Employers in Pennsylvania took 1,332 mass layoff actions in 2011 that resulted in the separation of 124,838 workers, as measured by new filings of 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. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the number of claims rose by 12,270 or 10.9 percent from the previous year’s level. Despite increasing over the year, the number of mass layoff initial claims in 2011 was still 31.6 percent below the peak of 182,524 reached in 2009.

Industry distribution

Of all the industry sectors in Pennsylvania, manufacturing experienced the most mass layoff events in 2011 with 421. (See table 1.) This sector also had the largest number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance at 37,088, or 29.7 percent of the Commonwealth’s total—more than twice the count for any other industry. The construction sector was second with 215 mass layoff events, but the 17,336 associated initial claims for unemployment insurance ranked third. Transportation and warehousing, with 164 events, ranked second in claims with 18,067, the highest annual total for this industry since the series began in 1996. Four other industry sectors also reached series highs for initial claimants in 2011. (See table A.)

Table A. Sectors reaching series highs for mass layoff initial claimants in 2011, Pennsylvania

Sector	Initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Transportation and warehousing	18,067
Accommodation and food services	9,926
Information	3,187
Local government	2,661
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	1,616

Transportation and warehousing had the largest increase in mass layoff-related initial claims over the year, up 4,711 in 2011. (See table B.) Information had the second-largest rise (2,180), followed by administrative and waste services (1,862). Two other sectors finished 2011 with at least 1,000 more initial claimants than in 2010. All five of these industries had posted over-the-year decreases in 2010; however, only two—transportation and warehousing and information—experienced increases in claims in 2011 that offset the declines from one year earlier. The largest percent increase in initial claims from 2010 to 2011 occurred in information (216.5 percent), followed by federal government (72.3 percent).

Table B. Sectors with at least 1,000 more mass layoff initial claims in 2011, Pennsylvania

Sector	Net change
	2009-10	2010-11
Transportation and warehousing	-1,814	4,711
Information	-211	2,180
Administrative and waste services	-2,664	1,862
Construction	-1,448	1,249
Retail trade	-2,277	1,178

In contrast, three sectors saw a decline in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoff events in 2011, led by professional and technical services, down 1,297 or 40.6 percent. Finance and insurance followed, down 725 (-41.9 percent), then mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, down 277 (-40.9 percent).

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims, 377,413, in 2011. Pennsylvania ranked second with 124,838, followed by New York (119,398) and Florida (79,766). Twenty-nine states experienced over-the-year decreases in total initial claims for the year, led by California (-42,396), Illinois (-19,191), and Florida (-9,010). One state, South Dakota, experienced no change in its initial claims count, while twenty states and the District of Columbia had increases in initial claims from 2010 to 2011, led by North Carolina (22,393) and Pennsylvania (12,270). In three of these states, Arkansas, Nebraska, and North Carolina, initial claims reached a series high in 2011.

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.

For personal assistance or further information on mass layoffs, as well as other Bureau data, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. 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.

