For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, March 22, 2013 USDL-13-0479 

Technical information: (202) 691-6392 • mlsinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/mls 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

MASS LAYOFFS — FEBRUARY 2013 

Employers took 1,422 mass layoff actions in February involving 135,468 workers as measured by new 

filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

reported today. (Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a 

single employer. Mass layoff events increased by 94 from January, and the number of associated initial 

claims increased by 1,442. In February, 295 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing 

sector resulting in 39,407 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff data are identified using administrative 

data sources without regard to layoff duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this release.) 

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

Feb‐02 Feb‐03 Feb‐04 Feb‐05 Feb‐06 Feb‐07 Feb‐08 Feb‐09 Feb‐10 Feb‐11 Feb‐12 Feb‐13

Initial Claims Unemployment Rate

Total mass layoff initial claims Manufacturingmasslayoff initial claims Unemployment rate

Chart 1. Masslayoff initial claims and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, February 2002‐February 2013   

The national unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in February, down from 7.9 percent the prior month 

and down from 8.3 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 over 

the month and by 1,966,000 over the year. 

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

The number of mass layoff events in February was 960, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 79,786 

initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly 

mass layoff events for February increased by 16 to 240, and associated average weekly initial claims 

increased by 1,453 to 19,947. 
- 2 - 

Table A. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims

in February 2013, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted

Temporary help services 1

 ........................................ 7,564 2001 18,893 

School and employee bus transportation ................... 2,592 2008 4,254 

Automobile manufacturing ........................................ ( 2 ) 2001 13,977 

Discount department stores ...................................... 2,263 2004 2,669 

Motion picture and video production ........................ 2,000 2011 6,260 

Supermarkets and other grocery stores ..................... 1,869 2012 2,685 

Professional employer organizations 1

 ....................... 1,817 2009 6,452 

Food service contractors .......................................... 1,742 2009 2,580 

Highway, street, and bridge construction ................... 1,691 2003 3,316 

Department stores, except discount .......................... 1,471 2001 2,994 

1

 See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.

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

Industry Initial claims

February peak

Year Initial claims

Nine of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year increases in average 

weekly initial claims, with the largest increase occurring in manufacturing. (See table 3.) The six-digit 

industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims due to mass layoffs in February was 

temporary help services. (See table A.) 

In February, the manufacturing sector accounted for 21 percent of mass layoff events and 28 percent of 

associated initial claims in the private economy. Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff 

claimants were highest in transportation equipment and in food. Nine of the 21 manufacturing 

subsectors experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims. (See table 3.) 

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

Among the census regions, the West had the largest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs in 

February. Two of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, 

with the largest increase occurring in the West. (See table 4.) 

Among the states, California had the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in February, followed 

by New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and North Carolina. Twenty-three states and the District of 

Columbia experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, led by California, 

Kansas, and Indiana. (See table 4.) 

Note 

The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given 

month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private nonfarm establishments, information on the 

length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting 

more than 30 days (referred to as “extended mass layoffs”). The quarterly release provides more 

information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of 
- 3 - 

the laid-off workers. The monthly data series in this release are subjected to average weekly analysis, 

which mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. See the Technical Note for more detailed 

definitions and for a description of average weekly analysis. 

____________ 

The Mass Layoffs news release for March 2013 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, 

April 23, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). 

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. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS 

will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all "measuring green jobs" 

products. The final release of Mass Layoffs Statistics data will occur on June 21st, with 

publication of the May 2013 data. 
Technical Note 

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federalstate program that uses a standardized automated approach to 

identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job 

cutbacks, using data from each state's unemployment 

insurance database. Each month, states report on employers 

which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during 

a consecutive 5-week period. These employers then are 

contacted by the state agency to determine whether these 

separations lasted 31 days or longer, and, if so, other 

information concerning the layoff is collected. States report 

on layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a quarterly basis. 

