For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 23, 2013 USDL-13-0728 

 

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

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

MASS LAYOFFS — MARCH 2013 

Employers took 1,337 mass layoff actions in March involving 127,939 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 decreased by 85 from February, and the number of associated initial 

claims decreased by 7,529. In March, 311 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector 

resulting in 36,696 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff data are identified using administrative data 

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

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

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

Initial Claims Unemployment Rate

Total mass layoff initial claims Manufacturingmasslayoff initial claims Unemployment rate

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

The national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in March, essentially unchanged from the prior month 

and down from 8.2 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 88,000 over 

the month and by 1,910,000 over the year. 

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

The number of mass layoff events in March was 1,132, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 114,897 

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

mass layoff events for March increased by 1 to 226, while associated average weekly initial claims 

decreased by 584 to 22,979. 
- 2 - 

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

in March 2013, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted

School and employee bus transportation ................... 11,169 2013 11,169 

Food service contractors .......................................... 10,408 2013 10,408 

Temporary help services 1

 ........................................ 9,344 2002 14,338 

Motion picture and video production ........................ 2,895 2005 7,192 

Construction machinery manufacturing ...................... 2,019 2009 7,933 

Tire manufacturing, except retreading ........................ 1,981 2013 1,981 

Discount department stores ...................................... 1,791 2007 3,670 

Professional employer organizations 1

 ....................... 1,700 2009 4,892 

Process and logistics consulting services .................... ( 2 ) 2009 1,846 

Warehouse clubs and supercenters ........................... 1,459 2012 1,900 

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

March peak

Year Initial claims

Ten of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average 

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

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

school and employee bus transportation. (See table A.) 

In March, the manufacturing sector accounted for 24 percent of mass layoff events and 26 percent of 

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

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

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

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) 

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

March, followed closely by the West. Only the West experienced an over-the-year decrease in average 

weekly initial claims. (See table 4.) 

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

Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, and New York. Twenty-four states experienced over-the-year decreases in 

average weekly initial claims, led by California, North Carolina, and Oregon. (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 Extended Mass Layoffs news release for the First Quarter 2013 is scheduled to be released on 

Monday, May 13, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). The Mass Layoffs news release for April 2013 is 

scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT). 

Mass Layoffs Data Discontinued 

On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the-board spending cuts 

(commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must 

cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by 

September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS 

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

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

publication of the May 2013 data. 
Technical Note 

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

identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job 

cutbacks, using data from each state's unemployment 

insurance database. Each month, states report on employers 

which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during 

a consecutive 5-week period. These employers then are 

contacted by the state agency to determine whether these 

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

information concerning the layoff is collected. States report 

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

The monthly data present preliminary mass layoff 

activity in the reference month and are not revised in 

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

layoffs in states affected by Hurricane Katrina). Counts of 

initial claims associated with mass layoff events reflect 

activity through the end of the reference month. Additional 

mass layoff event and initial claims activity received after 

data for the reference month have been published by BLS are 

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

may not match revised mass layoff data issued in state 

publications. However, any additional mass layoff 

information meeting the extended mass layoff criteria will be 

reflected in BLS’ quarterly publication of extended mass 

layoff data. 

A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly 

unemployment insurance claims filings for the Sunday 

through Saturday weeks in that month. All weeks are 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

in the not seasonally adjusted series should use the average 

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

release. The average weekly adjustment process produces a 

consistent series for each month across all years, permitting 

over-the-year analysis to be performed using strictly 

comparable data. 

The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 

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

funding. Prior to April 1995, monthly layoff statistics were 

not available. 

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

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

Definitions 

Average weekly mass layoff events and initial claimants. 

The number of events and initial claimants in a given month 

divided by the number of weeks contained within that month.

Employer. Employers in the MLS program include 

those covered by state unemployment insurance laws. 

Information on employers is obtained from the Quarterly 

Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which 

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

Industry. Employers are classified according to the 2007 

version of the North American Industry Classification System 

(NAICS). For temporary help and professional employer 

organization industries, monthly MLS-related statistics 

generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client 

companies in other industries. An individual layoff action at a 

client company can be small, but when initial claimants 

associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a 

temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a 

mass layoff event may trigger. 

