Bureau of Labor Statistics
Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 08-1013
http://www.bls.gov/mls/
For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Wednesday, July 23, 2008
MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 2008
In June, employers took 1,643 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted,
as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor re-
ported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single em-
ployer; the number of workers involved totaled 165,697, on a seasonally
adjusted basis. Layoff events were the highest for the month of June
since 2003, and associated initial claimants reached its highest level
since 2002. The number of mass layoff events this June increased by 17
from the prior month, while the number of associated initial claims was
5,690 lower. In June, 541 mass layoff events were reported in the manu-
facturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 76,514 initial claims.
Both measures were at their highest monthly levels since August 2003. Over
the month, mass layoff events in manufacturing increased by 13 and initial
claims increased by 4,456. (See table 1.)
From January through June 2008, the total number of events (seasonally
adjusted), at 9,258, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 949,639,
were considerably higher than in January-June 2007 (7,563 and 780,463, re-
spectively).
The national unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in June, seasonally ad-
justed, unchanged from the prior month and up from 4.6 percent a year ear-
lier. Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 62,000 in June from
the previous month but increased by 15,000 from a year earlier.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in June was 1,622 on a not seasonally
adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 166,742. (See
table 2.) Average weekly layoff events rose from 320 in June 2007 to 406
in June 2008, while average weekly initial claimants increased from 34,562
to 41,686. In 2008, average weekly initial claimants reached its highest
level for the month of June since 2001.
The largest over-the-year increase in June 2008 average weekly initial
claims associated with private nonfarm mass layoffs occurred in transporta-
tion equipment manufacturing (+2,512), followed by administrative and sup-
port services (+974) and general merchandise stores (+830). The largest
decreases occurred in food services and drinking places (-457) and in mem-
bership associations and organizations (-326).
The manufacturing sector accounted for 19 percent of all mass layoff
events and 25 percent of initial claims filed in June; a year earlier,
manufacturing made up 20 percent of events and 21 percent of initial claims.
In June 2008, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transpor-
tation equipment manufacturing (17,597) and food manufacturing (6,065).
(See table 3.) Government accounted for 16 percent of mass layoff events
and 13 percent of associated initial claims in June, primarily from educa-
tional services.
The six-digit NAICS industry with the highest number of initial claims
was school and employee bus transportation with 17,059, followed by ele-
mentary and secondary schools (15,292). Among the 10 industries with the
highest levels of initial claims, 2 of the 10--heavy duty truck manufac-
turing and discount department stores--reached program highs in 2008 for
the month of June (with data available back to 1995). (See table A.)
- 2 -
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in June 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | June peak
Industry |Initial |----------------------
| claims | |
| | Year |Initial claims
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
School and employee bus transportation ......| 17,059 | 2007 | 21,611
Elementary and secondary schools ............| 15,292 | 2003 | 17,360
Food service contractors ....................| 9,469 | 2007 | 14,527
Temporary help services .....................| 8,406 | 2000 | 13,815
Child day care services .....................| 7,552 | 2007 | 9,115
Heavy duty truck manufacturing ..............| 5,277 | 2008 | 5,277
Discount department stores ..................| 3,359 | 2008 | 3,359
Professional employer organizations .........| 3,001 | 2001 | 3,358
Motion picture and video production .........| 2,686 | 2000 | 9,435
Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing| (1) | 1998 | 7,608
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Of the 4 census regions, the highest number of initial claims in
June due to mass layoffs was in the West (56,177). The Midwest had the
second largest number of initial claims among the regions (39,391), fol-
lowed by the South with 38,453 and the Northeast with 32,721. (See
table 5.) All 4 regions experienced over-the-year increases in aver-
age weekly initial claims--the West (+3,675), the South (+1,688), the
Midwest (+907), and the Northeast (+854). All 9 of the divisions had
over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, led by the
Pacific (+3,578).
California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to
mass layoff events in June with 44,754, largely due to layoffs in educa-
tional services and in administrative and support services. The states
reporting the next highest number of mass layoff initial claims were
Pennsylvania (14,835), Florida (10,751), and New Jersey (9,512). (See
table 6.)
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia reported over-the-year
increases in average weekly initial claims associated with mass layoffs,
led by California (+3,022) and Pennsylvania (+1,109). States with the larg-
est over-the-year decreases in average weekly claims were Illinois (-439) and
New York (-302). In 2008, six states reported program highs in terms of aver-
age weekly initial claims for the month of June (with data available back to
1995)--Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
______________________________
The report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the Second Quarter 2008 is scheduled
to be released on Friday, August 15.
