For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, May 22, 2012 USDL-12-1018
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
MASS LAYOFFS -- APRIL 2012
Employers took 1,388 mass layoff actions in April involving 135,600 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. Mass
layoff events in April increased by 115 from March, and the number of associated
initial claims increased by 14,290. In April, 287 mass layoff events were
reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 33,243
initial claims. (See table 1.)
The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in April, little changed from
the prior month but down from 9.0 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll
employment increased by 115,000 over the month and by 1,816,000 over the year.
Table A. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in April 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted
Industry April peak
Initial Claims Year Initial claims
School and employee bus transportation .... 20,482 2011 23,573
Temporary help services (1) ............... 10,285 2001 17,507
Food service contractors .................. 8,561 2011 10,948
Tax preparation services .................. 4,528 2010 6,514
Motor vehicle metal stamping .............. (2) 2012 (2)
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ... 2,388 2010 4,130
Educational support services .............. 2,381 2012 2,381
Discount department stores ................ 2,301 2009 4,462
Motion picture and video production ....... 2,201 1997 15,908
Tire manufacturing, except retreading ..... (2) 2009 2,376
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
Industry Distributions (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,421, not seasonally adjusted,
resulting in 146,358 initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 2.)
Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events increased by 5
to 355, while associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 1,394 to
36,590. Ten of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported
over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest
decrease occurring in manufacturing. (See table 3.) In April, the six-digit
industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims was school
and employee bus transportation. (See table A.)
In April, the manufacturing sector accounted for 19 percent of mass layoff
events and 23 percent of associated initial claims in the private economy.
Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff claimants were highest in
food and in transportation equipment. Thirteen of the 21 manufacturing
subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial
claims, with the largest decrease occurring in transportation equipment.
(See table 3.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the census regions, the Northeast registered the largest number of
initial claims in April. Two of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year
decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease
occurring in the Midwest. (See table 4.)
Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff
initial claims in April, followed by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Illinois. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia experienced over-
the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by Ohio, Kentucky,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. (See table 4.)
Note
The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more
workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs.
For private nonfarm establishments, information on the length of the layoff
is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass
layoffs lasting more than 30 days (referred to as "extended mass layoffs").
The quarterly release provides more information on the industry classification
and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off
workers. The monthly data series in this release are subjected to average
weekly analysis, which mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months.
See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions and for a description of
average weekly analysis.
____________
The Mass Layoffs news release for May is scheduled to be released on Wednesday,
June 20, 2012, 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, data users who intend to perform analysis of over-the-year
change in the not seasonally adjusted series should use the average weekly
mass layoff figures displayed in tables 3 and 4 of this release. The average
weekly adjustment process produces a consistent series for each month across
all years, permitting over-the-year analysis to be performed using strictly
comparable data.
The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 after it had been
terminated in November 1992 due to lack of funding. Prior to April 1995,
monthly layoff statistics were not available.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay
Service: (800) 877-8339.
Definitions
Average weekly mass layoff events and initial claimants. The number of
events and initial claimants in a given month divided by the number of weeks
contained within that month.
Employer. Employers in the MLS program include those covered by state
unemployment insurance laws. Information on employers is obtained from the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which is administered
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 version of the
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For temporary help
and professional employers organization industries, monthly MLS-related
statistics generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client companies
in other industries. An individual layoff action at a client company can
be small, but when initial claimants associated with many such layoffs are
assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a
mass layoff event may trigger.
Initial claimant. A person who files any notice of unemployment to
initiate a request either for a determination of entitlement to and
eligibility for compensation, or for a subsequent period of unemployment
within a benefit year or period of eligibility.
Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for unemployment insurance
benefits filed against an employer during a 5-week period, regardless of
duration.
Seasonal adjustment
Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS began publishing
six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS series. The six series are the numbers of
mass layoff events and mass layoff initial claims for the total, private nonfarm,
and manufacturing sectors.
Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect
on time series data of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes
in the weather, holidays, and the beginning and ending of the school year.
The use of seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental changes
in time series, particularly those associated with general economic expansions
and contractions.
The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjustment
method on a concurrent basis. Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available
monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in developing seasonal
adjustment factors. Revisions to the most recent 5 years of seasonally adjusted
data will be made once a year with the issuance of December data. Before the data
are seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments are made to the original data to adjust
them for differences in the number of weeks used to calculate the monthly data.