The monthly data present preliminary mass layoff 

activity in the reference month and are not revised in 

subsequent months except in special circumstances (e.g., 

layoffs in states affected by Hurricane Katrina). Counts of 

initial claims associated with mass layoff events reflect 

activity through the end of the reference month. Additional 

mass layoff event and initial claims activity received after 

data for the reference month have been published by BLS are 

not updated in the monthly mass layoff series and, therefore, 

may not match revised mass layoff data issued in state 

publications. However, any additional mass layoff 

information meeting the extended mass layoff criteria will be 

reflected in BLS’ quarterly publication of extended mass 

layoff data. 

A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly 

unemployment insurance claims filings for the Sunday 

through Saturday weeks in that month. All weeks are 

included for the particular month, except if the first day of the 

month falls on Saturday. In this case, the week is included in 

the prior month's tabulations. This means that some months 

will contain 4 weeks and others, 5 weeks. The number of 

weeks in a given month may be different from year to year, 

and the number of weeks in a year may vary. Therefore, data 

users who intend to perform analysis of over-the-year change 

in the not seasonally adjusted series should use the average 

weekly mass layoff figures displayed in tables 3 and 4 of this 

release. The average weekly adjustment process produces a 

consistent series for each month across all years, permitting 

over-the-year analysis to be performed using strictly 

comparable data. 

The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 

after it had been terminated in November 1992 due to lack of 

funding. Prior to April 1995, monthly layoff statistics were 

not available. 

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339 

Definitions 

Average weekly mass layoff events and initial claimants. 

The number of events and initial claimants in a given month 

divided by the number of weeks contained within that month.

Employer. Employers in the MLS program include 

those covered by state unemployment insurance laws. 

Information on employers is obtained from the Quarterly 

Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which 

is administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 

version of the North American Industry Classification System 

(NAICS). For temporary help and professional employer 

organization industries, monthly MLS-related statistics 

generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client 

companies in other industries. An individual layoff action at a 

client company can be small, but when initial claimants 

associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a 

temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a 

mass layoff event may trigger. 

Initial claimant. A person who files any notice of unemployment to initiate a request either for a determination of 

entitlement to and eligibility for compensation, or for a 

subsequent period of unemployment within a benefit year or 

period of eligibility. 

Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for 

unemployment insurance benefits filed against an employer 

during a 5-week period, regardless of duration. 

Seasonal adjustment 

Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS 

began publishing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS 

series. The six series are the numbers of mass layoff events 

and mass layoff initial claims for the total, private nonfarm, 

and manufacturing sectors. 

Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and 

removing the effect on time series data of regularly recurring 

seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays, and 

the beginning and ending of the school year. The use of 

seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental 

changes in time series, particularly those associated with 

general economic expansions and contractions. 

The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-

ARIMA seasonal adjustment method on a concurrent basis. 
Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available monthly 

estimates, including those for the current month, in 

developing seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most 

recent 5 years of seasonally adjusted data will be made once a 

year with the issuance of December data. Before the data are 

seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments are made to the 

original data to adjust them for differences in the number of 

weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly 

unemployment insurance claims are aggregated to form 

monthly data, a particular month's value could be calculated 

with 5 weeks of data in 1 year and 4 weeks in another. The 

effects of these differences could seriously distort the 

seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal 

adjustment process. These effects are modeled in the X-12-

ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the 

final seasonally adjusted series.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, March 2009 to February 2013,

seasonally adjusted

2009

March ............................................................. 3,022 304,175 2,827 287,023 1,261 158,119 

April ............................................................... 2,537 246,938 2,332 231,211 1,022 114,682 

May ................................................................ 2,712 286,089 2,522 270,051 1,206 151,114 

June ............................................................... 2,470 248,680 2,261 231,529 1,063 140,105 

July ................................................................ 2,184 222,776 1,976 203,347 639 76,345 

August ........................................................... 2,358 218,380 2,119 198,877 743 75,387 

September ..................................................... 2,274 216,959 2,054 200,863 754 90,250 

October .......................................................... 1,970 196,370 1,775 178,648 567 64,681 

November ...................................................... 1,764 159,283 1,598 146,802 469 51,887 

December ...................................................... 1,720 155,738 1,549 141,699 425 44,455 

2010

January .......................................................... 1,699 169,561 1,522 155,298 461 53,303 

