For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, September 21, 2012 USDL-12-1889 

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

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

MASS LAYOFFS — AUGUST 2012 

Employers took 1,267 mass layoff actions in August involving 127,454 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 in August decreased by 73 from July, and the number of associated 

initial claims decreased by 9,966. Year-to-date mass layoff events (10,692) and initial claims 

(1,032,764) both recorded their lowest figures for a January-August period since 2007. In August, 314 

mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector resulting in 38,667 initial claims. 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

Aug‐01 Aug‐02 Aug‐03 Aug‐04 Aug‐05 Aug‐06 Aug‐07 Aug‐08 Aug‐09 Aug‐10 Aug‐11 Aug‐12

Initial Claims UnemploymentRate

Totalmass layoffinitial claims Manufacturingmasslayoff initial claims Unemploymentrate

Chart 1. Mass layoff initial claims and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, August 2001‐August 2012   

The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in August, down from 8.3 percent the prior month and 

from 9.1 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 96,000 over the month 

and by 1,808,000 over the year. 

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

The number of mass layoff events in August was 1,063, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 104,045 

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

mass layoff events for August decreased by 27 to 213, and associated average weekly initial claims 

decreased by 3,994 to 20,809. Six of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over- 
- 2 - 

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

in August 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted

Temporary help services 1

 ........................................ 8,257 1999 11,533 

School and employee bus transportation ................... 6,975 2012 6,975 

Motion picture and video production ........................ 3,138 2003 6,812 

Professional employer organizations 1

 ....................... 2,236 2008 5,252 

Rolled, drawn, extruded, and alloyed copper ............ ( 2 ) 2012 ( 2 )

Motor vehicle metal stamping ................................... ( 2 ) 2012 ( 2 )

Automobile manufacturing ........................................ 1,935 2001 8,166 

Discount department stores ...................................... 1,916 2007 2,953 

Department stores, except discount .......................... 1,834 1996 2,151 

Food service contractors .......................................... 1,399 2011 1,826 

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

August peak

Year Initial claims

the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in information. 

(See table 3.) In August 2012, the six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial 

claims due to mass layoffs was temporary help services. (See table A.) 

In August, the manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of mass layoff events and 31 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. Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing 

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

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

Among the census regions, the South registered the largest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs 

in August. Three of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, 

with the largest decrease occurring in the Northeast. (See table 4.) 

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in August, 

followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and North Carolina. Twenty-seven states and the District 

of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by 

Massachusetts, New Jersey, and South Carolina. (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 
- 3 - 

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

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 September is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, October 23, 

2012, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). 
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, September 2008 to August 2012,

seasonally adjusted

2008

September ................................................... 2,159 229,180 1,990 215,749 629 82,011 

October ........................................................ 2,201 226,853 2,043 213,454 698 93,252 

November .................................................... 2,406 239,239 2,247 225,404 907 103,836 

December .................................................... 2,437 244,889 2,261 230,621 935 116,181 

2009

January ........................................................ 2,254 235,371 2,083 221,653 726 92,293 

February ....................................................... 3,059 326,392 2,901 310,378 1,251 145,839 

March ........................................................... 2,999 299,322 2,800 282,414 1,230 154,168 

April .............................................................. 2,566 249,129 2,349 232,632 1,007 116,051 

May .............................................................. 2,710 284,468 2,516 267,869 1,181 147,184 

June ............................................................. 2,466 247,597 2,257 230,502 1,048 137,649 

July ............................................................... 2,186 222,941 1,979 203,911 636 75,728 

August .......................................................... 2,340 216,047 2,115 197,172 751 77,894 

September ................................................... 2,261 214,018 2,048 198,761 786 91,125 

October ........................................................ 1,969 195,752 1,772 178,172 571 65,217 

November .................................................... 1,757 164,454 1,588 151,172 472 52,855 

December .................................................... 1,719 155,056 1,543 140,835 424 44,096 

2010

January ........................................................ 1,707 168,044 1,529 154,187 471 53,817 

February ....................................................... 1,631 156,292 1,465 141,831 374 43,620 