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

Industry	Mass layoff events					Initial claims for unemployment insurance
	Historical data	2008	2009	2010	2011	Historical data	2008	2009	2010	2011
Total, all industries (1)		1,415	2,062	1,299	1,332		128,041	182,524	112,568	124,838
Total private (1)		1,394	2,031	1,262	1,282		125,461	179,776	108,336	119,015
Total private nonfarm (1)		1,393	2,028	1,260	1,281		125,413	179,546	108,212	118,941
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (1)		8	23	7	4		558	1,795	677	400
Mining, except oil and gas		7	18	7	(3)		491	1,498	677	(3)
Construction		215	242	203	215		16,276	17,535	16,087	17,336
Construction of buildings		25	27	21	22		1,683	2,073	1,737	1,630
Heavy and civil engineering construction		86	94	93	115		7,173	6,829	8,252	10,279
Specialty trade contractors		104	121	89	78		7,420	8,633	6,098	5,427
Manufacturing (1)		627	1,003	440	421		60,045	92,719	36,324	37,088
Food		68	74	60	68		7,394	7,110	5,248	8,167
Beverage and tobacco products		12	8	4	6		751	544	294	355
Textile mills		9	17	7	8		611	1,305	549	563
Textile product mills (2)		8	(3)	5	(3)		878	(3)	496	(3)
Apparel (2)		29	31	20	14		2,165	2,428	1,347	908
Wood products		94	88	56	53		7,839	7,019	3,762	3,896
Paper		14	26	8	12		1,075	1,607	521	732
Printing and related support activities		14	29	14	14		1,351	3,048	1,157	1,537
Petroleum and coal products		(3)	(3)	5	(3)		(3)	(3)	368	(3)
Chemicals		9	20	(3)	7		565	1,525	(3)	619
Plastics and rubber products (2)		45	54	20	26		3,653	4,156	1,461	1,919
Nonmetallic mineral products		32	41	28	23		2,554	3,225	2,373	1,999
Primary metals		38	132	45	37		4,153	12,969	3,852	2,857
Fabricated metal products		92	161	52	48		8,257	13,700	4,313	4,094
Machinery (2)		17	85	14	15		2,297	8,197	1,659	1,144
Computer and electronic products		28	42	16	18		2,830	4,223	1,471	1,452
Electrical equipment and appliances		10	35	6	8		1,247	3,195	412	835
Transportation equipment (2)		55	77	35	25		6,138	10,742	2,960	2,557
Furniture and related products (2)		35	51	33	25		4,567	5,087	2,846	2,088
Miscellaneous manufacturing (2)		12	19	(3)	10		1,292	1,478	(3)	991
Wholesale trade (1)		19	48	18	21		1,891	6,517	1,443	1,566
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods		5	26	7	(3)		631	2,626	414	(3)
Electronic markets and agents and brokers		11	19	9	12		1,065	3,669	918	831
Retail trade (1)		96	129	107	103		8,477	12,549	10,272	11,450
Building material and garden supply stores		10	9	10	6		1,025	879	1,079	615
Food and beverage stores		24	27	28	23		1,725	2,006	2,245	1,998
Health and personal care stores		(3)	5	(3)	7		(3)	335	(3)	438
Gasoline stations		(3)	9	5	7		(3)	602	334	473
Clothing and clothing accessory stores		11	12	5	5		819	959	389	294
Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores		5	11	6	7		377	893	406	667
General merchandise stores		30	36	37	37		3,383	5,381	4,463	6,110
Nonstore retailers		4	9	8	6		313	806	785	527
Transportation and warehousing (1)		146	185	147	164		14,663	15,170	13,356	18,067
Truck transportation		14	23	11	6		983	2,008	770	386
Transit and ground passenger transportation		94	116	106	123		10,569	9,346	9,780	14,868
Support activities for transportation		4	4	6	(3)		238	284	418	(3)
Warehousing and storage		21	30	16	24		1,513	2,408	1,267	1,867
Information (1)		11	17	15	17		683	1,218	1,007	3,187
Publishing industries, except Internet		(3)	11	7	(3)		(3)	774	464	(3)
Telecommunications (2)		8	6	7	6		521	444	464	2,449
Finance and insurance (1) (2)		13	19	22	13		921	1,672	1,731	1,006
Credit intermediation and related services		9	11	11	9		631	866	946	776
Insurance carriers and related activities		(3)	5	8	(3)		(3)	552	528	(3)
Real estate and rental and leasing (2)		(3)	(3)	5	(3)		(3)	(3)	308	(3)
Professional and technical services (2)		34	36	34	20		3,133	2,913	3,194	1,897
Administrative and waste services (1) (2)		103	143	111	129		7,877	10,687	8,023	9,885
Administrative and support services (2)		103	140	111	126		7,877	10,535	8,023	9,673
Educational services		11	12	6	(3)		1,644	1,207	641	(3)
Health care and social assistance		35	59	51	57		2,439	4,342	4,159	4,256
Ambulatory health care services		5	(3)	9	10		362	(3)	697	895
Hospitals		8	22	15	7		652	1,753	1,673	470
Nursing and residential care facilities		8	(3)	8	13		524	(3)	577	990
Social assistance		14	24	19	27		901	1,605	1,212	1,901
Arts, entertainment, and recreation		17	21	22	21		1,011	1,561	1,602	1,616
Performing arts and spectator sports		9	9	11	12		497	658	725	688
Amusements, gambling, and recreation		8	12	11	9		514	903	877	928
Accommodation and food services		54	69	64	76		5,534	8,219	8,981	9,926
Accommodations		22	31	23	25		1,457	2,639	1,608	1,692
Food services and drinking places		32	38	41	51		4,077	5,580	7,373	8,234
Other services, except public administration (1)		(3)	9	6	6		(3)	488	305	393
Repair and maintenance		(3)	(3)	(3)	5		(3)	(3)	(3)	315
Government		21	31	37	50		2,580	2,748	4,232	5,823
Federal		2	5	3	5		126	673	465	801
State		7	13	18	16		539	1,026	1,731	2,361
Local		12	13	16	29		1,915	1,049	2,036	2,661
Footnotes (1) Total includes industries not shown 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