Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 99-105 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 606-5902 Friday, April 23, 1999 MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 1999 In January 1999, there were 2,209 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 211,796. Both the number of layoff events and the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower in January 1999 than in January 1998. (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. 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 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions. Industry Distribution In January 1999, manufacturing industries accounted for 37 percent of all mass layoff events and 43 percent of the initial claims filed. Manufacturing industries that had the highest numbers of initial claimants were food products (12,765), primarily in candy and other confectionery products and canned fruits and vegetables; transportation equipment (9,946), mostly in motor vehicle parts and accessories; and apparel and other textile products (8,173), particularly in women's and misses' outerwear and men's and boys' trousers and slacks. (See table 2.) In nonmanufacturing industries, services accounted for 17 percent of all mass layoff events and 15 percent of all initial claims filed. The layoffs were predominantly in business services, particularly in help supply services. Layoffs in the help supply services industry are more likely than most other industries to last less than 30 days. Construction accounted for 15 percent of layoff events and 12 percent of initial claimants during the month, concentrated primarily in highway and street construction. Retail trade contributed 9 percent to both layoff events and initial claims during the month, largely in general merchandise stores. Compared with January 1998, the largest increases in initial claims occurred in industrial machinery and equipment (4,151) and heavy - 2 - construction (3,538). The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment (-15,033), business services (-14,703), and motion pictures (-9,858). Geographic Distribution In January, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was larger in the Midwest (73,505) than in any of the other regions; a year earlier the West had the largest number of initial claimants involved in mass layoffs. (See table 3.) Contributing to layoffs in the Midwest were the construction, transportation equipment, industrial machinery and equipment, and business services industries. The lowest number of mass layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast region (36,296). Mass layoff-related initial claims in the West declined by 41,904 over the year to 54,149 in January 1999. This reduction was almost entirely in the Pacific division, where layoffs in services industries, especially business services and motion pictures, predominated. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia reporting data for January, California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (38,481), primarily in business services, followed by Pennsylvania (17,948), Michigan (15,749), Ohio (13,726), and Wisconsin (13,566). These five states accounted for about 52 percent of all layoff events and 47 percent of all initial claimants for unemployment insurance. (See table 4.) From January 1998 to January 1999, Michigan reported the largest over- the-year rise in initial claims (5,127), primarily in business services, followed by Washington (4,991). California had the largest over-the-year decline in initial claims (-47,217), again mostly in business services, followed by Ohio (-15,410). 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, January 1997 to January 1999 Extended mass layoffs Date lasting more than 30 days Total mass layoffs Event realization rate(1) Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1997 January ................ 2,139 212,860 February ............... 755 63,352 March .................. 783 84,069 First quarter .......... 3,677 360,281 1,317 (r)253,221 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 (r)318,417 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 (r)314,387 39.9 1998 January ................ 2,360 255,203 February ............... 970 81,455 March .................. 762 78,210 First quarter .......... 4,092 414,868 (r)1,310 (r)244,639 (r)32.0 April .................. 1,253 132,476 May .................... 1,180 107,952 June ................... 1,208 183,590 Second quarter ......... 3,641 424,018 (r)1,559 (r)401,469 (r)42.8 July ................... 2,221 286,097 August ................. 617 53,665 September .............. 637 79,629 Third quarter .......... 3,475 419,391 (r)1,230 (r)252,421 (r)35.4 October ................ 1,553 160,830 November ............... (r)1,276 (r)137,402 December ............... (r)1,605 (r)189,880 Fourth quarter ......... 4,434 488,112 (p)1,660 (p)237,483 37.4 1999 January ................ 2,209 211,796 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. r = revised. p = preliminary. Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 1998 and January 1999 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance Industry January January January January 1998 1999 1998 1999 Total(1) ............................................ 2,360 2,209 255,203 211,796 Total, private ........................................... 2,254 2,132 244,729 204,881 Agriculture ............................................ 131 112 9,021 7,376 Nonagriculture ......................................... 2,067 1,942 231,063 186,349 Manufacturing ........................................ 825 826 104,292 91,161 Durable goods ...................................... 419 461 62,990 50,396 Lumber and wood products ......................... 77 51 10,327 5,713 Furniture and fixtures ........................... 19 26 2,308 3,043 Stone, clay, and glass products .................. 34 50 2,898 4,003 Primary metal industries ......................... 37 33 4,115 3,263 Fabricated metal products ........................ 58 74 5,630 6,939 Industrial machinery and equipment ............... 36 56 3,929 8,080 Electronic and other electrical equipment ........ 55 58 6,015 6,655 Transportation equipment ......................... 72 80 24,979 9,946 Instruments and related products ................. 12 16 1,005 1,296 Miscellaneous manufacturing industries ........... 