July 23, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Unemployment insurance claimants by region

In June 2004, a total of 134,588 workers were initial claimants for unemployment insurance benefits as a result of mass layoff events.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among the nation’s four geographic regions, the largest number of initial claims in June due to mass layoffs was reported in the West, 46,900. The South was next, with 31,374 initial claims, followed closely by the Midwest, with 31,267, and then the Northeast, with 25,047.

The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year
in all four regions. The largest decrease was in the South (-9,645), followed by the West (-6,782). 

Each of the nine geographic divisions also had over-the-year decreases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the East South Central (-5,793) and Pacific (-4,934) divisions.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program.  To learn more, see Mass Layoffs in June 2004 (PDF) (TXT), USDL 04-1329. A mass layoff event is fifty or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed against an establishment during a 5-week period.  Data are preliminary and may be revised.