For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, August 23, 2011 USDL-11-1245
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
MASS LAYOFFS -- JULY 2011
Employers took 1,579 mass layoff actions in July involving 145,000 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 July increased by 47, or 3 percent, from June, and the number of
associated initial claims increased by 1,556, or 1 percent. In July, 342 mass layoff
events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in
35,460 initial claims. (See table 1.)
The national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in July, essentially unchanged from
the prior month but down from 9.5 percent a year earlier. In July, total nonfarm
payroll employment increased by 117,000 over the month and by 1,258,000 over the
year.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in July was 2,176, not seasonally adjusted,
resulting in 216,774 initial claims for unemployment insurance. The number of mass
layoff events increased by 52, or 2 percent, from July 2010, and associated initial
claims increased by 10,520, or 5 percent. (See table 2.) Eight of the 19 major
industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year increases in initial
claims, with the largest increases occurring in manufacturing and administrative and
waste services. The six-digit industry with the largest number of initial claims in
July 2011 was temporary help services. (See table A. The table includes both
publicly and privately owned entities.)
The manufacturing sector accounted for 28 percent of all mass layoff events and 33
percent of initial claims filed in July. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 25
percent of events and 31 percent of initial claims. Within this sector, the number
of claimants in July 2011 was greatest in the transportation equipment subsector.
Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year increases in
initial claims, with the largest increase occurring in textile mills. (See table 3.)
Government layoffs reached a July series high in terms of average weekly initial
claims, largely due to a partial state government shutdown in Minnesota. (Average
weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. See the
Technical Note.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Three of the 4 regions and 6 of the 9 divisions experienced over-the-year increases
in initial claims for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs in July. Among the
census regions, the South registered the largest over-the-year increase in initial
claims. Of the geographic divisions, the West North Central had the largest
over-the-year increase in initial claims. (See table 5.)
California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in July,
followed by New York, Michigan, and Florida. Twenty-eight states and the District of
Columbia experienced over-the-year increases in initial claims, led by Minnesota.
Minnesota recorded a July series high level of mass layoff initial claims during
2011, mostly due to a partial shutdown of the state government. (See table 6.)
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in
July 2011, not seasonally adjusted
July peak
Industry
Initial Initial
claims Year claims
Temporary help services (1) ................... 18,495 1998 24,601
Elementary and secondary schools .............. 14,264 2009 20,769
School and employee bus transportation ........ 5,967 2010 13,011
Professional employer organizations (1) ....... 4,646 2009 8,240
Farm labor contractors and crew leaders ....... 4,088 1998 6,142
Discount department stores .................... 3,663 2009 3,995
Food service contractors ...................... 3,464 2011 3,464
All other motor vehicle parts manufacturing ... 3,448 2004 9,691
Motion picture and video production ........... 3,313 1998 12,310
Highway, street, and bridge construction ...... 3,153 2011 3,153
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
Note
The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers
beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private
nonfarm establishments, information on the length of the layoff is obtained later
and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting more than 30
days (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 news release for August is scheduled to be released on Thursday,
September 22, 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, August 2007 to
July 2011, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
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
April ...................... 1,564 143,927 1,401 129,702 327 35,022
May ........................ 1,599 143,540 1,405 127,494 373 38,673
June ....................... 1,532 143,444 1,348 128,105 341 35,693
July ....................... 1,579 145,000 1,363 124,745 342 35,460
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, August 2007 to
July 2011, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