19 17 1,784 1,458 Nondurable goods ................................... 406 365 41,302 40,765 Food and kindred products ........................ 142 122 14,397 12,765 Tobacco products ................................. ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Textile mill products ............................ 47 37 5,783 6,481 Apparel and other textile products ............... 95 83 10,234 8,173 Paper and allied products ........................ 26 21 1,810 2,854 Printing and publishing .......................... 21 23 1,812 2,476 Chemicals and allied products .................... 11 12 769 1,404 Petroleum and coal products ...................... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 366 Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products ....... 48 41 5,035 4,331 Leather and leather products ..................... 12 21 1,286 1,915 Nonmanufacturing ..................................... 1,242 1,116 126,771 95,188 Mining ............................................. 14 45 891 4,097 Construction ....................................... 278 340 19,563 25,655 Transportation and public utilities ................ 125 96 12,344 7,648 Wholesale and retail trade ......................... 306 232 31,745 22,692 Wholesale trade ................................. 41 38 3,574 3,635 Retail trade .................................... 265 194 28,171 19,057 Finance, insurance, and real estate ................ 23 33 1,781 2,766 Services ........................................... 496 370 60,447 32,330 Not identified ......................................... 56 78 4,645 11,156 Government ............................................... 106 77 10,474 6,915 Federal ................................................ 24 23 2,916 2,488 State .................................................. 29 23 3,003 1,990 Local .................................................. 53 31 4,555 2,437 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. Dash represents zero. Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division, January 1998 and January 1999 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Census region and division January January January January 1998 1999 1998 1999 United States .........2,360 2,209 255,203 211,796 Northeast ................... 428 381 40,105 36,296 New England .............. 68 74 5,165 7,971 Middle Atlantic .......... 360 307 34,940 28,325 South ....................... 426 436 43,147 47,846 South Atlantic............. 234 226 23,151 25,571 East South Central......... 60 65 6,332 6,807 West South Central......... 132 145 13,664 15,468 Midwest ..................... 547 720 75,898 73,505 East North Central......... 442 566 65,453 58,106 West North Central......... 105 154 10,445 15,399 West ........................ 959 672 96,053 54,149 Mountain................... 66 56 4,930 4,844 Pacific.................... 893 616 91,123 49,305 NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the various 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 4. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 1998 and January 1999 Initial claimants for Mass layoff events unemployment insurance State January January January January 1998 1999 1998 1999 Total(1) ....................... 2,360 2,209 255,203 211,796 Alabama ........................... 7 6 822 451 Alaska ............................ 9 9 769 787 Arizona ........................... 8 10 639 1,095 Arkansas .......................... 9 16 1,407 1,807 California ........................ 829 512 85,698 38,481 Colorado .......................... 12 9 989 927 Connecticut ....................... 8 7 568 682 Delaware .......................... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 224 District of Columbia .............. 5 4 393 282 Florida ........................... 61 58 4,429 4,521 Georgia ........................... 22 22 1,988 2,054 Hawaii ............................ 6 6 548 468 Idaho ............................. 12 17 799 1,436 Illinois .......................... 73 93 9,329 11,518 Indiana ........................... 10 32 947 3,547 Iowa .............................. 29 49 3,122 5,789 Kansas ............................ 6 12 778 1,232 Kentucky .......................... 19 35 2,957 4,332 Louisiana ......................... 25 26 2,253 1,818 Maine ............................. 24 14 1,753 1,643 Maryland .......................... 23 17 2,562 1,265 Massachusetts ..................... 15 26 1,083 3,314 Michigan .......................... 74 181 10,622 15,749 Minnesota ......................... 15 22 1,471 2,370 Mississippi ....................... 12 3 890 310 Missouri .......................... 51 65 4,660 5,537 Montana ........................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Nebraska .......................... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 314 Nevada ............................ 21 9 1,661 576 New Hampshire ..................... 9 10 778 1,029 New Jersey ........................ 52 51 4,387 5,445 New Mexico ........................ 9 9 500 659 New York .......................... 57 57 6,899 4,932 North Carolina .................... 21 16 2,063 3,573 North Dakota ...................... - ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) Ohio .............................. 150 136 29,136 13,726 Oklahoma .......................... 12 15 822 2,855 Oregon ............................ 31 35 2,923 3,393 Pennsylvania ...................... 251 199 23,654 17,948 Rhode Island ...................... 11 16 837 1,244 South Carolina .................... 56 61 6,794 8,218 South Dakota ...................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Tennessee ......................... 22 21 1,663 1,714 Texas ............................. 86 88 9,182 8,988 Utah .............................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Vermont ........................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Virginia .......................... 42 43 4,630 5,323 Washington ........................ 18 54 1,185 6,176 West Virginia ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wisconsin ......................... 135 124 15,419 13,566 Wyoming ........................... - - - - Puerto Rico ....................... 17 17 1,952 1,706 1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. Dash represents zero.