November 26, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Initial claims for unemployment insurance by region, October 2004

Among the four regions, the West reported the highest number of initial claims for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs in October—44,250.

[Chart data—TXT]

Motion picture and sound recording industries, administrative and support services, and food manufacturing accounted for 32 percent of all mass-layoff initial claims in that region during October. 

The Midwest region was the next largest, with 35,859 initial claims, followed by the South, with 30,246, and the Northeast, with 17,419.

Among the states reporting data this month, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in October. 

Five States—California, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania—accounted for 54 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance in October. 

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for October 2004 are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs in October 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-2392.