March ........................................................... 1,676 149,816 1,469 134,518 356 40,705 

April .............................................................. 1,637 154,558 1,452 138,503 368 44,506 

May .............................................................. 1,608 150,996 1,357 130,273 302 29,932 

June ............................................................. 1,695 151,435 1,475 132,742 325 33,298 

July ............................................................... 1,519 138,091 1,316 122,162 304 32,253 

August .......................................................... 1,588 159,329 1,399 136,697 390 43,154 

September ................................................... 1,510 133,576 1,295 115,349 328 34,333 

October ........................................................ 1,654 149,589 1,446 132,146 354 38,937 

November .................................................... 1,592 161,145 1,410 145,494 360 39,977 

December .................................................... 1,477 135,849 1,271 121,171 322 36,267 

2011

January ........................................................ 1,536 148,952 1,348 131,869 337 37,477 

February ....................................................... 1,434 131,569 1,242 116,745 297 26,696 

March ........................................................... 1,275 115,391 1,118 102,722 251 28,988 

April .............................................................. 1,548 145,836 1,383 131,317 341 37,053 

May .............................................................. 1,600 144,412 1,404 127,793 374 39,180 

June ............................................................. 1,513 143,384 1,334 128,410 344 36,265 

July ............................................................... 1,562 145,078 1,348 125,285 346 36,312 

August .......................................................... 1,551 164,275 1,347 149,874 382 49,194 

September ................................................... 1,447 147,353 1,306 134,038 364 38,026 

October ........................................................ 1,335 118,924 1,205 107,330 341 33,926 

November .................................................... 1,332 131,627 1,192 120,760 324 36,563 

December .................................................... 1,384 145,648 1,238 130,583 351 39,081 

2012

January ........................................................ 1,434 129,920 1,298 119,102 341 33,597 

February ....................................................... 1,293 119,463 1,153 108,577 282 27,388 

March ........................................................... 1,273 121,310 1,125 109,421 261 26,348 

April .............................................................. 1,388 135,600 1,222 120,213 287 33,243 

May .............................................................. 1,380 130,191 1,222 117,654 264 29,675 

June ............................................................. 1,317 131,406 1,171 118,451 267 29,093 

July ............................................................... 1,340 137,420 1,208 127,092 364 44,920 

August .......................................................... 1,267 127,454 1,148 117,952 314 38,667 

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, September 2008 to August 2012,

not seasonally adjusted

2008

September ................................................... 1,292 129,586 1,202 122,505 361 46,391 

October ........................................................ 2,125 221,784 1,917 205,553 689 100,457 

November .................................................... 2,574 241,589 2,389 226,657 997 107,620 

December .................................................... 3,377 351,305 3,232 340,220 1,378 172,529 

2009

January ........................................................ 3,806 388,813 3,633 375,293 1,461 172,757 

February ....................................................... 2,262 218,438 2,173 210,755 945 103,588 

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 

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

August August August August August August August August

2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012

 Total 2

 ....................................................................... 961 1,063 99,213 104,045 240 213 24,803 20,809 

Total, private .................................................................. 904 1,016 94,711 99,596 226 203 23,678 19,919 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .................... 29 24 1,552 1,902 7 5 388 380 

 Total, private nonfarm .................................................. 875 992 93,159 97,694 219 198 23,290 19,539 

 Mining ......................................................................... ( 3 ) 9 ( 3 ) 747 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 149 

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

 Construction ............................................................... 65 96 4,628 6,554 16 19 1,157 1,311 

 Construction of buildings ........................................ 9 20 903 1,387 2 4 226 277 

 Heavy and civil engineering construction ............... 16 24 1,165 1,740 4 5 291 348 

 Specialty trade contractors ..................................... 40 52 2,560 3,427 10 10 640 685 

 Manufacturing ............................................................ 228 251 26,916 31,193 57 50 6,729 6,239 

 Food ....................................................................... 51 47 4,585 4,958 13 9 1,146 992 

 Beverage and tobacco products ............................ 6 3 472 254 2 1 118 51 