Because weekly unemployment insurance claims are aggregated to form monthly data,
a particular month's value could be calculated with 5 weeks of data in 1 year and
4 weeks in another. The effects of these differences could seriously distort the
seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal adjustment process. These
effects are modeled in the X-12-ARIMA program and are permanently removed from
the final seasonally adjusted series.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, May 2008 to
April 2012, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2008
May ........................ 1,567 160,475 1,432 150,893 470 62,776
June ....................... 1,612 163,425 1,471 152,133 491 68,862
July ....................... 1,589 163,572 1,452 153,060 465 62,210
August ..................... 1,763 181,853 1,632 172,147 578 77,464
September .................. 2,159 229,180 1,990 215,749 629 82,011
October .................... 2,201 226,853 2,043 213,454 698 93,252
November ................... 2,406 239,239 2,247 225,404 907 103,836
December ................... 2,437 244,889 2,261 230,621 935 116,181
2009
January .................... 2,254 235,371 2,083 221,653 726 92,293
February ................... 3,059 326,392 2,901 310,378 1,251 145,839
March ...................... 2,999 299,322 2,800 282,414 1,230 154,168
April ...................... 2,566 249,129 2,349 232,632 1,007 116,051
May ........................ 2,710 284,468 2,516 267,869 1,181 147,184
June ....................... 2,466 247,597 2,257 230,502 1,048 137,649
July ....................... 2,186 222,941 1,979 203,911 636 75,728
August ..................... 2,340 216,047 2,115 197,172 751 77,894
September .................. 2,261 214,018 2,048 198,761 786 91,125
October .................... 1,969 195,752 1,772 178,172 571 65,217
November ................... 1,757 164,454 1,588 151,172 472 52,855
December ................... 1,719 155,056 1,543 140,835 424 44,096
2010
January .................... 1,707 168,044 1,529 154,187 471 53,817
February ................... 1,631 156,292 1,465 141,831 374 43,620
March ...................... 1,676 149,816 1,469 134,518 356 40,705
April ...................... 1,637 154,558 1,452 138,503 368 44,506
May ........................ 1,608 150,996 1,357 130,273 302 29,932
June ....................... 1,695 151,435 1,475 132,742 325 33,298
July ....................... 1,519 138,091 1,316 122,162 304 32,253
August ..................... 1,588 159,329 1,399 136,697 390 43,154
September .................. 1,510 133,576 1,295 115,349 328 34,333
October .................... 1,654 149,589 1,446 132,146 354 38,937
November ................... 1,592 161,145 1,410 145,494 360 39,977
December ................... 1,477 135,849 1,271 121,171 322 36,267
2011
January .................... 1,536 148,952 1,348 131,869 337 37,477
February ................... 1,434 131,569 1,242 116,745 297 26,696
March ...................... 1,275 115,391 1,118 102,722 251 28,988
April ...................... 1,548 145,836 1,383 131,317 341 37,053
May ........................ 1,600 144,412 1,404 127,793 374 39,180
June ....................... 1,513 143,384 1,334 128,410 344 36,265
July ....................... 1,562 145,078 1,348 125,285 346 36,312
August ..................... 1,551 164,275 1,347 149,874 382 49,194
September .................. 1,447 147,353 1,306 134,038 364 38,026
October .................... 1,335 118,924 1,205 107,330 341 33,926
November ................... 1,332 131,627 1,192 120,760 324 36,563
December ................... 1,384 145,648 1,238 130,583 351 39,081
2012
January .................... 1,434 129,920 1,298 119,102 341 33,597
February ................... 1,293 119,463 1,153 108,577 282 27,388
March ...................... 1,273 121,310 1,125 109,421 261 26,348
April ...................... 1,388 135,600 1,222 120,213 287 33,243
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, May 2008 to
April 2012, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2008
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
April ...................... 1,750 189,919 1,625 176,478 397 47,104
May ........................ 1,367 119,911 1,221 108,531 270 25,199
June ....................... 1,661 159,930 1,238 122,821 226 22,986
July ....................... 2,176 216,774 1,759 174,078 602 71,814
August ..................... 961 99,213 875 93,159 228 26,916
September .................. 1,189 117,232 1,095 107,300 296 32,058
October .................... 1,101 96,914 950 83,748 265 28,447
November ................... 1,393 127,750 1,245 117,474 349 37,799
December ................... 2,433 263,665 2,258 247,916 658 75,033
2012
January .................... 1,705 141,703 1,587 132,754 415 38,021
February ................... 895 73,974 820 69,076 196 16,555
March ...................... 1,125 117,817 1,040 110,954 242 24,241
April ...................... 1,421 146,358 1,293 132,697 256 32,518
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted
Industry Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs (1)