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

entitlement to and eligibility for compensation, or for a 

subsequent period of unemployment within a benefit year or 

period of eligibility. 

Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for 

unemployment insurance benefits filed against an employer 

during a 5-week period, regardless of duration. 

Seasonal adjustment 

Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS 

began publishing six seasonally adjusted monthly MLS 

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

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

and manufacturing sectors. 

Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and 

removing the effect on time series data of regularly recurring 

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

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

seasonal adjustment makes it easier to observe fundamental 

changes in time series, particularly those associated with 

general economic expansions and contractions. 

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

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

estimates, including those for the current month, in 

developing seasonal adjustment factors. Revisions to the most 

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

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

seasonally adjusted, prior adjustments are made to the 

original data to adjust them for differences in the number of 

weeks used to calculate the monthly data. Because weekly 

unemployment insurance claims are aggregated to form 

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

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

effects of these differences could seriously distort the 

seasonal factors if they were ignored in the seasonal 

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

ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the 

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

seasonally adjusted

2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013

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

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

March ............................................................. 1,337 127,939 1,183 115,664 311 36,696 

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, April 2009 to March 2013,

not seasonally adjusted

2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013

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

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

March ............................................................. 1,132 114,897 1,048 108,200 268 28,923 

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

March March March March March March March March

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

 Total 2

 ....................................................................... 1,125 1,132 117,817 114,897 225 226 23,563 22,979 

Total, private .................................................................. 1,083 1,097 113,790 111,521 217 219 22,758 22,304 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .................... 43 49 2,836 3,321 9 10 567 664 

 Total, private nonfarm .................................................. 1,040 1,048 110,954 108,200 208 210 22,191 21,640 

 Mining ........................................................................ 8 10 823 845 2 2 165 169 

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

 Construction ............................................................... 121 126 9,148 9,526 24 25 1,830 1,905 

 Construction of buildings ........................................ 17 28 1,432 2,330 3 6 286 466 

 Heavy and civil engineering construction ............... 42 39 3,118 3,054 8 8 624 611 

 Specialty trade contractors .................................... 62 59 4,598 4,142 12 12 920 828 

 Manufacturing ............................................................ 242 268 24,241 28,923 48 54 4,848 5,785 

 Food ....................................................................... 69 57 7,701 5,218 14 11 1,540 1,044 

 Beverage and tobacco products ............................ 5 7 326 1,330 1 1 65 266 

 Textile mills ............................................................ 6 4 786 572 1 1 157 114 

 Textile product mills ............................................... 4 ( 3 ) 335 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 67 ( 3 )

 Apparel ................................................................... 9 5 651 828 2 1 130 166 

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

 Wood products ....................................................... 14 14 1,154 1,079 3 3 231 216 

 Paper ..................................................................... 8 6 578 322 2 1 116 64 

 Printing and related support activities .................... 4 6 341 384 1 1 68 77 

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

 Chemicals .............................................................. 4 4 242 261 1 1 48 52 

 Plastics and rubber products ................................. 9 13 614 2,882 2 3 123 576 

 Nonmetallic mineral products ................................. 11 11 844 713 2 2 169 143 

 Primary metals ....................................................... 3 10 223 907 1 2 45 181 

 Fabricated metal products ..................................... 18 23 1,084 1,873 4 5 217 375 

 Machinery .............................................................. 12 16 845 3,268 2 3 169 654 

 Computer and electronic products ......................... 14 12 1,432 1,002 3 2 286 200 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ..................... 13 18 2,417 2,130 3 4 483 426 

 Transportation equipment ...................................... 25 39 3,362 4,240 5 8 672 848 

 Furniture and related products ............................... 6 8 613 771 1 2 123 154 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing ................................ 5 9 396 729 1 2 79 146 

 Wholesale trade ......................................................... 20 12 1,639 1,098 4 2 328 220 

 Retail trade 4

 .............................................................. 100 84 10,375 8,204 20 17 2,075 1,641 

 Building material and garden supply stores ........... 8 7 953 630 2 1 191 126 

 Food and beverage stores ..................................... 20 17 1,826 1,117 4 3 365 223 

 Clothing and clothing accessories stores ............... 9 3 604 184 2 1 121 37 

 General merchandise stores .................................. 39 33 5,146 4,268 8 7 1,029 854 

