1

Technical information: (202) 691-6392

http://www.bls.gov/mls/

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 05-307

For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Addition of Seasonally Adjusted Data

Beginning with this release, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is publishing seasonally adjusted mass

layoff data series as well as an analysis of significant over-the-month changes in those series. Seasonal adjustment accounts for the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each

year, making it easier to observe the cyclical and other nonseasonal movements. Six mass layoff

series are being seasonally adjusted—the number of layoff events and the number of associated initial

claims for unemployment insurance for the U.S. total, the private nonfarm sector, and the manufacturing

sector. With this release, historical data for each of these series are available from April 1995 forward

at http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=ml. Additional information is contained in the Technical

Note. Staff may be reached at 202-691-6392.

MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2005

In January 2005, employers took 1,457 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new

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

Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment,

and the number of workers involved totaled 150,990, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The

number of layoff events rose by 246 from December and was the highest for any month since January 2004.

The number of initial claims due to mass layoff actions grew by 31,341 over the month and was the highest

Chart 1. Mass layoff events, seasonally adjusted, 

February 2000-January 2005

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Events

Recession Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Chart 2. Mass layoff initial claims, seasonally adjusted, 

February 2000-January 2005

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

Claims

Recession Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
2

for any month since October 2003. There were 379 mass layoff events in the manufacturing sector during

January 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 58,908 initial claims, both higher than a month earlier.

The number of mass layoff events and initial claims reached their respective highs, on a seasonally adjusted basis, of 2,409 and 277,214 in September 2001. The numbers of seasonally adjusted events and

initial claims were also highest for the private nonfarm sector in September 2001 (2,235 and 263,192). The

seasonally adjusted number of manufacturing events reached its peak, (944) in November 2001, while the

seasonally adjusted number of initial claims for manufacturing reached its high point in June1998, at 190,810.

(See table 1.)

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted,

accounted for 72,625 initial claims in January, 28 percent of the total. (See table A.) Temporary help

services, with 17,160 initial claims, and school and employee bus transportation, with 14,526, together

accounted for 12 percent of all initial claims in January. Five of these industries reached a series peak

for January, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, in 2005.

The manufacturing sector accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 41 percent of all initial

claims filed in January. A year earlier, in January 2004, manufacturing comprised 35 percent of events and

37 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, almost one-third of the claimants were in transportation

equipment (35,324), mostly automotive-related. The next largest numbers of claimants in this sector were in

food processing (8,703) and wood product manufacturing (8,243). (See table 3.)

Construction accounted for 18 percent of events and 13 percent of initial claims filed in January 2005,

with layoffs mainly in highway, street, and bridge construction. Twelve percent of all layoff events and 11

percent of initial claims filed during the month were from administrative and waste services, largely in temporary help services. Transportation and warehousing accounted for 8 percent each of events and initial

claims in January, mostly from school and employee bus transportation. Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, primarily in discount department stores. An additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims were from accommodation and food services, mostly among

food service contractors.

Table A. Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in January 2005 p

Industry

Initial claims

January peak

Year

Initial claims

Temporary help services ........................................ 17,160 1998 26,224

School and employee bus transportation ................ 14,526 2005 14,526

Highway, street, and bridge construction ............... 9,040 2000 9,680

Automobile manufacturing ...................................... 6,071 2001 21,093

Professional employer organizations ....................... 5,258 2005 5,258

Light truck and utility vehicle mfg. .......................... 5,110 2001 8,450

Motor home manufacturing .................................... 4,261 2005 4,261

All other plastics product manufacturing................. 4,078 2005 4,078

Discount department stores ................................... 3,569 2004 6,063

Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. ........... 3,552 3,552

p=preliminary.

2005
3

Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed in

January, mostly in executive, legislative, and general government agencies.

Compared with January 2004, the largest increases in initial claims were reported in transportation

equipment manufacturing (+20,217), transit and ground passenger transportation (+5,926), specialty trade

contractors (+5,087), and heavy and civil engineering construction (+5,004). The largest over-the-year

decreases in initial claims were reported in general merchandise stores (-4,221) and textile mills (-3,741).

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in January due to mass layoffs was in

the Midwest, 90,975. (See table 5.) Transportation equipment manufacturing and administrative and support

services accounted for 32 percent of all mass-layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The West

had the second largest number of initial claims, 60,985, followed by the South, with 57,126, and the Northeast, with 54,886.

