U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

SEPTEMBER 2013 REPORT 1043

BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov 1

Extended Mass Layoffs in 2012

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts 

the Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program to 

provide information on large-scale layoff events 

and the characteristics of the dislocated workers. This 

report summarizes data on extended mass layoffs for 2012. 

The MLS program defines an extended mass layoff event

as the filing of 50 or more initial claims for unemployment

insurance benefits against an employer during a 5-week

period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30

days. Since 2004, the scope of the layoff data series was 

redefined to include only the private nonfarm economy.

(See the technical notes section for additional information 

on the concepts and definitions used in this report.)

In 2012, employers initiated 6,500 extended mass layoff

events that resulted in the separation of more than 1.25

million workers. As indicated in table 1, the number of 

layoff events in 2012 decreased to its lowest level since 

2007, while the number of associated separations 

increased to exceed the numbers reported for the 2 

previous years. Fifteen of 18 major industry sectors 

Contents

Industry distribution of extended mass layoffs ................2

Reasons for layoff and recall expectations ......................2

Demographics and characteristics of claimants affected 

by extended mass layoffs .................................................2

Geographic distribution of extended mass layoffs .........2

Chart 1: Extended mass layoff separations, by reason 

categories, 2002–2012 .....................................................3

Statistical tables ...............................................................5

Technical notes ...............................................................23

Mass Layoffs Data Discontinued

On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the-board spending cuts (commonly referred to 

as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million (5 percent of the current 

2013 appropriation), by September 30, 2013. To help achieve these savings and to protect core programs, BLS eliminated two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all “measuring green jobs” products. 
2 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

registered over-the-year increases in the numbers of separations in 2012, with the largest increases coming from the 

information, administrative and waste services, and retail 

trade sectors. However, layoff events and separations in the 

manufacturing sector declined to their lowest levels since BLS 

began recording annual MLS data in 1996. (See table 2.)

In 2012, 35 states had lower numbers of laid-off workers

than they did in 2011. Fifty-seven percent of all private 

nonfarm employers reporting an extended mass layoff in 

2012 indicated they anticipated some recall of dislocated 

workers, up from 55 percent in 2011. In 2012, the average

national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent; in 2011, it 

was 8.9 percent. Private nonfarm payroll employment 

increased by 2.2 percent (about 2.4 million jobs), from 

2011 to 2012.

Industry distribution of extended 

mass layoffs

Fifteen of 18 major industry sectors registered over-theyear increases in the numbers of separations in 2012, 

with the largest increases coming from the information, 

administrative and waste services, and retail trade sectors. 

Among all sectors, firms in administrative and waste

services accounted for the largest number of separations 

due to extended mass layoffs in 2012. This represents the 

first occurrence in the Mass Layoffs program history that

an industry other than manufacturing has recorded the 

greatest number of worker separations (annual data began 

in 1996). (See table 2.)

In 2012, layoff events and separations in the manufacturing sector declined to their lowest levels in program 

history. Similarly, the numbers of laid-off workers in 13 of 

the 21 manufacturing subsectors decreased from the 2011 

levels, with the largest declines occurring in plastics and 

rubber products, apparel, and paper. The largest increases 

in separations within the manufacturing sector were 

reported in food and in petroleum and coal products.

Reasons for layoff and recall 

expectations 

Among all economic reasons for layoff in 2012, business 

demand factors accounted for 37 percent of the separations 

associated with extended mass layoffs, followed by the 

completion of seasonal work (32 percent). The number 

of workers separated because of contract completion 

increased from 249,227 in 2011 to 357,518 in 2012—the

largest increase among all reasons for layoff. (See table 4 

and chart 1.)

Fifty-seven percent of the private nonfarm employers 

reporting an extended mass layoff in 2012 indicated they 

anticipated recalling some dislocated workers, up from 55

percent a year earlier. Of those employers anticipating a 

recall, 30 percent indicated the offer would be extended to 

all displaced workers and 66 percent anticipated extending 

the offer to at least half the employees. Among those 

employers expecting to recall laid-off workers, 63 percent 

intended to do so within 6 months. Excluding extended 

mass layoff events due to seasonal work and vacation 

periods, in which employers expected to recall 93 percent 

of the workers, employers anticipated recalling the laidoff workers in 38 percent of the events. (See table 12.) 

However, in spite of the increasing expectation of recall, 

the time-frame for the recall has been trending upward, 

while the proportion of workers expected to be recalled has 

been trending downward for several years. (See table 12.)

In 2012, 8 percent of extended mass layoff events were 

permanent worksite closures, affecting 10 percent of all 

separated workers (121,972 workers in total), with both 

figures up slightly from the prior year. Closure-related

worker separations were mostly attributable to financial

issues (53,671), business demand reasons (26,739), and

organizational changes (26,659). (See table 14.) During the

year, the manufacturing and information sectors had the 

largest increases in closure-related separations. (See table 

15.)

Demographics and characteristics 

of claimants affected by extended 

mass layoffs

Of the more than 1.3 million initial claimants for 

unemployment insurance associated with extended mass 

layoff events in 2012, 40 percent were women, essentially 

unchanged from the prior year. Thirty-three percent 

of initial claimants associated with layoff events were 
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 3

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

between the ages of 30 and 44, and 20 percent were 55 or

older; both percentages essentially unchanged from the 

prior year. (See tables 5 and 7.) To put these percentages

into context, in the total civilian labor force in 2012, 47 

percent were women, 32 percent were between the ages of 

30 and 44, and 21 percent were 55 or older.

The average duration of insured unemployment associated 

with extended mass layoffs in the private nonfarm sector in 

2012 was 1.8 months (as measured by the average number 

of continued claims for unemployment insurance filed

for the weeks that followed the initial claim and included 

the 12th day of the month). Among the 18 major industry 

sectors, claimants laid off from the finance and insurance

sector experienced the longest average duration of insured 

joblessness (2.8 months), unchanged from the prior 

year, and claimants laid off from the information sector 

experienced the shortest period (1.3 months). Claimants in 

the utilities and management of companies sectors had the 

largest increases in average duration of joblessness (+0.5

months), and claimants in the real estate, rental and leasing 

sector had the largest decline (-0.4 months). (See table 9.)

Year

Chart 1

Extended mass layoff separations, by reason categories, 2002–20121

- 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Disaster/safety

Production specific

Financial issues

Organizational changes

Business demand

Seasonal

1 The chart excludesinformation on layoffs due to other/miscellaneous reasons.

Source: Bureau of labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics Program.

- 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Disaster/safety

1 The chart excludesinformation on layoffs due to other/miscellaneous reasons.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Separation
4 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Of the seven economic reason-for-layoff groups, claimants 

who were laid off because of financial issues reported the

longest jobless duration (2.8 months), and the shortest 

duration occurred due to disaster and safety factors (1.4 

months). Fifteen percent of claimants associated with 

extended mass layoff events exhausted their unemployment 

insurance benefits in 2012, down slightly from 16 percent

in 2011. (See table 9.)

Geographic distribution of extended 

mass layoffs

In 2012, 23 states reported increased numbers of laid-off 

workers, led by California (+159,803). (See table 17.)

Among the four Census regions, separations associated 

with extended mass layoff events increased in the 

Northeast and West and decreased in the Midwest and 

South. Among the nine Census divisions, the highest 

numbers of separations were in the Pacific and Middle

Atlantic. (See table 16.)

Eighty-six percent of the initial claimants associated 

with extended mass layoff events in 2012 resided within 

metropolitan areas. Among the 372 metropolitan areas, Los 

Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana, CA, reported the highest 

number of initial claimants residing in the area (275,404),

as well as the largest increase in the level of claims from 

2011 to 2012 (+72,835). Six of the 10 largest over-theyear increases in residential initial claimants were located 

in California. During 2012, the Atlanta-Sandy SpringsMarietta, GA metropolitan area recorded the largest decline 

(-3,559) in the number of residential initial claimants

associated with extended mass layoff events. (See table 11.)
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 5

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Statistical Tables
6 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Year/quarter Layoff events1 Separations1 Initial claimants for 

unemployment insurance1

2004

First quarter ........................................................................ 1,339 276,503 238,392

Second quarter .................................................................. 1,358 278,831 254,063

Third quarter ........................................................................ 886 164,608 148,575

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 1,427 273,967 262,049

 Total .............................................................................. 5,010 993,909 903,079

2005

First quarter ........................................................................ 1,142 186,506 185,486

Second quarter .................................................................. 1,203 246,099 212,673

Third quarter ........................................................................ 1,136 201,878 190,186

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 1,400 250,178 246,188

 Total .............................................................................. 4,881 884,661 834,533

2006

First quarter ........................................................................ 963 183,089 193,510

Second quarter ..................................................................... 1,353 295,964 264,927

Third quarter ........................................................................ 929 160,254 161,764

Fourth quarter ...................................................................... 1,640 296,662 330,954

 Total .............................................................................. 4,885 935,969 951,155

2007

First quarter ........................................................................ 1,110 225,600 199,250

Second quarter ................................................................... 1,421 278,719 259,234

Third quarter ........................................................................ 1,018 160,024 173,077

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 1,814 301,592 347,151

 Total .............................................................................. 5,363 965,935 978,712

2008

First quarter ........................................................................ 1,340 230,098 259,292

Second quarter .................................................................. 1,756 354,713 339,630

Third quarter ........................................................................ 1,581 290,453 304,340

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 3,582 641,714 766,780

 Total .............................................................................. 8,259 1,516,978 1,670,042

2009

First quarter ........................................................................ 3,979 705,141 835,551

Second quarter .................................................................. 3,395 651,318 731,049

Third quarter ........................................................................ 2,034 345,531 406,823

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 2,416 406,212 468,577

 Total .............................................................................. 11,824 2,108,202 2,442,000

2010

First quarter ....................................................................... 1,870 314,512 368,664

Second quarter ................................................................... 2,008 381,622 396,441

Third quarter ...................................................................... 1,370 222,357 260,077

Fourth quarter .................................................................... 1,999 338,643 390,584

 Total .............................................................................. 7,247 1,257,134 1,415,766

2011

First quarter ....................................................................... 1,490 225,456 258,220

Second quarter .................................................................. 1,810 317,546 342,530

Third quarter ........................................................................ 1,393 235,325 291,066

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 1,903 334,383 403,457

 Total .............................................................................. 6,596 1,112,710 1,295,273

2012

First quarter ....................................................................... 1,294 246,956 291,174

Second quarter .................................................................. 1,959 385,983 383,492

Third quarter ........................................................................ 1,124 199,781 228,818

Fourth quarter ..................................................................... 2,123 424,492 432,792

 Total .............................................................................. 6,500 1,257,212 1,336,276

1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Table 1. Numbers of extended mass layoff events, separations, and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private 

nonfarm sector, 2004–2012 
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 7

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012

Total, private nonfarm1 .......................................................... 7,247 6,596 6,500 1,257,134 1,112,710 1,257,212 1,415,766 1,295,273 1,336,276

 Mining ..................................................................... 59 44 85 7,940 5,891 10,717 8,246 5,713 10,303

 Utilities .................................................................. 17 10 18 2,795 1,593 3,222 3,266 1,811 4,060

 Construction ............................................................ 1,623 1,377 1,269 197,437 169,597 167,121 251,696 209,564 199,811

 Manufacturing ......................................................... 1,412 1,196 1,050 224,182 198,297 180,352 259,238 218,976 186,194

