Technical information:   (202) 691-6392     USDL 06-1639
                http://www.bls.gov/mls/

                                            For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                 691-5902     Thursday, September 21, 2006


                        MASS LAYOFFS IN AUGUST 2006
   
   In August 2006, employers took 1,193 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 127,944,
on a seasonally adjusted basis.  The number of layoff events increased by
68, and the number of associated initial claims rose by 13,049 from July
2006.  In the manufacturing sector, 357 mass layoff events were reported
during August 2006, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 59,256 initial
claims.  The number of events in manufacturing was lower than a month
earlier, while the number of initial claims increased.  (See table 1.)
   
   In August 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, season-
ally adjusted, essentially unchanged from July 2006 and down from 4.9 per-
cent in August 2005.  Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjust-
ed, increased by 128,000 over the month and by about 1.7 million over the
year.
   
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

   The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass layoff initial
claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 26,689 initial claims in
August, 37 percent of the total.  The three industries with the highest
number of initial claims were temporary help services with 7,109, heavy
duty truck manufacturing with 4,896, and school and employee bus trans-
portation with 4,268.  Together, these three industries accounted for
22 percent of all initial claims in August.  (See table A.)
   
   The manufacturing sector accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff
events and 39 percent of all initial claims filed in August.  A year ear-
lier, manufacturing comprised 29 percent of events and 33 percent of ini-
tial claims.  In August 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants was
highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (12,428, mostly automo-
tive-related), followed by wood product manufacturing (2,240) and machin-
ery manufacturing (2,210).  (See table 3.)
   
   Administrative and waste services accounted for 16 percent of events
and 15 percent of initial claims filed in August, with layoffs mostly
in temporary help services.  Retail trade accounted for 10 percent of
events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, primarily from
general merchandise stores.  Transportation and warehousing accounted
for 9 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims filed in August
2006, with layoffs mainly in school and employee bus transportation.
Four percent of all layoff events and 6 percent of initial claims filed
during the month were from the information sector, mainly from motion
picture and video production.

                                  - 2 -

Table A.  Industries with the largest mass layoff initial claims in August 2006

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             |                |        August peak        
                   Industry                  | Initial claims |-------------------------
                                             |                |  Year  | Initial claims  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             |                |        |                  
Temporary help services......................|      7,109     |  1999  |     11,533       
Heavy duty truck manufacturing...............|      4,896     |  2006  |      4,896       
School and employee bus transportation.......|      4,268     |  2003  |      6,538       
Motion picture and video production..........|      3,327     |  2003  |      6,812       
Professional employer organizations..........|      2,155     |  2002  |      2,855       
Department stores, except discount...........|      1,330     |  1996  |      2,151       
Discount department stores...................|        981     |  2002  |      2,271       
Supermarkets and other grocery stores........|        944     |  2001  |      2,357       
Motor home manufacturing.....................|        848     |  2006  |        848       
Farm machinery and equipment manufacturing...|        831     |  2003  |      1,661       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
   Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and 3 per-
cent of initial claims filed in August, mostly from executive, legislative,
and general government and educational services.
   
   On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events in Au-
gust 2006, at 708, was up by 63 from a year earlier, and the number of as-
sociated initial claims increased by 5,262 to 72,844.  (See table 2.)  The
largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transpor-
tation equipment manufacturing (+5,573) and administrative and support ser-
vices (+4,150).  The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims were
reported in motion picture and sound recording industries (-2,959) and food
manufacturing (-1,203).
   
   From January through August 2006, the total number of events, at 8,605,
and the total number of initial claims, at 907,199, were lower than any
January-August period in program history.  The availability of annual mass
layoff data begins in 1996.
   
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

   Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in
August due to mass layoffs was in the West, 24,141.  Layoffs in administra-
tive and support services and in motion picture and sound recording indus-
tries accounted for 40 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that
region during the month.  The South had the second largest number of initial
claims, 21,113, followed by the Northeast, 14,506, and the Midwest with
13,084.  (See table 5.)
   
