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For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, August 23, 2012 USDL-12-1718 Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov MASS LAYOFFS -- JULY 2012 Employers took 1,340 mass layoff actions in July involving 137,420 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 July increased by 23 from June, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 6,014. Year-to-date mass layoff events (9,425) and initial claims (905,310) both recorded their lowest figures for a January-July period since 2007. In July, 364 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,920 initial claims. Mass layoff data are identified using administrative data sources without regard to layoff duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this release.) The national unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in July, essentially unchanged from the prior month but down from 9.1 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 163,000 over the month and by 1,838,000 over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The number of mass layoff events in July was 1,515, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 157,753 initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events in July decreased by 56 to 379, and associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 3,917 to 39,438. Thirteen of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims for July, with the largest decrease occurring in administrative and waste services. (See table 3.) In July 2012, the six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims was temporary help services. (See table A.) In July, the manufacturing sector accounted for 40 percent of mass layoff events and 51 percent of associated initial claims in the private economy. Within manufacturing, the number of mass layoff claimants was highest in transportation equipment. Thirteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims. (See table 3.) Table A. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in July 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted July peak Industry Initial Initial claims Year claims Temporary help services (1) ................... 11,750 1998 24,601 Automobile manufacturing ...................... 7,497 1996 22,644 Fossil fuel electric power generation ......... (2) 2012 (2) Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. .. 3,456 2005 9,238 Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing ............................... (2) 1997 14,618 Other motor vehicle parts manufacturing ....... 3,108 2004 9,954 Motor vehicle metal stamping .................. 2,952 2005 8,198 Discount department stores .................... 2,810 2009 3,995 Heavy duty truck manufacturing ................ 2,467 2008 6,790 Professional employer organizations (1) ....... 2,273 2009 8,240 1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the census regions, the South registered the largest number of initial claims in July. Two of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in the West. (See table 4.) Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in July, followed by Michigan and New York. Thirty states experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by California, Minnesota, and Florida. (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 August is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 21, 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. The monthly data present preliminary mass layoff activity in the reference month and are not revised in subsequent months except in special circumstances (e.g., layoffs in states affected by Hurricane Katrina). Counts of initial claims associated with mass layoff events reflect activity through the end of the reference month. Additional mass layoff event and initial claims activity received after data for the reference month have been published by BLS are not updated in the monthly mass layoff series and, therefore, may not match revised mass layoff data issued in state publications. However, any additional mass layoff information meeting the extended mass layoff criteria will be reflected in BLS’ quarterly publication of extended mass layoff data. 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, August 2008 to July 2012, seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2008 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 May ........................ 1,380 130,191 1,222 117,654 264 29,675 June ....................... 1,317 131,406 1,171 118,451 267 29,093 July ....................... 1,340 137,420 1,208 127,092 364 44,920