 Food .................................................................. 298 302 285 57,468 57,118 61,570 60,593 58,084 62,857

 Beverage and tobacco products .............................. 26 29 23 6,811 4,320 2,810 4,767 6,002 2,687

 Textile mills ......................................................... 11 18 ( 2 ) 2,011 5,636 ( 2 ) 4,458 10,915 ( 2 ) Textile product mills ................................................ 13 ( 2 ) 15 1,667 ( 2 ) 2,052 2,464 ( 2 ) 3,115

 Apparel ............................................................... 39 26 22 5,800 7,519 3,916 6,743 8,685 4,227

 Leather and allied products .................................... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 233 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 283 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Wood products ...................................................... 63 43 27 7,468 6,343 3,088 12,035 7,679 2,893

 Paper .................................................................. 33 38 18 4,431 6,682 3,104 4,713 5,270 2,314

 Printing and related support activities ........................ 48 41 33 5,934 4,657 4,210 7,828 5,884 4,174

 Petroleum and coal products .................................... 24 20 28 3,187 2,348 4,787 3,801 2,842 3,609

 Chemicals ............................................................ 53 43 35 7,109 6,119 7,024 7,426 6,163 4,546

 Plastics and rubber products .................................... 44 43 36 4,193 7,241 3,357 5,180 5,851 3,155

 Nonmetallic mineral products .................................... 113 87 67 12,843 10,008 8,630 15,246 11,443 9,929

 Primary metal ...................................................... 62 33 32 9,821 4,873 6,598 9,676 4,902 6,238

 Fabricated metal products ....................................... 76 57 59 9,459 7,294 6,392 12,554 8,256 8,124

 Machinery ............................................................ 105 65 80 17,774 12,305 13,507 22,594 13,402 15,062

 Computer and electronic products .............................. 99 74 84 14,717 11,973 11,611 16,467 10,341 10,235

 Electrical equipment and appliance ........................... 35 23 14 4,894 4,254 2,329 6,018 4,875 2,669

 Transportation equipment ....................................... 188 167 132 35,809 29,081 25,810 43,374 35,948 30,840

 Furniture and related products ................................. 40 37 20 6,894 4,326 2,453 7,848 4,701 2,227

 Miscellaneous manufacturing .................................... 39 35 28 5,659 3,910 4,284 5,170 4,201 3,822

 Wholesale trade ...................................................... 149 121 146 17,274 15,528 20,759 17,328 15,130 18,058

 Retail trade ............................................................... 479 409 441 122,579 87,589 107,480 153,096 99,627 115,213

 Transportation and warehousing ................................. 486 367 380 95,571 72,367 77,347 105,110 75,463 71,038

 Information ............................................................... 220 286 307 54,082 75,641 128,168 76,269 124,697 162,701

 Finance and insurance ................................................ 251 182 129 47,888 29,490 25,596 53,446 39,434 26,002

 Real estate and rental and leasing .............................. 68 58 38 10,035 8,270 8,537 9,575 9,770 7,488

 Professional and technical services .............................. 298 325 318 58,798 60,064 70,567 63,328 75,818 75,368

 Management of companies and enterprises .................. 30 27 32 5,338 3,245 4,753 4,815 3,918 4,642

 Administrative and waste services ................................. 747 848 947 150,181 164,258 202,435 173,511 202,809 241,941

 Educational services ................................................ 87 80 97 11,817 9,942 12,635 13,284 11,875 13,300

 Health care and social assistance ................................. 384 397 378 48,504 47,763 55,093 49,257 48,463 47,348

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation .............................. 228 238 242 48,590 42,407 49,655 34,026 36,408 36,313

 Accommodation and food services .............................. 564 503 484 135,178 105,579 113,111 120,809 98,161 97,612

 Other services, except public administration .................. 145 126 124 18,945 15,005 17,926 19,466 17,390 17,108

 Unclassified ............................................................ – 2 15 – 184 1,738 – 246 1,776

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Industry

Layoff events Separations Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

Table 2. Industry distribution: extended mass layoff events, separations, and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private nonfarm sector, 

2010–2012
8 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Separations Rank1 Separations Rank1 Separations Rank1

 Total, private nonfarm2 ............................................. ... 1,257,134 ... 1,112,710 ... 1,257,212 ...

 Total, 50 highest industries ........................................... ... 726,587 ... 666,592 ... 841,500 ...

Temporary help services ............................................. 561320 58,669 2 94,114 1 127,284 1

Motion picture and video production .............................. 512110 30,245 6 48,952 2 100,476 2

Highway, street, and bridge construction ........................ 237310 50,292 4 46,199 3 49,283 3

Food service contractors ............................................. 722310 58,360 3 43,387 4 45,828 4

School and employee bus transportation ........................ 485410 61,612 1 41,038 5 41,966 5

Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ........................ 721110 29,742 7 25,132 6 26,386 6

Department stores, except discount .............................. 452111 11,360 24 6,538 34 22,763 7

Child day care services ............................................. 624410 18,983 12 19,766 7 19,015 8

Professional employer organizations .............................. 561330 33,908 5 16,924 10 18,740 9

Fruit and vegetable canning ....................................... 311421 20,421 10 17,840 8 18,712 10

Discount department stores ....................................... 452112 26,826 8 16,989 9 18,650 11

Supermarkets and other grocery stores ........................ 445110 19,883 11 11,153 21 18,615 12

Tax preparation services ............................................. 541213 23,971 9 15,987 11 18,553 13

Payroll services ......................................................... 541214 8,482 32 13,113 14 17,824 14

Casino hotels ............................................................ 721120 7,587 33 12,738 15 16,568 15

Power and communication system construction ............... 237130 12,643 19 15,248 12 14,884 16

Commercial bakeries ................................................ 311812 962 211 1,186 161 12,157 17

Skiing facilities ......................................................... 713920 17,154 14 12,620 16 12,126 18

Scheduled passenger air transportation ........................ 481111 2,590 89 1,919 106 11,748 19

Oil and gas pipeline construction ................................. 237120 11,568 23 12,606 17 11,567 20

Telemarketing and other contact centers ........................ 561422 11,358 25 8,872 26 11,498 21

Commercial banking ................................................... 522110 13,193 18 11,391 18 11,440 22

Amusement and theme parks ....................................... 713110 11,799 22 11,277 20 11,254 23

Nonresidential plumbing and HVAC contractors ............... 238222 12,267 20 11,363 19 10,700 24

Employment placement agencies ................................. 561311 4,101 59 7,387 29 10,031 25

Nonresidential electrical contractors .............................. 238212 17,476 13 9,586 24 9,980 26

Industrial building construction .................................... 236210 12,253 21 9,875 23 9,862 27

Commercial building construction ................................. 236220 14,572 16 13,867 13 9,477 28

Teleproduction and postproduction services .................. 512191 132 543 3,008 73 9,145 29

Full-service restaurants ............................................. 722511 14,858 15 9,516 25 8,741 30

Mail-order houses ...................................................... 454113 9,726 30 7,273 30 8,214 31

All other nonresidential trade contractors ........................ 238992 5,214 51 5,602 41 7,633 32

Landscaping services ................................................ 561730 7,482 35 7,920 28 7,610 33

Convention and trade show organizers ........................... 561920 5,490 46 4,547 53 7,393 34

Seafood product preparation and packaging .................. 311710 10,353 27 10,955 22 7,220 35

Other individual and family services .............................. 624190 6,089 41 6,535 35 6,991 36

Home centers ......................................................... 444110 14,484 17 4,231 55 6,938 37

General medical and surgical hospitals ........................... 622110 10,158 29 5,939 37 6,572 38

Nonresidential drywall contractors ................................. 238312 6,852 37 6,268 36 5,977 39

Other technical consulting services .............................. 541690 1,588 135 2,234 94 5,451 40

Nonresidential site preparation contractors ..................... 238912 5,730 44 6,557 32 4,909 41

Engineering services ................................................ 541330 3,910 63 4,128 56 4,740 42

General warehousing and storage ................................. 493110 1,904 116 5,310 43 4,727 43

All other amusement and recreation industries ............... 713990 816 234 1,226 157 ( 3 ) 44

Commercial machinery repair and maintenance ............... 811310 3,396 70 3,585 61 4,645 45

Managing offices ...................................................... 551114 5,208 52 3,034 72 4,603 46

Other social advocacy organizations .............................. 813319 4,824 54 4,344 54 4,524 47

Semiconductors and related device mfg. ........................ 334413 1,390 150 2,218 95 4,518 48

Family clothing stores ................................................ 448140 4,706 55 5,095 46 4,491 49

HMO medical centers ................................................ 621491 – – – – ( 3 ) 50

 1 Industries are ranked by number of separations in 2012.

 2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 3   Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Table 3. Industry distribution: extended mass layoff separations, private nonfarm sector, 50 highest six-digit NAICS industries,

2010–2012

Industry NAICS code

2010 2011 2012
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 9

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Initial claimants for unemployment insurance

2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm, all reasons 1 ................ 7,247 6,596 6,500 1,257,134 1,112,710 1,257,212 1,415,766 1,295,273 1,336,276

Business demand ...................................................... 2,515 2,343 2,345 384,565 366,040 461,328 510,367 528,899 583,810

 Contract cancellation .............................................. 148 117 114 23,861 17,387 23,942 25,207 20,468 18,093

 Contract completion ................................................ 1,146 1,435 1,640 193,450 249,227 357,518 263,450 380,441 476,180

 Domestic competition .............................................. 8 5 ( 2 ) 2,231 489 ( 2 ) 2,458 814 ( 2 ) Excess inventory/saturated market ......................... 13 12 15 2,055 2,974 3,281 3,359 1,410 5,341

 Import competition .................................................. 7 5 ( 2 ) 1,199 1,214 ( 2 ) 1,006 1,140 ( 2 ) Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasonal

 business slowdown ........................................... 1,193 769 565 161,769 94,749 73,880 214,887 124,626 81,865

Organizational changes ............................................. 397 313 313 79,784 56,502 71,128 80,334 53,755 51,431

 Business-ownership change ................................... 96 75 72 32,543 17,581 27,040 13,974 8,840 8,317

 Reorganization or restructuring of company ........... 301 238 241 47,241 38,921 44,088 66,360 44,915 43,114

Financial issues ......................................................... 511 415 418 86,637 76,335 85,946 104,848 78,805 77,049

 Bankruptcy .............................................................. 60 76 87 15,157 19,301 28,971 9,062 13,030 20,561

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability ......... 291 211 187 39,577 30,503 32,017 66,898 42,701 37,942

 Financial difficulty .................................................... 160 128 144 31,903 26,531 24,958 28,888 23,074 18,546

Production specific ..................................................... 54 94 75 7,830 16,180 14,313 8,576 18,559 15,179

 Automation/technological advances ....................... 9 8 10 1,002 1,104 1,613 1,246 1,258 1,935

 Energy related ......................................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) –

 Governmental regulations/intervention ................... 18 15 18 2,971 1,482 3,300 2,079 2,737 2,526

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike .............. 7 10 8 1,335 2,589 2,155 1,281 2,407 1,392

 Material or supply shortage ..................................... ( 2 ) 23 4 ( 2 ) 2,756 461 ( 2 ) 3,740 560

 Model changeover .................................................. 4 13 9 795 2,457 3,280 1,214 2,876 4,264

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance ..................... 9 14 15 1,073 3,283 1,475 1,878 2,793 2,787