Events Initial claimants Events Initial claimants
April April April April April April April April
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Total (2) .................................. 1,750 1,421 189,919 146,358 350 355 37,984 36,590
Total, private ................................... 1,685 1,378 183,436 140,376 337 345 36,687 35,094
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ... 60 85 6,958 7,679 12 21 1,392 1,920
Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,625 1,293 176,478 132,697 325 323 35,296 33,174
Mining ....................................... 4 7 270 774 1 2 54 194
Utilities .................................... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Construction ................................. 161 138 12,121 9,720 32 35 2,424 2,430
Construction of buildings ................ 25 28 1,917 1,845 5 7 383 461
Heavy and civil engineering construction . 52 45 4,469 3,066 10 11 894 767
Specialty trade contractors .............. 84 65 5,735 4,809 17 16 1,147 1,202
Manufacturing ................................ 397 256 47,104 32,518 79 64 9,421 8,130
Food ..................................... 84 86 9,064 8,735 17 22 1,813 2,184
Beverage and tobacco products ............ 6 5 438 293 1 1 88 73
Textile mills ............................ 5 24 792 3,246 1 6 158 812
Textile product mills .................... 6 3 536 260 1 1 107 65
Apparel .................................. 10 12 964 1,329 2 3 193 332
Leather and allied products .............. - (3) - (3) - (3) - (3)
Wood products ............................ 19 10 1,681 780 4 3 336 195
Paper .................................... 6 3 590 335 1 1 118 84
Printing and related support activities .. 8 7 858 436 2 2 172 109
Petroleum and coal products .............. - - - - - - - -
Chemicals ................................ 5 3 453 343 1 1 91 86
Plastics and rubber products ............. 21 9 2,113 2,645 4 2 423 661
Nonmetallic mineral products ............. 9 7 926 546 2 2 185 137
Primary metals ........................... 12 8 944 839 2 2 189 210
Fabricated metal products ................ 21 7 1,758 788 4 2 352 197
Machinery ................................ 16 17 2,552 1,649 3 4 510 412
Computer and electronic products ......... 18 14 1,675 1,366 4 4 335 342
Electrical equipment and appliances ...... 16 5 1,736 722 3 1 347 181
Transportation equipment ................. 117 26 18,328 7,093 23 7 3,666 1,773
Furniture and related products ........... 9 6 831 634 2 2 166 159
Miscellaneous manufacturing .............. 9 (3) 865 (3) 2 (3) 173 (3)
Wholesale trade .............................. 27 29 2,005 2,498 5 7 401 625
Retail trade (4) ............................. 147 105 16,501 9,491 29 26 3,300 2,373
Building material and garden supply stores 7 9 597 640 1 2 119 160
Food and beverage stores ................. 33 14 3,273 1,259 7 4 655 315
Clothing and clothing accessories stores . 9 9 531 625 2 2 106 156
General merchandise stores ............... 57 45 8,317 5,018 11 11 1,663 1,255
Transportation and warehousing (4) ........... 194 171 26,537 23,008 39 43 5,307 5,752
Truck transportation ..................... 11 4 697 243 2 1 139 61
Transit and ground passenger
transportation ......................... 165 151 24,454 21,409 33 38 4,891 5,352
Support activities for transportation .... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Information .................................. 42 35 5,689 4,024 8 9 1,138 1,006
Finance and insurance ........................ 42 33 3,482 2,095 8 8 696 524
Real estate and rental and leasing ........... 15 8 1,389 601 3 2 278 150
Professional and technical services .......... 80 55 8,572 6,288 16 14 1,714 1,572
Management of companies and enterprises ...... 7 (3) 550 (3) 1 (3) 110 (3)
Administrative and waste services ............ 262 220 23,380 17,166 52 55 4,676 4,292
Educational services ......................... 17 18 2,522 2,778 3 5 504 695
Health care and social assistance ............ 46 41 3,397 3,133 9 10 679 783
Arts, entertainment, and recreation .......... 45 40 4,650 3,344 9 10 930 836
Accommodation and food services .............. 127 110 17,269 13,707 25 28 3,454 3,427
Accommodation ............................ 49 39 4,302 3,332 10 10 860 833
Food services and drinking places ........ 78 71 12,967 10,375 16 18 2,593 2,594
Other services, except public administration . 9 9 845 521 2 2 169 130
Unclassified ................................. (3) 10 (3) 452 (3) 3 (3) 113
Government ....................................... 65 43 6,483 5,982 13 11 1,297 1,496
Federal ...................................... 6 5 582 395 1 1 116 99
State ........................................ 18 13 1,714 3,164 4 3 343 791
State government education .............. 6 5 464 406 1 1 93 102
Local ........................................ 41 25 4,187 2,423 8 6 837 606
Local government education .............. 14 7 1,455 1,032 3 2 291 258
1 Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. There were 5 weeks in April 2011 and 4 weeks in April