February ........................................................ 1,647 161,694 1,480 147,259 387 47,272 

March ............................................................. 1,703 153,784 1,501 138,188 373 43,022 

April ............................................................... 1,622 154,962 1,442 138,849 378 44,860 

May ................................................................ 1,585 150,959 1,345 131,482 317 31,677 

June ............................................................... 1,701 152,080 1,481 133,366 335 34,653 

July ................................................................ 1,521 137,750 1,315 121,313 303 32,064 

August ........................................................... 1,612 162,455 1,409 138,849 384 41,123 

September ..................................................... 1,526 137,074 1,303 117,582 310 33,906 

October .......................................................... 1,661 149,985 1,454 132,373 349 38,157 

November ...................................................... 1,584 153,394 1,407 138,925 353 38,097 

December ...................................................... 1,476 136,252 1,277 121,849 322 36,611 

2011

January .......................................................... 1,522 150,406 1,335 132,659 327 37,431 

February ........................................................ 1,456 137,938 1,263 123,141 312 30,036 

March ............................................................. 1,307 119,691 1,156 106,721 269 31,699 

April ............................................................... 1,526 145,315 1,366 130,841 352 37,177 

May ................................................................ 1,573 144,824 1,387 129,296 399 42,238 

June ............................................................... 1,522 144,060 1,342 129,136 359 38,630 

July ................................................................ 1,566 144,543 1,347 123,815 342 35,458 

August ........................................................... 1,585 168,266 1,364 153,081 374 46,267 

September ..................................................... 1,463 150,165 1,319 136,564 346 37,505 

October .......................................................... 1,349 118,135 1,220 106,478 335 32,310 

November ...................................................... 1,312 123,078 1,177 113,239 312 33,715 

December ...................................................... 1,392 144,661 1,247 129,994 346 38,469 

2012

January .......................................................... 1,435 129,169 1,298 118,127 325 32,503 

February ........................................................ 1,275 120,199 1,134 109,458 283 28,236 

March ............................................................. 1,290 125,195 1,141 112,889 269 28,300 

April ............................................................... 1,403 138,164 1,235 122,236 294 34,929 

May ................................................................ 1,370 131,603 1,220 119,788 277 31,873 

June ............................................................... 1,320 133,080 1,178 120,857 282 31,737 

July ................................................................ 1,354 138,694 1,217 128,186 355 43,427 

August ........................................................... 1,297 130,266 1,172 120,391 322 39,389 

September ..................................................... 1,346 125,692 1,223 116,792 365 40,287 

October .......................................................... 1,400 136,153 1,249 125,026 346 42,927 

November ...................................................... 1,749 172,879 1,574 159,872 412 47,171 

December ...................................................... 1,509 137,839 1,334 125,505 330 35,211 

2013

January .......................................................... 1,328 134,026 1,197 123,088 357 43,068 

February ........................................................ 1,422 135,468 1,218 119,856 295 39,407 

Date

Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, March 2009 to February 2013,

not seasonally adjusted

2009

March ............................................................. 2,191 228,387 2,107 221,397 940 114,747 

April ............................................................... 2,547 256,930 2,385 243,321 887 100,872 

May ................................................................ 2,738 289,628 2,572 274,047 1,005 123,683 

June ............................................................... 2,519 256,357 2,051 216,063 674 85,726 

July ................................................................ 3,054 336,654 2,659 296,589 1,133 154,208 

August ........................................................... 1,428 125,024 1,334 117,193 436 41,151 

September ..................................................... 1,371 123,177 1,258 115,141 448 51,126 

October .......................................................... 1,934 193,904 1,678 172,883 566 69,655 

November ...................................................... 1,870 164,496 1,679 150,751 517 55,053 

December ...................................................... 2,310 214,648 2,166 203,655 615 64,540 

2010

January .......................................................... 2,860 278,679 2,682 265,074 962 104,846 

February ........................................................ 1,183 102,818 1,091 96,022 282 30,728 

March ............................................................. 1,197 111,727 1,111 105,514 273 29,745 

April ............................................................... 1,840 199,690 1,697 184,654 424 55,178 