 Textile mills ............................................................ 8 11 944 1,308 2 2 236 262 

 Textile product mills ............................................... 3 ( 3 ) 200 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 50 ( 3 )

 Apparel ................................................................... 10 9 1,024 767 3 2 256 153 

 Leather and allied products .................................... - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 )

 Wood products ....................................................... 11 15 1,242 1,166 3 3 311 233 

 Paper ...................................................................... 7 4 512 314 2 1 128 63 

 Printing and related support activities .................... 6 ( 3 ) 569 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 142 ( 3 )

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

 Chemicals .............................................................. 6 4 303 267 2 1 76 53 

 Plastics and rubber products .................................. 8 13 705 1,198 2 3 176 240 

 Nonmetallic mineral products ................................. 11 6 685 377 3 1 171 75 

 Primary metals ....................................................... 5 8 415 2,760 1 2 104 552 

 Fabricated metal products ...................................... 11 13 1,051 1,087 3 3 263 217 

 Machinery ............................................................... 16 27 4,407 3,405 4 5 1,102 681 

 Computer and electronic products ......................... 10 20 884 1,432 3 4 221 286 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ...................... 12 12 2,537 1,395 3 2 634 279 

 Transportation equipment ...................................... 30 38 4,688 8,715 8 8 1,172 1,743 

 Furniture and related products ............................... 7 7 952 415 2 1 238 83 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing ................................. 10 7 741 736 3 1 185 147 

 Wholesale trade ......................................................... 17 21 1,347 2,178 4 4 337 436 

 Retail trade 4

 .............................................................. 79 115 6,804 11,071 20 23 1,701 2,214 

 Building material and garden supply stores ........... 5 14 436 1,395 1 3 109 279 

 Food and beverage stores ..................................... 10 15 720 1,348 3 3 180 270 

 Clothing and clothing accessories stores ............... 6 9 386 512 2 2 97 102 

 General merchandise stores .................................. 32 42 3,378 5,491 8 8 845 1,098 

 Transportation and warehousing 4

 ............................. 74 94 7,181 9,728 19 19 1,795 1,946 

 Truck transportation ............................................... 5 5 240 483 1 1 60 97 

 Transit and ground passenger transportation ........ 56 67 5,697 7,332 14 13 1,424 1,466 

 Support activities for transportation ........................ 4 5 228 452 1 1 57 90 

 Information ................................................................. 58 33 18,813 4,653 15 7 4,703 931 

 Finance and insurance ............................................... 26 28 1,647 2,359 7 6 412 472 

 Real estate and rental and leasing ............................. 4 5 235 657 1 1 59 131 

 Professional and technical services ........................... 24 31 1,737 2,608 6 6 434 522 

 Management of companies and enterprises .............. 4 8 269 721 1 2 67 144 

 Administrative and waste services ............................. 162 167 13,158 14,043 41 33 3,290 2,809 

 Educational services .................................................. 11 15 1,329 1,848 3 3 332 370 

 Health care and social assistance .............................. 30 31 2,279 2,010 8 6 570 402 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ............................ 17 23 1,438 1,884 4 5 360 377 

 Accommodation and food services ............................ 65 52 4,533 4,300 16 10 1,133 860 

 Accommodation ..................................................... 18 13 989 1,009 5 3 247 202 

 Food services and drinking places ......................... 47 39 3,544 3,291 12 8 886 658 

 Other services, except public administration .............. 8 8 654 874 2 2 164 175 

 Unclassified ................................................................ ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )

Government ................................................................... 57 47 4,502 4,449 14 9 1,126 890 

 Federal ....................................................................... 10 6 833 580 3 1 208 116 

 State ........................................................................... 15 8 1,267 900 4 2 317 180 

 State government education ................................. 7 4 684 429 2 1 171 86 

 Local ........................................................................... 32 33 2,402 2,969 8 7 601 594 

 Local government education ................................. 13 12 1,172 1,026 3 2 293 205 

 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 August 2011 3

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 and 5 weeks in August 2012. 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

August August August August August August August August

2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012

 Total 2 ............................................... 961 1,063 99,213 104,045 240 213 24,803 20,809