 Product line discontinued ........................................ 4 ( 2 ) 11 385 ( 2 ) 2,029 463 ( 2 ) 1,715

Disaster/safety ........................................................... 24 31 45 3,202 5,046 7,900 3,225 5,128 9,484

 Hazardous work environment ................................. ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,085 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 785 ( 2 )

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ..................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Nonnatural disaster ................................................. 10 ( 2 ) 5 1,038 ( 2 ) 941 1,209 ( 2 ) 608

 Extreme weather-related event ............................... 11 21 35 1,723 3,206 5,838 1,496 3,421 7,815

Seasonal .................................................................... 2,417 2,285 2,217 429,847 392,951 402,445 442,818 409,524 390,775

 Seasonal ................................................................. 1,932 1,851 1,717 353,375 322,645 320,524 357,211 331,680 303,774

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise .......... 485 434 500 76,472 70,306 81,921 85,607 77,844 87,001

Other/miscellaneous .................................................. 1,329 1,115 1,087 265,269 199,656 214,152 265,598 200,603 208,548

 Other ....................................................................... 66 103 87 9,434 13,791 15,897 9,703 14,954 14,222

 Data not provided: Refusal ..................................... 320 268 303 80,333 63,382 67,080 80,324 63,335 66,928

 Data not provided: Does not know .......................... 943 744 697 175,502 122,483 131,175 175,571 122,314 127,398

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Reason for layoff1

Layoff events Separations

Table 4. Reason for layoff: extended mass layoff events, separations, and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private nonfarm sector, 2010–2012
10 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Percent of total

Black Hispanic

origin Women People age 55

and older

2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm1 .......... 6,596 6,500 1,295,273 1,336,276 14.5 13.7 20.1 22.1 40.2 40.0 20.2 20.4

Alabama ....................................... 41 44 10,561 9,089 47.0 48.4 2.0 3.1 50.9 55.5 16.3 19.1

Alaska .......................................... 35 35 8,604 8,125 8.0 7.2 16.1 13.9 29.2 30.6 23.4 24.9

Arizona ......................................... 67 63 12,452 10,114 8.8 8.2 38.4 43.3 52.1 52.1 17.7 18.7

Arkansas ...................................... 51 45 9,575 10,042 31.0 25.2 7.2 6.0 51.9 43.4 18.8 23.2

California ...................................... 1,868 2,141 451,374 588,039 8.1 8.7 35.3 34.1 39.9 40.1 16.6 16.7

Colorado ....................................... 49 64 6,822 9,079 4.3 5.6 29.7 26.4 38.8 34.3 19.8 20.0

Connecticut .................................. 49 47 6,953 6,920 16.7 14.3 16.3 14.3 52.3 46.7 25.0 28.8

Delaware ...................................... 20 15 3,391 1,915 42.5 47.4 9.3 8.0 44.1 62.3 18.2 26.7

District of Columbia ...................... 13 12 1,735 1,597 69.8 80.8 8.7 5.3 53.3 63.9 21.1 23.5

Florida .......................................... 219 120 36,318 18,332 20.5 29.5 27.9 29.2 46.2 54.6 24.8 26.8

Georgia ........................................ 129 79 28,526 13,529 42.4 56.1 6.0 1.6 47.2 48.1 20.2 21.4

Hawaii .......................................... 10 ( 2 ) 1,639 ( 2 ) .9 1.1 10.0 12.5 42.1 15.3 20.6 11.6

Idaho ............................................ 39 30 5,163 3,418 .2 .1 10.9 12.3 31.8 35.0 20.2 23.7

Illinois ........................................... 430 408 79,988 76,580 18.2 19.9 15.9 15.0 36.6 37.1 18.7 19.4

Indiana ......................................... 109 106 22,048 19,753 10.3 11.1 3.0 2.6 28.1 28.3 18.3 20.0

Iowa .............................................. 34 27 7,239 4,440 5.1 7.0 4.4 6.7 38.5 38.0 26.1 27.5

Kansas ......................................... 41 38 5,173 7,024 12.5 14.3 4.7 4.0 45.4 40.3 24.0 23.6

Kentucky ...................................... 100 107 11,810 13,601 13.1 12.5 .2 .1 34.5 33.2 16.9 20.2

Louisiana ...................................... 95 78 14,440 11,527 50.1 54.5 4.1 4.7 44.8 50.4 24.3 27.3

Maine ........................................... 29 31 3,930 4,481 1.0 2.7 .4 .9 35.9 36.4 27.8 26.3

Maryland

3

 ...................................... 70 105 9,733 14,766 48.9 29.4 2.3 1.4 45.6 44.9 22.4 25.7

Massachusetts ............................. 76 74 10,766 12,005 11.1 13.2 1.1 1.1 49.5 48.7 23.5 22.8

Michigan ....................................... 160 149 26,185 25,928 12.4 14.8 5.0 4.1 39.7 36.4 19.7 21.1

Minnesota ..................................... 127 123 19,154 16,519 5.6 3.9 6.8 7.0 21.2 20.4 19.8 20.6

Mississippi .................................... 40 30 5,102 3,432 72.9 59.1 2.3 5.0 48.1 43.6 15.3 21.0

Missouri ........................................ 122 115 19,079 18,703 21.4 20.6 1.9 2.1 54.6 48.8 28.1 28.1

Montana ....................................... 26 28 2,663 3,036 0.5 0.7 3.8 4.0 30.5 31.4 23.4 26.2

Nebraska ...................................... 25 15 2,895 1,991 8.6 11.7 8.7 7.4 34.1 42.3 28.5 36.9

Nevada ......................................... 60 92 12,194 20,761 9.6 9.9 27.2 28.3 39.4 41.3 21.3 22.7

New Hampshire ............................ 14 21 2,084 2,650 0.8 0.6 2.5 3.8 45.3 42.8 31.3 31.7

New Jersey .................................. 251 231 43,843 44,534 20.6 19.1 8.8 12.5 52.8 56.7 27.9 30.4

New Mexico .................................. 43 40 5,210 4,944 1.8 1.9 49.6 49.6 43.6 39.4 18.2 21.1

New York ...................................... 472 441 89,975 75,860 14.8 17.2 14.5 18.3 41.4 43.4 23.3 24.9

North Carolina .............................. 91 54 21,336 8,163 40.8 39.9 9.1 7.2 41.4 36.7 21.8 22.9

North Dakota ................................ 13 17 1,816 2,409 0.8 1.5 4.2 4.4 10.9 9.5 23.1 24.0

Ohio .............................................. 276 266 47,076 39,849 11.9 13.2 3.7 3.5 29.8 29.6 20.2 21.0

Oklahoma ..................................... 25 23 3,108 2,574 14.9 8.4 6.6 7.3 45.5 45.0 21.5 21.8

Oregon ......................................... 103 106 24,346 21,071 2.3 2.2 22.2 20.7 45.5 44.5 21.3 21.0

Pennsylvania ................................ 365 344 66,794 63,295 10.1 9.7 4.6 4.5 39.0 34.6 27.6 27.5

Rhode Island ................................ 18 14 2,891 2,234 3.5 3.9 15.1 16.8 69.5 64.4 36.1 31.4

South Carolina ............................. 38 38 6,505 6,046 62.9 52.3 3.5 1.8 56.3 50.5 19.5 21.0

South Dakota ............................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4.7 8.5 11.8 3.4 74.8 22.0 22.0 6.8

Tennessee ................................... 80 60 15,711 10,887 26.7 21.4 .1 – 46.4 39.8 30.6 29.1

Texas ........................................... 144 148 33,092 35,262 17.0 18.9 44.4 45.6 33.8 31.4 16.7 15.5

Utah .............................................. 37 30 4,973 4,594 1.3 1.2 13.7 13.0 25.9 18.5 14.4 14.7

Vermont ........................................ 27 12 3,926 1,942 1.0 .8 .4 .5 45.5 32.3 25.3 20.8

Virginia ......................................... 99 78 19,573 16,774 44.9 43.3 4.8 5.0 47.9 45.6 19.5 21.6

Washington .................................. 137 154 25,181 23,284 5.1 6.7 18.8 16.5 35.2 35.1 18.6 19.2

West Virginia ................................ 23 26 3,251 3,291 .2 .3 – .2 7.5 17.6 13.5 24.8

Wisconsin ..................................... 199 162 37,853 29,943 7.9 7.7 7.3 8.0 34.3 37.6 23.4 25.3

Wyoming ...................................... ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) 1,121 1.3 2.0 5.2 9.4 33.5 31.6 21.2 20.7

Puerto Rico .................................. 64 56 18,628 14,365 .1 .1 99.4 99.4 57.5 55.2 9.5 9.5

1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 3 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to improvements in state MLS data processing.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

State Layoff events Total initial claimants for 

unemployment insurance

Table 5. State and selected claimant characteristics: extended mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private 

nonfarm sector, 2011–2012
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 11

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Percent of total race/ethnicity1

White Black Hispanic

origin

American Indian or 

Alaska Native

Asian or Pacific 

Islander

2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm2 ......................................................... 54.6 52.8 14.5 13.7 20.1 22.1 .8 .8 3.4 3.5

Industry

Mining .............................................................................. 80.2 77.8 2.1 2.7 5.5 6.8 3.3 2.3 .5 .6

Utilities .............................................................................. 81.9 62.0 7.6 11.2 4.7 13.8 .5 .8 1.9 3.6

Construction ........................................................................ 68.4 69.0 6.3 5.9 19.3 19.5 1.0 1.1 .8 .9

Manufacturing ..................................................................... 53.1 53.6 15.0 13.8 20.3 20.2 .7 .7 5.3 5.5

Wholesale trade .................................................................. 46.8 49.1 15.5 12.6 26.9 27.5 .3 .5 3.1 3.6

Retail trade ........................................................................ 52.6 44.7 18.9 17.8 17.5 22.9 .7 .7 2.6 2.8

Transportation and warehousing ............................................. 54.7 53.0 23.3 21.7 13.3 16.7 .5 .6 2.0 2.1

Information ........................................................................ 69.9 71.8 8.8 7.8 10.0 9.7 .5 .6 3.3 3.2

Finance and insurance ......................................................... 45.4 42.6 17.7 16.6 19.8 21.5 .5 .5 7.5 7.7

Real estate and rental and leasing .......................................... 55.9 48.3 14.5 14.4 13.4 23.5 2.3 4.6 2.8 1.8

Professional and technical services .......................................... 63.0 62.1 11.0 11.3 12.8 14.6 .7 .7 4.0 3.8

Management of companies and enterprises .............................. 51.4 59.3 15.0 16.7 20.0 12.7 .4 .5 7.5 5.3

Administrative and waste services .......................................... 37.5 32.4 15.7 15.3 34.4 38.7 .8 .8 4.2 4.0

Educational services ............................................................ 43.6 39.7 21.9 21.0 19.7 23.2 .5 .6 5.1 4.9

Health care and social assistance .......................................... 41.5 39.7 22.3 22.5 25.3 25.9 .9 .8 3.3 2.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation .......................................... 59.1 59.7 14.5 13.1 16.1 16.6 .6 .6 2.3 2.7

Accommodation and food services .......................................... 49.9 47.3 19.8 19.3 18.7 20.8 .8 .7 3.7 4.9

Other services, except public administration .............................. 45.8 46.8 26.4 26.1 16.8 16.5 1.3 1.4 2.4 2.8