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
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
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Industry
July May June July July May June July
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Seasonally adjusted
Total ..................................... 1,528 1,599 1,532 1,579 138,581 143,540 143,444 145,000
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,316 1,405 1,348 1,363 121,378 127,494 128,105 124,745
Manufacturing ............................... 296 373 341 342 30,752 38,673 35,693 35,460
Not seasonally adjusted
Total (1) ................................. 2,124 1,367 1,661 2,176 206,254 119,911 159,930 216,774
Total, private .................................. 1,832 1,243 1,282 1,867 179,524 109,881 125,944 182,960
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 100 22 44 108 7,276 1,350 3,123 8,882
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,732 1,221 1,238 1,759 172,248 108,531 122,821 174,078
Mining ...................................... 5 5 (2) - 394 308 (2) -
Utilities ................................... 6 (2) (2) (2) 689 (2) (2) (2)
Construction ................................ 135 137 84 118 9,570 9,875 6,847 8,990
Manufacturing ............................... 532 270 226 602 64,200 25,199 22,986 71,814
Food .................................... 75 64 51 84 9,535 6,036 5,011 9,998
Beverage and tobacco products ........... 4 (2) - (2) 290 (2) - (2)
Textile mills ........................... 8 12 8 29 959 1,045 1,131 3,341
Textile product mills ................... 3 (2) 6 9 347 (2) 420 1,107
Apparel ................................. 18 10 10 14 1,576 1,174 1,119 1,526
Leather and allied products ............. 3 (2) (2) 3 332 (2) (2) 869
Wood products ........................... 24 10 12 28 2,051 755 1,083 2,826
Paper ................................... 4 9 5 4 311 934 427 298
Printing and related support activities . 10 14 5 9 790 1,182 383 930
Petroleum and coal products ............. 4 (2) (2) (2) 294 (2) (2) (2)
Chemicals ............................... 18 8 (2) 12 1,808 503 (2) 935
Plastics and rubber products ............ 31 14 11 36 3,027 1,082 880 3,359
Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 22 6 5 13 1,846 635 380 1,612
Primary metals .......................... 24 11 11 24 2,752 1,053 914 2,450
Fabricated metal products ............... 27 11 10 27 2,497 848 607 2,980
Machinery ............................... 26 12 16 34 4,463 2,054 2,042 4,799
Computer and electronic products ........ 18 12 10 19 1,492 731 716 1,735
Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 17 7 9 19 1,692 1,049 915 2,628
Transportation equipment ................ 171 45 34 193 25,863 4,146 4,871 26,488
Furniture and related products .......... 19 12 7 31 1,916 888 771 2,770
Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 6 5 9 9 359 456 826 726
Wholesale trade ............................. 33 21 18 21 2,691 1,777 1,440 1,594
Retail trade ................................ 142 108 82 165 14,907 8,244 7,177 17,189
Transportation and warehousing .............. 148 38 144 114 17,270 3,371 19,513 9,326
Information ................................. 55 36 41 52 7,341 5,394 5,721 5,289
Finance and insurance ....................... 47 24 18 43 3,391 1,616 1,158 2,769
Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 15 7 7 10 883 457 779 856
Professional and technical services ......... 59 50 32 51 4,366 4,062 3,378 4,372
Management of companies and enterprises ..... 5 (2) 5 5 419 (2) 351 654
Administrative and waste services ........... 292 203 170 320 25,234 15,938 16,582 31,193
Educational services ........................ 30 15 26 29 2,912 1,201 1,604 1,993
Health care and social assistance ........... 90 102 177 104 6,716 11,059 14,975 7,079
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 31 24 30 30 2,559 1,835 1,664 2,867
Accommodation and food services ............. 89 148 120 74 7,184 15,483 14,179 6,445
Other services, except public administration 18 28 53 17 1,522 2,361 4,129 1,336
Unclassified ................................ - - - (2) - - - (2)
Government ...................................... 292 124 379 309 26,730 10,030 33,986 33,814
Federal ..................................... 25 12 18 10 3,243 1,160 1,942 784
State ....................................... 29 32 29 78 2,589 2,136 2,086 12,220
Local ....................................... 238 80 332 221 20,898 6,734 29,958 20,810
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, July 2009 to July 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
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 (r)368,664 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 (r)396,441 47.6 (r)94.5
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 (r)260,030 39.9 80.4
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 1,999 (r)390,445 43.3 (r)88.1
