An official website of the United States government
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, May 21, 2010 USDL-10-0688 Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov (NOTE: Monthly national Mass Layoffs data for April through September 2010 have been found to contain errors in each of the 6 seasonally adjusted series appearing in the charts, the text, and tables 1 and 3. Not seasonally adjusted data and regional office news releases are not affected. The corrected seasonally adjusted estimates for April through September are located in the Mass Layoffs database at www.bls.gov/mls/#data.) MASS LAYOFFS -- APRIL 2010 Employers took 1,856 mass layoff actions in April that resulted in the sepa- ration of 200,870 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 action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in April increased by 228 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims in- creased by 50,006. In April, 448 mass layoff events were reported in the manu- facturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 63,616 initial claims. (See table 1.) During the 29 months from December 2007 through April 2010, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 58,793, and the associated number of initial claims was 5,932,553. (December 2007 was the start of a re- cession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.) The national unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in April 2010, seasonally ad- justed, up from 9.7 percent the prior month and from 8.9 percent a year earlier. In April, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 290,000 over the month but was down by 1,381,000 from a year earlier. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,840 on a not seasonally ad- justed basis; the number of associated initial claims was 199,690. (See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events decreased by 269, and associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 24,295. Sixteen of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by manufacturing. (Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing numbers of weeks in a month. See the Technical Note.) However, the health care and social assistance industry and the real estate and rental and leasing industry reported program highs in terms of average weekly initial claims for the month of April. The manufacturing sector accounted for 23 percent of all mass layoff events and 28 percent of initial claims filed in April 2010. A year earlier, manu- facturing made up 35 percent of events and 39 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in April 2010 was greatest in transportation equipment and food. (See table 3.) All 21 manufacturing sub- sectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease in machinery manufacturing. Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in April 2010, not seasonally adjusted April peak Industry Initial Year Initial claims claims School and employee bus transportation ........ 19,007 2009 22,324 Temporary help services (1) ................... 11,691 2001 17,507 Automobile manufacturing ...................... 9,670 1996 14,744 Food service contractors ...................... 9,195 2010 9,195 Tax preparation services ...................... 6,514 2010 6,514 Motion picture and video production ........... 5,905 1997 15,908 Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ....... 4,130 2010 4,130 Professional employer organizations (1) ....... 4,006 2009 4,372 Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing . 3,593 1997 4,978 Discount department stores .................... 3,581 2009 4,462 1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries. The six-digit industry with the largest number of initial claims in April 2010 was school and employee bus transportation. (See table A.) Of the 10 detailed industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims, food service contractors and tax preparation services reached program highs for the month of April, irrespective of the number of weeks in the month. (Data begin in 1995.) Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) All four regions and all nine divisions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims due to mass layoffs in April. Among the four census regions, the Midwest and South registered the largest over-the- year declines in average weekly initial claims. Of the nine geographic divi- sions, the East North Central and the South Atlantic had the largest over- the-year declines. California recorded the highest number of initial claims in April, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. (See table 6.) Forty- one states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by Illinois, New York, California, and Ohio. However, six states reached April program highs for average weekly ini- tial claims in 2010: Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. 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 lay- offs 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 Mass Layoffs in May 2010 news release is scheduled to be released on Thursday, June 24, 2010, 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, May 2006 to April 2010, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2006 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 2010 January .................... 1,761 182,261 1,585 168,466 486 62,556 February ................... 1,570 155,718 1,406 142,240 376 43,100 March ...................... 1,628 150,864 1,432 136,446 356 39,290 April ...................... 1,856 200,870 1,686 185,150 448 63,616