2012. Average weekly events and initial claimants may not sum to subtotals and totals due to rounding.
2 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
4 Includes other industries not shown.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
Table 4. Region and state distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,
not seasonally adjusted
Census region and state Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs (1)
Events Initial Claimants Events Initial Claimants
April April April April April April April April
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
Total (2) ............... 1,750 1,421 189,919 146,358 350 355 37,984 36,590
Northeast .................. 402 363 54,129 48,882 80 91 10,826 12,221
Connecticut ............ 10 6 1,056 530 2 2 211 133
Maine .................. 7 7 818 696 1 2 164 174
Massachusetts .......... 17 17 2,040 3,291 3 4 408 823
New Hampshire .......... 7 6 1,107 928 1 2 221 232
New Jersey ............. 70 65 11,776 10,222 14 16 2,355 2,556
New York ............... 153 152 22,636 22,367 31 38 4,527 5,592
Pennsylvania ........... 112 91 10,791 7,943 22 23 2,158 1,986
Rhode Island ........... 9 9 2,105 2,081 2 2 421 520
Vermont ................ 17 10 1,800 824 3 3 360 206
South ...................... 431 318 42,685 30,733 86 80 8,537 7,683
Alabama ................ 28 17 3,080 2,706 6 4 616 677
Arkansas ............... (3) 6 (3) 851 (3) 2 (3) 213
Delaware ............... 8 7 551 542 2 2 110 136
District of Columbia ... (3) - (3) - (3) - (3) -
Florida ................ 98 70 7,600 4,913 20 18 1,520 1,228
Georgia ................ 40 24 3,380 2,879 8 6 676 720
Kentucky ............... 56 25 9,722 2,946 11 6 1,944 737
Louisiana .............. 22 13 1,669 1,067 4 3 334 267
Maryland ............... 5 3 365 256 1 1 73 64
Mississippi ............ 27 13 1,987 835 5 3 397 209
North Carolina ......... 14 51 1,240 4,782 3 13 248 1,196
Oklahoma ............... 6 4 392 621 1 1 78 155
South Carolina ......... 19 12 1,913 1,321 4 3 383 330
Tennessee .............. 14 9 1,259 752 3 2 252 188
Texas .................. 67 45 7,118 4,621 13 11 1,424 1,155
Virginia ............... 23 14 2,063 1,141 5 4 413 285
West Virginia .......... (3) 5 (3) 500 (3) 1 (3) 125
Midwest .................... 383 216 44,126 26,205 77 54 8,825 6,551
Illinois ............... 56 38 6,701 5,969 11 10 1,340 1,492
Indiana ................ 41 17 4,689 4,867 8 4 938 1,217
Iowa ................... 17 13 2,143 1,388 3 3 429 347
Kansas ................. 5 9 381 726 1 2 76 182
Michigan ............... 50 23 6,813 2,313 10 6 1,363 578
Minnesota .............. 16 8 1,023 455 3 2 205 114
Missouri ............... 23 27 2,259 1,770 5 7 452 443
Nebraska ............... 9 3 768 289 2 1 154 72
North Dakota ........... (3) - (3) - (3) - (3) -
Ohio ................... 87 34 11,082 3,651 17 9 2,216 913
South Dakota ........... (3) - (3) - (3) - (3) -
Wisconsin .............. 76 44 7,965 4,777 15 11 1,593 1,194
West ....................... 534 524 48,979 40,538 107 131 9,796 10,135
Alaska ................. 9 9 1,137 1,008 2 2 227 252
Arizona ................ 40 30 5,635 4,627 8 8 1,127 1,157
California ............. 348 391 29,264 26,375 70 98 5,853 6,594
Colorado ............... 15 12 1,750 1,401 3 3 350 350
Hawaii ................. (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Idaho .................. 10 7 896 771 2 2 179 193
Montana ................ 7 6 438 526 1 2 88 132
Nevada ................. 23 13 1,703 1,051 5 3 341 263
New Mexico ............. 9 4 711 327 2 1 142 82
Oregon ................. 25 17 2,886 1,276 5 4 577 319
Utah ................... 13 5 1,232 482 3 1 246 121
Washington ............. 28 26 2,725 2,301 6 7 545 575
Wyoming ................ (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Puerto Rico ............ 17 12 1,676 1,169 3 3 335 292
1 See footnote 1, table 3
2 See footnote 2, table 3.
3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
United States Department of Labor