May ................................................................ 1,354 123,333 1,170 109,203 216 19,334 

June ............................................................... 1,861 171,190 1,355 125,872 212 21,083 

July ................................................................ 2,124 206,254 1,732 172,248 532 64,200 

August ........................................................... 976 92,435 897 83,021 230 23,088 

September ..................................................... 920 77,654 806 67,987 187 19,403 

October .......................................................... 1,642 148,638 1,373 127,865 351 40,861 

November ...................................................... 1,676 158,048 1,477 142,591 389 41,383 

December ...................................................... 1,931 184,130 1,763 172,881 465 52,816 

2011

January .......................................................... 2,558 246,463 2,372 229,765 693 75,006 

February ........................................................ 1,024 85,585 919 78,718 222 18,471 

March ............................................................. 908 85,095 844 80,014 191 20,869 

April ............................................................... 1,750 189,919 1,625 176,478 397 47,104 

May ................................................................ 1,367 119,911 1,221 108,531 270 25,199 

June ............................................................... 1,661 159,930 1,238 122,821 226 22,986 

July ................................................................ 2,176 216,774 1,759 174,078 602 71,814 

August ........................................................... 961 99,213 875 93,159 228 26,916 

September ..................................................... 1,189 117,232 1,095 107,300 296 32,058 

October .......................................................... 1,101 96,914 950 83,748 265 28,447 

November ...................................................... 1,393 127,750 1,245 117,474 349 37,799 

December ...................................................... 2,433 263,665 2,258 247,916 658 75,033 

2012

January .......................................................... 1,705 141,703 1,587 132,754 415 38,021 

February ........................................................ 895 73,974 820 69,076 196 16,555 

March ............................................................. 1,125 117,817 1,040 110,954 242 24,241 

April ............................................................... 1,421 146,358 1,293 132,697 256 32,518 

May ................................................................ 1,201 109,259 1,081 100,434 186 18,800 

June ............................................................... 1,890 198,537 1,485 158,334 255 28,570 

July ................................................................ 1,515 157,753 1,321 144,340 559 74,963 

August ........................................................... 1,063 104,045 992 97,694 251 31,193 

September ..................................................... 811 70,570 749 66,214 221 22,748 

October .......................................................... 1,142 109,829 968 97,390 277 37,702 

November ...................................................... 2,339 249,949 2,078 228,124 551 72,690 

December ...................................................... 1,973 187,137 1,822 177,452 477 50,686 

2013

January .......................................................... 1,528 144,517 1,424 135,970 455 50,793 

February ........................................................ 960 79,786 846 72,391 192 21,630 

Date

Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted

February February February February February February February February

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

 Total 2

 ....................................................................... 895 960 73,974 79,786 224 240 18,494 19,947 

Total, private .................................................................. 865 928 71,884 77,091 216 232 17,971 19,273 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .................... 45 82 2,808 4,700 11 21 702 1,175 

 Total, private nonfarm .................................................. 820 846 69,076 72,391 205 212 17,269 18,098 

 Mining ........................................................................ 7 4 510 311 2 1 128 78 

 Utilities ....................................................................... - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 )

 Construction ............................................................... 81 103 5,395 8,221 20 26 1,349 2,055 

 Construction of buildings ........................................ 12 17 760 1,099 3 4 190 275 

 Heavy and civil engineering construction ............... 19 37 1,319 3,645 5 9 330 911 

 Specialty trade contractors .................................... 50 49 3,316 3,477 13 12 829 869 

 Manufacturing ............................................................ 196 192 16,555 21,630 49 48 4,139 5,408 

 Food ....................................................................... 45 41 4,208 3,879 11 10 1,052 970 

 Beverage and tobacco products ............................ 4 ( 3 ) 199 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 50 ( 3 )

 Textile mills ............................................................ 7 7 638 499 2 2 160 125 

 Textile product mills ............................................... 4 6 512 470 1 2 128 118 

 Apparel ................................................................... 4 4 379 240 1 1 95 60 

 Leather and allied products .................................... - 3 - 227 - 1 - 57 

 Wood products ....................................................... 13 11 1,292 1,075 3 3 323 269 

