For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, September 22, 2011 USDL-11-1375
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 * mlsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
MASS LAYOFFS -- AUGUST 2011
Employers took 1,587 mass layoff actions in August involving 165,547
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
August increased by 8 from July, and the number of associated initial
claims increased by 20,547. In August, 391 mass layoff events were
reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting
in 48,997 initial claims. (See table 1.)
The national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in August, unchanged
from the prior month but down from 9.6 percent a year earlier. In
August, total nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged from the prior
month at 131.1 million and increased over the year by 1.3 million.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in August was 961, not seasonally
adjusted, resulting in 99,213 initial claims for unemployment insurance.
Mass layoff events decreased by 15 from August 2010, while associated
initial claims increased by 6,778. (See table 2.) Nine of the 19 major
industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year increases
in initial claims, with the largest increases occurring in information
and manufacturing. The six-digit industry with the largest number of
initial claims in August 2011 was wired telecommunications carriers.
(See table A. The table includes both publicly and privately owned
entities.)
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in August 2011, not seasonally adjusted
August peak
Industry
Initial claims Year Initial
claims
Wired telecommunications carriers........... 15,014 2011 15,014
Temporary help services (1) ................ 8,557 1999 11,533
School and employee bus transportation...... 5,359 2003 6,538
Motion picture and video production ........ 2,027 2003 6,812
Food service contractors ................... 1,868 2011 1,868
Automobile manufacturing ................... 1,820 2001 8,166
Lawn and garden equipment manufacturing .... (2) 2011 (2)
Professional employer organizations (1) .... 1,504 2008 5,252
Household refrigerator and home freezer mfg. 1,482 2011 1,482
Warehouse clubs and supercenters ........... 1,431 2009 1,552
1 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 24 percent of all mass layoff
events and 27 percent of initial claims filed in August. A year
earlier, manufacturing made up 24 percent of events and 25 percent of
initial claims. Within this sector, the number of claimants in August
2011 was greatest in the transportation equipment subsector. Eleven of
the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year increases in
initial claims, with the largest increase occurring in machinery. (See
table 3.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Three of the 4 regions and 8 of the 9 divisions experienced over-the-
year increases in initial claims for unemployment insurance due to
mass layoffs in August. Among the census regions, the Northeast
registered the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims. Of
the geographic divisions, the Middle Atlantic had the largest over-the-
year increase in initial claims. (See table 5.)
California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims
in August, followed by Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and
Massachusetts. Thirty states and the District of Columbia experienced
over-the-year increases in initial claims, led by Massachusetts and
New Jersey. (See table 6.)
Note
The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or
more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of
the layoffs. For private nonfarm establishments, information on the
length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly
release that reports on mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days
(referred to as "extended mass layoffs"). The quarterly release
provides more information on the industry classification and location
of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers.
Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs of 30 days or less,
the sum of the figures for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher
than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days. (See
table 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.
____________
The Mass Layoffs news release for September is scheduled to be
released on Tuesday, October 25, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
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| |
| Upcoming Changes to the Mass Layoffs News Release |
| |
| The following changes will be introduced in the October 2011 |
| mass layoffs news release scheduled to be released on Tuesday, |
| November 22, 2011. |
| |
| --Charts 1 and 2 will be replaced with a single chart showing 10 |
| years of mass layoff initial claims data. |
| |
| --Table A will only show private nonfarm industries. |
| |
| --Seasonally adjusted data will be removed from Table 3 since these |
| data are shown in Table 1. Select three-digit industry detail will |
| be added to several two-digit industries. Public education industry |
| detail will be displayed within the state and local government |
| sections of Table 3. The previous two months’ data will be removed; |
| the current month and the previous year’s data will be shown. |
| |
| --Table 4 will be removed from the monthly release and issued as a |
| supplemental table to the quarterly release. Table 5 and Table 6 |
| will be combined to create a new Table 4. The geographic divisions |
| shown in Table 5 will be removed, and the states will be grouped |
| into their respective Census regions. The previous two months’ data |
| will be removed; the current month and previous year’s data will be |
| shown. |
| |
| --The new Tables 3 and 4 will include average weekly mass layoff |
| events and average weekly initial claims for the current month and |