Northeast ............................................ 187 242 29,937 25,277 47 48 7,484 5,055

 Connecticut ..................................... 3 7 280 540 1 1 70 108

 Maine .............................................. ( 3 ) 3 ( 3 ) 353 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 71

 Massachusetts ................................ 12 10 6,030 896 3 2 1,508 179

 New Hampshire .............................. ( 3 ) 5 ( 3 ) 578 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 116

 New Jersey ..................................... 23 25 6,817 1,960 6 5 1,704 392

 New York ........................................ 71 99 7,506 12,317 18 20 1,877 2,463

 Pennsylvania .................................. 70 90 7,830 8,172 18 18 1,958 1,634

 Rhode Island ................................... 4 ( 3 ) 882 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 221 ( 3 ) Vermont .......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )

South .................................................. 277 287 25,771 30,553 69 57 6,443 6,111

 Alabama .......................................... 14 13 1,310 1,071 4 3 328 214

 Arkansas ......................................... 10 12 909 1,276 3 2 227 255

 Delaware ......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) District of Columbia ......................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Florida ............................................. 78 60 5,176 4,677 20 12 1,294 935

 Georgia ........................................... 30 12 2,447 953 8 2 612 191

 Kentucky ......................................... 13 28 1,935 2,933 3 6 484 587

 Louisiana ........................................ 7 5 378 318 2 1 95 64

 Maryland 4

 ....................................... 4 16 812 1,257 1 3 203 251

 Mississippi ...................................... 10 13 613 842 3 3 153 168

 North Carolina ................................. 21 35 1,624 5,651 5 7 406 1,130

 Oklahoma ....................................... ( 3 ) 4 ( 3 ) 266 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 53

 South Carolina ................................ 20 9 2,871 870 5 2 718 174

 Tennessee ...................................... 10 8 1,021 650 3 2 255 130

 Texas .............................................. 37 52 3,836 7,586 9 10 959 1,517

 Virginia ............................................ 17 13 1,988 1,453 4 3 497 291

 West Virginia ................................... ( 3 ) 4 ( 3 ) 433 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 87

Midwest ............................................... 181 172 20,541 18,179 45 34 5,135 3,636

 Illinois .............................................. 35 52 5,514 4,589 9 10 1,379 918

 Indiana ............................................ 13 13 1,215 3,425 3 3 304 685

 Iowa ................................................ 9 8 1,796 742 2 2 449 148

 Kansas ............................................ 9 ( 3 ) 1,497 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 374 ( 3 ) Michigan ......................................... 21 20 1,986 1,460 5 4 497 292

 Minnesota ....................................... 7 4 607 561 2 1 152 112

 Missouri .......................................... 17 18 1,145 1,625 4 4 286 325

 Nebraska ........................................ 4 3 247 377 1 1 62 75

 North Dakota ................................... 3 ( 3 ) 410 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 103 ( 3 ) Ohio ................................................ 25 21 2,420 2,576 6 4 605 515

 South Dakota .................................. --------

 Wisconsin ....................................... 38 28 3,704 2,449 10 6 926 490

West .................................................... 316 362 22,964 30,036 79 72 5,741 6,007

 Alaska ............................................. 4 8 307 792 1 2 77 158

 Arizona ............................................ 5 14 341 994 1 3 85 199

 California ......................................... 251 291 17,552 23,157 63 58 4,388 4,631

 Colorado ......................................... 6 3 547 224 2 1 137 45

 Hawaii ............................................. ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) -

 Idaho ............................................... 4 9 255 1,129 1 2 64 226

 Montana .......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Nevada ........................................... 11 7 1,158 597 3 1 290 119

 New Mexico .................................... 5 ( 3 ) 338 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 85 ( 3 ) Oregon ............................................ 10 13 836 1,347 3 3 209 269

 Utah ................................................ 3 3 218 169 1 1 55 34

 Washington ..................................... 14 11 1,170 1,261 4 2 293 252

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

 Puerto Rico ..................................... 12 13 1,282 1,266 3 3 321 253

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