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, August 2008 to July 2012, not seasonally adjusted Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing Date Initial Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants 2008 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 May ........................ 1,201 109,259 1,081 100,434 186 18,800 June ....................... 1,890 198,537 1,485 158,334 255 28,570 July ....................... 1,515 157,753 1,321 144,340 559 74,963
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 July July July July July July July July 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 Total (2) .................................. 2,176 1,515 216,774 157,753 435 379 43,355 39,438 Total, private ................................... 1,867 1,385 182,960 148,561 373 346 36,592 37,140 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ... 108 64 8,882 4,221 22 16 1,776 1,055 Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,759 1,321 174,078 144,340 352 330 34,816 36,085 Mining ....................................... - 6 - 401 - 2 - 100 Utilities .................................... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Construction ................................. 118 86 8,990 6,583 24 22 1,798 1,646 Construction of buildings ................ 24 16 2,050 1,129 5 4 410 282 Heavy and civil engineering construction . 32 34 2,823 2,678 6 9 565 670 Specialty trade contractors .............. 62 36 4,117 2,776 12 9 823 694 Manufacturing ................................ 602 559 71,814 74,963 120 140 14,363 18,741 Food ..................................... 84 77 9,998 8,647 17 19 2,000 2,162 Beverage and tobacco products ............ (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Textile mills ............................ 29 27 3,341 2,821 6 7 668 705 Textile product mills .................... 9 9 1,107 813 2 2 221 203 Apparel .................................. 14 23 1,526 2,375 3 6 305 594 Leather and allied products .............. 3 4 869 506 1 1 174 127 Wood products ............................ 28 24 2,826 3,047 6 6 565 762 Paper .................................... 4 10 298 700 1 3 60 175 Printing and related support activities .. 9 6 930 571 2 2 186 143 Petroleum and coal products .............. (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Chemicals ................................ 12 6 935 402 2 2 187 101 Plastics and rubber products ............. 36 38 3,359 3,999 7 10 672 1,000 Nonmetallic mineral products ............. 13 11 1,612 1,183 3 3 322 296 Primary metals ........................... 24 24 2,450 2,802 5 6 490 701 Fabricated metal products ................ 27 33 2,980 2,991 5 8 596 748 Machinery ................................ 34 38 4,799 4,891 7 10 960 1,223 Computer and electronic products ......... 19 16 1,735 1,210 4 4 347 303 Electrical equipment and appliances ...... 19 15 2,628 2,185 4 4 526 546 Transportation equipment ................. 193 158 26,488 31,786 39 40 5,298 7,947 Furniture and related products ........... 31 24 2,770 2,567 6 6 554 642 Miscellaneous manufacturing .............. 9 13 726 1,287 2 3 145 322 Wholesale trade .............................. 21 20 1,594 1,316 4 5 319 329 Retail trade (4) ............................. 165 92 17,189 8,589 33 23 3,438 2,147 Building material and garden supply stores 16 7 1,358 606 3 2 272 152 Food and beverage stores ................. 32 15 3,343 1,021 6 4 669 255 Clothing and clothing accessories stores . 19 9 1,149 634 4 2 230 159 General merchandise stores ............... 59 33 8,412 4,487 12 8 1,682 1,122 Transportation and warehousing (4) ........... 114 65 9,326 5,924 23 16 1,865 1,481 Truck transportation ..................... 10 11 657 761 2 3 131 190 Transit and ground passenger transportation ......................... 80 32 6,566 2,750 16 8 1,313 688 Support activities for transportation .... 6 8 518 849 1 2 104 212 Information .................................. 52 32 5,289 4,303 10 8 1,058 1,076 Finance and insurance ........................ 43 24 2,769 1,656 9 6 554 414 Real estate and rental and leasing ........... 10 4 856 255 2 1 171 64 Professional and technical services .......... 51 41 4,372 3,438 10 10 874 860 Management of companies and enterprises ...... 5 (3) 654 (3) 1 (3) 131 (3) Administrative and waste services ............ 320 213 31,193 17,369 64 53 6,239 4,342 Educational services ......................... 29 25 1,993 1,710 6 6 399 428 Health care and social assistance ............ 104 56 7,079 4,113 21 14 1,416 1,028 Arts, entertainment, and recreation .......... 