Unclassified establishments ................................................... 41.1 22.3 15.4 6.3 28.9 59.9 2.4 .6 4.9 3.2

Reason for layoff

Business demand ........................................................................... 56.6 53.9 11.6 10.9 21.7 23.9 .7 .8 3.0 3.3

 Contract cancellation ................................................................... 41.3 45.2 20.2 21.0 25.9 19.6 1.3 1.2 3.9 4.0

 Contract completion ..................................................................... 56.5 52.9 9.2 9.4 23.6 26.2 .8 .8 3.2 3.4

 Domestic competition .................................................................. 51.2 63.7 33.5 15.9 11.8 15.3 .5 .1 .4 1.2

 Excess inventory/saturated market ............................................. 54.5 66.5 19.2 17.6 19.4 5.2 .3 .7 .6 .4

 Import competition ....................................................................... 66.6 78.8 16.8 5.8 4.1 3.7 .6 – 9.6 –

 Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasona

 business slowdown ................................................................ 59.3 60.4 17.3 16.9 15.2 13.1 .6 .7 2.4 2.9

Organizational changes .................................................................. 50.2 50.9 16.7 17.3 18.4 17.2 .5 .5 5.9 5.7

 Business-ownership change ........................................................ 48.9 54.0 19.2 15.1 18.1 18.1 .4 .8 3.9 4.5

 Reorganization or restructuring of company ................................ 50.4 50.3 16.2 17.7 18.4 17.0 .6 .5 6.3 6.0

Financial issues .............................................................................. 51.9 47.8 17.8 16.7 15.2 19.7 .6 .8 5.7 4.6

 Bankruptcy ................................................................................... 56.7 55.5 12.7 18.7 14.3 13.6 .6 .6 6.5 2.3

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability ............................. 49.5 44.5 19.5 15.5 16.2 21.9 .7 .8 6.2 6.0

 Financial difficulty ........................................................................ 53.7 46.0 17.6 16.9 13.9 22.0 .5 1.0 4.3 4.6

Production specific ......................................................................... 52.7 60.0 17.6 17.3 17.4 11.1 1.6 .7 4.5 1.9

 Automation/technological advances ............................................ 50.4 69.6 15.6 20.7 23.0 4.9 .3 .3 5.2 1.6

 Energy related ............................................................................. 77.5 – 5.6 – 3.4 – 1.1 – 6.7 –

 Governmental regulations/intervention ........................................ 42.6 68.6 13.8 13.7 25.1 10.5 .5 .8 8.9 1.3

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike ................................... 79.5 64.4 13.8 19.2 4.6 8.4 .2 .2 .2 4.5

 Material or supply shortage ......................................................... 74.3 64.6 11.1 5.2 3.3 25.7 .8 .7 2.2 1.3

 Model changeover ....................................................................... 48.5 61.0 14.2 12.6 25.9 4.4 .7 .7 4.6 1.4

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance .......................................... 24.6 44.4 43.1 31.8 19.5 14.8 6.6 1.7 3.1 2.0

 Product line discontinued ............................................................ 43.0 53.9 12.1 9.2 27.2 27.5 1.7 .3 8.2 1.9

Disaster/safety ................................................................................ 62.3 45.8 18.9 16.1 4.3 17.1 .5 .4 2.9 8.8

 Hazardous work environment ...................................................... 26.6 36.8 13.8 25.9 9.7 8.7 .9 .1 1.0 10.9

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ......................................... 71.5 94.6 2.2 .5 2.2 .5 .6 – 18.8 .3

 Nonnatural disaster ..................................................................... 37.9 83.1 54.2 9.5 4.7 6.6 .7 – – –

 Extreme weather-related event ................................................... 70.8 41.4 20.3 16.5 3.4 19.4 .4 .4 .5 9.8

Seasonal ......................................................................................... 58.3 56.2 15.6 15.3 17.8 20.2 .8 .8 2.8 2.8

 Seasonal ...................................................................................... 58.5 57.4 14.0 13.2 18.8 21.1 .8 .8 3.1 3.0

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise ............................... 57.4 51.9 22.4 22.6 13.3 17.3 .9 .9 1.6 2.0

Other/miscellaneous ....................................................................... 43.7 45.8 17.4 15.9 23.9 23.4 .7 .7 4.2 4.1

 Other ............................................................................................ 46.0 43.4 11.5 16.9 25.4 22.9 .6 .8 2.5 4.5

 Data not provided: Refusal .......................................................... 42.4 43.2 20.4 15.7 24.2 26.9 .7 .8 4.5 5.1

 Data not provided: Does not know .............................................. 44.1 47.4 16.6 15.8 23.6 21.6 .8 .7 4.2 3.5

1 Because of some nonreporting, sums of percentages within age and gender may not equal 100.0 percent.

2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Measure

Table 6. Claimant race and ethnicity: percent of initial claimants for unemployment insurance, by industry and reason for layoff, private nonfarm sector, 

2011–2012
12 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Percent of total by gender1

Measure Less than 30 years 30–44 45–54 55 or older Men Women

2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm2 ....................................... 21.3 21.5 33.5 33.4 24.8 24.6 20.2 20.4 59.6 59.9 40.2 40.0

Industry

Mining ............................................................... 14.6 19.0 34.0 35.6 28.3 24.3 23.1 21.0 94.1 96.0 5.9 3.9

Utilities ............................................................... 16.4 13.3 36.7 31.8 29.2 24.2 17.4 30.0 85.1 71.7 14.7 27.9

Construction ...................................................... 16.5 16.3 39.1 38.4 28.7 28.8 15.5 16.4 94.4 94.3 5.4 5.6

Manufacturing ...................................................... 13.5 12.9 31.2 29.5 30.1 30.3 24.9 27.2 63.7 65.4 36.1 34.5

Wholesale trade ................................................... 15.3 15.1 32.4 30.5 27.3 29.1 24.8 25.2 58.4 60.4 41.6 39.5

Retail trade ......................................................... 41.5 42.2 26.7 25.8 16.8 16.3 15.0 15.5 43.3 41.0 56.5 58.8

Transportation and warehousing .............................. 12.4 11.6 28.0 27.6 25.4 26.2 33.9 34.5 47.1 47.8 52.9 52.1

Information ......................................................... 14.4 13.1 41.6 41.7 25.8 26.3 18.1 18.8 65.3 66.9 34.6 33.1

Finance and insurance .......................................... 27.8 26.1 36.1 35.6 19.2 19.3 16.5 18.8 35.5 36.5 64.2 63.3

Real estate and rental and leasing ........................... 31.9 20.9 33.5 34.2 21.5 26.4 13.0 18.3 66.7 74.5 33.2 25.4

Professional and technical services ........................ 15.1 16.0 33.3 35.4 23.1 22.7 28.3 25.7 51.1 55.2 48.7 44.6

Management of companies and enterprises ............... 17.4 13.7 33.1 33.3 26.7 29.3 22.7 23.6 52.2 49.7 47.8 50.2

Administrative and waste services ........................... 30.9 32.2 33.1 33.6 21.6 20.8 14.2 13.2 59.2 57.2 40.6 42.6

Educational services ............................................. 24.8 24.7 38.8 37.1 18.7 19.2 17.5 18.9 38.9 33.7 60.9 66.1

Health care and social assistance ........................... 19.3 16.6 36.7 36.2 23.7 24.5 20.2 22.6 13.5 14.4 86.3 85.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........................ 31.8 30.8 24.6 26.9 17.8 18.1 25.6 24.0 56.6 57.8 43.3 42.1

Accommodation and food services ........................... 23.9 21.7 27.9 28.1 25.3 25.9 22.8 24.2 38.4 39.2 61.5 60.7

Other services, except public administration ............... 20.4 23.2 34.9 34.3 23.7 22.3 20.8 20.0 44.1 44.2 55.8 55.6

Unclassified establishments .................................... 40.2 30.6 32.1 31.3 17.5 26.1 10.2 12.0 52.0 59.8 48.0 40.1

Reason for layoff

Business demand ........................................................ 20.0 21.0 37.2 37.2 25.4 24.9 17.2 16.8 70.2 69.0 29.6 30.9

 Contract cancellation ................................................ 21.9 24.1 31.2 31.8 23.8 23.8 22.7 20.1 54.3 57.9 45.4 41.9

 Contract completion .................................................. 20.6 21.5 38.3 38.1 25.0 24.5 15.8 15.7 73.0 69.8 26.8 30.0

 Domestic competition ............................................... 18.4 8.1 43.9 35.0 22.4 34.9 15.2 21.8 47.2 68.1 52.5 31.8

 Excess inventory/saturated market .......................... 20.7 10.7 31.0 33.5 27.3 28.9 20.9 26.9 65.7 73.0 34.3 27.0

 Import competition .................................................... 8.1 12.4 26.3 29.9 33.9 28.6 31.7 29.0 61.9 46.9 38.1 53.1

 Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasona

 business slowdown ............................................. 18.0 18.6 34.8 33.1 26.8 26.5 20.2 21.7 64.5 66.5 35.2 33.3

Organizational changes ............................................... 21.6 22.5 31.4 31.3 24.5 23.4 22.2 22.6 48.9 46.7 50.9 53.1

 Business-ownership change ..................................... 16.5 23.8 30.9 30.8 27.1 23.3 25.4 21.9 48.6 51.5 51.3 48.3

 Reorganization or restructuring of company ............. 22.6 22.3 31.5 31.3 24.0 23.4 21.5 22.8 48.9 45.8 50.8 54.1

Financial issues ........................................................... 23.1 22.0 31.7 30.7 24.0 24.4 21.0 22.6 50.4 55.4 49.3 44.4

 Bankruptcy ................................................................ 26.7 12.5 30.8 27.8 22.0 31.6 20.2 28.0 49.5 71.7 50.0 28.2

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability .......... 21.0 27.4 32.1 31.6 25.2 20.8 21.5 19.8 48.8 49.7 50.9 50.1

 Financial difficulty ..................................................... 24.9 21.6 31.5 32.1 22.9 24.0 20.5 22.2 54.1 49.0 45.8 50.9

Production specific ...................................................... 23.8 15.4 31.3 33.7 26.2 30.1 17.8 20.7 56.7 65.5 43.1 34.4

 Automation/technological advances ......................... 14.6 11.5 27.7 32.8 30.3 30.9 27.4 24.8 43.5 62.3 56.5 37.6

 Energy related .......................................................... 33.7 – 37.1 – 15.7 – 13.5 – 76.4 – 23.6 –

 Governmental regulations/intervention ..................... 32.7 21.6 33.5 39.1 17.2 24.2 16.1 15.1 47.5 74.1 52.1 25.9

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike ................ 17.0 13.6 27.5 35.1 34.9 26.7 20.6 24.5 80.4 57.1 19.6 42.7

 Material or supply shortage ...................................... 21.6 12.0 36.0 32.3 26.6 29.5 15.8 26.3 63.9 32.5 35.9 67.5

 Model changeover .................................................... 27.6 5.2 30.2 34.8 28.7 39.0 13.4 20.9 57.6 75.9 42.3 24.1

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance ....................... 21.8 35.2 29.4 30.4 25.5 20.1 18.4 14.4 51.0 51.8 49.0 48.2

 Product line discontinued ......................................... 25.9 6.4 30.7 28.9 23.7 35.1 19.2 29.3 45.4 70.8 54.4 29.0