   The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year
in three of the four regions.  The largest increase was in the South
(+2,827), followed by the West (+1,958) and the Northeast (+1,416).  The
Midwest had the only regional decrease in initial claimants (-939).  Five
geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial
claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the
Pacific (+2,657) and Middle Atlantic (+2,501).  Of the four divisions with
over-the-year decreases, the largest were in West North Central (-1,295)
and New England (-1,085).
   
   Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial
claims filed due to mass layoff events in August (20,339), followed by New
York (7,042), Kentucky (5,785), Pennsylvania (4,815), and Ohio (3,772).
These five states accounted for 54 percent of all mass layoff events and 57
percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance.  (See table 6.)

   Virginia had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial
claims (+2,448), largely due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufac-
turing.  Kentucky had the next largest increase in initial claims (+1,831),
followed by Pennsylvania (+1,543).  The largest over-the-year decrease in
claims occurred in Georgia (-2,233).
   
   From January to August, California reported 208,053 mass layoff initial
claims, 23 percent of the national total.  The states with the next largest
number of claims over this period were Michigan (83,982), Pennsylvania
(54,779), New York (54,288), and Ohio (51,279).

                                  - 3 -
   
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 lay-
offs 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 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 4.)  See the Technical Note for more detailed definitions.
   
                      ______________________________

   
   The report on Mass Layoffs in September 2006 is scheduled to be released
on Wednesday, October 25, 2006.
   
   
   

                                  - 4 -

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 con-
tacted 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 quart-
erly 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-the-year
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 began publish-
ing 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 expan-
sions and contractions.
   
   The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjust-
ment method on a concurrent basis.  Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all
available monthly estimates, including those for the current month, in devel-
oping 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, September 2002 
to August 2006, seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing   

             Date                                                                               
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants     Events  claimants 

            2002                                                                              

September ..................     1,911     218,875     1,747     203,849       617      80,528
October ....................     1,774     186,940     1,582     169,660       625      73,904
November ...................     1,652     178,402     1,507     167,335       613      71,693
December ...................     1,841     198,678     1,659     184,368       661      84,048

            2003                                                                              

January ....................     1,358     131,963     1,168     117,636       387      48,685
February ...................     1,825     190,928     1,647     178,363       646      78,819
March ......................     1,782     175,671     1,595     160,170       617      72,409
April ......................     1,722     174,608     1,564     163,607       640      83,303
May ........................     1,719     184,003     1,542     170,961       625      86,535
June .......................     1,716     164,299     1,524     148,542       636      68,143
July .......................     1,642     163,179     1,442     148,299       580      74,070
August .....................     1,517     171,861     1,367     158,049       551      74,602
September ..................     1,562     147,383     1,374     133,383       484      56,472
October ....................     1,558     156,814     1,336     138,691       427      52,009
November ...................     1,393     141,383     1,244     129,231       401      50,460
December ...................     1,426     144,456     1,265     132,324       434      50,994

            2004                                                                              

January ....................     1,421     142,704     1,223     124,192       395      48,519
February ...................     1,293     132,640     1,145     120,811       362      39,360
March ......................     1,364     140,957     1,234     132,152       407      60,296
April ......................     1,381     141,909     1,207     126,106       341      37,686
May ........................     1,189     111,173     1,030      98,230       314      37,405
June .......................     1,390     141,948     1,226     129,344       360      45,398
July .......................     1,329     137,724     1,185     126,945       371      53,248
August .....................     1,436     131,807     1,243     116,672       342      38,192
September ..................     1,283     125,344     1,155     115,499       344      45,691
October ....................     1,302     129,237     1,181     119,653       369      47,888
November ...................     1,350     135,036     1,202     122,954       407      47,517
December ...................     1,188     120,602     1,038     109,508       293      33,123