The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs rose over the year in three of the four regions. The largest

increase was in the Midwest (+22,571), followed by the Northeast (+4,216) and the South (+4,011). The

West had an over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-6,300). Six of the nine geographic divisions had overthe-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the

East North Central (+13,926) and West North Central (+8,645) divisions. Over-the-year decreases occurred in the Pacific (-5,475) and South Atlantic (-2,525) divisions.

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff

events in January (47,222), mostly in administrative and support services and specialty trade contractors.

New York had the next highest with 22,185 initial claims reported, followed by Michigan (20,127), Ohio

(18,132), Pennsylvania (16,167), and Wisconsin (14,437). These six states accounted for 55 percent of

all mass layoff events and 52 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.)

Indiana had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+5,809), followed by Iowa

(+4,983) and Kentucky (+4,192). The largest over-the-year decreases occurred in California (-4,173) and

Georgia (-4,092).

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 the laidoff workers. Because monthly figures include short-term layoffs of 30 days or less, the sum of the figures

for the 3 months in a quarter will be higher than the quarterly figure for mass layoffs of more than 30 days.

(See table 4.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.

______________________________

The report on Mass Layoffs in February 2005 is scheduled to be released on Thursday,

March 24, 2005.
Technical Note

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state

program that uses a standardized, automated approach to

identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job

cutbacks, using data from each state’s unemployment insurance

database. Each month, states report on establishments which

have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a

consecutive 5-week period. These establishments then are

contacted by the state agency to determine whether these

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

information concerning the layoff is collected. States report on

layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a quarterly basis.

A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly

unemployment insurance claims filings for the Sunday through

Saturday weeks in that month. All weeks are included for the

particular month, except if the first day of the month falls on

Saturday. In this case, the week is included in the prior month’s

tabulations. This means that some months will contain 4 weeks

and others, 5 weeks, the number of weeks in a given month may

be different from year to year, and the number of weeks in a year

may vary. Therefore, analysis of over-the-month and over-theyear change in not seasonally adjusted series should take this

calendar effect into consideration.

The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 after it

had been terminated in November 1992 due to lack of funding.

Prior to April 1995, monthly layoff statistics were not available.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory

impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200;

TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Definitions

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

establishment during a 5-week period, regardless of duration.

Seasonal adjustment

Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS

begins 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 one 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, February 2001 to January 2005,

seasonally adjusted

Events Initial

claimants Events Initialclaimants Events Initialclaimants

2001

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,891 252,895 1,662 232,501 826 123,757 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,771 202,154 1,578 186,283 797 108,244 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,620 199,764 1,483 186,013 773 106,045 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,679 207,811 1,523 193,998 755 110,133 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,610 195,617 1,433 180,821 739 104,155 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,704 200,376 1,568 188,468 719 93,867 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,744 206,528 1,586 195,051 788 106,632 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,409 277,214 2,235 263,192 834 108,615 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,109 233,569 1,986 223,808 897 118,136 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,094 218,273 1,935 207,129 944 114,556 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,799 194,759 1,658 183,178 722 93,193 

2002

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,801 208,835 1,659 195,862 739 96,689 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,773 204,089 1,620 192,450 701 91,285 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,674 187,924 1,517 175,998 610 75,367 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,685 186,574 1,497 169,228 591 69,481 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,720 191,841 1,558 178,993 611 74,809 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,615 170,307 1,438 156,759 551 73,064 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,637 179,165 1,457 164,398 568 73,230 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,475 160,855 1,330 149,148 562 65,564 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,909 217,475 1,742 202,640 607 79,413 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,716 178,860 1,524 162,411 598 71,765 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,644 176,462 1,500 165,578 607 70,640 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,825 193,627 1,661 179,368 638 86,714 

2003

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,383 134,258 1,193 120,033 402 49,440 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,771 185,502 1,589 173,392 643 75,331 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,773 176,540 1,577 161,662 618 75,289 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,735 176,645 1,574 165,416 646 86,857 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,709 186,158 1,532 173,123 624 87,615 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,704 163,646 1,515 148,547 636 70,888 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,653 163,061 1,444 147,883 590 71,203 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,502 170,353 1,364 156,731 540 71,944 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,559 145,961 1,370 132,233 471 56,274 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,541 154,908 1,312 136,604 412 49,518 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,400 137,651 1,241 125,115 397 46,955 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,425 141,780 1,281 129,464 420 53,436 