Disaster/safety ............................................................. 18.7 12.5 36.4 25.1 26.6 30.2 18.2 32.1 72.9 49.4 26.9 50.6

 Hazardous work environment ................................... 19.0 10.4 37.6 26.9 27.9 27.4 15.2 35.3 67.9 24.7 31.7 75.3

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ...................... 15.8 11.1 29.5 25.1 26.2 26.2 28.5 37.6 79.2 91.1 20.8 8.9

 Nonnatural disaster .................................................. 15.5 20.6 26.0 27.1 34.3 26.8 23.5 25.5 72.9 94.1 26.4 5.9

 Extreme weather-related event ................................ 19.4 12.1 38.2 24.8 25.8 30.9 16.5 32.0 72.9 46.1 27.0 53.9

Seasonal ...................................................................... 19.9 19.7 30.0 29.9 25.2 25.1 24.8 25.3 51.9 52.1 48.0 47.8

 Seasonal ................................................................... 21.5 21.4 30.3 30.3 25.0 24.8 23.2 23.4 58.3 59.5 41.6 40.4

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise ............ 12.8 13.6 28.8 28.5 26.4 26.1 31.7 31.7 24.4 26.3 75.6 73.7

Other/miscellaneous .................................................... 26.7 26.5 32.1 31.3 22.7 22.9 18.2 19.2 53.8 54.1 46.0 45.8

 Other ......................................................................... 23.8 31.1 34.7 30.8 23.8 19.9 17.5 17.9 61.6 49.1 38.2 50.7

 Data not provided: Refusal ....................................... 29.7 27.5 31.1 31.5 22.0 22.4 16.8 18.5 50.2 53.6 49.6 46.2

 Data not provided: Does not know ........................... 25.6 25.4 32.3 31.3 23.0 23.5 19.0 19.7 54.7 54.9 45.1 45.0

1 Because of some nonreporting, sums of percentages within age and gender may not equal 100.0 percent.

2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Percent of total by age1

Table 7. Claimant age and gender: percent of initial claimants for unemployment insurance, by industry and reason for layoff, private nonfarm

sector, 2011–2012
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 13

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Table 8. Claimants for unemployment insurance associated with extended mass layoff events, by state, private nonfarm sector, 2012

Number

 Average number 

filed per initial 

claimant

Number

 Percentage of initial 

claimants receiving 

final payments 

 Total, private nonfarm2

................................................... 1,336,276 2,347,369 1.8 204,518 15.3 

Alabama ........................................................................... 9,089 16,293 1.8 1,070 11.8 

Alaska .............................................................................. 8,125 15,360 1.9 1,477 18.2 

Arizona .............................................................................. 10,114 20,540 2.0 2,204 21.8 

Arkansas ........................................................................... 10,042 21,851 2.2 2,020 20.1 

California ........................................................................... 588,039 921,476 1.6 86,081 14.6 

Colorado ........................................................................... 9,079 21,476 2.4 1,838 20.2 

Connecticut ........................................................................ 6,920 19,465 2.8 1,836 26.5 

Delaware ........................................................................... 1,915 3,762 2.0 312 16.3 

District of Columbia ............................................................... 1,597 4,706 2.9 231 14.5 

Florida .............................................................................. 18,332 42,521 2.3 4,843 26.4 

Georgia .............................................................................. 13,529 22,326 1.7 3,174 23.5 

Hawaii .............................................................................. ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 2.7 ( 3 ) 16.0

Idaho ................................................................................. 3,418 6,210 1.8 733 21.4 

Illinois .............................................................................. 76,580 155,226 2.0 11,981 15.6 

Indiana .............................................................................. 19,753 35,050 1.8 2,438 12.3 

Iowa ................................................................................. 4,440 10,119 2.3 560 12.6 

Kansas .............................................................................. 7,024 17,544 2.5 1,674 23.8 

Kentucky ........................................................................... 13,601 4,099 .3 2,578 19.0 

Louisiana ........................................................................... 11,527 18,803 1.6 1,325 11.5 

Maine ................................................................................. 4,481 9,475 2.1 550 12.3 

Maryland4

 ........................................................................... 14,766 35,061 2.4 2,424 16.4 

Massachusetts ..................................................................... 12,005 25,825 2.2 2,471 20.6 

Michigan ........................................................................... 25,928 53,017 2.0 5,424 20.9 

Minnesota ........................................................................... 16,519 35,551 2.2 2,120 12.8 

Mississippi ........................................................................ 3,432 8,876 2.6 746 21.7 

Missouri .............................................................................. 18,703 37,346 2.0 1,876 10.0 

Montana ........................................................................... 3,036 3,968 1.3 315 10.4 

Nebraska ........................................................................... 1,991 2,649 1.3 101 5.1 

Nevada ............................................................................................ 20,761 22,909 1.1 3,287 15.8 

New Hampshire ............................................................................... 2,650 4,307 1.6 123 4.6 

New Jersey ..................................................................................... 44,534 91,994 2.1 6,862 15.4 

New Mexico ..................................................................................... 4,944 13,043 2.6 1,067 21.6 

New York........................................................................... 75,860 147,833 1.9 10,863 14.3 

North Carolina ..................................................................... 8,163 19,469 2.4 1,988 24.4 

North Dakota ..................................................................... 2,409 3,969 1.6 668 27.7 

Ohio ................................................................................. 39,849 73,287 1.8 4,386 11.0 

Oklahoma ........................................................................... 2,574 7,269 2.8 620 24.1 

Oregon .............................................................................. 21,071 31,765 1.5 3,194 15.2 

Pennsylvania ..................................................................... 63,295 110,003 1.7 7,114 11.2 

Rhode Island ..................................................................... 2,234 3,726 1.7 82 3.7 

South Carolina ..................................................................... 6,046 11,589 1.9 1,094 18.1 

South Dakota ..................................................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) .7 – –

Tennessee ........................................................................ 10,887 27,808 2.6 3,061 28.1 

Texas ................................................................................. 35,262 76,072 2.2 8,056 22.8 

Utah ................................................................................. 4,594 6,912 1.5 447 9.7 

Vermont ........................................................................... 1,942 2,287 1.2 481 24.8 

Virginia .............................................................................. 16,774 30,025 1.8 2,393 14.3 

Washington ........................................................................ 23,284 33,120 1.4 3,155 13.6 

West Virginia ..................................................................... 3,291 8,577 2.6 73 2.2 

Wisconsin ........................................................................... 29,943 48,620 1.6 2,702 9.0 

Wyoming ........................................................................... 1,121 2,141 1.9 281 25.1 

Puerto Rico ........................................................................ 14,365 33,617 2.3 2,937 20.4 

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

 2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 4 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to improvements in state MLS data processing.

State

Initial claims for 

unemployment

insurance

Continued claims without earnings1 Final payments for unemployment 

insurance1

 1 The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program tracks continued claim activity for initial claimants associated with extended mass layoffs once a month during the Current 

Population Survey (CPS) reference week, which is usually the week including the 12th day of the month. Continued claims with earnings are excluded because individuals 

who make such claims are classified as employed in the CPS. Final payment information for MLS claimants is collected weekly. (See the technical note for additional 

information.)
14 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Number

 Average number 

filed per initial 

claimant

Number

 Percentage of 

initial claimants 

receiving final 

payments

 Total, private nonfarm2

............................................................................................. 1,336,276 2,347,369 1.8 204,518 15.3

Industry

Mining ............................................................................................. 10,303 16,588 1.6 1,241 12.0

Utilities ............................................................................................. 4,060 8,575 2.1 628 15.5

Construction ....................................................................................... 199,811 331,389 1.7 22,990 11.5

Manufacturing .................................................................................... 186,194 370,584 2.0 31,859 17.1

Wholesale trade ................................................................................. 18,058 43,739 2.4 3,748 20.8

Retail trade ....................................................................................... 115,213 202,876 1.8 20,932 18.2

Transportation and warehousing ............................................................ 71,038 106,888 1.5 5,944 8.4

Information ....................................................................................... 162,701 213,591 1.3 17,321 10.6

Finance and insurance ........................................................................ 26,002 73,458 2.8 7,695 29.6

Real estate and rental and leasing ......................................................... 7,488 12,157 1.6 1,082 14.4

Professional and technical services ......................................................... 75,368 134,823 1.8 16,875 22.4

Management of companies and enterprises ............................................. 4,642 12,161 2.6 1,291 27.8

Administrative and waste services ......................................................... 241,941 442,325 1.8 45,263 18.7

Educational services ........................................................................... 13,300 27,589 2.1 2,611 19.6

Health care and social assistance ......................................................... 47,348 108,332 2.3 7,223 15.3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......................................................... 36,313 62,162 1.7 5,027 13.8

Accommodation and food services ......................................................... 97,612 143,637 1.5 9,888 10.1

Other services, except public administration ............................................. 17,108 33,412 2.0 2,567 15.0

Unclassified establishments .................................................................. 1,776 3,083 1.7 333 18.8

Reason for layoff

Business demand .............................................................................................. 583,810 907,855 1.6 84,174 14.4

 Contract cancellation ...................................................................................... 18,093 40,001 2.2 4,414 24.4

 Contract completion ....................................................................................... 476,180 704,049 1.5 65,657 13.8

 Domestic competition ..................................................................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 1.3 ( 3 ) 10.8

 Excess inventory/saturated market ................................................................ 5,341 4,570 .9 392 7.3

 Import competition .......................................................................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 1.5 ( 3 ) 22.4

 Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasonal

 business slowdown .................................................................................. 81,865 156,131 1.9 13,431 16.4

Organizational changes .................................................................................... 51,431 135,841 2.6 14,612 28.4

 Business-ownership change .......................................................................... 8,317 21,426 2.6 1,848 22.2

 Reorganization or restructuring of company .................................................. 43,114 114,415 2.7 12,764 29.6

Financial issues ................................................................................................. 77,049 217,339 2.8 19,301 25.1

 Bankruptcy ..................................................................................................... 20,561 63,583 3.1 3,470 16.9

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability ................................................ 37,942 98,750 2.6 10,225 26.9

 Financial difficulty ........................................................................................... 18,546 55,006 3.0 5,606 30.2

Production specific ............................................................................................ 15,179 35,507 2.3 2,954 19.5

 Automation/technological advances ............................................................... 1,935 3,176 1.6 283 14.6

 Energy related ................................................................................................ – – – – –

 Governmental regulations/intervention .......................................................... 2,526 6,230 2.5 752 29.8

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike ...................................................... 1,392 2,856 2.1 257 18.5

 Material or supply shortage ............................................................................ 560 701 1.3 39 7.0

 Model changeover .......................................................................................... 4,264 13,085 3.1 847 19.9

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance ............................................................ 2,787 3,877 1.4 286 10.3

 Product line discontinued ............................................................................... 1,715 5,582 3.3 490 28.6

Disaster/safety .................................................................................................. 9,484 13,527 1.4 515 5.4

 Hazardous work environment ........................................................................ ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 3.8 ( 3 ) 41.2

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ............................................................ ( 3 ) ( 3 ) .2 ( 3 ) 1.1

 Nonnatural disaster ........................................................................................ 608 1,413 2.3 23 3.8

 Extreme weather-related event ...................................................................... 7,815 9,452 1.2 203 2.6

Seasonal ........................................................................................................... 390,775 681,182 1.7 49,498 12.7

 Seasonal ........................................................................................................ 303,774 534,293 1.8 44,092 14.5

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise ................................................. 87,001 146,889 1.7 5,406 6.2

Other/miscellaneous ......................................................................................... 208,548 356,118 1.7 33,464 16.0

 Other .............................................................................................................. 14,222 29,340 2.1 3,146 22.1

 Data not provided: Refusal ............................................................................. 66,928 104,007 1.6 10,298 15.4

 Data not provided: Does not know ................................................................. 127,398 222,771 1.7 20,020 15.7

Other selected measures Worksite closures .............................................................................. 87,314 253,249 2.9 24,047 27.5 Recall expected ................................................................................. 807,960 1,295,484 1.6 104,511 12.9 No recall expected .............................................................................. 220,006 540,183 2.5 52,387 23.8

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Table 9. Claimants for unemployment insurance associated with extended mass layoff events, by industry and reason for layoff, private nonfarm

sector, 2012

 2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia. 3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

Measure

Initial claims for 

unemployment

insurance

Continued claims without earnings1 Final payments for unemployment 

insurance1

 1 The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program tracks continued claim activity for initial claimants associated with extended mass layoffs once a month during the Current Population 

Survey (CPS) reference week, which is usually the week including the 12th day of the month. Continued claims with earnings are excluded because individuals who make such 

claims are classified as employed in the CPS. Final payment information for MLS claimants is collected weekly. (See the technical note for additional information.)
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 15

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

.

