Technical information: (202) 691-6392

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

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 02-402

For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

MASS LAYOFFS IN JUNE 2002

Employers initiated 1,557 mass layoff actions in June 2002, as measured by new filings for unemployment

insurance benefits during the month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved

totaled 159,352. (See table 1.) A year earlier, in June 2001, there were 2,107 mass layoff events involving

253,826 workers. (June 2002 contained 4 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 5 weeks in each

June of the prior 2 years.) From January through June 2002, the total number of initial claims, at 1,069,361,

was lower than January-June 2001 (1,134,173), while the number of events, at 9,779, was somewhat higher

(9,541).

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. 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”) and provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment

and on the demographics of the laid-off 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 1.) See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.

Industry Distribution

Manufacturing industries accounted for 22 percent of all mass layoff events and 26 percent of all initial

claims filed in June. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 35 percent of events and 46 percent

of initial claims. The number of initial claimants was highest in food production (5,851, mostly in fruit and

vegetable processing), followed by transportation equipment (5,594), electrical equipment and appliance

manufacturing (5,171), and machinery manufacturing (4,543). (See table 2.)

Nine percent of all layoff events and 11 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in transportation and warehousing, mostly in school and employee bus transportation. Eleven percent of the events and

9 percent of initial claims were from administrative and waste services, mainly in temporary help services.

The healthcare and social assistance sector accounted for an additional 7 percent of events and initial claims,

primarily in child daycare services.

Government establishments accounted for 14 percent of events and 11 percent of initial claims filed

during the month, largely in educational services, particularly elementary and secondary schools.

Compared with June 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation

equipment manufacturing (-28,790), computer and electronic products (-11,359), textile mills (-9,408), and
2

plastics and rubber products (-8,778). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in

professional and technical services (+4,589) and educational services (+2,855).

Geographic Distribution

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

55,147. (See table 3.) Professional and technical services, administrative and support services, and educational services accounted for 39 percent of all initial claims in the West during the month. Following was the

South with 37,559 initial claims (mainly in educational services), the Midwest with 36,493 (largely in

machinery manufacturing), and the Northeast with 30,153 (mostly in transit and ground passenger

transportation).

The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year in all four regions. The Midwest

region had the largest decrease in initial claims (-50,908), followed by the South (-27,931). Each of the nine

geographic divisions reported over-the-year declines in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decreases in the East North Central (-38,097), South Atlantic (-17,177), and West

North Central (-12,811) divisions.

California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events this June, 43,520, mostly in

professional and technical services and administrative and support services. Pennsylvania reported 11,198

initial claims in mass layoffs, followed by New Jersey (9,137), Texas (8,550), and Florida (7,222). These

five states accounted for 55 percent of all layoff events and 50 percent of all initial claims for unemployment

insurance. (See table 4.)

Michigan reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-21,712), followed by South

Carolina (-10,377). The largest over-the-year increase occurred in Connecticut (+1,235).

______________________________

The report on Extended Mass Layoffs in the Second Quarter of 2002 will be issued on Wednesday,

August 14, 2002.

Change in Industry Classification System

Beginning with the release of January 2002 mass layoff data on February 28, 2002, the Mass

Layoff Statistics program implemented the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification

System (NAICS) as the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry.

NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United

States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and the previously used Standard

Industrial Classification (SIC) structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the SICbased data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series from April 1995 through

December 2001 are available on both SIC and NAICS bases.

NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic units. Units with similar

production processes are classified in the same industry. NAICS focuses on how products and

services are created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced. This approach yields

significantly different industry groupings than those produced by the SIC approach.

Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the BLS Web page at

http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm or the Bureau of the Census Web page at

http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.
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, and the number of

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

analysis of over-the-month and over-the-year change 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.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, April 2000 to June 2002

Date

Total mass layoffs Extended mass layoffs 

lasting more than 30 days Realization rates1

Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants Events Initial 

claimants

2000

April ............................................................................ 924 101,359 

May ............................................................................. 984 92,193 

June ............................................................................ 1,597 192,025 

Second Quarter .......................................................... 3,505 385,577 1,271 231,471 36.3 60.0 

July ............................................................................. 1,333 164,978 

August ........................................................................ 751 97,215 

September .................................................................. 936 106,842 

Third Quarter .............................................................. 3,020 369,035 1,014 189,250 33.6 51.3 

