For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 22, 2011 USDL-11-0555
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
MASS LAYOFFS -- MARCH 2011
Employers took 1,286 mass layoff actions in March involving 118,523 workers,
seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance
benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. The number
of mass layoff events in March decreased by 135 from February, and the number of
associated initial claims decreased by 12,295. These were their lowest levels since
September 2007 and May 2007, respectively. In March 253 mass layoff events were
reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 27,619 initial
claims. Manufacturing events decreased by 38 from the prior month to the lowest level
on record, while associated initial claims increased by 1,559 from a program low in
February (data begin in April 1995). (See table 1.)
The national unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in March, essentially unchanged
from the prior month and down from 9.7 percent a year earlier. In March total
nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 over the month and by 1,300,000
from a year earlier.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in March was 908, not seasonally adjusted,
resulting in 85,095 initial claims. (See table 2.) The number of mass layoff
events was down by 289 from March 2010, and associated initial claims decreased
by 26,632. Fifteen of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy
reported over-the-year declines in initial claims, with manufacturing and retail
trade having the largest decreases. The six-digit industry with the largest number
of initial claims in March 2011 was food service contractors. (See table A. The
table includes both publicly and privately owned entities.)
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in
March 2011, not seasonally adjusted
March peak
Industry Initial Initial
claims Year claims
Food service contractors ...................... 7,089 2007 7,636
Temporary help services (1) .................... 6,424 2002 14,338
School and employee bus transportation ........ 3,459 2008 8,073
Household refrigerator and home freezer mfg. .. 2,718 2011 2,718
Discount department stores .................... 1,930 2007 3,670
Warehouse clubs and supercenters .............. 1,575 2010 1,897
Motion picture and video production ........... 1,488 2005 7,192
Process and logistics consulting services ..... (2) 2009 1,846
Highway, street, and bridge construction ...... 1,283 2001 2,640
Professional employer organizations (1) ....... 1,160 2009 4,892
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 21 percent of all mass layoff events and
25 percent of initial claims filed in March. A year earlier, manufacturing made up
23 percent of events and 27 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the
number of claimants in March 2011 was greatest in the food subsector. (See table 3.)
Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in
initial claims, with the largest declines in transportation equipment and food.
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
All 4 regions and 8 of the 9 divisions experienced over-the-year decreases in
initial claims due to mass layoffs in March. Among the census regions, the
West registered the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims. Of the
geographic divisions, the East North Central and the Pacific had the largest
over-the-year declines in initial claims. (See table 5.)
California recorded the highest number of initial claims in March, followed by
Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York. Thirty states experienced over-the-year
decreases in initial claims, led by California, Illinois, and Michigan. (See
table 6.)
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. 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 news release for the First Quarter 2011 is scheduled
to be released on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The Mass Layoffs
news release for April is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 20, 2011, at
10:00 a.m. (EDT).
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, April 2007 to
March 2011, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
April ...................... 1,238 126,334 1,102 115,271 358 42,989
May ........................ 1,159 113,578 1,064 106,573 347 44,637
June ....................... 1,207 127,776 1,097 119,007 342 37,552
July ....................... 1,295 136,168 1,193 128,208 401 55,906
August ..................... 1,217 122,450 1,126 115,305 312 34,877
September .................. 1,233 121,998 1,140 115,675 430 51,731
October .................... 1,330 133,063 1,210 124,455 439 56,970