            2005                                                                              

January ....................     1,465     153,676     1,330     143,295       380      58,778
February ...................     1,135     120,190     1,010     109,964       350      43,966
March ......................     1,204     133,935     1,071     124,273       384      56,253
April ......................     1,278     139,575     1,145     128,478       390      60,726
May ........................     1,194     129,214     1,059     117,660       359      52,055
June .......................     1,184     128,430     1,065     119,271       349      53,930
July .......................     1,248     131,136     1,107     118,994       356      49,070
August .....................     1,145     127,592     1,006     116,011       334      48,904
September ..................     2,219     283,772     1,975     237,831       438      53,399
October ....................     1,114     104,584       986      94,798       328      45,475
November ...................     1,205     120,783     1,074     109,680       359      45,069
December ...................     1,308     149,565     1,185     138,234       365      49,641

            2006                                                                              

January ....................     1,113     108,378       985      97,832       274      29,541
February ...................     1,073     111,468       973     103,268       321      45,073
March ......................     1,082     118,555       984     110,275       328      49,023
April ......................     1,148     118,504     1,023     109,150       358      48,086
May ........................     1,074     109,858       963     101,080       293      42,006
June .......................     1,097     119,662       974     109,041       311      37,570
July .......................     1,125     114,895     1,009     105,829       363      47,287
August .....................     1,193     127,944     1,060     117,993       357      59,256





Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, September 2002 
to August 2006, not seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm        Manufacturing    

             Date                                                                               
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants    Events   claimants 

            2002                                                                              

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
December ...................     1,614     161,271     1,487     152,092       436      50,726

            2005                                                                              

January ....................     2,564     263,952     2,421     253,409       823     108,985
February ...................       810      74,644       722      68,372       230      24,931
March ......................       806      88,937       733      83,793       246      33,030
April ......................     1,373     158,582     1,263     148,133       395      59,129
May ........................       986     101,358       891      93,332       249      30,424
June .......................     1,157     120,463       941     103,307       216      32,783
July .......................     1,981     244,216     1,745     222,377       856     136,210
August .....................       645      67,582       598      63,484       188      22,531
September ..................     1,662     213,281     1,505     179,042       318      47,497
October ....................       905      91,941       757      80,694       249      37,276
November ...................     1,254     116,127     1,079     102,182       363      41,442
December ...................     2,323     254,258     2,168     242,753       706      96,382

            2006                                                                              

January ....................     1,245     117,946     1,123     108,701       331      35,097
February ...................       719      66,555       658      62,208       210      24,892
March ......................       921     111,838       856     106,177       285      44,688
April ......................     1,140     121,589     1,038     112,964       296      39,538
May ........................       872      84,809       794      78,663       192      23,570
June .......................     1,489     164,761     1,224     140,687       319      41,095
July .......................     1,511     166,857     1,335     154,342       648      96,152
August .....................       708      72,844       656      69,054       203      28,494





Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                                     Initial claimants for        
                                                             Mass layoff events                     unemployment insurance        
                    Industry                                                                                                      

                                                     August      June     July    August      August      June     July    August 
                                                      2005       2006     2006     2006        2005       2006     2006     2006  

               Seasonally adjusted                                                                                               

      Total .....................................     1,145      1,097    1,125    1,193     127,592    119,662  114,895  127,944

  Total, private nonfarm ........................     1,006        974    1,009    1,060     116,011    109,041  105,829  117,993
    Manufacturing ...............................       334        311      363      357      48,904     37,570   47,287   59,256

             Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                             

      Total(1) ..................................       645      1,489    1,511      708      67,582    164,761  166,857   72,844

Total, private ..................................       610      1,286    1,414      675      64,211    145,567  160,148   70,352
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..        12         62       79       19         727      4,880    5,806    1,298