- 3 -
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; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
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).
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.
- 4 -
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 one 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, July 2004 to June 2008,
seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2004
July ....................... 1,329 137,805 1,178 126,301 376 50,799
August ..................... 1,426 128,759 1,233 113,809 343 36,539
September .................. 1,285 127,833 1,154 116,843 336 45,690
October .................... 1,283 132,766 1,169 123,471 363 47,046
November ................... 1,320 130,873 1,174 119,029 380 45,416
December ................... 1,148 111,060 991 99,784 287 31,935
2005
January .................... 1,475 160,725 1,346 151,028 382 61,324
February ................... 1,146 121,455 1,020 110,480 353 43,568
March ...................... 1,207 131,271 1,066 120,945 372 53,673
April ...................... 1,252 136,752 1,125 126,550 401 60,681
May ........................ 1,248 136,420 1,104 123,495 398 54,999
June ....................... 1,196 127,084 1,078 118,012 368 58,300
July ....................... 1,250 132,445 1,103 119,566 357 46,602
August ..................... 1,144 125,686 1,000 113,762 341 47,598
September .................. 2,248 297,544 2,028 251,185 417 55,304
October .................... 1,101 110,035 982 100,934 321 43,230
November ................... 1,176 114,965 1,042 103,535 332 42,071
December ................... 1,261 134,461 1,132 123,418 360 46,863
2006
January .................... 1,107 110,800 988 101,494 283 34,037
February ................... 1,031 109,798 940 101,828 322 43,147
March ...................... 1,084 119,049 983 110,668 323 48,119
April ...................... 1,171 121,580 1,043 112,175 368 49,568
May ........................ 1,124 117,115 1,005 107,181 314 43,087
June ....................... 1,146 123,827 1,030 114,080 352 44,869
July ....................... 1,179 121,017 1,051 111,336 372 48,534
August ..................... 1,270 135,400 1,107 124,427 377 60,906
September .................. 1,173 123,767 1,056 114,677 385 45,767
October .................... 1,191 121,827 1,076 113,123 399 53,601
November ................... 1,232 133,803 1,121 124,559 414 58,385
December ................... 1,194 131,062 1,092 121,796 374 51,408
2007
January .................... 1,254 128,223 1,118 117,824 391 52,858
February ................... 1,352 143,837 1,238 135,066 416 61,749
March ...................... 1,277 130,981 1,169 122,488 412 52,606
April ...................... 1,243 126,977 1,116 116,926 382 43,930
May ........................ 1,199 120,587 1,096 113,069 370 48,910
June ....................... 1,238 129,858 1,116 120,165 351 40,670
July ....................... 1,247 127,687 1,140 119,614 392 51,333
August ..................... 1,228 121,886 1,128 114,628 335 36,518
September .................. 1,307 128,487 1,204 121,294 430 53,432
October .................... 1,347 136,124 1,224 127,163 430 57,695
November ................... 1,329 139,671 1,215 131,390 414 56,965
December ................... 1,433 141,750 1,315 133,024 462 58,108
2008
January .................... 1,438 144,111 1,317 134,347 427 55,488
February ................... 1,672 177,374 1,539 166,782 529 66,913
March ...................... 1,571 157,156 1,460 147,537 482 64,088
April ...................... 1,308 133,914 1,186 124,053 483 60,552
May ........................ 1,626 171,387 1,496 161,912 528 72,058
June ....................... 1,643 165,697 1,491 153,568 541 76,514
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 2004 to June 2008,
not seasonally adjusted
Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing
Date
Initial Initial Initial
Events claimants Events claimants Events claimants
2004
July ....................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895
August ..................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698
September .................. 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808
October .................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265
November ................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243
December ................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726
2005
