Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 99-57 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST Media contact: 606-5902 Wednesday, March 10, 1999 MASS LAYOFFS IN NOVEMBER 1998 In November 1998, there were 1,278 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 138,161. The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were higher in November 1998 than in November 1997. Also, the total of layoff events from January through November 1998 and the total number of initial claimants were somewhat higher than in the same period of 1997. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. 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") and provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers. See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Because the 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. For example, 3,475 layoff events involving 419,391 initial claimants for unemployment insurance occurred in July, August, and September of 1998 combined. The third-quarter 1998 figures for mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days, however, were 1,215 events and 201,522 claimants. Thirty- five percent of all mass layoffs in the July-September period lasted for more than a month. (See table 1.) In all quarters for which data are available, the proportion of mass layoffs that became "extended" mass layoffs varied from about 31 to 47 percent. Industry Distribution In November 1998, manufacturing industries accounted for 37 percent of all mass layoff events and 45 percent of the initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were transportation equipment (10,942), primarily in motor vehicles and car bodies; food products (7,447), mostly in frozen fruits and vegetables; and apparel and other textile products (6,864), particularly in men's and boys' trousers and slacks. (See table 3.) In nonmanufacturing industries, services accounted for 15 percent of all mass layoff events and 13 percent of all initial claims filed. The layoffs were predominantly in business services (particularly in help supply - 2 - services). Layoffs in the help supply services industry are more likely than those in other industries to last less than 30 days. Agriculture accounted for 15 percent of layoff events and 10 percent of initial claimants during the month, primarily in farm labor contracting. Construction contributed 14 percent to layoff events and 12 percent to initial claimants during the month, largely in highway and street construction. Compared with November 1997, the largest increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment (8,464), apparel and other textile products (3,316), and primary metal industries (2,633). The largest over- the-year decrease in initial claims occurred in motion pictures (-2,637). State Distribution Among the 49 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for November, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (29,393), primarily in agricultural services, followed by Illinois (9,780) and Wisconsin (9,655). These three states accounted for about 43 percent of all layoff events and 35 percent of all initial claims. (See table 2.) From November 1997 to November 1998, California reported the largest over-the-year rise in initial claims (6,070), primarily in agricultural services, followed by Illinois (5,310). Pennsylvania had the largest over- the-year decline in initial claims (-1,652), mostly in food products. 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 establishments which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive 5-week period. These establishments 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, and the number of weeks in a given month may be different from year to year. Therefore, analysis of over-the- month and over-the-year change 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: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577. Definitions 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 establishment during a 5-week period, regardless of duration. Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 1996 to November 1998 Extended mass layoffs Date lasting more than 30 days Total mass layoffs Event realization Events Initial Events Initial rate(1) claimants claimants 1996 October ..................... 1,289 131,850 November .................... 1,433 130,774 December .................... 1,824 204,123 Fourth quarter .............. 4,546 466,747 1,915 384,429 42.1 1997 January ..................... 2,139 212,860 February .................... 755 63,352 March ....................... 783 84,069 First quarter ............... 3,677 360,281 1,317 253,209 35.8 April ....................... 1,269 152,168 May ......................... 1,152 101,476 June ........................ 1,238 121,256 Second quarter .............. 3,659 374,900 1,574 320,265 43.0 July ........................ 1,899 237,410 August ...................... 973 99,513 September ................... 548 59,062 Third quarter ............... 3,420 395,985 1,077 216,844 31.5 October ..................... 1,414 139,297 November .................... 1,156 100,051 December .................... 1,634 172,029 Fourth quarter .............. 4,204 411,377 1,677 313,556 39.9 1998 January ..................... 2,360 255,203 February .................... 970 81,455 March ....................... 762 78,210 First quarter ............... 4,092 414,868 1,299 243,155 31.7 April ....................... 1,253 132,476 May ......................... 1,180 107,952 June ........................ 1,208 183,590 Second quarter .............. 3,641 424,018 1,554 400,579 42.7 July ........................ 2,221 286,097 August ...................... 617 53,665 September ................... 637 79,629 Third quarter ............... 3,475 419,391 1,215 201,522 35.0 October .....................(r)1,553 (r)160,830 November(2) ................. 1,278 138,161 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. 2 Data exclude Wyoming. r = revised. Table 2. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, November 1997 and November 1998 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State November November November November 1997 1998 1997 1998 Total(1) ...................... 1,156 1,278 100,051 138,161 Alabama .......................... 5 8 342 1,314 Alaska ........................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Arizona .......................... 