 Paper ..................................................................... 6 3 397 220 2 1 99 55 

 Printing and related support activities .................... 9 5 634 615 2 1 159 154 

 Petroleum and coal products ................................. ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )

 Chemicals .............................................................. ( 3 ) 4 ( 3 ) 272 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 68 

 Plastics and rubber products ................................. 9 7 547 1,575 2 2 137 394 

 Nonmetallic mineral products ................................. 7 7 505 591 2 2 126 148 

 Primary metals ....................................................... 6 10 428 1,221 2 3 107 305 

 Fabricated metal products ..................................... 10 14 699 947 3 4 175 237 

 Machinery .............................................................. 9 15 994 1,347 2 4 249 337 

 Computer and electronic products ......................... 15 12 1,008 684 4 3 252 171 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ..................... 7 6 590 1,396 2 2 148 349 

 Transportation equipment ...................................... 20 23 1,725 5,175 5 6 431 1,294 

 Furniture and related products ............................... 13 7 1,095 532 3 2 274 133 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing ................................ 4 3 467 388 1 1 117 97 

 Wholesale trade ......................................................... 17 12 1,594 854 4 3 399 214 

 Retail trade 4

 .............................................................. 135 128 12,716 10,111 34 32 3,179 2,528 

 Building material and garden supply stores ........... 7 10 494 804 2 3 124 201 

 Food and beverage stores ..................................... 26 24 2,735 1,915 7 6 684 479 

 Clothing and clothing accessories stores ............... 19 23 1,390 1,392 5 6 348 348 

 General merchandise stores .................................. 57 47 6,096 4,496 14 12 1,524 1,124 

 Transportation and warehousing 4

 ............................. 32 34 3,506 3,833 8 9 877 958 

 Truck transportation ............................................... 3 6 154 339 1 2 39 85 

 Transit and ground passenger transportation ........ 17 19 2,561 2,939 4 5 640 735 

 Support activities for transportation ....................... 3 4 184 263 1 1 46 66 

 Information ................................................................. 42 37 4,456 3,247 11 9 1,114 812 

 Finance and insurance ............................................... 22 20 1,891 1,400 6 5 473 350 

 Real estate and rental and leasing ............................ 5 6 305 427 1 2 76 107 

 Professional and technical services ........................... 25 45 1,931 2,907 6 11 483 727 

 Management of companies and enterprises .............. 5 ( 3 ) 344 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 86 ( 3 )

 Administrative and waste services ............................. 155 164 11,920 11,875 39 41 2,980 2,969 

 Educational services .................................................. 6 8 341 442 2 2 85 111 

 Health care and social assistance ............................. 26 26 1,686 1,601 7 7 422 400 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ............................ 19 12 1,442 808 5 3 361 202 

 Accommodation and food services ............................ 37 45 3,814 4,046 9 11 954 1,012 

 Accommodation ..................................................... 8 16 493 1,270 2 4 123 318 

 Food services and drinking places ......................... 29 29 3,321 2,776 7 7 830 694 

 Other services, except public administration ............. 7 5 526 296 2 1 132 74 

 Unclassified ................................................................ 3 2 144 133 1 1 36 33 

Government ................................................................... 30 32 2,090 2,695 8 8 523 674 

 Federal ....................................................................... 5 7 337 561 1 2 84 140 

 State ........................................................................... 10 13 715 1,178 3 3 179 295 

 State government education ................................. 7 6 531 395 2 2 133 99 

 Local .......................................................................... 15 12 1,038 956 4 3 260 239 

 Local government education ................................. 6 4 377 311 2 1 94 78 

 1

 Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing 2 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.

 lengths of months. There were 4 weeks in February 2012 3

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 and 4 weeks in February 2013. Average weekly events 4

 Includes other industries not shown.

 and initial claimants may not sum to subtotals and totals NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 due to rounding.