2004

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,458 146,147 1,257 127,917 413 50,074 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,237 126,421 1,091 115,302 358 36,783 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,348 142,480 1,211 134,118 409 63,380 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,422 149,049 1,239 132,180 360 43,158 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,178 114,247 1,016 100,499 314 37,950 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,375 141,300 1,215 129,466 361 47,548 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,363 139,374 1,200 127,011 390 49,276 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,392 130,483 1,208 115,035 330 36,422 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,281 123,761 1,153 114,223 332 45,917 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,274 125,414 1,145 116,042 350 44,908 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,361 130,168 1,201 117,545 402 43,504 

Decemberp ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,211 119,649 1,064 108,157 283 34,940 

2005

Januaryp

 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,457 150,990 1,321 140,826 379 58,908 

 p = preliminary.

Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Date

Total
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, February 2001 to January 2005,

not seasonally adjusted

Events Initial

claimants Events Initialclaimants Events Initialclaimants

2001

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,501 172,908 1,285 156,183 576 79,784 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,527 171,466 1,371 158,108 659 86,874 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,450 176,265 1,353 166,167 608 78,845 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,434 159,365 1,331 151,186 528 64,887 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,107 253,826 1,784 226,022 737 116,005 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,117 273,807 1,952 259,128 1,144 168,877 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,490 166,148 1,386 158,307 603 79,515 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,327 160,402 1,214 151,161 485 58,544 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,831 215,483 1,676 202,053 742 107,030 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,721 295,956 2,373 270,268 1,122 151,969 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,440 268,893 2,319 259,497 1,103 136,820 

2002

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,146 263,777 2,028 252,245 892 128,825 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,382 138,808 1,253 129,849 481 58,784 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,460 161,316 1,335 151,305 500 59,613 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,506 165,814 1,378 153,216 461 50,897 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,723 179,799 1,571 166,801 488 52,720 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,584 162,189 1,266 136,424 336 42,130 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,042 245,294 1,819 226,892 907 135,271 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,248 128,103 1,151 119,874 427 48,668 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,062 124,522 957 114,736 352 43,755 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,497 171,100 1,270 149,327 493 64,655 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,153 240,171 1,860 216,237 719 92,712 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,474 264,158 2,324 252,807 984 126,826 

2003

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 822 90,244 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 435 48,161 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 390 41,063 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 499 62,349 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 499 61,278 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 389 40,845 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 946 136,410 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 405 52,620 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 868 82,647 756 73,914 271 31,428 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 438 53,741 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 408 48,419 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 648 77,915 

2004

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 848 89,551 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 240 23,043 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 258 34,686 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 343 36,172 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 988 87,501 878 78,786 219 22,141 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 222 27,307 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 885 145,895 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 194 17,698 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 708 68,972 637 63,102 189 25,808 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 372 48,265 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 412 44,243 

Decemberp ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 436 50,726 

2005

Januaryp

 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 823 108,985 

 p = preliminary.

Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Date

Total
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

Industry Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

January November December January January November December January

2004 2004 2004p2005p2004 2004 2004p2005p

Seasonally adjusted

 Total ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,458 1,361 1,211 1,457 146,147 130,168 119,649 150,990 

 Total, private nonfarm....................................................... 1,257 1,201 1,064 1,321 127,917 117,545 108,157 140,826 

 Manufacturing..................................................................................................................................................................... 413 402 283 379 50,074 43,504 34,940 58,908 

Not seasonally adjusted

 Total1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 

Total, private ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,339 1,336 1,527 2,488 228,578 125,008 154,496 257,761 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..................................................................................................................................................................... 113 135 40 67 7,891 9,459 2,404 4,352 

 Total, private nonfarm....................................................... 2,226 1,201 1,487 2,421 220,687 115,549 152,092 253,409 

 Mining ..................................................................................................................................................................... 17 7 18 17 1,329 701 1,492 1,272 

 Utilities ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 ( 2

 ) 6 ( 2 ) 345 ( 2 ) 1,395 ( 2 ) 

 Construction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 324 231 342 470 23,405 17,884 27,433 33,590 

 Manufacturing..................................................................................................................................................................... 848 412 436 823 89,551 44,243 50,726 108,985 

 Food ..................................................................................................................................................................... 108 77 59 88 11,083 7,717 6,309 8,703 

 Beverage and tobacco products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 6 7 11 834 387 497 888 