5 6 449 1,129 Arkansas ......................... 9 11 1,921 1,501 California ....................... 344 399 23,323 29,393 Colorado ......................... 3 11 235 1,365 Connecticut ...................... 5 5 372 424 Delaware ......................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ............. - 4 - 453 Florida .......................... 31 24 1,805 2,355 Georgia .......................... 11 17 934 1,369 Hawaii ........................... 5 4 504 375 Idaho ............................ 3 10 232 1,353 Illinois ......................... 44 51 4,470 9,780 Indiana .......................... 26 18 2,734 3,097 Iowa ............................. 17 18 1,417 2,953 Kansas ........................... 3 ( 2 ) 177 ( 2 ) Kentucky ......................... 5 17 343 1,488 Louisiana ........................ 11 11 1,230 1,393 Maine ............................ 5 7 338 581 Maryland ......................... 9 - 756 - Massachusetts .................... 10 21 720 3,361 Michigan ......................... 20 14 2,038 1,534 Minnesota ........................ 42 37 4,029 5,640 Mississippi ...................... 5 4 430 417 Missouri ......................... 14 22 1,267 4,855 Montana .......................... 5 3 752 328 Nebraska ......................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Nevada ........................... 11 8 1,334 688 New Hampshire .................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) New Jersey ....................... 42 38 4,537 7,035 New Mexico ....................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - New York ......................... 52 68 4,066 5,816 North Carolina ................... 10 9 738 908 North Dakota ..................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Ohio ............................. 46 42 4,177 6,647 Oklahoma ......................... 5 8 759 825 Oregon ........................... 23 26 2,448 2,240 Pennsylvania ..................... 117 95 10,078 8,426 Rhode Island ..................... 4 ( 2 ) 455 ( 2 ) South Carolina ................... 11 36 883 5,156 South Dakota ..................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Tennessee ........................ 13 7 882 873 Texas ............................ 55 57 6,429 7,149 Utah ............................. - 3 - 310 Vermont .......................... - - - - Virginia ......................... 19 13 1,621 1,317 Washington ....................... 22 29 2,050 2,802 West Virginia .................... ( 2 ) 8 ( 2 ) 885 Wisconsin ........................ 81 99 7,889 9,655 Wyoming .......................... - ( 1 ) - ( 1 ) Puerto Rico ...................... - 5 - 976 1 For November 1998, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Wyoming. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for November 1997 due to the inclusion of new data for Louisiana and Oklahoma. Dash represents zero. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, November 1997 and November 1998 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry November November November November 1997 1998 1997 1998 Total(1) ............................................... 1,156 1,278 100,051 138,161 Total, private .............................................. 1,121 1,235 97,218 133,991 Agriculture ............................................... 176 198 10,807 14,425 Nonagriculture ............................................ 929 1,010 84,638 116,263 Manufacturing ........................................... 382 470 38,644 62,463 Durable goods ......................................... 187 253 20,534 36,522 Lumber and wood products ............................ 42 43 4,353 4,464 Furniture and fixtures .............................. 9 10 1,019 1,017 Stone, clay, and glass products ..................... 17 11 1,402 1,386 Primary metal industries ............................ 12 35 2,046 4,679 Fabricated metal products ........................... 19 16 1,380 1,754 Industrial machinery and equipment .................. 25 46 3,847 5,478 Electronic and other electrical equipment ........... 23 38 2,767 4,231 Transportation equipment ............................ 24 30 2,478 10,942 Instruments and related products .................... 4 13 213 1,261 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries .............. 12 11 1,029 1,310 Nondurable goods ...................................... 195 217 18,110 25,941 Food and kindred products ........................... 71 71 7,145 7,447 Tobacco products .................................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Textile mill products ............................... 20 38 2,240 4,859 Apparel and other textile products .................. 48 53 3,548 6,864 Paper and allied products ........................... 15 16 1,710 1,686 Printing and publishing ............................. 7 5 476 471 Chemicals and allied products ....................... 7 ( 2 ) 589 ( 2 ) Petroleum and coal products ......................... 6 4 607 470 Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .......... 15 13 1,343 1,652 Leather and leather products ........................ 6 13 452 2,207 Nonmanufacturing ........................................ 547 540 45,994 53,800 Mining ................................................ 10 13 885 1,382 Construction .......................................... 229 174 17,205 17,248 Transportation and public utilities ................... 25 36 2,530 4,617 Wholesale and retail trade ............................ 91 105 7,556 11,056 Wholesale trade .................................... 22 33 1,610 3,655 Retail trade ....................................... 69 72 5,946 7,401 Finance, insurance, and real estate ................... 15 20 1,189 1,655 Services .............................................. 177 192 16,629 17,842 Not identified ............................................ 16 27 1,773 3,303 Government .................................................. 35 43 2,833 4,170 Federal ................................................... 3 4 297 538 State ..................................................... 20 26 1,496 2,351 Local ..................................................... 12 13 1,040 1,281 1 For November 1998, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Wyoming. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for November 1997 due to the inclusion of new data for Louisiana and Oklahoma. Dash represents zero.