1,191 121,827 1,076 113,123 399 53,601
November ................... 1,232 133,803 1,121 124,559 414 58,385
December ................... 1,194 131,062 1,092 121,796 374 51,408
2007
January .................... 1,254 128,223 1,118 117,824 391 52,858
February ................... 1,352 143,837 1,238 135,066 416 61,749
March ...................... 1,277 130,981 1,169 122,488 412 52,606
April ...................... 1,243 126,977 1,116 116,926 382 43,930
May ........................ 1,199 120,587 1,096 113,069 370 48,910
June ....................... 1,238 129,858 1,116 120,165 351 40,670
July ....................... 1,247 127,687 1,140 119,614 392 51,333
August ..................... 1,228 121,886 1,128 114,628 335 36,518
September .................. 1,307 128,487 1,204 121,294 430 53,432
October .................... 1,347 136,124 1,224 127,163 430 57,695
November ................... 1,329 139,671 1,215 131,390 414 56,965
December ................... 1,433 141,750 1,315 133,024 462 58,108
2008
January .................... 1,438 144,111 1,317 134,347 427 55,488
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, February 2004 to
January 2008, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2004
February ................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 240 23,043
March ...................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 258 34,686
April ...................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 343 36,172
May ........................ 988 87,501 878 78,786 219 22,141
June ....................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 222 27,307
July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895
August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698
September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808
October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265
November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243
December ................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726
2005
January .................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985
February ................... 810 74,644 722 68,372 230 24,931
March ...................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 246 33,030
April ...................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 395 59,129
May ........................ 986 101,358 891 93,332 249 30,424
June ....................... 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 216 32,783
July ....................... 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 856 136,210
August ..................... 645 67,582 598 63,484 188 22,531
September .................. 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 318 47,497
October .................... 905 91,941 757 80,694 249 37,276
November ................... 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442
December ................... 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 706 96,382
2006
January .................... 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 331 35,097
February ................... 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
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Industry
January November December January January November December January
2007 2007 2007 2008 2007 2007 2007 2008
Seasonally adjusted
Total ..................................... 1,254 1,329 1,433 1,438 128,223 139,671 141,750 144,111
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,118 1,215 1,315 1,317 117,824 131,390 133,024 134,347
Manufacturing ............................... 391 414 462 427 52,858 56,965 58,108 55,488
Not seasonally adjusted
Total (1) ................................. 1,407 1,799 2,167 1,647 134,984 198,220 224,214 154,503
Total, private .................................. 1,344 1,729 2,102 1,592 129,715 191,917 219,227 148,901
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 81 136 31 72 5,240 10,733 2,329 4,710
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,263 1,593 2,071 1,520 124,475 181,184 216,898 144,191
Mining ...................................... 10 11 28 8 769 928 2,136 550
Utilities ................................... (2) (2) 4 (2) (2) (2) 225 (2)
Construction ................................ 194 324 461 198 12,426 28,277 35,564 13,532
Manufacturing ............................... 456 514 699 488 53,615 75,413 91,754 54,418
Food .................................... 59 62 68 57 4,525 6,642 10,267 5,024
Beverage and tobacco products ........... 6 9 7 7 456 746 640 531
Textile mills ........................... 16 27 12 13 1,703 5,381 2,281 1,258
Textile product mills (3) ............... 9 5 8 8 1,132 608 848 950
Apparel (3) ............................. 12 10 16 17 1,020 625 1,311 1,630
Leather and allied products ............. (2) 4 4 (2) (2) 376 435 (2)
Wood products ........................... 46 69 59 46 4,342 8,094 5,698 4,780