 Textile mills ..................................................................................................................................................................... 48 15 15 17 6,376 1,767 1,249 2,635 

 Textile product mills ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19 7 8 19 1,933 638 932 2,677 

 Apparel ..................................................................................................................................................................... 44 20 16 38 5,836 2,154 2,720 3,893 

 Leather and allied products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11 ( 2

 ) 4 ( 2 ) 1,195 ( 2 ) 757 ( 2 ) 

 Wood products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 46 32 25 61 5,651 3,437 2,346 8,243 

 Paper ..................................................................................................................................................................... 20 7 7 13 1,847 530 575 1,048 

 Printing and related support activities ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24 9 3 15 2,147 610 331 1,237 

 Petroleum and coal products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 ( 2

 ) 11 ( 2 ) 362 ( 2 ) 1,126 ( 2 ) 

 Chemicals ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23 7 8 15 2,384 525 669 1,294 

 Plastics and rubber products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 50 17 30 58 4,821 1,385 2,327 6,006 

 Nonmetallic mineral products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 42 24 32 55 3,813 2,126 3,168 4,815 

 Primary metals ..................................................................................................................................................................... 44 18 23 39 4,579 1,616 2,246 4,359 

 Fabricated metal products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 72 28 34 59 6,960 2,548 2,546 5,796 

 Machinery ..................................................................................................................................................................... 39 25 16 48 3,017 4,583 2,218 6,828 

 Computer and electronic products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 44 27 19 30 3,561 2,534 2,039 2,918 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23 13 13 39 2,263 1,757 3,741 5,662 

 Transportation equipment ..................................................................................................................................................................... 114 53 85 165 15,107 6,961 12,547 35,324 

 Furniture and related products ..................................................................................................................................................................... 36 16 13 30 3,541 1,548 1,096 4,757 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing ..................................................................................................................................................................... 27 5 8 14 2,241 975 1,287 1,154 

 Wholesale trade ..................................................................................................................................................................... 27 24 18 35 2,391 2,196 1,853 2,954 

 Retail trade ..................................................................................................................................................................... 188 65 80 198 22,145 6,498 8,092 18,822 

 Transportation and warehousing ..................................................................................................................................................................... 128 32 96 197 14,038 2,900 10,687 22,226 

 Information ..................................................................................................................................................................... 67 45 30 47 9,394 5,492 8,002 6,141 

 Finance and insurance ..................................................................................................................................................................... 41 22 18 35 3,547 1,442 1,455 3,289 

 Real estate and rental and leasing ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15 ( 2 ) 4 16 1,202 ( 2 ) 249 1,491 

 Professional and technical services ..................................................................................................................................................................... 47 22 48 48 4,288 2,303 5,955 4,729 

 Management of companies and enterprises ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 ( 2 ) 3 5 895 ( 2 ) 296 358 

 Administrative and waste services ..................................................................................................................................................................... 285 187 163 302 27,855 17,370 13,192 28,865 

 Educational services.................................................................................................................. 8 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 553 ( 2 ) 245 ( 2 ) 

 Health care and social assistance ..................................................................................................................................................................... 35 27 28 35 2,991 2,012 2,539 2,739 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ..................................................................................................................................................................... 41 25 30 40 3,149 2,126 1,967 4,558 

 Accommodation and food services ..................................................................................................................................................................... 113 81 146 117 9,614 8,995 14,923 9,364 

 Other services, except public administration..................................................................................................................................................................... 26 10 13 28 2,992 647 1,342 3,408 

 Unclassified ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 1 4 3 1,003 40 249 264 

Government ..................................................................................................................................................................... 89 63 87 76 10,876 5,415 6,775 6,191 

 Federal ..................................................................................................................................................................... 26 12 8 23 2,725 1,290 842 1,920 

 State ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13 25 16 18 1,405 2,342 1,472 1,736 

 Local ..................................................................................................................................................................... 50 26 63 35 6,746 1,783 4,461 2,535 

 

1

 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. p = preliminary.