January .................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985
February ................... 810 74,644 722 68,372 230 24,931
March ...................... 806 88,937 733 83,793 246 33,030
April ...................... 1,373 158,582 1,263 148,133 395 59,129
May ........................ 986 101,358 891 93,332 249 30,424
June ....................... 1,157 120,463 941 103,307 216 32,783
July ....................... 1,981 244,216 1,745 222,377 856 136,210
August ..................... 645 67,582 598 63,484 188 22,531
September .................. 1,662 213,281 1,505 179,042 318 47,497
October .................... 905 91,941 757 80,694 249 37,276
November ................... 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442
December ................... 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 706 96,382
2006
January .................... 1,245 117,946 1,123 108,701 331 35,097
February ................... 719 66,555 658 62,208 210 24,892
March ...................... 921 111,838 856 106,177 285 44,688
April ...................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964 296 39,538
May ........................ 872 84,809 794 78,663 192 23,570
June ....................... 1,489 164,761 1,224 140,687 319 41,095
July ....................... 1,511 166,857 1,335 154,342 648 96,152
August ..................... 708 72,844 656 69,054 203 28,494
September .................. 865 87,699 785 81,274 296 39,076
October .................... 964 98,804 820 88,133 311 46,737
November ................... 1,315 136,186 1,172 125,009 455 58,473
December ................... 2,249 254,503 2,126 244,783 735 105,462
2007
January .................... 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475 456 53,615
February ................... 935 86,696 861 82,097 273 36,170
March ...................... 1,082 123,974 1,015 118,431 367 49,886
April ...................... 1,219 127,444 1,115 118,040 309 35,229
May ........................ 923 85,816 856 81,153 224 26,527
June ....................... 1,599 172,810 1,318 148,669 313 36,571
July ....................... 1,599 175,419 1,450 164,939 684 101,390
August ..................... 963 93,458 908 88,345 220 23,361
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
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
Mass layoff events unemployment insurance
Industry
June April May June June April May June
2007 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008
Seasonally adjusted
Total ..................................... 1,238 1,308 1,626 1,643 129,858 133,914 171,387 165,697
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,116 1,186 1,496 1,491 120,165 124,053 161,912 153,568
Manufacturing ............................... 351 483 528 541 40,670 60,552 72,058 76,514
Not seasonally adjusted
Total (1) ................................. 1,599 1,272 1,552 1,622 172,810 130,810 159,471 166,742
Total, private .................................. 1,372 1,234 1,467 1,363 152,740 127,631 152,510 144,732
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .. 54 62 29 48 4,071 6,006 2,048 3,816
Total, private nonfarm ........................ 1,318 1,172 1,438 1,315 148,669 121,625 150,462 140,916
Mining ...................................... - (2) 5 (2) - (2) 458 (2)
Utilities ................................... (2) (2) 4 (2) (2) (2) 475 (2)
Construction ................................ 106 112 167 114 8,157 8,106 12,411 7,713
Manufacturing ............................... 313 394 388 309 36,571 48,188 51,698 42,097
Food .................................... 50 66 48 58 5,901 7,085 4,800 6,065
Beverage and tobacco products ........... (2) 4 5 (2) (2) 422 273 (2)
Textile mills ........................... 7 10 6 5 871 1,065 520 730
Textile product mills ................... (2) 5 8 (2) (2) 700 580 (2)
Apparel ................................. 9 10 14 7 770 872 1,171 534
Leather and allied products ............. 4 (2) (2) 3 435 (2) (2) 862
Wood products ........................... 22 33 24 22 2,063 3,973 2,455 2,314
Paper ................................... 8 7 11 6 592 419 1,091 411
Printing and related support activities . 11 11 9 10 1,033 1,136 833 1,116
Petroleum and coal products ............. - (2) (2) - - (2) (2) -
Chemicals ............................... 5 8 9 4 367 621 696 228
Plastics and rubber products ............ 10 28 21 8 971 2,522 1,793 960
Nonmetallic mineral products ............ 12 14 14 9 899 1,251 1,175 516