Paper ................................... 7 9 5 6 572 696 571 469
Printing and related support activities . 13 11 11 11 1,110 763 830 766
Petroleum and coal products ............. (2) 8 12 (2) (2) 624 1,163 (2)
Chemicals ............................... 9 6 12 10 771 668 995 898
Plastics and rubber products (3) ........ 22 27 57 37 1,513 2,568 5,069 2,855
Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 28 24 61 38 2,059 2,493 5,979 2,602
Primary metals .......................... 13 27 37 16 1,687 2,955 4,022 1,491
Fabricated metal products ............... 32 24 55 40 2,581 2,341 5,252 3,144
Machinery (3) ........................... 24 40 37 23 2,309 6,289 6,864 2,901
Computer and electronic products ........ 15 13 21 18 1,351 987 1,559 1,222
Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 8 15 16 7 514 5,418 1,495 784
Transportation equipment (3) ............ 104 93 171 86 22,315 23,323 31,910 17,920
Furniture and related products (3) ...... 23 23 19 34 2,948 3,164 2,868 4,127
Miscellaneous manufacturing (3) ......... 6 8 11 9 454 652 1,697 721
Wholesale trade ............................. 22 40 24 30 1,603 3,095 1,762 2,848
Retail trade ................................ 112 93 103 119 9,587 8,199 8,839 12,839
Transportation and warehousing .............. 88 82 150 124 9,275 7,499 15,573 13,031
Information ................................. 32 28 51 43 6,296 5,386 8,770 4,668
Finance and insurance (3) ................... 29 43 36 50 2,197 3,898 2,311 4,285
Real estate and rental and leasing (3) ...... 6 7 6 8 307 539 322 462
Professional and technical services (3) ..... 28 51 50 41 3,088 7,435 5,303 3,829
Management of companies and enterprises ..... (2) (2) 5 (2) (2) (2) 448 (2)
Administrative and waste services (3) ....... 172 217 218 232 16,699 22,050 19,367 20,639
Educational services ........................ 5 - 8 7 647 - 487 851
Health care and social assistance ........... 14 24 31 27 776 2,522 2,484 1,767
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 26 36 20 38 1,897 3,543 1,238 2,445
Accommodation and food services ............. 56 107 158 88 4,124 10,865 18,717 6,064
Other services, except public administration 8 10 19 13 772 1,062 1,598 1,381
Unclassified ................................ 2 1 - - 104 57 - -
Government ...................................... 63 70 65 55 5,269 6,303 4,987 5,602
Federal ..................................... 21 19 10 13 2,311 1,928 841 1,106
State ....................................... 15 20 12 9 1,272 1,786 1,016 804
Local ....................................... 27 31 43 33 1,686 2,589 3,130 3,692
1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
3 Data beginning in 2008 are not strictly comparable to prior years due to a change in NAICS versions.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2006 to January 2008,
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
2006
January .................... 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701
February ................... 719 66,555 658 62,208
March ...................... 921 111,838 856 106,177
First Quarter .............. 2,885 296,339 2,637 277,086 963 193,510 36.5 69.8
April ...................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964
May ........................ 872 84,809 794 78,663
June ....................... 1,489 164,761 1,224 140,687
Second Quarter ............. 3,501 371,159 3,056 332,314 1,353 264,927 44.3 79.7
July ....................... 1,511 166,857 1,335 154,342
August ..................... 708 72,844 656 69,054
September .................. 865 87,699 785 81,274
Third Quarter .............. 3,084 327,400 2,776 304,670 929 161,764 33.5 53.1
October .................... 964 98,804 820 88,133
November ................... 1,315 136,186 1,172 125,009
December ................... 2,249 254,503 2,126 244,783
Fourth Quarter ............. 4,528 489,493 4,118 457,925 1,640 (r)330,901 39.8 72.3
2007
January .................... 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475
February ................... 935 86,696 861 82,097
March ...................... 1,082 123,974 1,015 118,431
First Quarter .............. 3,424 345,654 3,139 325,003 1,111 (r)199,295 35.4 (r)61.3
April ...................... 1,219 127,444 1,115 118,040
May ........................ 923 85,816 856 81,153
June ....................... 1,599 172,810 1,318 148,669
Second Quarter ............. 3,741 386,070 3,289 347,862 1,421 (r)258,812 43.2 (r)74.4
July ....................... 1,599 175,419 1,450 164,939
August ..................... 963 93,458 908 88,345
September .................. 717 67,385 667 64,026
Third Quarter .............. 3,279 336,262 3,025 317,310 (r)1,019 (r)172,508 (r)33.7 (r)54.4
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 (2)(p)1,619 (2)(p)234,612 (p)35.2 (p)47.3
2008
January .................... 1,647 154,503 1,520 144,191
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.
r = revised.