November ................... 1,397 145,339 1,269 135,651 408 56,985
December ................... 1,553 154,275 1,435 144,785 463 59,445
2008
January .................... 1,437 146,900 1,302 135,622 431 55,562
February ................... 1,604 175,128 1,441 163,475 471 59,118
March ...................... 1,500 150,502 1,388 140,424 435 56,156
April ...................... 1,292 128,901 1,162 118,016 449 58,402
May ........................ 1,582 161,944 1,444 152,230 468 62,452
June ....................... 1,631 164,508 1,488 153,014 491 68,198
July ....................... 1,581 164,497 1,443 153,720 463 62,425
August ..................... 1,791 181,107 1,653 171,705 583 77,874
September .................. 2,192 233,034 2,024 219,532 635 82,471
October .................... 2,221 229,254 2,062 215,787 697 92,408
November ................... 2,415 228,107 2,256 214,631 900 102,284
December ................... 2,443 245,661 2,264 231,138 927 114,280
2009
January .................... 2,272 238,717 2,103 224,850 756 100,927
February ................... 2,801 315,507 2,636 300,042 1,194 138,583
March ...................... 2,950 295,543 2,758 279,027 1,205 144,713
April ...................... 2,579 251,032 2,368 234,796 997 121,435
May ........................ 2,758 288,319 2,557 271,425 1,187 147,548
June ....................... 2,506 250,275 2,293 232,814 1,048 135,389
July ....................... 2,192 223,697 1,977 203,365 620 72,932
August ..................... 2,419 220,262 2,177 201,951 778 83,837
September .................. 2,305 219,924 2,095 204,596 799 91,665
October .................... 1,975 195,347 1,780 177,977 570 63,646
November ................... 1,754 154,223 1,585 141,439 464 51,891
December ................... 1,725 156,274 1,545 141,649 420 43,584
2010
January .................... 1,716 171,633 1,541 157,597 494 60,059
February ................... 1,492 149,369 1,318 135,490 351 40,564
March ...................... 1,635 146,901 1,436 131,953 347 37,273
April ...................... 1,675 159,358 1,498 143,814 371 48,646
May ........................ 1,665 155,352 1,405 133,913 314 30,967
June ....................... 1,729 153,937 1,504 134,837 326 32,646
July ....................... 1,528 138,581 1,316 121,378 296 30,752
August ..................... 1,658 163,325 1,453 141,489 409 47,668
September .................. 1,541 137,941 1,331 119,654 336 34,641
October .................... 1,649 147,204 1,445 130,264 353 37,394
November ................... 1,579 148,800 1,397 133,845 350 39,072
December ................... 1,483 137,992 1,272 122,688 319 35,977
2011
January .................... 1,534 149,799 1,344 132,730 341 39,189
February ................... 1,421 130,818 1,220 116,190 291 26,060
March ...................... 1,286 118,523 1,128 105,636 253 27,619
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, April 2007 to
March 2011, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
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
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
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Industry
March January February March March January February March
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Seasonally adjusted
Total ..................................... 1,635 1,534 1,421 1,286 146,901 149,799 130,818 118,523
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,436 1,344 1,220 1,128 131,953 132,730 116,190 105,636
Manufacturing ............................... 347 341 291 253 37,273 39,189 26,060 27,619
Not seasonally adjusted
Total (1) ................................. 1,197 2,558 1,024 908 111,727 246,463 85,585 85,095
Total, private .................................. 1,149 2,438 976 874 107,880 234,708 82,230 82,046
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 38 66 57 30 2,366 4,943 3,512 2,032
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,111 2,372 919 844 105,514 229,765 78,718 80,014
Mining ...................................... 5 15 4 3 374 1,188 322 247
Utilities ................................... (2) 5 (2) 4 (2) 390 (2) 547
Construction ................................ 117 325 104 99 8,206 23,906 7,003 7,569
Manufacturing ............................... 273 693 222 191 29,745 75,006 18,471 20,869
Food .................................... 53 94 58 45 6,122 9,313 5,115 4,338
Beverage and tobacco products ........... 4 5 5 4 716 752 287 242
Textile mills ........................... 4 31 5 3 350 4,455 468 328
Textile product mills ................... 3 9 4 3 172 793 270 481
Apparel ................................. 10 20 5 4 578 1,776 693 374
Leather and allied products ............. - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) -