  Total, private nonfarm ........................       598      1,224    1,335      656      63,484    140,687  154,342   69,054
    Mining ......................................       (2)          4      (2)       -          (2)        347      (2)       -  
    Utilities ...................................       (2)        (2)      (2)      (2)         (2)        (2)      (2)      (2) 
    Construction ................................        51         75       69       50       3,458      6,089    4,457    3,473
    Manufacturing ...............................       188        319      648      203      22,531     41,095   96,152   28,494
        Food ....................................        28         55       60       26       2,762      5,008    5,607    1,559
        Beverage and tobacco products ...........       (2)        (2)      (2)      (2)         (2)        (2)      (2)      (2) 
        Textile mills ...........................        13         12       16       11       1,177      1,432    2,217    1,302
        Textile product mills ...................         3          3        9        4         268        240      663      328
        Apparel .................................        10         11       19        4         560      1,340    2,009      264
        Leather and allied products .............       (2)        (2)      (2)      (2)         (2)        (2)      (2)      (2) 
        Wood products ...........................         7         17       35       19         547      1,562    3,480    2,240 
        Paper ...................................         7         10        7        6         615        725      522      425
        Printing and related support activities .         5          4        5        5         452        382      418      325
        Petroleum and coal products .............       (2)        (2)      (2)       -          (2)        (2)      (2)       -  

        Chemicals ...............................       (2)          4       11        4         (2)        557    1,503      373
        Plastics and rubber products ............         7         25       57        9         588      2,526    6,842      645
        Nonmetallic mineral products ............         6        (2)       19      (2)         420        (2)    2,070      (2) 
        Primary metals ..........................         7         11       32        9         852        997    3,645      816
        Fabricated metal products ...............        13         17       54       10       1,012      1,506    5,549      673
        Machinery ...............................        20         23       33       14       1,815      3,194    4,716    2,210
        Computer and electronic products ........        12         13       20       16       1,235      1,278    1,979    1,590
        Electrical equipment and appliances .....         6         10       19        8       1,693        961    1,943    1,517
        Transportation equipment ................        27         79      233       44       6,855     15,822   51,048   12,428
        Furniture and related products ..........         3         15        7        6         383      2,742      490      935
        Miscellaneous manufacturing .............         8          6        7      (2)         910        552      508      (2) 

    Wholesale trade .............................        15          9       17       17       1,259        591    1,218    1,076
    Retail trade ................................        72         78       85       69       5,434      8,353    7,540    5,975
    Transportation and warehousing ..............        50        155       88       61       5,878     23,033    8,327    5,513
    Information .................................        21         25       37       29       6,889      8,398    4,274    4,477
    Finance and insurance .......................        14         38       26       15       1,493      2,900    1,695    1,007
    Real estate and rental and leasing ..........       (2)          6        8      (2)         (2)        392      895      (2) 
    Professional and technical services .........        18         28       40       24       3,104      4,107    4,530    2,202
    Management of companies and enterprises .....        -         (2)        3       -           -         (2)      204       -  
    Administrative and waste services ...........        84        135      190      113       6,764     10,992   16,115   10,961
    Educational services ........................         6         16        8      (2)         454      1,057      533      (2) 
    Health care and social assistance ...........        19        152       40       17       1,227     12,932    3,068    1,133
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation .........         7         30       18       12         486      1,735    1,018      649
    Accommodation and food services .............        35        104       46       33       2,436     14,670    3,419    2,281
    Other services, except public administration          9         44        8        7       1,400      3,577      442      854
    Unclassified  ...............................         1          2        1        1          96        102      192       54

Government ......................................        35        203       97       33       3,371     19,194    6,709    2,492
    Federal .....................................         8         14        7        8       1,041      1,521      685      839
    State .......................................        11         17       12        6         862      1,758      826      339
    Local .......................................        16        172       78       19       1,468     15,915    5,198    1,314


    1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.   
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.





Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 2004 to August 2006, not seasonally adjusted

                                                                                   Private nonfarm                               

                                Total mass layoffs                              Extended mass layoffs                            
             Date                                        Mass layoffs         lasting more than 30 days     Realization rates (1)

                                          Initial               Initial                      Initial                    Initial  
                                Events   claimants    Events   claimants        Events      claimants       Events     claimants 


           2004                                                                                                                

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           886       148,575          27.3         41.1

October .................         1,242    127,918     1,101     117,375                                                       
November ................         1,399    130,423     1,201     115,549                                                       
December ................         1,614    161,271     1,487     152,092                                                       

Fourth Quarter ..........         4,255    419,612     3,789     385,016         1,427       262,049          37.7         68.1