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
January November December January January November December January
2007 2007 2007 2008 2007 2007 2007 2008
United States (1) ... 1,407 1,799 2,167 1,647 134,984 198,220 224,214 154,503
Northeast ................... 299 355 392 349 25,463 34,766 36,859 32,949
New England ............. 41 38 56 30 3,349 3,754 5,777 2,056
Middle Atlantic ......... 258 317 336 319 22,114 31,012 31,082 30,893
South ....................... 283 350 388 324 29,870 42,139 47,505 32,769
South Atlantic .......... 163 180 192 157 14,996 19,924 18,797 15,997
East South Central ...... 71 91 120 129 9,489 9,831 18,538 13,585
West South Central ...... 49 79 76 38 5,385 12,384 10,170 3,187
Midwest ..................... 373 483 884 416 38,412 62,163 97,346 42,229
East North Central ...... 295 389 667 324 31,681 51,952 74,374 33,964
West North Central ...... 78 94 217 92 6,731 10,211 22,972 8,265
West ........................ 452 611 503 558 41,239 59,152 42,504 46,556
Mountain ................ 46 76 67 44 3,508 6,893 4,968 3,757
Pacific ................. 406 535 436 514 37,731 52,259 37,536 42,799
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
January November December January January November December January
2007 2007 2007 2008 2007 2007 2007 2008
Total (1) ............ 1,407 1,799 2,167 1,647 134,984 198,220 224,214 154,503
Alabama ................. 19 29 33 82 1,792 2,917 3,677 10,160
Alaska .................. (2) 8 (2) (2) (2) 780 (2) (2)
Arizona ................. 4 3 4 4 409 197 263 290
Arkansas ................ (2) 12 8 4 (2) 2,678 680 293
California .............. 366 455 370 468 33,560 44,127 30,590 38,715
Colorado ................ 11 14 12 7 818 1,244 767 654
Connecticut ............. 8 3 10 (2) 819 232 854 (2)
Delaware ................ (2) 3 4 (2) (2) 356 241 (2)
District of Columbia .... (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2)
Florida ................. 60 73 62 70 3,537 4,499 5,088 5,366
Georgia ................. 48 39 36 51 4,802 7,500 3,111 4,718
Hawaii .................. 5 5 12 3 562 390 1,161 217
Idaho ................... 10 21 12 7 646 2,101 844 496
Illinois ................ 48 67 140 68 5,524 7,704 15,012 9,106
Indiana ................. 38 52 64 34 3,388 7,638 7,654 2,955
Iowa .................... 15 23 52 26 1,772 2,503 6,337 3,163
Kansas .................. 11 (2) 27 8 689 (2) 3,441 490
Kentucky ................ 27 34 62 28 6,086 4,747 12,727 2,304
Louisiana ............... 7 6 15 7 1,891 1,672 1,274 739
Maine ................... 7 6 4 (2) 495 467 278 (2)
Maryland ................ 11 11 29 9 1,000 1,446 2,628 708
Massachusetts ........... 16 18 22 11 1,235 1,495 2,131 791
Michigan ................ 88 92 213 86 7,914 15,578 25,005 7,004
Minnesota ............... 15 41 46 19 1,474 4,315 4,386 1,751
Mississippi ............. 3 12 9 6 236 839 640 324
Missouri ................ 34 19 77 37 2,593 2,312 7,517 2,664
Montana ................. 5 8 4 6 452 760 264 579
Nebraska ................ (2) 4 9 (2) (2) 402 864 (2)
Nevada .................. 7 18 19 15 547 1,713 1,370 1,151
New Hampshire ........... (2) (2) 6 (2) (2) (2) 560 (2)
New Jersey .............. 38 50 93 35 2,737 6,234 8,389 2,613
New Mexico .............. (2) (2) 7 4 (2) (2) 702 473
New York ................ 113 82 72 152 10,678 7,658 6,700 18,636
North Carolina .......... 10 4 7 3 1,013 457 789 350
North Dakota ............ (2) 4 5 (2) (2) 444 356 (2)
Ohio .................... 61 68 149 71 8,883 7,369 14,909 9,352
Oklahoma ................ 7 6 13 4 436 1,198 1,732 317
Oregon .................. 20 37 32 28 2,006 3,866 3,763 2,769
Pennsylvania ............ 107 185 171 132 8,699 17,120 15,993 9,644
Rhode Island ............ 7 - 10 9 489 - 1,465 562
South Carolina .......... 14 28 29 12 1,466 3,038 4,236 1,991
South Dakota ............ (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) -
Tennessee ............... 22 16 16 13 1,375 1,328 1,494 797
Texas ................... 33 55 40 23 2,845 6,836 6,484 1,838
Utah .................... 7 9 8 (2) 494 658 706 (2)
Vermont ................. (2) 10 4 4 (2) 1,500 489 248
Virginia ................ 17 18 21 8 1,706 2,384 2,390 1,027
Washington .............. 14 30 21 14 1,528 3,096 1,940 1,047
West Virginia ........... - 4 (2) (2) - 244 (2) (2)
Wisconsin ............... 60 110 101 65 5,972 13,663 11,794 5,547
Wyoming ................. - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) -
Puerto Rico ............. 12 15 3 10 1,257 1,385 279 1,120
1 See footnote 1, table 3.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
United States Department of Labor