October ....................................................................... 874 103,755 

November ................................................................... 1,697 216,514 

December ................................................................... 2,677 326,743 

Fourth Quarter ............................................................ 5,248 647,012 2,005 376,611 38.2 58.2 

2001

January ....................................................................... 1,522 200,343 

February ..................................................................... 1,501 172,908 

March ......................................................................... 1,527 171,466 

First Quarter ............................................................... 4,550 544,717 1,765 340,151 38.8 62.4 

April ............................................................................ 1,450 176,265 

May ............................................................................. 1,434 159,365 

June ............................................................................ 2,107 253,826 

Second Quarter .......................................................... 4,991 589,456 2,072 401,294 41.5 68.1 

July ............................................................................. 2,117 273,807 

August ........................................................................ 1,490 166,148 

September .................................................................. 1,327 160,402 

Third Quarter .............................................................. 4,934 600,357 1,815 371,124 36.8 61.8 

October ....................................................................... 1,831 215,483 

November ................................................................... 2,721 295,956 

December ................................................................... 2,440 268,893 

Fourth Quarter ............................................................ 6,992 780,332 2,700 497,136 38.6 63.7 

2002

January ....................................................................... 2,146 263,821 

February ..................................................................... 1,383 138,984 

March ......................................................................... 1,460 161,336 

First Quarter ............................................................... 4,989 564,141 2, p1,669 2, p236,891 p33.5 p42.0

April ............................................................................ 1,507 165,861 

May

p

 ........................................................................... 1,726 180,007 

June3, p ....................................................................... 1,557 159,352 

 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised

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

is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent.

layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 3

 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, 

 2

 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more except Arizona.

data on these layoffs become available. Recent experience suggests p = preliminary.
Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

Industry

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

June April May June June April May June

2001r 2002 2002p 2002p 2001r 2002 2002p 2002p

 Total1 .................................................................... 2,107 1,507 1,726 1,557 253,826 165,861 180,007 159,352 

Total, private ............................................................. 1,902 1,458 1,635 1,340 235,463 161,342 170,712 141,095 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ............... 118 79 62 90 9,441 8,079 3,802 6,038 

 Mining .................................................................... 5 15 15 8 1,569 1,409 1,553 1,210 

 Utilities ................................................................... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 597 303 

 Construction .......................................................... 89 105 165 84 6,888 9,135 13,521 5,809 

 Manufacturing........................................................ 737 461 488 335 116,005 50,897 52,720 42,007 

 Food .................................................................. 66 80 79 49 6,061 9,291 9,335 5,851 

 Beverage and tobacco products ....................... ( 2 ) 8 3 6 ( 2 ) 899 224 452 

 Textile mills ....................................................... 33 9 19 10 10,526 1,120 2,072 1,118 

 Textile product mills .......................................... 9 ( 2 ) 8 5 1,151 ( 2 ) 617 663 

 Apparel .............................................................. 38 30 33 15 3,208 3,742 2,578 1,363 

 Leather and allied products ............................... ( 2 ) 5 – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 437 – ( 2 )

 Wood products .................................................. 16 19 23 18 1,448 1,637 2,348 2,359 

 Paper ................................................................. 19 15 10 8 2,065 1,330 1,141 1,078 

 Printing and related support activities ............... 10 10 21 13 875 874 1,892 1,057 

 Petroleum and coal products ............................ – ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) 184 ( 2 )

 Chemicals ......................................................... 13 10 11 6 1,641 664 815 606 

 Plastics and rubber products ............................. 50 11 9 10 9,676 857 798 898 

 Nonmetallic mineral products ............................ 16 9 10 8 1,788 717 1,190 754 

 Primary metals .................................................. 37 22 27 18 4,920 1,979 2,787 2,681 

 Fabricated metal products ................................. 46 22 25 20 4,212 1,781 2,252 2,103 

 Machinery .......................................................... 57 35 35 27 8,342 5,045 3,902 4,543 

 Computer and electronic products .................... 96 74 69 36 14,318 7,336 5,813 2,959 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ................. 31 19 28 24 5,580 2,427 4,490 5,171 

 Transportation equipment ................................. 145 53 53 34 34,384 7,428 6,869 5,594 

 Furniture and related products .......................... 32 18 12 17 4,111 1,919 2,513 2,005 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing ............................ 18 7 10 7 1,309 735 900 527 

