Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov:80/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 606-6396 USDL 97-314 Media contact: 606-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Wednesday, September 10, 1997 MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 1997 In June 1997, there were 1,113 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to preliminary 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 110,267 persons. Both layoff events and the number of claimants for unemployment insurance were higher than in June 1996. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of duration. Information on the length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release, which 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, 3,624 layoff events involving 355,191 initial claimants for unemployment insurance occurred in January, February, and March of 1997 combined. The first-quarter 1997 figures for mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days, however, were 993 events and 141,287 claimants. Twenty-seven percent of all mass layoffs in the January-March period lasted for more than a month. In all quarters for which data are available, this proportion of "extended" mass layoffs to all mass layoffs varied from about 27 to 46 percent. (See table 1.) State Distribution Among the 47 states and the District of Columbia reporting preliminary data for June, the largest numbers of initial claims filed in mass layoff events were: California 42,824 New Jersey 8,663 Illinois 8,009 Florida 5,786 Missouri 5,382 - 2 - These five states accounted for 60 percent of the total number of layoff events and 64 percent of initial claims reported. (At the time these figures were compiled, information for Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania was not available.) California alone accounted for 39 percent of both initial claims and layoff events. (See table 2.) Layoffs in this group of states were concentrated in motion pictures (mainly in motion picture and video production), local and suburban passenger transit (mostly in school buses), business services (largely in help supply), educational services (especially in elementary and secondary schools), and agricultural services (mainly with farm labor contractors). From June 1996 to June 1997, California reported the largest over-the- year rise in initial claims, primarily in motion pictures and business services. Virginia reported the sharpest decline in initial claims. States with the largest over-the-year changes in initial claims were: Increases Decreases California 23,251 Virginia -2,000 New Jersey 6,283 Arizona -558 Illinois 3,522 Alabama -492 Florida 2,080 New York -383 Missouri 1,688 Louisiana -306 Industry Distribution In June 1997, manufacturing industries accounted for 23 percent of all initial claims filed and 21 percent of all mass layoff events. (See table 3.) Within manufacturing, more initial claims were filed in durable industries than in nondurable goods industries. Manufacturing industries that had the largest numbers of initial claimants were: Transportation equipment 5,304 Food and kindred products 5,227 Industrial machinery and equipment 3,863 Apparel and other textile products 2,622 Within private-sector nonmanufacturing industries (including agriculture), services accounted for 41 percent of the layoff events and 43 percent of the initial claims (primarily in social services and motion pictures). Retail trade (mostly eating and drinking places) contributed an additional 15 percent to layoff events and 16 percent to initial claims. Nonmanufacturing industries with the largest numbers of initial claims filed in mass layoff events were: Local and suburban passenger transit 11,920 Social services 9,856 Motion pictures 8,644 Business services 7,981 - 3 - Compared with June 1996, the largest changes in initial claims occurred in the following industries: Increases Motion pictures 8,034 Local and suburban passenger transit 6,561 Business services 3,300 Eating and drinking places 3,248 Decreases Rubber and misc. plastics products -1,965 Fabricated metal products -1,428 Electronic and other electric equipment -700 Textile mill products -671 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 one month on a quarterly basis. Monthly reports from the MLS program began with data for September 1996. The program resumed operations in April 1995 after it had been terminated in November 1992 due to lack of funding. Previously, however, monthly layoff statistics were not published. 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 1996 to June 1997 Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs Event lasting more than 30 days realization rate ( 1 ) Date Initial Initial Events claimants Events claimants 1996 January ................ 1,753 175,348 February................ 939 77,289 March................... 990 128,862 First quarter....... 3,682 381,499 1,354 216,257 36.8 April .................. 1,024 109,266 May .................... 930 79,576 June ................... 914 79,203 Second quarter....... 2,868 268,045 1,307 192,577 45.6 July ................... 1,531 191,955 August ................. 912 82,783 September .............. 509 42,132 Third quarter....... 2,952 316,870 985 181,083 33.4 October ................ 1,289 131,879 November ............... 1,429 130,310 December ............... 1,811 203,115 Fourth quarter...... 4,529 465,304 ( 2 )1,841 ( 2 )321,235 40.6 1997 January ................ 2,098 208,783 February ............... 755 63,260 March .................. 771 83,148 First quarter....... 3,624 355,191 ( 3 )993 ( 3 )141,287 27.4 April ( 4 )............. 1,084 130,020 May ( 4 )............... 1,056 93,477 June ( 5 ).............. p1,113 p110,267 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. 2 Data for layoffs lasting more than 30 days were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except New York. 3 Data for layoffs lasting more than 30 days were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Nebraska, New York, and Pennsylvania. 4 Data for total mass layoffs were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Michigan and Pennsylvania. 5 Data for total mass layoffs were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. p = preliminary. Table 2. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, June 1996 and June 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance State June June June June 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total ( 1 )....................... r914 1,113 r79,203 110,267 Alabama ............................. 