Wood products ........................... 16 43 22 24 1,445 4,930 1,872 2,354
Paper ................................... 5 14 12 7 313 1,049 750 622
Printing and related support activities . 14 12 6 5 1,224 983 679 359
Petroleum and coal products ............. 3 (2) (2) (2) 185 (2) (2) (2)
Chemicals ............................... 13 18 7 (2) 1,064 1,612 759 (2)
Plastics and rubber products ............ 9 51 5 4 686 4,569 262 321
Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 11 56 16 5 785 4,239 1,141 404
Primary metals .......................... 8 23 8 8 773 3,046 794 536
Fabricated metal products ............... 18 51 8 12 1,361 4,174 446 916
Machinery ............................... 22 46 11 11 2,373 5,446 897 1,077
Computer and electronic products ........ 16 14 13 10 1,278 1,020 847 808
Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 6 15 4 8 1,195 1,572 1,078 2,886
Transportation equipment ................ 43 128 19 19 7,128 19,478 1,275 2,887
Furniture and related products .......... 10 44 9 10 1,625 4,263 533 1,099
Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 5 14 (2) 5 372 1,073 (2) 530
Wholesale trade ............................. 29 32 24 18 2,016 2,839 2,187 1,393
Retail trade ................................ 124 241 114 89 13,337 27,038 9,346 9,012
Transportation and warehousing .............. 62 212 49 44 6,444 22,440 5,630 5,133
Information ................................. 52 53 58 36 5,715 7,915 8,959 3,788
Finance and insurance ....................... 43 31 22 19 3,636 2,758 1,407 1,354
Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 8 17 7 6 409 1,150 369 452
Professional and technical services ......... 45 52 43 35 4,610 4,019 3,729 3,771
Management of companies and enterprises ..... (2) 6 (2) 3 (2) 439 (2) 194
Administrative and waste services ........... 163 381 166 151 13,281 34,996 13,894 11,303
Educational services ........................ 10 19 8 4 824 2,672 474 265
Health care and social assistance ........... 33 56 28 33 2,066 3,880 1,685 2,038
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 20 55 11 13 1,558 5,494 629 893
Accommodation and food services ............. 112 158 50 88 12,269 12,107 4,088 10,491
Other services, except public administration 10 21 4 8 670 1,528 161 695
Unclassified ................................ - - - - - - - -
Government ...................................... 48 120 48 34 3,847 11,755 3,355 3,049
Federal ..................................... 8 23 5 5 636 2,922 384 532
State ....................................... 15 32 17 10 1,324 3,272 1,029 1,389
Local ....................................... 25 65 26 19 1,887 5,561 1,942 1,128
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, January 2009 to March 2011, 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
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 3,979 835,551 50.3 103.5
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 3,395 731,049 48.4 99.7
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 2,034 406,823 38.7 76.9
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 2,416 468,577 43.7 88.9
2010
January .................... 2,860 278,679 2,682 265,074
February ................... 1,183 102,818 1,091 96,022
March ...................... 1,197 111,727 1,111 105,514
First Quarter .............. 5,240 493,224 4,884 466,610 1,870 368,459 38.3 79.0
April ...................... 1,840 199,690 1,697 184,654
May ........................ 1,354 123,333 1,170 109,203
June ....................... 1,861 171,190 1,355 125,872
Second Quarter ............. 5,055 494,213 4,222 419,729 2,008 395,224 47.6 94.2
July ....................... 2,124 206,254 1,732 172,248
August ..................... 976 92,435 897 83,021
September .................. 920 77,654 806 67,987
Third Quarter .............. 4,020 376,343 3,435 323,256 1,370 256,636 39.9 79.4
October .................... 1,642 148,638 1,373 127,865
November ................... 1,676 158,048 1,477 142,591
December ................... 1,931 184,130 1,763 172,881
Fourth Quarter ............. 5,249 490,816 4,613 443,337 (2)(p)1,910 (2)(p)268,431 (p)41.4 (p)60.5
2011
January .................... 2,558 246,463 2,372 229,765
February ................... 1,024 85,585 919 78,718
March ...................... 908 85,095 844 80,014
First Quarter............... 4,490 417,143 4,135 388,497
1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial
claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with layoffs lasting
more than 30 days.
2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available. Experience
suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and the number of
initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent.
p = preliminary.
Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, not
seasonally adjusted
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Census region and division
March January February March March January February March
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
United States (1) ... 1,197 2,558 1,024 908 111,727 246,463 85,585 85,095
Northeast ................... 195 591 173 169 19,419 58,802 16,047 15,540
New England ............. 26 81 32 22 2,168 7,047 4,259 1,883
Middle Atlantic ......... 169 510 141 147 17,251 51,755 11,788 13,657
South ....................... 262 687 260 250 26,591 66,552 19,998 26,112
South Atlantic .......... 136 431 166 116 10,762 40,880 11,371 9,765
East South Central ...... 54 156 44 61 5,470 16,508 4,343 6,539
West South Central ...... 72 100 50 73 10,359 9,164 4,284 9,808
Midwest ..................... 252 613 180 172 27,591 63,468 15,075 17,168
East North Central ...... 184 464 130 124 21,613 45,790 11,550 11,640
West North Central ...... 68 149 50 48 5,978 17,678 3,525 5,528
West ........................ 488 667 411 317 38,126 57,641 34,465 26,275
Mountain ................ 77 66 35 46 6,324 6,046 2,440 4,292
Pacific ................. 411 601 376 271 31,802 51,595 32,025 21,983
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
March January February March March January February March
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Total (1) ............ 1,197 2,558 1,024 908 111,727 246,463 85,585 85,095
Alabama ................. 18 70 12 18 1,517 7,730 1,583 2,072
Alaska .................. (2) 4 (2) (2) (2) 392 (2) (2)
Arizona ................. 17 13 12 11 1,417 1,075 838 1,045
Arkansas ................ 3 6 3 3 214 768 283 232
California .............. 373 530 349 230 28,180 44,274 29,769 17,478
Colorado ................ 7 11 4 5 626 1,126 383 557
Connecticut ............. 9 11 4 5 746 1,048 331 410
Delaware ................ - 5 3 - - 411 239 -
District of Columbia .... - 4 (2) - - 452 (2) -
Florida ................. 68 128 85 56 4,311 9,464 5,071 4,060
Georgia ................. 13 84 28 16 1,202 8,952 2,221 1,593
Hawaii .................. 7 6 3 5 534 388 232 659
Idaho ................... 9 8 4 10 661 698 225 886
Illinois ................ 60 86 35 37 7,479 7,516 3,508 3,495
Indiana ................. 22 43 15 12 3,057 6,487 1,471 1,336
Iowa .................... 13 39 9 10 2,135 4,007 870 2,060
Kansas .................. 4 23 5 5 313 5,440 308 727
Kentucky ................ 25 47 13 20 3,276 5,472 1,682 2,387
Louisiana ............... 16 29 6 11 1,615 2,309 518 1,239
Maine ................... 3 11 (2) 5 233 900 (2) 575
Maryland ................ 6 25 4 4 557 1,888 306 431
Massachusetts ........... 7 34 6 7 725 3,225 534 624
Michigan ................ 29 127 17 21 4,729 10,398 1,091 2,359
Minnesota ............... 13 19 10 9 921 1,988 675 707
Mississippi ............. 5 13 8 14 241 1,163 446 1,413
Missouri ................ 31 55 17 21 2,112 4,713 1,038 1,755
Montana ................. (2) 6 (2) (2) (2) 560 (2) (2)
Nebraska ................ 6 9 9 3 409 1,086 634 279
Nevada .................. 26 12 5 7 2,131 1,299 394 524
New Hampshire ........... 5 9 4 (2) 297 722 537 (2)
New Jersey .............. 28 109 19 19 3,024 9,853 2,243 1,494
New Mexico .............. 9 7 3 7 847 467 164 640
New York ................ 60 207 45 49 6,046 24,950 4,161 5,159
North Carolina (3) ...... 16 100 27 18 1,610 9,865 1,984 1,917
North Dakota ............ - 3 - - - 390 - -
Ohio .................... 34 93 30 22 2,927 9,241 2,473 1,891
Oklahoma ................ 4 11 9 5 1,287 1,048 1,015 367
Oregon .................. 18 36 9 20 2,080 4,390 896 2,337
Pennsylvania ............ 81 194 77 79 8,181 16,952 5,384 7,004
Rhode Island ............ (2) 8 10 (2) (2) 555 2,125 (2)
South Carolina .......... 14 41 5 7 1,513 5,124 340 489
South Dakota ............ (2) (2) - - (2) (2) - -
Tennessee ............... 6 26 11 9 436 2,143 632 667
Texas ................... 49 54 32 54 7,243 5,039 2,468 7,970
Utah .................... 5 7 6 3 393 720 370 423
Vermont ................. (2) 8 6 (2) (2) 597 558 (2)
Virginia ................ 18 42 10 13 1,416 4,497 899 1,102
Washington .............. 12 25 13 14 949 2,151 955 1,099
West Virginia ........... (2) (2) 3 (2) (2) (2) 216 (2)
Wisconsin ............... 39 115 33 32 3,421 12,148 3,007 2,559
Wyoming ................. (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2)
Puerto Rico............. 21 25 16 11 1,702 2,854 1,808 1,114
1 See footnote 1, table 3.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
3 Data starting in November 2010 may not be comparable to prior data due to a change in MLS uenmployment insurance
input procedures
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
United States Department of Labor