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, May 2006 to April 2010, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2006 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 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
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry April February March April April February March April 2009 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 2010 Seasonally adjusted Total ..................................... 2,663 1,570 1,628 1,856 263,162 155,718 150,864 200,870 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 2,461 1,406 1,432 1,686 247,329 142,240 136,446 185,150 Manufacturing ............................... 1,033 376 356 448 125,093 43,100 39,290 63,616 Not seasonally adjusted Total (1) ................................. 2,547 1,183 1,197 1,840 256,930 102,818 111,727 199,690 Total, private .................................. 2,464 1,128 1,149 1,761 250,548 98,241 107,880 191,664 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 79 37 38 64 7,227 2,219 2,366 7,010 Total, private nonfarm ........................ 2,385 1,091 1,111 1,697 243,321 96,022 105,514 184,654 Mining ...................................... 39 5 5 7 3,267 761 374 399 Utilities ................................... (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) Construction ................................ 194 166 117 163 13,490 12,200 8,206 11,947 Manufacturing ............................... 887 282 273 424 100,872 30,728 29,745 55,178 Food .................................... 81 45 53 100 8,371 4,031 6,122 10,200 Beverage and tobacco products ........... (2) 6 4 (2) (2) 407 716 (2) Textile mills ........................... 16 5 4 7 2,409 431 350 1,296 Textile product mills ................... 9 5 3 5 765 557 172 414 Apparel ................................. 19 4 10 16 1,610 265 578 1,428 Leather and allied products ............. (2) (2) - - (2) (2) - - Wood products ........................... 39 27 16 17 3,437 1,850 1,445 1,591 Paper ................................... 26 10 5 14 2,584 721 313 1,134 Printing and related support activities . 25 12 14 9 2,275 960 1,224 860 Petroleum and coal products ............. (2) (2) 3 (2) (2) (2) 185 (2) Chemicals ............................... 21 9 13 7 1,453 872 1,064 400 Plastics and rubber products ............ 51 10 9 10 6,393 1,014 686 719 Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 34 12 11 22 3,192 794 785 1,882 Primary metals .......................... 70 9 8 18 8,636 981 773 1,473 Fabricated metal products ............... 97 12 18 21 7,698 681 1,361 1,581 Machinery ............................... 100 20 22 41 18,614 2,466 2,373 4,456 Computer and electronic products ........ 69 18 16 27 5,770 1,538 1,278 1,964 Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 43 12 6 12 5,169 1,386 1,195 1,756 Transportation equipment ................ 148 45 43 73 19,246 10,104 7,128 22,071 Furniture and related products .......... 21 16 10 12 1,783 1,346 1,625 919 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 14 (2) 5 10 1,118 (2) 372 833 Wholesale trade ............................. 55 27 29 25 4,343 1,754 2,016 2,224 Retail trade ................................ 153 128 124 156 16,211 10,802 13,337 16,188 Transportation and warehousing .............. 231 51 62 178 28,962 5,372 6,444 23,013 Information ................................. 75 40 52 50 7,934 3,753 5,715 8,383 Finance and insurance ....................... 67 32 43 64 6,220 2,671 3,636 4,579 Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 13 9 8 22 1,078 622 409 1,388 Professional and technical services ......... 97 33 45 90 10,085 2,292 4,610 11,110 Management of companies and enterprises ..... 10 6 (2) (2) 854 1,990 (2) (2) Administrative and waste services ........... 300 191 163 241 25,498 13,594 13,281 21,073 Educational services ........................ (2) 4 10 7 (2) 242 824 958 Health care and social assistance ........... 49 31 33 58 3,343 2,118 2,066 4,991 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 47 16 20 57 4,074 1,419 1,558 4,838 Accommodation and food services ............. 134 61 112 131 13,168 5,044 12,269 16,214 Other services, except public administration 23 8 10 16 2,168 552 670 1,434 Unclassified ................................ 1 1 - - 86 108 - - Government ...................................... 83 55 48 79 6,382 4,577 3,847 8,026 Federal ..................................... 6 8 8 16 461 631 636 1,393 State ....................................... 20 12 15 18 1,631 947 1,324 2,188 Local ....................................... 