Employers in Missouri took 375 mass layoff actions in 2011 that resulted in the separation of 32,823 workers, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that though the number of mass layoff events in 2011 dropped from the previous year, the resulting initial claims rose slightly. Still, the number of claims in 2011 was the third-lowest recorded in the state since 1996 when annual data first became available.

Industry distribution

Of all the industry sectors in Missouri, manufacturing experienced the most mass layoff events in 2011 with 98. (See table 1.) This sector also had the largest number of initial claimants at 9,800, accounting for 29.9 percent of the state's total. (See chart 1.) Even though manufacturing accounted for the largest number of Missouri's initial claimants in 2011, it was the second-lowest count recorded for this industry since the inception of the series in 1996. Administrative and waste services had the second-highest mass layoff count, 48, but the 3,346 associated claims for unemployment insurance ranked fourth in the state. Accommodation and food services had the next largest number of events, 41, resulting in 4,385 claimants, second highest in the state, followed by retail trade with 38 events that led to 3,493 associated claims. Together, these four industry sectors accounted for almost two-thirds of the claimants in Missouri.

Construction had the largest decrease in mass layoff-related claims from 2010 to 2011 declining by 1,491. Declines in other sectors, including transportation and warehousing, local government, and information, were less than 500. Of these four sectors, only transportation and warehousing had registered a decrease in the number of initial claims in 2010. (See table A.) On a percentage basis, construction also experienced the largest decrease in annual claims from 2010 to 2011, down 47.3 percent, followed by information (-31.8 percent), and professional and business services (-29.4 percent).

Table A. Sectors with at least 250 fewer mass layoff initial claims in 2011, Missouri

Sector	Net change from 2009–10	Net change from 2010–11
Construction	14	-1,491
Transportation and warehousing	-1,850	-463
Local government	161	-318
Information	72	-265

Seven industry sectors registered increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoff events in 2011. One of these sectors, accommodation and food services, recorded a series high of 4,385 claims. Two additional sectors—retail trade (3,493 claims) and state government (467 claims)—reported the second-highest levels in the history of these series.

Among the states, California recorded the greatest number of mass layoff initial claims during 2011 with 377,413, followed by Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, and Wisconsin. Twenty-nine states experienced over-the-year decreases in total initial claims for the year. The largest declines in claims occurred in California (-42,396), Illinois (-19,191), and Florida (-9,010).

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; Federal Relay Service: (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 administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For temporary help and professional employer organization industries, monthly MLS-related statistics generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client companies in other industries. An individual layoff action at a client company can be small, but when initial claimants associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a mass layoff event may trigger.

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.

Additional information

For personal assistance or further information on the Mass Layoffs Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mountain-Plains Information Office at (816) 285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, Missouri, selected sectors, annual totals

Industry	Mass layoff events				Initial claims for unemployment insurance
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2008	2009	2010	2011
Total, all industries (1)	433	551	420	375	43,451	54,046	32,586	32,823
Total private	415	528	389	348	41,909	51,989	30,173	30,292
Total private nonfarm	415	527	389	348	41,909	51,941	30,173	30,292
Mining quarrying and oil and gas extraction	3	5	5	3	310	470	289	247
Mining except oil and gas	(3)	(3)	5	3	(3)	(3)	289	247
Construction	47	50	53	28	2,900	3,136	3,150	1,659
Construction of buildings	10	14	10	8	624	971	676	479
Heavy and civil engineering construction	13	14	20	14	925	924	1,142	819
Specialty trade contractors	24	22	23	6	1,351	1,241	1,332	361
Manufacturing	162	221	95	98	21,355	25,414	7,817	9,800
Food	13	17	17	22	1,029	1,136	1,332	1,510
Apparel (2)	(3)	6	(3)	5	(3)	290	(3)	289
Chemicals	(3)	9	5	(3)	(3)	1,044	605	(3)
Plastics and rubber products (2)	9	18	3	11	730	2,097	314	780
Nonmetallic mineral products	5	7	(3)	3	390	359	(3)	130
Fabricated metal products	11	18	7	7	952	1,528	580	1,185
Machinery (2)	11	26	11	10	870	3,275	1,096	1,222
Transportation equipment (2)	53	55	21	18	12,460	10,339	1,541	3,008
Miscellaneous manufacturing (2)	(3)	5	5	(3)	(3)	254	406	(3)
Retail trade	21	33	32	38	2,065	2,952	3,262	3,493
Building material and garden supply stores	(3)	6	6	5	(3)	364	367	278
Food and beverage stores	-	(3)	4	7	-	(3)	300	475
Gasoline stations	5	(3)	5	(3)	331	(3)	338	(3)
General merchandise stores	9	12	11	11	1,093	1,330	1,630	1,554
Nonstore retailers	(3)	(3)	4	(3)	(3)	(3)	531	(3)
Transportation and warehousing	34	38	31	24	3,499	4,729	2,879	2,416
Truck transportation	10	15	6	(3)	654	1,043	462	(3)
Transit and ground passenger transportation	21	20	20	20	2,612	3,517	2,017	2,141
Information	(3)	13	13	9	(3)	762	834	569
Publishing industries except Internet	(3)	7	6	(3)	(3)	404	446	(3)
Finance and insurance (2)	8	13	8	(3)	555	1,488	386	(3)
Credit intermediation and related activities	6	8	4	(3)	373	1,185	181	(3)
Professional and technical services (2)	5	8	7	5	322	646	592	418
Administrative and waste services (2)	41	58	48	48	2,821	4,091	3,095	3,346
Administrative and support services (2)	41	58	48	48	2,821	4,091	3,095	3,346
Health care and social assistance	16	18	22	20	1,338	1,458	1,588	1,564
Hospitals	-	4	7	(3)	-	242	439	(3)
Social assistance	15	13	14	18	1,281	1,152	1,107	1,454
Arts entertainment and recreation	17	13	12	14	1,288	1,276	772	1,068
Performing arts and spectator sports	10	5	5	9	529	304	313	515
Amusements gambling and recreation	7	8	7	(3)	759	972	459	(3)
Accommodation and food services	39	39	45	41	3,843	4,314	4,234	4,385
Accommodations	5	9	8	6	258	597	464	333
Food services and drinking places	34	30	37	35	3,585	3,717	3,770	4,052
Other services except public administration	7	6	8	9	501	374	523	585
Membership associations and organizations	7	6	8	9	501	374	523	585
Government	18	23	31	27	1,542	2,057	2,413	2,531
Federal	7	5	8	9	789	555	616	1,132
State	5	7	8	7	302	413	547	467
Local	6	11	15	11	451	1,089	1,250	932
Footnotes: (1) Total includes all industries including those not listed in the table. (2) Data beginning in 2008 are not strictly comparable to prior years due to a change in NAICS versions. (3) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.

Last Modified Date: March 7, 2012