 Wholesale trade .................................................... 45 27 35 22 4,419 2,212 2,937 2,076 

 Retail trade ............................................................ 106 122 131 79 10,425 13,715 16,192 6,937 

 Transportation and warehousing ........................... 126 104 52 141 19,525 15,442 5,680 18,068 

 Information ............................................................ 70 86 86 42 7,807 12,127 13,036 4,210 

 Finance and insurance .......................................... 30 34 44 34 2,781 3,142 3,327 2,379 

 Real estate and rental and leasing ........................ ( 2 ) 4 7 7 ( 2 ) 684 452 602 

 Professional and technical services ...................... 48 62 80 36 4,313 7,767 6,199 8,902 

 Management of companies and enterprises ......... ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 4 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 395 621 

 Administrative and waste services ........................ 181 177 222 164 16,840 18,110 26,191 14,175 

 Educational services.............................................. 9 5 3 18 529 356 190 1,128 

 Health care and social assistance ......................... 131 29 76 113 11,841 2,406 7,006 10,475 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ....................... 28 33 33 28 2,251 3,507 2,267 1,928 

 Accommodation and food services ....................... 86 74 88 79 11,545 7,378 10,807 9,911 

 Other services, except public administration.......... 53 26 34 49 4,645 3,279 3,228 3,976 

 Unclassified .......................................................... 29 10 4 5 3,249 1,106 612 340 

Government .............................................................. 205 49 91 217 18,363 4,519 9,295 18,257 

 Federal .................................................................. 17 7 21 10 2,870 543 2,739 1,093 

 State ...................................................................... 28 15 14 16 2,419 1,717 1,510 1,665 

 Local ...................................................................... 160 27 56 191 13,074 2,259 5,046 15,499 

 1

 For June 2002, data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia, economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative 

 except Arizona. effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, 

 2

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC 

 p

 = preliminary. structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the 

 r

 = revised. SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical NOTE: Beginning with data for January 2002, the 2002 version of the North American industry series from April 1995 to December 2001 are available on 

Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the basis for the assignment and tabulation of both SIC and NAICS bases. Dash represents zero.
Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division

Census region and division

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

June April May June June April May June

2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p

 United States1 .....................................................

 r2,107 1,507 1,726 1,557 r

253,826 165,861 180,007 159,352 

Northeast .................................................................... 299 306 266 258 38,111 38,576 24,998 30,153 

 New England .......................................................... 67 62 41 57 7,145 7,263 3,765 6,746 

 Middle Atlantic ........................................................ 232 244 225 201 30,966 31,313 21,233 23,407 

South .......................................................................... r505 331 467 380 r65,490 35,740 48,506 37,559 

 South Atlantic ......................................................... 249 158 211 197 34,834 16,451 18,633 17,657 

 East South Central ................................................. 110 58 88 67 14,057 6,629 9,448 7,935 

 West South Central ................................................ r146 115 168 116 r

16,599 12,660 20,425 11,967 

Midwest ...................................................................... 569 314 377 311 87,401 37,119 44,788 36,493 

 East North Central .................................................. 452 260 266 238 65,836 31,127 31,152 27,739 

 West North Central ................................................. 117 54 111 73 21,565 5,992 13,636 8,754 

West ........................................................................... 734 556 616 608 62,824 54,426 61,715 55,147 

 Mountain ................................................................. 77 61 48 36 8,012 7,382 4,604 4,497 

 Pacific ..................................................................... 657 495 568 572 54,812 47,044 57,111 50,650 

 1

 See footnote 1, table 2. Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: p

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

 = revised. Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise Ohio, and Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, 

the census divisions are: New England: Connecticut, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, 

Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North

 
Table 4. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

State Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

June April May June June April May June

2001 2002 2002p 2002p 2001 2002 2002p 2002p

 Total1 ....................................................................... r2,107 1,507 1,726 1,557 r253,826 165,861 180,007 159,352 

Alabama ..................................................................... 26 25 38 24 2,649 2,529 4,352 3,415 

Alaska ......................................................................... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) 361 ( 2 ) 401 

Arizona ....................................................................... 17 24 11 ( 1 ) 2,215 3,649 1,256 ( 1 )

Arkansas .................................................................... 5 7 8 3 489 509 629 210 