Table 10. Unemployment insurance benefit exhaustion rates by selected claimant characteristics, private nonfarm sector, 2012

Characteristic Initial claims for unemployment 

insurance

Final payments for unemployment 

insurance1

Percentage of initial claimants receiving 

final payments

 Total, private nonfarm2 ................................. 1,336,276 204,518 15.3 

Age

Under 30 years of age ....................................... 287,046 44,111 15.4 

30–44 ............................................................ 446,303 66,002 14.8 

45–54 ............................................................ 329,225 46,869 14.2 

55 years of age or over ....................................... 272,123 47,187 17.3 

Not available ................................................... 1,579 349 22.1 

Gender

Male ............................................................... 800,520 111,467 13.9 

Female ............................................................ 534,083 92,748 17.4 

Not available ...................................................... 1,673 303 18.1 

Race/ethnicity

White ............................................................... 706,101 93,777 13.3 

Black ............................................................... 182,450 35,956 19.7 

Hispanic origin ................................................... 294,958 48,837 16.6 

American Indian or Alaska Native ........................ 10,372 1,703 16.4 

Asian or Pacific Islander ....................................... 46,248 8,374 18.1 

Not available ................................................... 96,147 15,871 16.5 

1

 Final payment information for Mass Layoff Statistics claimants is collected weekly. (See the technical note for additional information.

2

 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.
16 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

2011 2012

Initial claimants for

unemployment

insurance

Rank1

Initial claimants for

unemployment

insurance

Rank1

 Total, 372 metropolitan areas2 ......................................................... 1,068,310 ... 1,142,573 ...

 Total, top 50 metropolitan areas ......................................................... 780,442 ... 897,171 ...

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. ................................................ 202,569 1 275,404 1

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. ........................... 75,115 2 75,621 2

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. ................................................... 46,007 4 59,485 3

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. ................................................... 38,172 5 48,029 4

Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. ...................................................... 48,548 3 46,420 5

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif. ................................................... 29,161 6 32,645 6

Sacramento—Arden-Arcade—Roseville, Calif. .......................................... 17,131 8 21,938 7

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. ................................................... 15,718 9 18,655 8

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. 3 .................................. 20,018 7 18,484 9

Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. ..................................................................... 9,858 16 18,309 10

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. ................................................... 11,822 11 16,512 11

Fresno, Calif. ....................................................................................... 10,121 15 13,258 12

Pittsburgh, Pa. .................................................................................... 13,189 10 12,874 13

Modesto, Calif. .................................................................................... 9,011 18 12,004 14

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. ............................................................ 11,379 13 11,749 15

Stockton, Calif. .................................................................................... 9,089 17 11,390 16

St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. ................................................................................. 11,726 12 11,389 17

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas ...................................................... 10,688 14 11,180 18

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. .................................................................. 8,843 20 10,748 19

Bakersfield-Delano, Calif. ..................................................................... 6,787 29 10,484 20

Baltimore-Towson, Md.3

 ........................................................................ 6,286 33 10,382 21

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. ................................................ 8,791 21 9,210 22

Visalia-Porterville, Calif. ........................................................................ 4,880 38 8,318 23

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. ................................................... 6,721 30 7,465 24

Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. ............................................................... 8,031 25 6,756 25

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. .......................................... 8,081 24 6,473 26

Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. ........................................................................... 3,837 46 6,472 27

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. ...................................................... 8,736 22 6,177 28

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas ......................................................... 6,573 31 5,912 29

Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. ............................................................... 6,804 28 5,881 30

Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. ........................................................................... 5,225 36 5,615 31

Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. ...................................................... 5,572 35 5,572 32

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. ............................................. 8,967 19 5,553 33

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. ...................................................... 8,725 23 5,166 34

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.3

 .............................. 5,178 37 5,148 35

Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio ............................................................... 7,123 27 5,078 36

Toledo, Ohio ....................................................................................... 3,689 49 4,907 37

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. ....................................... 6,403 32 4,656 38

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. ..................................................................... 7,763 26 4,272 39

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas ............................................................ 3,018 62 4,161 40

Rochester, N.Y. ................................................................................. 6,219 34 4,143 41

Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind. ..................................................................... 3,419 54 3,913 42

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, Pa. .................................................................. 3,434 53 3,855 43

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif. .................................................................. 3,396 57 3,756 44

Merced, Calif. .................................................................................... 3,136 61 3,733 45

Columbus, Ohio ................................................................................. 4,287 43 3,695 46

Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas .................................................................. 2,094 89 3,649 47

Salinas, Calif. .................................................................................... 3,301 58 3,635 48

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. ................................................... 4,145 44 3,594 49

Peoria, Ill. .......................................................................................... 2,152 85 3,446 50

 1 Metropolitan areas are ranked by the number of initial claims in 2012.

 2 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia. 3 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to improvements in state MLS data processing.

 NOTE: The geographic boundaries of the metropolitan areas shown in this table are defined in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget

 Bulletin 10-02, December 1, 2009.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Metropolitan area

Table 11. The 50 metropolitan areas with the largest number of initial claimants associated with extended mass layoff events in 2012, by 

residency of claimants, private nonfarm sector
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 17

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Table 12. Summary of employer expectations of a recall from extended mass layoffs, private nonfarm sector, 2005–2012

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

All layoff events

Anticipate a recall ............................................................... 56.2 52.1 49.5 41.4 34.2 49.5 55.2 56.9

Timeframe

Within 6 months .................................................................. 87.1 88.7 86.5 77.2 72.0 70.2 68.3 63.4

 Within 3 months ............................................................ 50.1 53.5 49.0 45.0 44.2 42.5 41.8 39.6

Size of recall

At least half ..................................................................... 90.6 92.2 90.2 79.6 73.0 72.6 71.8 66.1

 All workers .................................................................. 47.9 49.4 49.8 38.9 33.9 35.5 33.7 29.9

Layoff events due to seasonal work and vacation period

Anticipate a recall ............................................................... 94.8 93.6 94.7 95.3 94.1 93.1 94.5 92.9

Timeframe

Within 6 months .................................................................. 91.5 91.0 91.6 88.8 88.3 86.6 87.3 85.7

 Within 3 months ............................................................ 45.6 48.2 46.6 43.5 48.8 48.8 48.1 48.7

Size of recall

At least half ..................................................................... 96.7 96.8 96.0 92.3 90.8 91.1 92.2 90.5

 All workers .................................................................. 55.0 57.0 59.1 51.8 49.7 49.2 47.2 45.2

All layoff events, excluding those due to seasonal work and 

vacation period

Anticipate a recall ............................................................... 31.6 29.4 25.1 24.4 20.5 27.7 34.4 38.3

Timeframe

Within 6 months .................................................................. 78.5 84.7 76.1 62.9 54.7 42.6 40.6 35.5

 Within 3 months ............................................................ 58.7 62.7 53.8 46.8 39.4 31.9 32.6 28.2

Size of recall

At least half ..................................................................... 78.9 84.3 78.3 63.9 54.2 41.7 42.0 35.4

 All workers .................................................................. 34.3 36.2 31.0 22.9 17.2 12.6 14.2 10.7

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Nature of recall

Percent of layoff events1
18 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm1 ....................................... 56.2 52.1 49.5 41.4 34.2 49.5 55.2 56.9

Industry

Mining ..................................................................... 90.9 75.0 76.9 67.3 43.9 59.3 70.5 48.2

Utilities .................................................................. 53.8 72.7 55.6 36.4 52.4 41.2 80.0 44.4

Construction ............................................................ 80.2 58.9 53.8 56.4 56.4 71.2 75.9 76.3

Manufacturing ......................................................... 48.2 45.6 43.1 36.9 28.1 38.9 45.0 44.0

Wholesale trade ...................................................... 44.1 36.9 31.6 20.5 14.7 32.9 38.8 30.1

Retail trade ............................................................ 31.3 29.1 29.9 19.3 11.7 21.3 24.9 21.3

Transportation and warehousing ................................. 65.3 72.3 76.0 51.9 46.7 59.7 62.4 68.4

Information ............................................................... 17.5 26.5 23.7 9.8 4.1 19.1 37.4 42.3

Finance and insurance ............................................. 8.2 5.0 .5 .2 1.3 2.4 1.6 2.3

Real estate and rental and leasing .............................. 31.6 29.4 10.7 15.7 16.8 25.0 29.3 44.7

Professional and technical services .............................. 46.8 52.9 40.4 31.5 22.8 38.6 46.5 55.7

Management of companies and enterprises .................. 42.9 33.3 42.9 33.3 22.2 40.0 40.7 37.5

Administrative and waste services .............................. 42.6 41.1 56.2 41.3 32.0 45.6 53.2 62.6

Educational services ................................................ 50.0 60.9 55.6 51.2 39.0 60.9 41.3 52.6

Health care and social assistance ..................................... 69.1 79.7 77.7 66.5 62.6 62.8 63.5 65.3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation .............................. 77.8 81.5 84.2 71.9 64.6 73.2 84.0 81.4

Accommodation and food services .............................. 65.8 73.8 74.3 53.9 44.9 55.7 64.4 63.8

Other services, except public administration .................. 71.3 81.5 69.9 57.8 43.2 64.8 73.0 65.3

Unclassified establishments ....................................... – – 25.0 – – – 50.0 46.7

Reason for layoff

Business demand .............................................................. 48.9 43.5 39.1 40.7 33.4 48.7 57.9 64.9

 Contract cancellation ...................................................... 15.5 14.1 21.9 17.7 17.2 11.5 19.7 20.2

 Contract completion ........................................................ 42.8 36.6 36.3 51.1 50.2 62.2 68.3 74.9

 Domestic competition ..................................................... ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 26.7 28.6 33.3 12.5 20.0 11.1

 Excess inventory/saturated market ................................ ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 34.2 37.5 42.9 38.5 41.7 40.0

 Import competition .......................................................... 5.4 9.4 2.7 5.6 4.5 – – –

 Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasonal

 business slowdown ................................................... 64.8 63.0 47.6 38.6 29.1 41.0 45.1 46.9