           2005                                                                                                                

January .................         2,564    263,952     2,421     253,409                                                       
February ................           810     74,644       722      68,372                                                       
March ...................           806     88,937       733      83,793                                                       

First Quarter ...........         4,180    427,533     3,876     405,574         1,142       185,486          29.5         45.7

April ...................         1,373    158,582     1,263     148,133                                                       
May .....................           986    101,358       891      93,332                                                       
June ....................         1,157    120,463       941     103,307                                                       

Second Quarter ..........         3,516    380,403     3,095     344,772         1,203       212,673          38.9         61.7

July ....................         1,981    244,216     1,745     222,377                                                       
August ..................           645     67,582       598      63,484                                                       
September ...............         1,662    213,281     1,505     179,042                                                       

Third Quarter ...........         4,288    525,079     3,848     464,903         1,136       190,180          29.5         40.9

October .................           905     91,941       757      80,694                                                       
November ................         1,254    116,127     1,079     102,182                                                       
December ................         2,323    254,258     2,168     242,753                                                       

Fourth Quarter ..........         4,482    462,326     4,004     425,629         1,400       246,169          35.0         57.8

           2006                                                                                                                

January .................         1,245    117,946     1,123     108,701                                                       
February ................           719     66,555       658      62,208                                                       
March ...................           921    111,838       856     106,177                                                       

First Quarter ...........         2,885    296,339     2,637     277,086           963       189,634          36.5         68.4

April ...................         1,140    121,589     1,038     112,964                                                       
May .....................           872     84,809       794      78,663                                                       
June ....................         1,489    164,761     1,224     140,687                                                       

Second Quarter ..........         3,501    371,159     3,056     332,314   (2)(p)1,213 (2)(p)184,534       (p)39.7      (p)55.5

July ....................         1,511    166,857     1,335     154,342                                                       
August ..................           708     72,844       656      69,054                                                       

    1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The
initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants associated with
layoffs lasting more than 30 days.
    2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more data on these layoffs become available.
Experience suggests that the number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards by less than 10 percent and
the number of initial claimants associated with such events increases by 25-40 percent.
    p = preliminary.





Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division,
not seasonally adjusted


                                                                                    Initial claimants for         
                                           Mass layoff events                       unemployment insurance        
 Census region and division                                                                                       

                                  August      June     July    August       August      June     July     August 
                                   2005       2006     2006     2006         2005       2006     2006      2006  

       United States (1) ...       645       1,489    1,511      708        67,582     164,761  166,857   72,844

Northeast ..................       126         296      218      150        13,090      37,376   17,043   14,506

    New England ............        23          48       23       10         1,868       5,809    1,618      783
    Middle Atlantic ........       103         248      195      140        11,222      31,567   15,425   13,723

South ......................       170         344      313      163        18,286      36,740   30,866   21,113

    South Atlantic .........        92         190      178       96         8,771      20,426   15,176   10,808
    East South Central .....        34          80       82       31         5,988       8,564    8,541    7,226
    West South Central .....        44          74       53       36         3,527       7,750    7,149    3,079

Midwest ....................       138         378      569      117        14,023      44,200   86,786   13,084

    East North Central .....       111         292      487       94        10,618      36,225   77,161   10,974
    West North Central .....        27          86       82       23         3,405       7,975    9,625    2,110

West .......................       211         471      411      278        22,183      46,445   32,162   24,141

    Mountain ...............        17          55       32       16         1,717       5,396    2,324    1,018
    Pacific ................       194         416      379      262        20,466      41,049   29,838   23,123


    1 See footnote 1, table 3.
    NOTE:  The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the census divisions are: New England:
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and
Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central:
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; West North
Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.