Primary metals .......................... 15 14 9 12 1,613 1,386 1,217 1,012
Fabricated metal products ............... 15 22 29 19 1,377 1,612 2,596 1,716
Machinery ............................... 24 19 25 22 4,268 2,393 3,758 2,611
Computer and electronic products ........ 20 15 14 13 1,668 1,544 1,250 1,091
Electrical equipment and appliances ..... 13 13 13 8 1,540 1,153 1,845 2,128
Transportation equipment ................ 59 89 101 74 9,438 17,617 21,667 17,597
Furniture and related products .......... 19 18 20 12 1,840 1,746 3,285 1,076
Miscellaneous manufacturing ............. 4 3 5 13 314 395 445 909
Wholesale trade ............................. 21 26 21 15 1,398 2,649 1,513 908
Retail trade ................................ 77 95 109 89 8,548 7,933 10,090 10,567
Transportation and warehousing .............. 173 108 99 160 24,861 12,228 11,176 20,647
Information ................................. 39 33 56 47 6,323 3,446 9,251 5,078
Finance and insurance ....................... 31 43 38 40 2,323 2,978 2,666 2,968
Real estate and rental and leasing .......... 8 7 6 7 570 864 407 798
Professional and technical services ......... 29 59 66 32 4,960 7,282 6,924 3,903
Management of companies and enterprises ..... (2) (2) 4 4 (2) (2) 383 257
Administrative and waste services ........... 146 168 192 164 14,846 16,831 16,175 15,635
Educational services ........................ 17 5 6 18 1,144 464 383 1,275
Health care and social assistance ........... 166 16 85 151 15,124 1,016 7,643 11,867
Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......... 30 28 32 26 1,620 2,078 1,993 1,462
Accommodation and food services ............. 109 68 122 102 17,231 6,743 13,212 12,931
Other services, except public administration 47 5 38 33 4,441 310 3,604 2,507
Unclassified ................................ - - - 1 - - - 57
Government ...................................... 227 38 85 259 20,070 3,179 6,961 22,010
Federal ..................................... 12 7 16 11 1,337 490 1,656 928
State ....................................... 20 10 14 12 1,438 748 867 953
Local ....................................... 195 21 55 236 17,295 1,941 4,438 20,129
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, April 2006 to June 2008,
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
2006
April ...................... 1,140 121,589 1,038 112,964
May ........................ 872 84,809 794 78,663
June ....................... 1,489 164,761 1,224 140,687
Second Quarter ............. 3,501 371,159 3,056 332,314 1,353 264,927 44.3 79.7
July ....................... 1,511 166,857 1,335 154,342
August ..................... 708 72,844 656 69,054
September .................. 865 87,699 785 81,274
Third Quarter .............. 3,084 327,400 2,776 304,670 929 161,764 33.5 53.1
October .................... 964 98,804 820 88,133
November ................... 1,315 136,186 1,172 125,009
December ................... 2,249 254,503 2,126 244,783
Fourth Quarter ............. 4,528 489,493 4,118 457,925 1,640 330,901 39.8 72.3
2007
January .................... 1,407 134,984 1,263 124,475
February ................... 935 86,696 861 82,097
March ...................... 1,082 123,974 1,015 118,431
First Quarter .............. 3,424 345,654 3,139 325,003 1,110 199,250 35.4 61.3
April ...................... 1,219 127,444 1,115 118,040
May ........................ 923 85,816 856 81,153
June ....................... 1,599 172,810 1,318 148,669
Second Quarter ............. 3,741 386,070 3,289 347,862 1,421 259,082 43.2 74.5
July ....................... 1,599 175,419 1,450 164,939
August ..................... 963 93,458 908 88,345
September .................. 717 67,385 667 64,026
Third Quarter .............. 3,279 336,262 3,025 317,310 1,019 173,518 33.7 54.7
October .................... 1,083 108,455 929 97,716
November ................... 1,799 198,220 1,593 181,184
December ................... 2,167 224,214 2,071 216,898
Fourth Quarter ............. 5,049 530,889 4,593 495,798 1,814 346,030 39.5 69.8
2008
January .................... 1,647 154,503 1,520 144,191
February ................... 1,269 119,508 1,178 113,587
March ...................... 1,089 114,541 1,039 110,147
First Quarter .............. 4,005 388,552 3,737 367,925 (2)(p)1,111 (2)(p)165,933 (p)29.7 (p)45.1
April ...................... 1,272 130,810 1,172 121,625
May ........................ 1,552 159,471 1,438 150,462
June ....................... 1,622 166,742 1,315 140,916
Second Quarter ............. 4,446 457,023 3,925 413,003