Organizational changes ..................................................... 4.5 5.0 6.0 3.3 3.8 6.3 4.2 5.8

 Business-ownership change ........................................... 1.9 4.8 3.0 3.2 3.5 12.5 5.3 9.7

 Reorganization or restructuring of company ................... 5.2 5.1 7.1 3.3 3.9 4.3 3.8 4.6

Financial issues ................................................................. 4.0 5.0 4.4 3.8 6.6 5.9 3.9 2.9

 Bankruptcy ...................................................................... 2.2 1.8 – 1.5 3.4 1.7 3.9 1.1

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability ................ ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 4.0 4.3 8.5 5.8 3.8 3.7

 Financial difficulty ........................................................... 5.2 6.1 6.1 4.4 4.6 7.5 3.9 2.8

Production specific ............................................................ 40.2 44.7 53.6 44.9 38.7 42.6 53.2 44.0

 Automation/technological advances ............................... 33.3 12.5 12.5 50.0 20.0 33.3 50.0 30.0

 Energy related ................................................................ – 100.0 – 20.0 – 100.0 – –

 Governmental regulations/intervention ........................... ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 7.1 19.0 26.7 5.6 13.3 22.2

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike ...................... 55.6 72.2 55.6 47.4 14.3 42.9 40.0 37.5

 Material or supply shortage ............................................ 50.0 70.0 100.0 66.7 100.0 100.0 69.6 100.0

 Model changeover .......................................................... 71.4 66.7 66.7 66.7 100.0 75.0 84.6 77.8

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance ............................. 90.0 83.3 82.4 87.5 100.0 100.0 85.7 80.0

 Product line discontinued ............................................... 15.0 11.1 28.6 9.1 – 25.0 10.0 –

Disaster/safety ................................................................... 42.9 80.6 84.4 37.9 68.4 75.0 64.5 68.9

 Hazardous work environment ......................................... 100.0 25.0 – – 66.7 100.0 40.0 –

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ............................ 50.0 60.0 66.7 100.0 – 100.0 – –

 Nonnatural disaster ........................................................ 100.0 60.0 80.0 25.0 66.7 60.0 – 60.0

 Extreme weather-related event ...................................... 42.5 89.6 95.5 37.3 70.0 81.8 85.7 80.0

Seasonal ............................................................................ 94.8 93.6 94.7 95.3 94.1 93.1 94.5 92.9

 Seasonal ......................................................................... 94.5 93.3 93.5 94.3 92.9 91.5 93.6 91.4

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise .................. 100.0 98.2 99.3 99.2 98.0 99.4 98.4 98.2

Other/miscellaneous .......................................................... 5.0 4.8 3.3 2.5 1.4 1.4 2.5 2.2

 Other ............................................................................... 17.0 19.1 46.3 39.3 27.0 27.3 27.2 27.6

 Data not provided: Refusal ............................................. ––––––––

 Data not provided: Does not know ................................. – .9 .5 .1 – .1 – –

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Use of this reason began with data from the first quarter of 2007.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Measure

Percent of layoff events

Table 13. Distribution of extended mass layoff events with expected recall, by industry and reason for layoff, private nonfarm sector,

2005–2012
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 19

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

 Total, all reasons ..................................................... 899 1,099 602 497 544 215,647 237,333 119,234 103,682 121,972

Business demand ....................................................... 236 405 186 118 130 51,480 73,808 33,413 24,055 26,739

 Contract cancellation ............................................... 26 40 30 21 40 8,453 5,918 6,125 3,870 10,111

 Contract completion ................................................. 16 41 24 20 19 4,259 7,412 4,731 5,778 3,458

 Domestic competition .............................................. 45436 1,080 595 1,384 279 1,617

 Excess inventory/saturated market .......................... 8 10 ( 2

 ) 6 ( 2 ) 2,064 1,069 ( 2 ) 2,352 ( 2 )

 Import competition ................................................... 34 12 ( 2

 ) 4 ( 2 ) 6,046 2,237 ( 2 ) 1,110 ( 2 )

 Slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasonal

 business slowdown ............................................ 148 297 123 64 60 29,578 56,577 20,485 10,666 10,503

Organizational changes .............................................. 223 193 123 101 110 50,435 41,430 25,179 18,575 26,659

 Business-ownership change .................................... 50 45 35 33 33 16,379 12,902 10,217 5,157 10,795

 Reorganization or restructuring of company ............ 173 148 88 68 77 34,056 28,528 14,962 13,418 15,864

Financial issues .......................................................... 373 431 242 218 239 97,787 109,509 52,737 50,296 53,671

 Bankruptcy ............................................................... 113 134 53 64 74 31,779 42,348 12,305 17,591 21,990

 Cost control/cost cutting/increase profitability .......... 103 131 92 71 65 18,010 24,382 16,089 12,437 13,702

 Financial difficulty .................................................... 157 166 97 83 100 47,998 42,779 24,343 20,268 17,979

Production specific ...................................................... 26 16 13 16 21 7,145 3,651 2,480 2,901 3,722

 Automation/technological advances ........................ 3 – – ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 562 – – ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 Energy related ......................................................... 3 – – ( 2

 ) – 510 – – ( 2 ) –

 Governmental regulations/intervention .................... 12 ( 2

 ) 9 7 7 4,254 ( 2 ) 2,014 620 1,251

 Labor dispute/contract negotiations/strike ............... ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) – – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – – ( 2 )

 Material or supply shortage ..................................... 3 – – ( 2

 ) – 291 – – ( 2 ) –

 Model changeover ................................................... – – ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ––– ( 2 ) ( 2 ) –

 Plant or machine repair/maintenance ...................... ( 2

 ) ––– ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ––– ( 2 )

 Product line discontinued ......................................... ( 2

 ) 8 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) 1,386 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,558

Disaster/safety ............................................................ ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,056 ( 2 )

 Hazardous work environment .................................. – ( 2

 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 Natural disaster (not weather related) ..................... – – – ( 2

 ) –––– ( 2 ) –

 Nonnatural disaster .................................................. ( 2

 ) – ( 2 ) – – ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) – –

 Extreme weather-related event ................................ ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) –

Seasonal ..................................................................... ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 417 ( 2 )

 Seasonal .................................................................. ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 417 ( 2 )

 Vacation period–school related or otherwise ........... –––– ––––––

Other/miscellaneous ................................................... 34 49 33 36 41 6,109 7,768 4,378 6,382 10,713

 Other ........................................................................ 16 32 15 27 26 2,924 5,471 2,068 5,126 4,699

 Data not provided: Refusal ...................................... 6 ( 2

 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,225 ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 Data not provided: Does not know ........................... 12 ( 2

 ) 18 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,960 ( 2 ) 2,310 ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. For additional information see the technical note.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Reason for layoff1

Layoff events Separations

Table 14. Permanent worksite closures: extended mass layoff events and separations by primary reason for layoff, private nonfarm sector, 

2008–2012
20 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Table 15. Permanent worksite closures: extended mass layoff events and separations by major industry sector, private nonfarm sector, 2008–2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm1

 ..................................... 899 1,099 602 497 544 215,647 237,333 119,234 103,682 121,972

Mining ............................................................ ( 2

 ) 19 7 ( 2 ) 15 ( 2 ) 4,154 936 ( 2 ) 2,399

Utilities ............................................................ ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Construction ...................................................... 30 33 24 20 13 4,783 4,859 4,497 4,071 2,621

Manufacturing ................................................... 382 480 198 167 178 83,487 91,476 37,711 33,579 38,372

Wholesale trade ................................................ 41 51 28 21 34 6,591 7,881 3,653 3,779 6,008

Retail trade ...................................................... 145 214 84 104 95 51,381 66,679 19,879 21,618 19,251

Transportation and warehousing ........................... 50 59 31 29 23 15,844 12,125 5,384 4,886 7,629

Information ...................................................... 20 29 15 9 14 3,059 4,838 2,398 1,370 5,163

Finance and insurance ....................................... 69 49 28 20 27 11,367 11,303 8,722 3,349 6,610

Real estate and rental and leasing ........................ 7 11 26 11 5 981 2,645 6,043 1,508 2,729

Professional and technical services ........................ 18 28 15 21 14 3,729 5,211 2,634 4,719 2,898

Management of companies and enterprises ............ 775 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,415 1,098 1,241 ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Administrative and waste services ........................ 37 43 42 32 44 9,073 9,383 8,121 14,410 13,498

Educational services .......................................... ( 2 ) 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 10 ( 2 ) 527 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,387

Health care and social assistance ........................... 28 25 29 25 21 9,337 4,412 6,099 3,896 6,249

Arts, entertainment, and recreation ........................ 8 7 6 ( 2 ) 9 2,100 1,529 1,231 ( 2 ) 804

Accommodation and food services ........................ 44 29 48 26 33 10,789 7,292 8,882 5,312 4,676

Other services, except public administration ............ 6 10 10 5 5 660 1,921 1,356 537 784

Unclassified establishments ................................. –––– ––––––

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Industry

Layoff events Separations
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 21

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012

 United States1 .................................. 7,247 6,596 6,500 1,257,134 1,112,710 1,257,212 1,415,766 1,295,273 1,336,276 

Northeast ................................................... 1,545 1,301 1,215 238,754 184,422 199,501 286,402 231,162 213,921 

 New England ......................................... 235 213 199 42,605 39,025 34,223 37,549 30,550 30,232 

 Middle Atlantic ....................................... 1,310 1,088 1,016 196,149 145,397 165,278 248,853 200,612 183,689 

South ......................................................... 1,377 1,278 1,062 247,990 207,852 186,376 285,304 233,767 180,827 

 South Atlantic ........................................ 789 702 527 142,963 109,965 89,534 168,175 130,368 84,413 

 East South Central ................................ 275 261 241 49,929 42,888 43,033 48,891 43,184 37,009 

 West South Central ............................... 313 315 294 55,098 54,999 53,809 68,238 60,215 59,405 

Midwest ..................................................... 1,671 1,537 1,427 281,874 261,171 242,490 292,196 268,633 243,198 

 East North Central ................................. 1,259 1,174 1,091 211,273 200,229 183,361 226,339 213,150 192,053 

 West North Central ................................ 412 363 336 70,601 60,942 59,129 65,857 55,483 51,145 

West .......................................................... 2,654 2,480 2,796 488,516 459,265 628,845 551,864 561,711 698,330 

 Mountain ............................................... 379 327 354 80,584 69,731 79,377 60,455 50,567 57,067 

 Pacific .................................................... 2,275 2,153 2,442 407,932 389,534 549,468 491,409 511,144 641,263 

 1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 NOTE: The states (and the District of Columbia) that make up the census divisions are as follows: 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.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

Census region and division

Layoff events Separations Initial claimants for unemployment insurance

Table 16. Census region and division: extended mass layoff events, separations, and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private

nonfarm sector, 2010–2012
22 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

Initial claimants for unemployment insurance

2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012

 Total, private nonfarm1

 .......................... 7,247 6,596 6,500 1,257,134 1,112,710 1,257,212 1,415,766 1,295,273 1,336,276

Alabama .......................................................... 47 41 44 10,752 9,836 8,133 12,741 10,561 9,089

Alaska ............................................................. 48 35 35 13,681 14,044 12,508 11,055 8,604 8,125

Arizona ............................................................ 73 67 63 14,714 11,423 14,051 12,844 12,452 10,114

Arkansas ......................................................... 31 51 45 4,238 8,036 8,802 7,586 9,575 10,042