13 4 1,008 516 Alaska .............................. 3 3 237 442 Arizona ............................. 21 11 1,713 1,155 Arkansas ............................ 3 10 233 787 California .......................... 258 437 19,573 42,824 Colorado ............................ ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 250 Connecticut ......................... 4 6 257 384 Delaware ............................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) District of Columbia ................ ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - Florida ............................. 53 82 3,706 5,786 Georgia ............................. 16 16 2,032 1,830 Hawaii .............................. 5 7 308 566 Idaho ............................... 8 5 549 329 Illinois ............................ 44 51 4,487 8,009 Indiana ............................. 14 16 1,436 1,247 Iowa ................................ 4 ( 1 ) 347 ( 1 ) Kansas .............................. 4 5 468 546 Kentucky ............................ ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 555 Louisiana ........................... 16 12 1,131 825 Maine ............................... 4 4 387 257 Maryland ............................ 12 18 852 1,876 Massachusetts ....................... 16 12 1,239 994 Michigan ............................ 23 ( 1 ) 2,004 ( 1 ) Minnesota ........................... 14 16 1,101 1,609 Mississippi ......................... 4 3 235 185 Missouri ............................ 25 41 3,694 5,382 Montana ............................. 4 ( 2 ) 276 ( 2 ) Nebraska ............................ 4 4 286 267 Nevada .............................. 3 7 258 506 New Hampshire ....................... ( 2 ) - ( 2 ) - New Jersey .......................... 24 58 2,380 8,663 New Mexico .......................... - 7 - 470 New York ............................ 37 31 3,005 2,622 North Carolina ...................... 6 5 618 357 North Dakota ........................ - 4 - 448 Ohio ................................ 35 34 3,277 3,214 Oklahoma ............................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Oregon .............................. 10 20 776 2,017 Pennsylvania ........................ 74 ( 1 ) 5,976 ( 1 ) Rhode Island ........................ 5 6 634 890 South Carolina ...................... 10 9 1,072 1,030 South Dakota ........................ - 3 - 209 Tennessee ........................... 10 18 730 1,452 Texas ............................... 44 49 3,944 4,049 Utah ................................ - 3 - 277 Vermont ............................ 4 ( 2 ) 218 ( 2 ) Virginia ............................ 13 13 3,049 1,049 Washington .......................... 19 21 2,008 1,941 West Virginia ....................... ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 185 Wisconsin ........................... 36 46 2,821 3,848 Wyoming ............................. - - - - Puerto Rico ......................... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) 372 1 For June 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero. r = revised. Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, June 1996 and June 1997 Mass layoff events Initial claimants for unemployment insurance Industry June June June June 1996 1997 1996 1997 Total ( 1 )................................... 914 1,113 79,203 110,267 Total, private......................................... 888 964 77,079 98,762 Agriculture.......................................... 73 123 5,579 9,572 Nonagriculture....................................... 785 825 69,189 88,129 Manufacturing...................................... 248 238 25,412 25,380 Durable goods................................... 122 108 13,016 14,066 Lumber and wood products.................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Furniture and fixtures...................... 6 16 524 1,137 Stone, clay, and glass products............. 13 8 1,307 1,143 Primary metal industries.................... 8 ( 2 ) 653 ( 2 ) Fabricated metal industries................. 16 ( 2 ) 1,637 ( 2 ) Industrial machinery and equipment.......... 11 27 1,267 3,863 Electronic and other electrical equipment... 25 17 2,119 1,419 Transportation equipment.................... 27 23 4,467 5,304 Instruments and related products............ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Miscellaneous manufacturing industries...... 9 ( 2 ) 595 ( 2 ) Nondurable goods................................ 126 130 12,396 11,314 Food and kindred products.................... 40 56 3,984 5,227 Tobacco products............................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Textile mill products........................ 13 4 1,160 489 Apparel and other textile products........... 31 31 2,222 2,622 Paper and allied products.................... 7 ( 2 ) 535 ( 2 ) Printing and publishing...................... 9 14 637 1,044 Chemicals and allied products................ ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products... 15 12 2,930 965 Leather and leather products................. 6 5 584 313 Nonmanufacturing.................................. 537 587 43,777 62,749 Mining.......................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Construction.................................... 36 52 2,469 3,267 Transportation and public utilities............. 75 85 6,739 13,436 Wholesale and retail trade...................... 97 135 8,657 13,290 Wholesale trade.............................. 11 27 911 1,901 Retail trade................................. 86 108 7,746 11,389 Finance, insurance, and real estate............. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Services........................................ 303 301 23,842 31,591 Not identified...................................... 30 16 2,311 1,061 Government............................................. 26 149 2,124 11,505 Federal............................................. 8 7 502 601 State............................................... 2 9 158 652 Local............................................... 16 133 1,464 10,252 1 For June 1997, data were reported by the District of Columbia and all states, except Iowa, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Data for total mass layoffs events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance have been revised for June 1996 due to the inclusion of new data for New York.