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 (r)1,490 (r)257,031 (r)36.0 (r)66.2
April ...................... 1,750 189,919 1,625 176,478
May ........................ 1,367 119,911 1,221 108,531
June ....................... 1,661 159,930 1,238 122,821
Second Quarter ............. 4,778 469,760 4,084 407,830 (2)(p)1,624 2)(p) 231,643 (p)39.8 (p)56.8
July ....................... 2,176 216,774 1,759 174,078
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
July May June July July May June July
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
United States (1) ... 2,124 1,367 1,661 2,176 206,254 119,911 159,930 216,774
Northeast ................... 434 210 276 363 44,132 17,726 30,513 34,691
New England ............. 40 30 53 44 3,136 2,505 5,004 3,808
Middle Atlantic ......... 394 180 223 319 40,996 15,221 25,509 30,883
South ....................... 512 468 482 624 48,848 43,457 45,180 62,261
South Atlantic .......... 280 234 273 358 26,937 18,785 24,626 33,888
East South Central ...... 142 131 60 164 13,640 14,830 5,603 17,365
West South Central ...... 90 103 149 102 8,271 9,842 14,951 11,008
Midwest ..................... 490 288 326 505 56,377 26,017 33,813 62,114
East North Central ...... 397 217 236 359 46,473 18,948 26,402 41,262
West North Central ...... 93 71 90 146 9,904 7,069 7,411 20,852
West ........................ 688 401 577 684 56,897 32,711 50,424 57,708
Mountain ................ 71 68 64 67 6,593 5,948 6,011 6,339
Pacific ................. 617 333 513 617 50,304 26,763 44,413 51,369
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
July May June July July May June July
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Total (1) ............ 2,124 1,367 1,661 2,176 206,254 119,911 159,930 216,774
Alabama ................. 57 37 20 60 5,642 3,604 1,922 6,904
Alaska .................. (2) 6 (2) (2) (2) 489 (2) (2)
Arizona ................. 16 15 18 23 1,710 1,394 1,561 2,137
Arkansas ................ 8 15 29 17 765 1,647 3,185 1,607
California .............. 558 285 462 571 44,343 22,874 39,788 46,009
Colorado ................ 16 10 9 8 1,552 1,171 708 704
Connecticut ............. 13 11 10 8 977 769 807 713
Delaware ................ (2) 5 6 3 (2) 334 415 233
District of Columbia .... (2) 5 (2) (2) (2) 276 (2) (2)
Florida ................. 137 102 114 147 10,581 6,363 9,161 12,098
Georgia ................. 27 40 43 45 4,020 4,038 4,789 5,152
Hawaii .................. 5 5 4 (2) 471 351 275 (2)
Idaho ................... 5 6 8 9 480 370 832 1,220
Illinois ................ 92 47 61 48 10,969 4,749 6,436 5,599
Indiana ................. 38 28 28 31 5,905 2,189 2,722 5,700
Iowa .................... 25 6 14 19 3,463 1,069 1,359 2,397
Kansas .................. 5 12 8 12 416 1,365 682 1,372
Kentucky ................ 50 33 22 54 5,491 3,431 2,003 6,294
Louisiana ............... 23 29 28 21 2,174 2,531 2,056 1,936
Maine ................... 3 4 7 9 249 318 458 667
Maryland ................ 20 5 12 13 1,844 462 1,102 1,486
Massachusetts ........... 16 10 16 16 1,403 1,068 1,133 1,632
Michigan ................ 107 38 55 130 12,383 3,368 5,413 14,164
Minnesota ............... 14 10 17 68 1,462 932 1,249 11,406
Mississippi ............. 12 40 5 25 1,094 5,957 240 1,853
Missouri ................ 34 32 42 36 3,005 2,620 3,176 4,068
Montana ................. 4 4 6 4 322 414 531 306
Nebraska ................ 10 8 5 8 835 860 441 1,026
Nevada .................. 20 13 12 10 1,644 1,133 1,292 875
New Hampshire ........... (2) 3 3 5 (2) 233 614 363
New Jersey .............. 113 34 44 81 10,486 2,937 6,432 7,381
New Mexico .............. 4 10 8 9 247 783 663 568
New York ................ 201 56 55 142 23,920 4,743 5,185 14,892
North Carolina (3) ...... 19 40 45 80 1,264 3,928 4,871 8,083
North Dakota ............ 4 (2) (2) 3 666 (2) (2) 583
Ohio .................... 87 63 42 67 9,564 5,170 6,150 7,739
Oklahoma ................ 8 9 6 6 665 902 481 1,206
Oregon .................. 32 21 28 27 3,582 1,586 2,967 3,435
Pennsylvania ............ 80 90 124 96 6,590 7,541 13,892 8,610
Rhode Island ............ 6 (2) 10 4 396 (2) 1,276 323
South Carolina .......... 36 11 23 28 5,430 949 1,878 2,724
South Dakota ............ (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) -
Tennessee ............... 23 21 13 25 1,413 1,838 1,438 2,314
Texas ................... 51 50 86 58 4,667 4,762 9,229 6,259
Utah .................... 6 8 3 4 638 554 424 529
Vermont ................. (2) (2) 7 (2) (2) (2) 716 (2)
Virginia ................ 36 21 25 41 3,427 2,050 2,071 4,028
Washington .............. 21 16 17 15 1,848 1,463 1,231 1,537
West Virginia ........... (2) 5 3 - (2) 385 189 -
Wisconsin ............... 73 41 50 83 7,652 3,472 5,681 8,060
Wyoming ................. - (2) - - - (2) - -
Puerto Rico ............ 18 24 10 19 2,344 2,815 941 2,333
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 unemployment insurance
input procedures.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
United States Department of Labor