 

2

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2003 to January 2005, 

not seasonally adjusted

Extended mass layoffs 

lasting more than 30 days Realization rates 1

Events Initial

claimants Events Initialclaimants Events Initialclaimants Events Initialclaimants

2003

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,315 225,430 2,130 210,918 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,363 124,965 1,222 116,264 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,207 113,026 1,099 104,468 

First Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4,885 463,421 4,451 431,650 1,502 297,608 33.7 68.9 

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,581 161,412 1,470 152,937 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,703 174,204 1,538 160,729 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,691 157,552 1,336 127,743 

Second Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4,975 493,168 4,344 441,409 1,799 348,966 41.4 79.1 

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,087 226,435 1,815 206,901 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,258 133,839 1,163 124,131 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 868 82,647 756 73,914 

Third Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4,213 442,921 3,734 404,946 1,190 227,909 31.9 56.3 

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,523 158,240 1,265 137,706 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,438 138,543 1,234 123,524 

December ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,929 192,633 1,793 182,750 

Fourth Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4,890 489,416 4,292 443,980 1,690 326,328 39.4 73.5 

2004

January ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,428 239,454 2,226 220,687 

February ..................................................................................................................................................................... 941 84,201 832 76,577 

March ..................................................................................................................................................................... 920 92,554 847 87,782 

First Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 1,339 r 238,305 34.3 r 61.9

April ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,458 157,314 1,316 142,657 

May ..................................................................................................................................................................... 988 87,501 878 78,786 

June ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,379 134,588 1,077 110,804 

Second Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 r 1,358 r 253,231 41.5 r 76.2

July ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,094 253,929 1,860 234,877 

August ..................................................................................................................................................................... 809 69,033 745 63,876 

September ..................................................................................................................................................................... 708 68,972 637 63,102 

Third Quarter ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3,611 391,934 3,242 361,855 r 887 r 145,889 r 27.4 r 40.3

October ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,242 127,918 1,101 117,375 

November ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1,399 130,423 1,201 115,549 

December p .................................................................................................................................................................... 1,614 161,271 1,487 152,092 

Fourth Quarter p .................................................................................................................................................................... 4,255 419,612 3,789 385,016 2 1,295 2 178,834 34.2 46.4 

2005

January p

 .................................................................................................................................................................... 2,564 263,952 2,421 253,409 

 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards

mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization by less than 10 percent and the number of initial claimants associated

rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants with such events increases by 25-40 percent.

associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. r = revised.

 2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more p = preliminary.

data on these layoffs become available. Experience suggests that the

Mass layoffs

Total mass layoffs

Private nonfarm

Date
Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division,

not seasonally adjusted

Census region and division

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

January November December January January November December January

2004 2004 2004p2005p2004 2004 2004p2005p

 United States1

 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 

Northeast ..................................................................................................................................................................... 498 198 285 556 50,650 19,346 27,387 54,866 

 New England ..................................................................................................................................................................... 64 26 47 88 5,689 1,998 4,894 8,009 

 Middle Atlantic ..................................................................................................................................................................... 434 172 238 468 44,961 17,348 22,493 46,857 

South ..................................................................................................................................................................... 501 255 288 490 53,115 24,573 29,948 57,126 

 South Atlantic ..................................................................................................................................................................... 244 116 140 216 25,490 10,333 13,620 22,965 

 East South Central ..................................................................................................................................................................... 153 42 76 173 17,176 4,651 8,995 20,528 

 West South Central ..................................................................................................................................................................... 104 97 72 101 10,449 9,589 7,333 13,633 

Midwest ..................................................................................................................................................................... 688 389 588 774 68,404 39,650 61,277 90,975 

 East North Central ..................................................................................................................................................................... 574 306 414 601 58,674 29,986 42,598 72,600 

 West North Central ..................................................................................................................................................................... 114 83 174 173 9,730 9,664 18,679 18,375 

West ..................................................................................................................................................................... 741 557 453 744 67,285 46,854 42,659 60,985 

 Mountain ..................................................................................................................................................................... 63 59 60 60 6,292 6,470 5,295 5,467 

 Pacific ..................................................................................................................................................................... 678 498 393 684 60,993 40,384 37,364 55,518 

 

 

1

 See footnote 1, table 3. Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central:

 

 

p

 = preliminary. Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: Arkansas, 

 NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, 

the census divisions are: New England: Connecticut, Maine, Ohio, and Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, 

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 

Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, 

Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

 
Table 6. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,

not seasonally adjusted

State

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

January November December January January November December January

2004 2004 2004p2005p2004 2004 2004p2005p

 Total1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2,428 1,399 1,614 2,564 239,454 130,423 161,271 263,952 

Alabama ..................................................................................................................................................................... 112 9 22 85 13,754 915 2,244 12,310 

Alaska ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 7 ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 429 686 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 

Arizona ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 3 5 7 645 255 358 642 