California ......................................................... 1,984 1,868 2,141 356,179 333,617 493,420 431,866 451,374 588,039

Colorado ......................................................... 73 49 64 19,052 12,925 13,999 9,806 6,822 9,079

Connecticut ..................................................... 64 49 47 14,775 10,244 6,920 12,011 6,953 6,920

Delaware ......................................................... 15 20 15 1,990 2,431 1,403 1,717 3,391 1,915

District of Columbia ......................................... 12 13 12 1,501 1,764 1,596 1,501 1,735 1,597

Florida ............................................................. 264 219 120 66,590 37,573 21,953 64,522 36,318 18,332

Georgia ........................................................... 76 129 79 8,542 17,529 13,475 14,096 28,526 13,529

Hawaii ............................................................. 10 10 ( 2 ) 1,153 1,699 ( 2 ) 1,143 1,639 ( 2 )

Idaho ............................................................... 31 39 30 5,262 6,538 4,333 3,989 5,163 3,418

Illinois .............................................................. 460 430 408 81,890 80,573 74,252 86,397 79,988 76,580

Indiana ............................................................ 114 109 106 12,835 12,423 13,710 20,314 22,048 19,753

Iowa ................................................................ 33 34 27 5,832 4,639 3,507 8,545 7,239 4,440

Kansas ............................................................ 49 41 38 6,843 5,596 7,191 8,996 5,173 7,024

Kentucky ......................................................... 92 100 107 15,401 13,893 18,844 11,500 11,810 13,601

Louisiana ......................................................... 89 95 78 18,259 19,098 13,813 14,075 14,440 11,527

Maine .............................................................. 31 29 31 5,210 5,361 5,612 4,576 3,930 4,481

Maryland3

 ........................................................ 79 70 105 13,788 11,084 18,143 11,280 9,733 14,766

Massachusetts ................................................ 82 76 74 11,917 12,883 13,302 11,831 10,766 12,005

Michigan .......................................................... 162 160 149 20,798 21,681 24,058 23,278 26,185 25,928

Minnesota ....................................................... 128 127 123 18,609 22,348 20,675 18,515 19,154 16,519

Mississippi ....................................................... 41 40 30 7,077 5,305 5,667 4,979 5,102 3,432

Missouri ........................................................... 156 122 115 31,562 23,105 24,117 23,824 19,079 18,703

Montana .......................................................... 31 26 28 5,411 4,150 5,614 3,336 2,663 3,036

Nebraska ......................................................... 24 25 15 5,172 3,845 1,561 2,827 2,895 1,991

Nevada ............................................................ 80 60 92 13,923 13,647 21,471 16,845 12,194 20,761

New Hampshire .............................................. 18 14 21 3,627 3,186 3,647 2,789 2,084 2,650

New Jersey ..................................................... 224 251 231 51,004 44,695 48,205 44,875 43,843 44,534

New Mexico .................................................... 45 43 40 8,387 7,508 7,202 6,000 5,210 4,944

New York ........................................................ 642 472 441 93,181 54,803 69,307 118,151 89,975 75,860

North Carolina ................................................. 126 91 54 12,318 10,153 7,187 33,151 21,336 8,163

North Dakota ................................................... 21 13 17 2,433 1,289 1,986 3,005 1,816 2,409

Ohio ................................................................ 318 276 266 51,466 46,772 42,230 54,566 47,076 39,849

Oklahoma ........................................................ 13 25 23 2,981 3,583 2,840 3,156 3,108 2,574

Oregon ............................................................ 94 103 106 20,972 23,168 22,649 22,378 24,346 21,071

Pennsylvania ................................................... 444 365 344 51,964 45,899 47,766 85,827 66,794 63,295

Rhode Island ................................................... 25 18 14 4,282 2,925 2,254 4,126 2,891 2,234

South Carolina ................................................ 87 38 38 15,974 8,595 5,264 16,608 6,505 6,046

South Dakota .................................................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Tennessee ...................................................... 95 80 60 16,699 13,854 10,389 19,671 15,711 10,887

Texas .............................................................. 180 144 148 29,620 24,282 28,354 43,421 33,092 35,262

Utah ................................................................ 39 37 30 9,352 9,420 8,818 6,482 4,973 4,594

Vermont .......................................................... 15 27 12 2,794 4,426 2,488 2,216 3,926 1,942

Virginia ............................................................ 109 99 78 17,947 17,095 14,701 21,953 19,573 16,774

Washington ..................................................... 139 137 154 15,947 17,006 20,247 24,967 25,181 23,284

West Virginia ................................................... 21 23 26 4,313 3,741 5,812 3,347 3,251 3,291

Wisconsin ........................................................ 205 199 162 44,284 38,780 29,111 41,784 37,853 29,943

Wyoming ......................................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 3,889 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,121

Puerto Rico ..................................................... 48 64 56 5,353 9,449 7,872 14,154 18,628 14,365

1 Data on layoffs were reported by employers in all states and the District of Columbia.

 2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 3 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data due to improvements in state MLS data processing.

 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics program.

State

Layoff events Separations

Table 17. State distribution: extended mass layoff events, separations, and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, private

nonfarm sector, 2010–2012
Technical Notes

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov 23

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federalstate program that uses a standardized, automated 

approach to identify, describe, and track the effects 

of major job cutbacks, using data from each state’s 

unemployment insurance (UI) database. Employers 

that have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment

insurance filed against them during a consecutive 5-week

period are contacted by the state agency to determine 

whether these separations last more than 30 days; and, if 

so, the state obtains information on the total number of 

persons separated and the reasons for these separations. 

Employers are identified according to industry

classification and location; unemployment insurance

claimants are identified by such demographic factors

as age, race, sex, ethnic group, and place of residence. 

The MLS program yields information on an individual’s 

entire spell of unemployment, to the point when regular 

unemployment insurance benefits are exhausted.

Beginning with data for 2004, the scope of extended mass 

layoffs and plant closings was redefined to cover only

the private nonfarm economy. Therefore, extended mass 

layoff information for agriculture and government are no 

longer collected. With the release of the extended mass 

layoff data from the first quarter of 2007, the U.S. Bureau

of Labor Statistics (BLS) introduced improvements to 

the presentation of data by including economic reasons 

for extended mass layoffs. Thus, reason-for-layoff data 

beginning with the first quarter of 2007 are not strictly

comparable with data from previous quarters. This report

uses the latest metropolitan area definitions as published in

the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin 10-02 and

the 2012 North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS) definitions.

Definitions

Continued claim. A claim filed after the initial claim,

by mail, telephone, or in person, for a waiting-period 

credit or payment for a certified week of unemployment.

The MLS program collects continued claims for 1 week 

each month—generally the calendar week that includes

the 12th day of the month; this week is referred to as 

the reference week because of its use in the Current 

Population Survey (CPS) as the basis for monthly 

unemployment. 

Employer. A firm covered by state unemployment insurance

laws at which one predominant type of economic activity is 

conducted.

Extended mass layoff event. A layoff defined by the filing

of 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance

benefits against an employer during a 5-week period, with

at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days. Such

layoffs involve both people subject to recall and those who 

are terminated.

Final payment. The last payment received by a person 

who has exhausted all of his or her regular unemployment 

insurance benefits.

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.

Layoff. The separation of people from an employer as part 

of a mass layoff event. Such layoffs involve both people 

who are subject to recall and those who are terminated.

Mass layoff. Fifty or more initial claims for unemployment 

insurance benefits filed against an employer during a

5-week period, regardless of the duration of the layoff.

Movement of work. The work activities performed at a 

worksite by the company’s employees are reassigned 

in one of the following ways: 1) to another worksite 

within the company; 2) to another company under 

formal arrangements at the same worksite; or 3) to 

another company under formal arrangements at another 

worksite.

Movement-of-work separations. The number of separations 

specifically associated with movement-of-work actions.

Movement-of-work action. Employer-confirmed relocation

of work within the same company or to other companies, 
24 BLS Reports │ September 2013 • www.bls.gov

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

domestically or outside the United States. Because 

employers may cite more than one location to which work 

is moving, a layoff event may have more than one action 

associated with it.

Relocation-of-work action. A movement-of-work action 

in which the employer provides information on the new 

location of work and/or the number of workers affected 

by the movement. Layoff events may involve more than 

one action per employer if work moved to more than one 

location.

Separations. The number of people who have become 

displaced during an extended mass layoff event according 

to the employer, regardless of whether they file for

unemployment insurance.

Worksite closure. The complete closure of an employer’s 

worksite without regard to whether other worksites 

operated by the same employer, if any, remain open.

Movement-of-work concepts and 

questions

Because of the employer interview component of the MLS 

program, BLS decided to use the program as a vehicle 

for collecting additional information on offshoring and 

outsourcing associated with job loss, by adding questions

that address movement of work. (Before 2004, “overseas 

relocation” and “domestic relocation” were economic 

reasons for layoffs and were used in extended mass layoff 

news releases. These reasons were eliminated with the 

collection of movement-of-work data; therefore, the current 

data are not comparable with the data from this earlier 

period.)

Questions on movement of work and location are asked for 

all identified layoff events when the reason for separation is

other than “seasonal work” or “vacation period.” Seasonal 

and vacation layoff events are unlikely to result in work 

relocation.

Before questions on movement of work are asked, an analyst

must verify that a layoff has in fact occurred and has lasted 

for more than 30 days. An analyst must also obtain the total 

number of workers separated from jobs, the date the layoff 

began, and the economic reason for layoff. If the reason for 

layoff is other than seasonal work or vacation period, the 

employer is asked the following:

“Did this layoff include your company moving work from 

this location(s) to a different geographic location(s) within 

your company?”

“Did this layoff include your company moving work that 

was performed in-house by your employees to a different 

company, through contractual arrangements?”

A “yes” response to either question is followed by two

questions: “Is the location inside or outside of the United

States?” and “How many of the layoffs were a result of this 

relocation?”

Layoff actions are classified as “overseas relocation” if

the employer responds “yes” to questions 1 and/or 2, and

indicates that the location(s) was outside of the United 

States. Domestic relocation is determined if the employer 

responds “yes” to questions 1 and/or 2 and indicates that

the location(s) was within the United States.

After asking the movement-of-work questions, the

employer interview continues and responses are obtained 

for questions on recall expectations and the open/closed

status of the worksite.

Reliability of the data

The identification of employers, layoff events, and

characteristics of claimants in the MLS program is 

based on administrative data for employers and workers 

covered by unemployment insurance. Therefore, these 

data are not subject to issues associated with sampling 

error. Nonsampling errors such as typographical errors 

may occur but are not likely to be significant. Although

the employers and layoff events in the MLS program 

are not subject to sampling error, and all such private 

nonfarm employers are asked the same employer 

interview questions, the employer responses are subject

to nonsampling error. A nonsampling error can occur 

for many reasons, including the inability to obtain 

information for all respondents, inability or unwillingness 

of respondents to provide correct information, and errors 
BLS Reports │September 2013 • www.bls.gov 25

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS IN 2012

made in the collection or processing of the data. For 2012, 

outright refusal to participate in the employer interview 

accounted for 4.6 percent of all private nonfarm events. 

Additional information

Material in this report is in the public domain and, with 

appropriate credit, may be used without permission. The 

information in this report is available to sensory-impaired 

individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200;

Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339. Email address: 

mlsinfo@bls.gov.