Industry

Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs1

Events Initial claimants Events Initial claimants
Table 4. Region and state distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,

not seasonally adjusted

February February February February February February February February

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

 Total 2 ............................................... 895 960 73,974 79,786 224 240 18,494 19,947

Northeast ............................................. 203 159 18,074 15,631 51 40 4,519 3,908

 Connecticut ..................................... 5 15 505 1,656 1 4 126 414

 Maine .............................................. ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Massachusetts ................................ 5 10 358 840 1 3 90 210

 New Hampshire ............................... 3 ( 3 ) 209 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 52 ( 3 ) New Jersey ..................................... 26 24 2,246 2,020 7 6 562 505

 New York ......................................... 91 52 8,124 4,652 23 13 2,031 1,163

 Pennsylvania ................................... 61 45 4,448 4,261 15 11 1,112 1,065

 Rhode Island ................................... 7 7 1,883 1,838 2 2 471 460

 Vermont ........................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )

South ................................................... 242 237 19,704 19,264 61 59 4,926 4,816

 Alabama .......................................... 7 9 541 776 2 2 135 194

 Arkansas ......................................... 11 9 1,163 679 3 2 291 170

 Delaware ......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) District of Columbia ......................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Florida ............................................. 65 55 3,742 3,090 16 14 936 773

 Georgia ........................................... 20 17 2,195 1,212 5 4 549 303

 Kentucky ......................................... 18 15 1,338 2,267 5 4 335 567

 Louisiana ......................................... 13 6 1,294 492 3 2 324 123

 Maryland 4

 ....................................... 10 7 825 492 3 2 206 123

 Mississippi ....................................... 6 5 353 269 2 1 88 67

 North Carolina ................................. 27 34 2,604 3,282 7 9 651 821

 Oklahoma ........................................ 5 ( 3 ) 315 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 79 ( 3 ) South Carolina ................................ 8 10 700 964 2 3 175 241

 Tennessee ...................................... 4 10 584 744 1 3 146 186

 Texas .............................................. 33 40 2,714 3,298 8 10 679 825

 Virginia ............................................ 10 14 1,027 1,243 3 4 257 311

 West Virginia ................................... - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 )

Midwest ............................................... 152 146 13,591 15,411 38 37 3,398 3,853

 Illinois .............................................. 40 24 3,291 1,834 10 6 823 459

 Indiana ............................................ 4 12 314 2,115 1 3 79 529

 Iowa ................................................. 11 7 1,246 734 3 2 312 184

 Kansas ............................................ 4 8 447 2,956 1 2 112 739

 Michigan .......................................... 28 16 2,639 1,315 7 4 660 329

 Minnesota ........................................ 3 ( 3 ) 237 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 59 ( 3 ) Missouri ........................................... 7 15 449 840 2 4 112 210

 Nebraska ......................................... 8 6 610 448 2 2 153 112

 North Dakota ................................... - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) Ohio ................................................. 25 25 2,381 2,211 6 6 595 553

 South Dakota .................................. - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) Wisconsin ........................................ 22 26 1,977 2,344 6 7 494 586

West .................................................... 298 418 22,605 29,480 75 105 5,651 7,370

 Alaska ............................................. ( 3 ) 4 ( 3 ) 361 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 90

 Arizona ............................................ 13 5 1,023 527 3 1 256 132

 California ......................................... 225 360 16,919 24,357 56 90 4,230 6,089

 Colorado .......................................... 6 ( 3 ) 478 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 120 ( 3 ) Hawaii ............................................. ( 3 ) 4 ( 3 ) 356 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 89

 Idaho ............................................... 6 3 399 201 2 1 100 50

 Montana .......................................... - -------

 Nevada ............................................ 5 8 427 701 1 2 107 175

 New Mexico ..................................... 5 ( 3 ) 348 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 87 ( 3 ) Oregon ............................................ 19 13 1,497 1,203 5 3 374 301

 Utah ................................................. 3 ( 3 ) 228 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 57 ( 3 ) Washington ..................................... 13 17 1,084 1,470 3 4 271 368

 Wyoming ......................................... - -------

 Puerto Rico ..................................... 13 8 1,131 810 3 2 283 203

1

 See footnote 1, table 3. 4 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data

2

 See footnote 2, table 3. due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance procedures.

3

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.

Census region and state

Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs1

Events Initial claimants Events Initial claimants