California .................................................................... 590 436 517 507 46,675 39,943 50,063 43,520 

Colorado ..................................................................... 14 11 9 3 1,274 1,121 858 277 

Connecticut ................................................................ 8 4 9 14 783 232 665 2,018 

Delaware .................................................................... ( 2 ) 3 – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 508 – ( 2 )

District of Columbia .................................................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 338 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Florida ........................................................................ 106 69 102 104 8,319 6,303 7,045 7,222 

Georgia ....................................................................... 44 16 30 20 4,361 1,686 3,083 2,966 

Hawaii ......................................................................... ( 2 ) 7 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 512 462 ( 2 )

Idaho .......................................................................... 11 6 9 7 1,084 625 1,014 1,571 

Illinois ......................................................................... 85 61 67 58 13,605 9,583 10,079 6,074 

Indiana ........................................................................ 42 24 26 27 8,600 2,998 3,267 4,628 

Iowa ............................................................................ 14 12 19 13 1,789 1,530 2,203 1,615 

Kansas ....................................................................... 8 9 14 4 1,972 797 1,620 439 

Kentucky ..................................................................... 41 20 21 20 7,560 2,315 2,258 2,252 

Louisiana .................................................................... r

36 19 22 28 r4,212 1,982 2,166 2,757 

Maine .......................................................................... ( 2 ) 7 5 4 ( 2 ) 822 353 225 

Maryland ..................................................................... 9 3 6 10 649 218 534 1,095 

Massachusetts ........................................................... 36 24 21 23 3,613 2,891 2,065 1,851 

Michigan ..................................................................... 181 30 44 50 26,714 2,714 4,408 5,002 

Minnesota ................................................................... 38 14 23 19 6,327 1,936 2,768 2,900 

Mississippi .................................................................. 15 5 9 6 1,276 287 821 405 

Missouri ...................................................................... 46 11 43 26 9,019 974 5,656 2,665 

Montana ..................................................................... 5 3 3 ( 2

 ) 355 224 212 ( 2 ) 

Nebraska .................................................................... 6 6 ( 2 ) 5 1,098 499 ( 2 ) 429 

Nevada ....................................................................... 17 9 8 15 2,067 1,169 714 1,933 

New Hampshire .......................................................... 7 10 ( 2 ) 5 698 1,099 ( 2 ) 1,229 

New Jersey ................................................................. 52 35 42 57 9,745 4,439 4,384 9,137 

New Mexico ................................................................ 7 ( 2 ) 5 3 564 ( 2 ) 355 168 

New York .................................................................... 32 126 80 40 3,045 17,889 6,785 3,072 

North Carolina ............................................................ 23 25 21 18 2,505 2,832 1,637 1,771 

North Dakota .............................................................. ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 653 644 

Ohio ............................................................................ 77 80 70 46 9,401 9,034 7,231 5,247 

Oklahoma ................................................................... 11 5 7 7 1,355 324 760 450 

Oregon ....................................................................... 32 24 25 30 4,572 3,118 3,291 3,446 

Pennsylvania .............................................................. 148 83 103 104 18,176 8,985 10,064 11,198 

Rhode Island .............................................................. 11 8 ( 2

 ) 8 1,700 1,431 ( 2 ) 1,246 

South Carolina ............................................................ 39 21 24 19 12,225 2,450 2,492 1,848 

South Dakota .............................................................. ( 2 ) – 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – 562 ( 2 )

Tennessee .................................................................. 28 8 20 17 2,572 1,498 2,017 1,863 

Texas .......................................................................... 94 84 131 78 10,543 9,845 16,870 8,550 

Utah ............................................................................ 6 6 3 6 453 460 195 422 

Vermont ...................................................................... ( 2 ) 9 ( 2 ) 3 ( 2 ) 788 ( 2 ) 177 

Virginia ....................................................................... 21 17 23 20 4,233 1,959 3,355 2,193 

Washington ................................................................ 29 24 18 29 2,944 3,110 3,154 3,163 

West Virginia .............................................................. – 3 4 ( 2 ) – 346 347 ( 2 )

Wisconsin ................................................................... 67 65 59 57 7,516 6,798 6,167 6,788 

Wyoming .................................................................... ––––––––

Puerto Rico ................................................................. 17 12 12 9 1,816 1,591 1,390 998 

 1 See footnote 1, table 2. r

 = revised.

2

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