Arkansas ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) 11 3 6 ( 2 ) 1,477 218 622 

California ..................................................................................................................................................................... 576 429 344 602 51,395 34,089 32,279 47,222 

Colorado ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11 7 13 10 1,043 533 1,347 871 

Connecticut ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 ( 2

 ) 5 7 669 ( 2 ) 510 629 

Delaware ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) – – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – – ( 2 ) 

District of Columbia ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 

Florida ..................................................................................................................................................................... 60 43 44 62 4,044 3,107 3,567 4,800 

Georgia ..................................................................................................................................................................... 92 19 37 62 10,525 1,809 3,082 6,433 

Hawaii ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4 ( 2

 ) – 7 296 ( 2 ) – 643 

Idaho ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 16 10 9 1,125 1,888 736 719 

Illinois ..................................................................................................................................................................... 88 63 99 91 9,610 6,462 10,222 8,596 

Indiana ..................................................................................................................................................................... 58 40 68 72 5,499 5,129 9,331 11,308 

Iowa ..................................................................................................................................................................... 29 14 36 48 2,267 1,159 3,442 7,250 

Kansas ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 6 16 34 954 1,090 1,864 3,061 

Kentucky ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 19 38 52 1,030 2,160 5,474 5,222 

Louisiana ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 19 16 24 908 1,789 1,297 3,417 

Maine ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 4 7 10 1,463 328 570 776 

Maryland ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19 4 7 23 2,009 347 924 1,902 

Massachusetts ..................................................................................................................................................................... 30 15 15 44 2,375 1,108 2,085 4,116 

Michigan ..................................................................................................................................................................... 171 63 115 182 16,615 5,032 10,841 20,127 

Minnesota ..................................................................................................................................................................... 30 35 55 33 2,688 4,260 6,064 2,857 

Mississippi ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 – ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 384 – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 

Missouri ..................................................................................................................................................................... 26 23 41 44 2,422 2,773 5,231 3,711 

Montana ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4 7 6 6 270 1,023 474 511 

Nebraska ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11 ( 2

 ) 18 10 984 ( 2 ) 1,375 1,212 

Nevada ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14 19 17 25 2,225 2,219 1,630 2,481 

New Hampshire ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) – 5 7 ( 2 ) – 423 741 

New Jersey ..................................................................................................................................................................... 73 42 46 94 7,191 5,386 4,979 8,505 

New Mexico ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 4 5 ( 2

 ) 328 384 319 ( 2 ) 

New York ..................................................................................................................................................................... 194 55 88 180 24,376 4,362 8,101 22,185 

North Carolina ..................................................................................................................................................................... 18 24 16 21 1,829 2,294 1,187 1,897 

North Dakota ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) 3 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 238 526 ( 2 ) 

Ohio ..................................................................................................................................................................... 141 49 67 140 15,169 4,219 5,310 18,132 

Oklahoma ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13 9 13 14 1,517 845 1,041 2,735 

Oregon ..................................................................................................................................................................... 70 31 23 50 6,681 2,886 2,798 5,427 

Pennsylvania ..................................................................................................................................................................... 167 75 104 194 13,394 7,600 9,413 16,167 

Rhode Island ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 4 7 14 332 372 628 1,357 

South Carolina ..................................................................................................................................................................... 26 13 11 13 3,563 1,619 1,679 1,371 

South Dakota ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 

Tennessee ..................................................................................................................................................................... 25 14 15 33 2,008 1,576 1,219 2,771 

Texas ..................................................................................................................................................................... 74 58 40 57 7,571 5,478 4,777 6,859 

Utah ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 ( 2

 ) 4 – 656 ( 2 ) 431 –

Vermont ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 ( 2

 ) 8 6 573 ( 2 ) 678 390 

Virginia ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24 10 21 30 3,061 976 2,836 4,620 

Washington ..................................................................................................................................................................... 22 29 24 22 2,192 2,536 2,149 1,939 

West Virginia ..................................................................................................................................................................... ( 2

 ) 3 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 181 276 ( 2 ) 

Wisconsin ..................................................................................................................................................................... 116 91 65 116 11,781 9,144 6,894 14,437 

Wyoming ..................................................................................................................................................................... – ( 2

 ) – – – ( 2 ) – –

Puerto Rico ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 6 10 25 511 562 706 3,080 

 1 See footnote 1, table 3. p

 = preliminary.

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