| previous year. See the Technical Note for a description of average |
| weekly analysis. |
|_______________________________________________________________________|
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, September 2007 to
August 2011, seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
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
August ..................... 1,587 165,547 1,373 150,136 391 48,997
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, September 2007 to
August 2011, not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2007
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
August ..................... 961 99,213 875 93,159 228 26,916
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Industry
August June July August August June July August
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Seasonally adjusted
Total ..................................... 1,658 1,532 1,579 1,587 163,325 143,444 145,000 165,547
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,453 1,348 1,363 1,373 141,489 128,105 124,745 150,136
Manufacturing ............................... 409 341 342 391 47,668 35,693 35,460 48,997
Not seasonally adjusted
Total (1) ................................. 976 1,661 2,176 961 92,435 159,930 216,774 99,213
Total, private .................................. 923 1,282 1,867 904 84,610 125,944 182,960 94,711
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 26 44 108 29 1,589 3,123 8,882 1,552
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 897 1,238 1,759 875 83,021 122,821 174,078 93,159
Mining ...................................... (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) - (2)
Utilities ................................... - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) -
Construction ................................ 105 84 118 65 6,910 6,847 8,990 4,628
Manufacturing ............................... 230 226 602 228 23,088 22,986 71,814 26,916
Food .................................... 54 51 84 51 4,312 5,011 9,998 4,585
Beverage and tobacco products ........... (2) - (2) 6 (2) - (2) 472
Textile mills ........................... 4 8 29 8 888 1,131 3,341 944
Textile product mills ................... 3 6 9 3 272 420 1,107 200
Apparel ................................. 9 10 14 10 573 1,119 1,526 1,024
Leather and allied products ............. (2) (2) 3 - (2) (2) 869 -
Wood products ........................... 17 12 28 11 1,355 1,083 2,826 1,242
Paper ................................... 7 5 4 7 559 427 298 512
Printing and related support activities . 3 5 9 6 246 383 930 569
Petroleum and coal products ............. - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) -
Chemicals ............................... 8 (2) 12 6 562 (2) 935 303
Plastics and rubber products ............ 10 11 36 8 691 880 3,359 705
Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 8 5 13 11 621 380 1,612 685
Primary metals .......................... 7 11 24 5 835 914 2,450 415
Fabricated metal products ............... 12 10 27 11 925 607 2,980 1,051
Machinery ............................... 18 16 34 16 2,077 2,042 4,799 4,407
Computer and electronic products ........ 15 10 19 10 999 716 1,735 884
Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 8 9 19 12 1,303 915 2,628 2,537
Transportation equipment ................ 32 34 193 30 4,869 4,871 26,488 4,688
Furniture and related products .......... 6 7 31 7 1,417 771 2,770 952
Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 4 9 9 10 319 826 726 741
Wholesale trade ............................. 18 18 21 17 1,324 1,440 1,594 1,347
Retail trade ................................ 108 82 165 79 10,430 7,177 17,189 6,804
Transportation and warehousing .............. 45 144 114 74 4,356 19,513 9,326 7,181
Information ................................. 36 41 52 58 6,155 5,721 5,289 18,813
Finance and insurance ....................... 24 18 43 26 1,945 1,158 2,769 1,647
Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 7 7 10 4 514 779 856 235
Professional and technical services ......... 43 32 51 24 4,657 3,378 4,372 1,737
Management of companies and enterprises ..... 6 5 5 4 490 351 654 269
Administrative and waste services ........... 158 170 320 162 14,605 16,582 31,193 13,158
Educational services ........................ 6 26 29 11 902 1,604 1,993 1,329
Health care and social assistance ........... 36 177 104 30 2,532 14,975 7,079 2,279
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 17 30 30 17 1,286 1,664 2,867 1,438
Accommodation and food services ............. 50 120 74 65 3,424 14,179 6,445 4,533
Other services, except public administration (2) 53 17 8 (2) 4,129 1,336 654
Unclassified ................................ - - (2) (2) - - (2) (2)
Government ...................................... 53 379 309 57 7,825 33,986 33,814 4,502
Federal ..................................... 18 18 10 10 1,933 1,942 784 833
State ....................................... 12 29 78 15 894 2,086 12,220 1,267
Local ....................................... 23 332 221 32 4,998 29,958 20,810 2,402
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 August 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 1,870 368,664 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 2,008 396,441 47.6 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 1,370 260,030 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 1,999 390,445 43.3 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 1,490 257,031 36.0 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
August ..................... 961 99,213 875 93,159
1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The
initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with
layoffs lasting more than 30 days.
2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available.
Experience suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and
the number of initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent.
p = preliminary.
Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, not
seasonally adjusted
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Census region and division
August June July August August June July August
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
United States (1) ... 976 1,661 2,176 961 92,435 159,930 216,774 99,213
Northeast ................... 183 276 363 187 16,706 30,513 34,691 29,937
New England ............. 34 53 44 23 3,743 5,004 3,808 7,784
Middle Atlantic ......... 149 223 319 164 12,963 25,509 30,883 22,153
South ....................... 274 482 624 277 21,631 45,180 62,261 25,771
South Atlantic .......... 160 273 358 174 12,404 24,626 33,888 15,565
East South Central ...... 55 60 164 47 4,584 5,603 17,365 4,879
West South Central ...... 59 149 102 56 4,643 14,951 11,008 5,327
Midwest ..................... 157 326 505 181 17,140 33,813 62,114 20,541
East North Central ...... 124 236 359 132 13,603 26,402 41,262 14,839
West North Central ...... 33 90 146 49 3,537 7,411 20,852 5,702
West ........................ 362 577 684 316 36,958 50,424 57,708 22,964
Mountain ................ 31 64 67 36 2,197 6,011 6,339 3,048
Pacific ................. 331 513 617 280 34,761 44,413 51,369 19,916
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
August June July August August June July August
2010 2011 2011 2011 2010 2011 2011 2011
Total (1) ............ 976 1,661 2,176 961 92,435 159,930 216,774 99,213
Alabama ................. 14 20 60 14 1,407 1,922 6,904 1,310
Alaska .................. 10 (2) (2) 4 884 (2) (2) 307
Arizona ................. 5 18 23 5 268 1,561 2,137 341
Arkansas ................ 3 29 17 10 275 3,185 1,607 909
California .............. 287 462 571 251 31,007 39,788 46,009 17,552
Colorado ................ 5 9 8 6 355 708 704 547
Connecticut ............. 8 10 8 3 880 807 713 280
Delaware ................ (2) 6 3 (2) (2) 415 233 (2)
District of Columbia .... (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Florida ................. 93 114 147 78 6,506 9,161 12,098 5,176
Georgia ................. 30 43 45 30 2,996 4,789 5,152 2,447
Hawaii .................. 5 4 (2) (2) 381 275 (2) (2)
Idaho ................... 7 8 9 4 504 832 1,220 255
Illinois ................ 32 61 48 35 3,707 6,436 5,599 5,514
Indiana ................. 14 28 31 13 1,554 2,722 5,700 1,215
Iowa .................... 9 14 19 9 1,743 1,359 2,397 1,796
Kansas .................. 4 8 12 9 366 682 1,372 1,497
Kentucky ................ 18 22 54 13 1,422 2,003 6,294 1,935
Louisiana ............... 16 28 21 7 1,010 2,056 1,936 378
Maine ................... (2) 7 9 (2) (2) 458 667 (2)
Maryland ................ 6 12 13 4 363 1,102 1,486 812
Massachusetts ........... 16 16 16 12 1,464 1,133 1,632 6,030
Michigan ................ 14 55 130 21 2,385 5,413 14,164 1,986
Minnesota ............... 4 17 68 7 307 1,249 11,406 607
Mississippi ............. 14 5 25 10 1,057 240 1,853 613
Missouri ................ 12 42 36 17 864 3,176 4,068 1,145
Montana ................. (2) 6 4 (2) (2) 531 306 (2)
Nebraska ................ 4 5 8 4 257 441 1,026 247
Nevada .................. 7 12 10 11 484 1,292 875 1,158
New Hampshire ........... 6 3 5 (2) 657 614 363 (2)
New Jersey .............. 31 44 81 23 2,449 6,432 7,381 6,817
New Mexico .............. (2) 8 9 5 (2) 663 568 338
New York ................ 59 55 142 71 5,547 5,185 14,892 7,506
North Carolina (3) ...... 9 45 80 21 698 4,871 8,083 1,624
North Dakota ............ - (2) 3 3 - (2) 583 410
Ohio .................... 27 42 67 25 2,569 6,150 7,739 2,420
Oklahoma ................ (2) 6 6 (2) (2) 481 1,206 (2)
Oregon .................. 18 28 27 10 1,671 2,967 3,435 836
Pennsylvania ............ 59 124 96 70 4,967 13,892 8,610 7,830
Rhode Island ............ (2) 10 4 4 (2) 1,276 323 882
South Carolina .......... 11 23 28 20 792 1,878 2,724 2,871
South Dakota ............ - (2) - - - (2) - -
Tennessee ............... 9 13 25 10 698 1,438 2,314 1,021
Texas ................... 38 86 58 37 3,058 9,229 6,259 3,836
Utah .................... (2) 3 4 3 (2) 424 529 218
Vermont ................. (2) 7 (2) (2) (2) 716 (2) (2)
Virginia ................ 8 25 41 17 747 2,071 4,028 1,988
Washington .............. 11 17 15 14 818 1,231 1,537 1,170
West Virginia ........... - 3 - (2) - 189 - (2)
Wisconsin ............... 37 50 83 38 3,388 5,681 8,060 3,704
Wyoming ................. (2) - - - (2) - - -
Puerto Rico ............. 12 10 19 12 987 941 2,333 1,282
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