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
June April May June June April May June
2007 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008
United States (1) ... 1,599 1,272 1,552 1,622 172,810 130,810 159,471 166,742
Northeast ................... 297 244 266 282 36,633 24,621 25,619 32,721
New England ............. 44 59 32 49 5,098 6,506 3,218 4,929
Middle Atlantic ......... 253 185 234 233 31,535 18,115 22,401 27,792
South ....................... 386 256 402 365 39,627 27,299 42,832 38,453
South Atlantic .......... 216 139 199 207 18,926 11,989 15,761 18,972
East South Central ...... 82 59 116 63 10,813 8,783 16,810 10,974
West South Central ...... 88 58 87 95 9,888 6,527 10,261 8,507
Midwest ..................... 386 330 390 345 44,703 37,169 45,462 39,391
East North Central ...... 296 267 312 257 35,106 31,172 36,332 28,549
West North Central ...... 90 63 78 88 9,597 5,997 9,130 10,842
West ........................ 530 442 494 630 51,847 41,721 45,558 56,177
Mountain ................ 67 67 62 63 5,642 7,701 5,548 4,903
Pacific ................. 463 375 432 567 46,205 34,020 40,010 51,274
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
June April May June June April May June
2007 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008 2008 2008
Total (1) ............ 1,599 1,272 1,552 1,622 172,810 130,810 159,471 166,742
Alabama ................. 19 21 35 13 2,148 2,789 4,044 2,091
Alaska .................. - 4 (2) - - 499 (2) -
Arizona ................. 16 30 9 17 1,605 4,424 872 1,520
Arkansas ................ 8 3 7 6 776 330 648 414
California .............. 416 321 382 516 40,833 28,172 34,085 44,754
Colorado ................ 11 5 8 3 978 455 930 177
Connecticut ............. 11 7 11 9 1,452 535 924 758
Delaware ................ 3 3 3 3 181 920 203 159
District of Columbia .... (2) - (2) 3 (2) - (2) 236
Florida ................. 116 65 125 132 9,348 4,130 8,841 10,751
Georgia ................. 37 29 32 32 3,641 2,606 3,170 3,304
Hawaii .................. 5 5 11 6 413 1,583 1,118 783
Idaho ................... 9 3 12 9 696 206 1,131 684
Illinois ................ 66 47 59 48 8,155 4,646 8,058 4,767
Indiana ................. 30 40 44 40 4,348 4,031 4,943 4,916
Iowa .................... 17 13 12 27 2,499 1,474 3,033 3,682
Kansas .................. 9 5 12 12 971 359 893 927
Kentucky ................ 31 21 39 26 5,288 4,651 8,666 6,706
Louisiana ............... 22 5 22 23 2,112 396 3,101 1,767
Maine ................... 6 3 - (2) 447 184 - (2)
Maryland ................ 22 6 4 8 1,999 531 318 754
Massachusetts ........... 6 18 9 17 373 1,936 946 1,467
Michigan ................ 73 65 85 61 9,041 11,156 8,139 6,323
Minnesota ............... 22 15 10 16 1,923 1,148 1,075 1,506
Mississippi ............. 9 9 18 5 725 773 1,682 300
Missouri ................ 36 24 35 28 3,217 2,205 3,298 4,320
Montana ................. 6 3 6 4 361 212 437 299
Nebraska ................ (2) 3 5 (2) (2) 453 413 (2)
Nevada .................. 11 16 14 17 942 1,558 1,057 1,323
New Hampshire ........... 4 5 5 4 581 451 384 657
New Jersey .............. 70 34 38 60 12,720 3,070 3,813 9,512
New Mexico .............. 11 4 9 8 756 316 690 465
New York ................ 47 64 95 38 5,818 7,539 9,613 3,445
North Carolina .......... 11 6 9 10 1,011 555 1,163 1,875
North Dakota ............ 3 (2) (2) 3 344 (2) (2) 248
Ohio .................... 68 67 67 55 7,301 6,951 7,621 6,678
Oklahoma ................ 4 (2) 3 6 1,375 (2) 624 502
Oregon .................. 26 20 24 24 3,507 1,563 3,449 3,863
Pennsylvania ............ 136 87 101 135 12,997 7,506 8,975 14,835
Rhode Island ............ 10 11 3 11 1,541 1,641 243 1,141
South Carolina .......... 7 22 11 12 652 2,563 809 1,139
South Dakota ............ (2) (2) (2) - (2) (2) (2) -
Tennessee ............... 23 8 24 19 2,652 570 2,418 1,877
Texas ................... 54 48 55 60 5,625 5,594 5,888 5,824
Utah .................... 3 5 4 5 304 464 431 435
Vermont ................. 7 15 4 6 704 1,759 721 683
Virginia ................ 17 6 11 5 1,834 494 904 628
Washington .............. 16 25 13 21 1,452 2,203 1,211 1,874
West Virginia ........... (2) (2) 3 (2) (2) (2) 277 (2)
Wisconsin ............... 59 48 57 53 6,261 4,388 7,571 5,865
Wyoming ................. - (2) - - - (2) - -
Puerto Rico ............. 17 17 17 13 2,417 1,437 2,626 1,265
1 See footnote 1, table 3.
2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
Last Modified Date: July 23, 2008