Table 6. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,
not seasonally adjusted

                                                                         Initial claimants for       
                                         Mass layoff events             unemployment insurance       
           State                                                                                     
                             August   June     July    August    August     June      July     August
                              2005    2006     2006     2006      2005      2006      2006      2006 
                                                                                                     
   Total (1) ............      645    1,489    1,511      708    67,582   164,761   166,857    72,844
                                                                                                     
Alabama .................        5       15       12        6       709     1,636     1,510       762
Alaska ..................       -         4        3      (2)        -        375       217       (2)
Arizona .................      (2)       12       14        3       (2)     1,262     1,101       196
Arkansas ................        3        4        4        3       201       819       414       577
California ..............      182      361      341      227    19,530    35,270    26,385    20,339
Colorado ................      (2)        4        5       -        (2)       355       375        - 
Connecticut .............        4       14        5        3       397     1,735       297       232
Delaware ................       -         5      (2)       -         -      1,671       (2)        - 
District of Columbia ....      (2)       -        -       (2)       (2)        -         -        (2)
Florida .................       35       92       81       40     2,031     7,581     5,371     2,497
Georgia .................       22       40       39       11     3,488     4,456     4,104     1,255
Hawaii ..................       -         6        3      (2)        -        408       183       (2)
Idaho ...................        6        5        3        4       684       393       262       237
                                                                                                     
Illinois ................       27       61       46       23     2,128     9,144     7,333     2,128
Indiana .................       10       40       66       14     1,000     6,786    10,104     2,227
Iowa ....................        6       12       22        4     1,755       813     2,846       306
Kansas ..................        5       10        8        5       487       880     1,757       279
Kentucky ................       13       26       53       15     3,954     3,246     5,767     5,785
Louisiana ...............       11       22       12        4       596     2,361     2,629       282
Maine ...................      (2)        4      (2)       -        (2)       287       (2)        - 
Maryland ................        3       16       13        5       219     1,455     1,421       547
Massachusetts ...........       12       10        7        4       873       795       441       277
Michigan ................       29       88      228       14     2,838     9,298    41,722     1,274
Minnesota ...............        6       21       11      (2)       502     1,971       922       (2)
Mississippi .............        6       13        6      (2)       481     1,023       364       (2)
Missouri ................        6       33       32       11       404     3,017     2,979       930
                                                                                                     
Montana .................       -         7      (2)       -         -        559       (2)        - 
Nebraska ................        3        6        5      (2)       200       615       685       (2)
Nevada ..................        5       14        7        6       648     1,597       439       392
New Hampshire ...........       -         4      (2)       -         -        625       (2)        - 
New Jersey ..............       20       85       42       24     1,786    13,182     3,662     1,866
New Mexico ..............      (2)       10      (2)      (2)       (2)       891       (2)       (2)
New York ................       42       44       62       63     6,164     4,453     4,837     7,042
North Carolina ..........       10       14       11       14     1,323     1,332     1,233     1,712
North Dakota ............      (2)      (2)        4       -        (2)       (2)       436        - 
Ohio ....................       26       59       79       23     2,881     5,903    10,108     3,772
Oklahoma ................       -         4        8      (2)        -        288     1,290       (2)
Oregon ..................      (2)       26       20       15       (2)     3,275     2,186     1,130
Pennsylvania ............       41      119       91       53     3,272    13,932     6,926     4,815
                                                                                                     
Rhode Island ............        4       11        4      (2)       326     1,825       272       (2)
South Carolina ..........        9       11       13       12       678     1,190     1,143     1,267
South Dakota ............       -       (2)       -        -         -        (2)        -         - 
Tennessee ...............       10       26       11        8       844     2,659       900       501
Texas ...................       30       44       29       28     2,730     4,282     2,816     2,127
Utah ....................      (2)      (2)       -       (2)       (2)       (2)        -        (2)
Vermont .................      (2)        5        3      (2)       (2)       542       235       (2)
Virginia ................       11        9       18       12       918     2,480     1,666     3,366
Washington ..............       10       19       12       18       730     1,721       867     1,517
West Virginia ...........      (2)      (2)      (2)      (2)       (2)       (2)       (2)       (2)
Wisconsin ...............       19       44       68       20     1,771     5,094     7,894     1,573
Wyoming .................       -        -        -        -         -         -         -         - 
                                                                                                     
Puerto Rico .............        8       19       10       14     1,210     2,071       860     1,555

    1  See footnote 1, table 3.
    2  Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.  
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.