30 14 2,867 774 6 4 573 194 Accommodation and food services .............. 74 66 6,445 4,431 15 17 1,289 1,108 Accommodation ............................ 12 20 839 1,403 2 5 168 351 Food services and drinking places ........ 62 46 5,606 3,028 12 12 1,121 757 Other services, except public administration . 17 13 1,336 850 3 3 267 213 Unclassified ................................. (3) - (3) - (3) - (3) - Government ....................................... 309 130 33,814 9,192 62 33 6,763 2,298 Federal ...................................... 10 8 784 672 2 2 157 168 State ........................................ 78 25 12,220 2,106 16 6 2,444 527 State government education .............. 7 13 644 935 1 3 129 234 Local ........................................ 221 97 20,810 6,414 44 24 4,162 1,604 Local government education .............. 173 71 14,505 4,469 35 18 2,901 1,117 1 Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. There were 5 weeks in July 2011 and 4 weeks in July 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 July July July July July July July July 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 Total (2) ............... 2,176 1,515 216,774 157,753 435 379 43,355 39,438 Northeast .................. 363 268 34,691 30,266 73 67 6,938 7,567 Connecticut ............ 8 15 713 1,137 2 4 143 284 Maine .................. 9 10 667 1,263 2 3 133 316 Massachusetts .......... 16 13 1,632 1,026 3 3 326 257 New Hampshire .......... 5 (3) 363 (3) 1 (3) 73 (3) New Jersey ............. 81 35 7,381 2,667 16 9 1,476 667 New York ............... 142 101 14,892 16,306 28 25 2,978 4,077 Pennsylvania ........... 96 86 8,610 7,154 19 22 1,722 1,789 Rhode Island ........... (3) 4 (3) 251 (3) 1 (3) 63 Vermont ................ (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) South ...................... 624 494 62,261 52,296 125 124 12,452 13,074 Alabama ................ 60 55 6,904 6,119 12 14 1,381 1,530 Arkansas ............... 17 15 1,607 1,416 3 4 321 354 Delaware ............... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) District of Columbia ... (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Florida ................ 147 78 12,098 5,203 29 20 2,420 1,301 Georgia ................ 45 32 5,152 2,844 9 8 1,030 711 Kentucky ............... 54 51 6,294 10,614 11 13 1,259 2,654 Louisiana .............. 21 16 1,936 1,189 4 4 387 297 Maryland (4) ........... 13 11 1,486 886 3 3 297 222 Mississippi ............ 25 9 1,853 887 5 2 371 222 North Carolina ......... 80 98 8,083 10,695 16 25 1,617 2,674 Oklahoma ............... 6 (3) 1,206 (3) 1 (3) 241 (3) South Carolina ......... 28 35 2,724 4,144 6 9 545 1,036 Tennessee .............. 25 16 2,314 1,590 5 4 463 398 Texas .................. 58 40 6,259 3,333 12 10 1,252 833 Virginia ............... 41 30 4,028 2,719 8 8 806 680 West Virginia .......... - - - - - - - - Midwest .................... 505 373 62,114 46,431 101 93 12,423 11,608 Illinois ............... 48 39 5,599 4,036 10 10 1,120 1,009 Indiana ................ 31 23 5,700 2,307 6 6 1,140 577 Iowa ................... 19 16 2,397 2,210 4 4 479 553 Kansas ................. 12 14 1,372 1,596 2 4 274 399 Michigan ............... 130 123 14,164 17,118 26 31 2,833 4,280 Minnesota .............. 68 15 11,406 1,678 14 4 2,281 420 Missouri ............... 36 27 4,068 2,433 7 7 814 608 Nebraska ............... 8 (3) 1,026 (3) 2 (3) 205 (3) North Dakota ........... 3 (3) 583 (3) 1 (3) 117 (3) Ohio ................... 67 65 7,739 9,720 13 16 1,548 2,430 South Dakota ........... - - - - - - - - Wisconsin .............. 83 44 8,060 4,488 17 11 1,612 1,122 West ....................... 684 380 57,708 28,760 137 95 11,542 7,190 Alaska ................. (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Arizona ................ 23 19 2,137 1,594 5 5 427 399 California ............. 571 297 46,009 21,608 114 74 9,202 5,402 Colorado ............... 8 10 704 765 2 3 141 191 Hawaii ................. (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Idaho .................. 9 (3) 1,220 (3) 2 (3) 244 (3) Montana ................ 4 - 306 - 1 - 61 - Nevada ................. 10 8 875 758 2 2 175 190 New Mexico ............. 9 7 568 492 2 2 114 123 Oregon ................. 27 21 3,435 2,118 5 5 687 530 Utah ................... 4 4 529 332 1 1 106 83 Washington ............. 15 8 1,537 711 3 2 307 178 Wyoming ................ - (3) - (3) - (3) - (3) Puerto Rico ............ 19 7 2,333 588 4 2 467 147 1 See footnote 1, table 3. 2 See footnote 2, table 3. 3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. 4 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance procedures. NOTE: Dash represents zero.