57 35 25 45 4,290 2,999 1,887 4,445 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, April 2008 to April 2010, 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 2008 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 3,582 766,780 47.5 99.3 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 (r)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 (r)731,035 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 (r)2,034 (r)406,715 (r)38.7 (r)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 (r)2,419 (r)466,539 (r)43.8 (r)88.5 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 (2)(p)1,564 (2)(p)214,204 (p)32.0 (p)45.9 April ...................... 1,840 199,690 1,697 184,654 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 claim- ants 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 April February March April April February March April 2009 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 2010 United States (1) ... 2,547 1,183 1,197 1,840 256,930 102,818 111,727 199,690 Northeast ................... 504 215 195 397 56,253 21,705 19,419 48,396 New England ............. 88 39 26 81 9,192 4,682 2,168 9,523 Middle Atlantic ......... 416 176 169 316 47,061 17,023 17,251 38,873 South ....................... 655 319 262 412 62,714 29,681 26,591 43,503 South Atlantic .......... 368 178 136 214 33,338 13,052 10,762 20,768 East South Central ...... 160 69 54 80 16,166 9,917 5,470 11,005 West South Central ...... 127 72 72 118 13,210 6,712 10,359 11,730 Midwest ..................... 608 221 252 364 72,383 21,128 27,591 44,740 East North Central ...... 482 169 184 290 60,241 16,776 21,613 37,448 West North Central ...... 126 52 68 74 12,142 4,352 5,978 7,292 West ........................ 780 428 488 667 65,580 30,304 38,126 63,051 Mountain ................ 125 58 77 101 11,993 4,276 6,324 11,433 Pacific ................. 655 370 411 566 53,587 26,028 31,802 51,618 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 April February March April April February March April 2009 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 2010 2010 Total (1) ............ 2,547 1,183 1,197 1,840 256,930 102,818 111,727 199,690 Alabama ................. 27 17 18 17 2,745 1,758 1,517 2,148 Alaska .................. 5 3 (2) 11 828 267 (2) 1,252 Arizona ................. 41 8 17 33 4,985 700 1,417 4,943 Arkansas ................ 12 (2) 3 8 1,057 (2) 214 1,039 California .............. 567 335 373 477 43,675 23,191 28,180 42,426 Colorado ................ 19 10 7 20 1,696 706 626 2,269 Connecticut ............. 11 10 9 9 884 847 746 891 Delaware ................ 11 5 - 8 988 378 - 611 District of Columbia .... (2) (2) - - (2) (2) - - Florida ................. 152 87 68 118 11,010 5,523 4,311 9,139 Georgia ................. 50 34 13 31 6,006 2,708 1,202 3,375 Hawaii .................. 10 (2) 7 7 934 (2) 534 672 Idaho ................... 10 11 9 8 754 709 661 533 Illinois ................ 105 40 60 60 17,550 4,311 7,479 7,059 Indiana ................. 80 22 22 32 9,659 1,907 3,057 4,786 Iowa .................... 30 13 13 20 2,636 1,122 2,135 2,876 Kansas .................. 7 - 4 5 737 - 313 296 Kentucky ................ 83 32 25 40 9,194 6,844 3,276 6,573 Louisiana ............... 27 12 16 32 2,670 1,442 1,615 2,967 Maine ................... 6 (2) 3 8 493 (2) 233 754 Maryland ................ 12 7 6 6 1,115 724 557 496 Massachusetts ........... 38 8 7 20 3,770 646 725 2,202 Michigan ................ 74 32 29 44 7,139 3,694 4,729 7,624 Minnesota ............... 35 13 13 8 3,103 1,456 921 576 Mississippi ............. 15 5 5 5 1,350 282 241 461 Missouri ................ 46 24 31 28 4,719 1,667 2,112 2,393 Montana ................. 4 4 (2) 7 335 258 (2) 528 Nebraska ................ 4 (2) 6 10 390 (2) 409 948 Nevada .................. 26 16 26 15 2,123 1,331 2,131 1,432 New Hampshire ........... 10 7 5 14 848 1,095 297 1,663 New Jersey .............. 66 16 28 69 7,334 1,408 3,024 9,700 New Mexico .............. 14 6 9 8 909 391 847 594 New York ................ 182 52 60 114 24,349 6,833 6,046 15,919 North Carolina .......... 28 5 16 13 2,582 451 1,610 1,438 North Dakota ............ (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2) Ohio .................... 115 35 34 61 14,791 3,790 2,927 8,014 Oklahoma ................ 14 3 4 5 2,464 306 1,287 608 Oregon .................. 43 19 18 42 5,554 1,571 2,080 4,603 Pennsylvania ............ 168 108 81 133 15,378 8,782 8,181 13,254 Rhode Island ............ 8 7 (2) 16 1,649 1,545 (2) 2,525 South Carolina .......... 60 11 14 19 6,482 886 1,513 3,832 South Dakota ............ (2) - (2) - (2) - (2) - Tennessee ............... 35 15 6 18 2,877 1,033 436 1,823 Texas ................... 74 56 49 73 7,019 4,894 7,243 7,116 Utah .................... 10 (2) 5 8 1,055 (2) 393 889 Vermont ................. 15 6 (2) 14 1,548 483 (2) 1,488 Virginia ................ 42 22 18 15 4,052 1,704 1,416 1,489 Washington .............. 30 11 12 29 2,596 769 949 2,665 West Virginia ........... 12 5 (2) 4 1,028 509 (2) 388 Wisconsin ............... 108 40 39 93 11,102 3,074 3,421 9,965 Wyoming ................. (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) Puerto Rico ............. 13 21 21 19 1,321 2,459 1,702 2,252 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.