 Transportation and warehousing 4

 ............................. 72 90 9,013 12,753 14 18 1,803 2,551 

 Truck transportation ............................................... 6 ( 3 ) 358 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 72 ( 3 )

 Transit and ground passenger transportation ........ 47 69 7,045 11,251 9 14 1,409 2,250 

 Support activities for transportation ....................... 4 7 302 501 1 1 60 100 

 Information ................................................................. 49 32 9,195 4,261 10 6 1,839 852 

 Finance and insurance ............................................... 30 18 2,168 1,810 6 4 434 362 

 Real estate and rental and leasing ............................ 6 8 359 674 1 2 72 135 

 Professional and technical services ........................... 42 36 6,331 4,167 8 7 1,266 833 

 Management of companies and enterprises .............. 5 5 517 471 1 1 103 94 

 Administrative and waste services ............................. 165 179 16,911 15,271 33 36 3,382 3,054 

 Educational services .................................................. 9 ( 3 ) 552 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 110 ( 3 )

 Health care and social assistance ............................. 33 31 2,752 2,395 7 6 550 479 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ............................ 16 15 1,110 1,716 3 3 222 343 

 Accommodation and food services ............................ 112 117 15,122 14,725 22 23 3,024 2,945 

 Accommodation ..................................................... 23 21 2,121 1,690 5 4 424 338 

 Food services and drinking places ......................... 89 96 13,001 13,035 18 19 2,600 2,607 

 Other services, except public administration ............. 6 11 405 772 1 2 81 154 

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

Government ................................................................... 42 35 4,027 3,376 8 7 805 675 

 Federal ....................................................................... 4 3 271 317 1 1 54 63 

 State ........................................................................... 17 12 1,460 1,559 3 2 292 312 

 State government education ................................. 5 5 427 958 1 1 85 192 

 Local .......................................................................... 21 20 2,296 1,500 4 4 459 300 

 Local government education ................................. 4 3 823 161 1 1 165 32 

 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 5 weeks in March 2012 3

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 and 5 weeks in March 2013. Average weekly events 4

 Includes other industries not shown.

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

 due to rounding.

Industry

Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs1

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

not seasonally adjusted

March March March March March March March March

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

 Total 2 ............................................... 1,125 1,132 117,817 114,897 225 226 23,563 22,979

Northeast ............................................. 198 229 18,520 23,264 40 46 3,704 4,653

 Connecticut ..................................... ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) -

 Maine .............................................. 5 7 415 515 1 1 83 103

 Massachusetts ................................ 11 7 1,073 516 2 1 215 103

 New Hampshire ............................... 3 ( 3 ) 339 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 68 ( 3 ) New Jersey ..................................... 21 41 2,065 4,031 4 8 413 806

 New York ......................................... 54 55 5,226 6,562 11 11 1,045 1,312

 Pennsylvania ................................... 92 111 8,034 10,053 18 22 1,607 2,011

 Rhode Island ................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Vermont ........................................... 8 4 1,123 739 2 1 225 148

South ................................................... 289 290 31,925 32,616 58 58 6,385 6,523

 Alabama .......................................... 18 12 2,130 2,111 4 2 426 422

 Arkansas ......................................... 16 22 1,835 2,610 3 4 367 522

 Delaware ......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) District of Columbia ......................... - -------

 Florida ............................................. 55 58 4,836 4,547 11 12 967 909

 Georgia ........................................... 8 8 1,069 999 2 2 214 200

 Kentucky ......................................... 26 29 2,601 3,237 5 6 520 647

 Louisiana ......................................... 7 5 423 260 1 1 85 52

 Maryland 4

 ....................................... 3 14 182 1,368 1 3 36 274

 Mississippi ....................................... 12 15 1,314 1,237 2 3 263 247

 North Carolina ................................. 60 35 6,060 3,905 12 7 1,212 781

 Oklahoma ........................................ 3 3 697 725 1 1 139 145

 South Carolina ................................ 7 11 498 1,039 1 2 100 208

 Tennessee ...................................... 8 11 854 820 2 2 171 164

 Texas .............................................. 50 51 7,962 8,535 10 10 1,592 1,707

 Virginia ............................................ 13 13 1,206 1,042 3 3 241 208

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

Midwest ............................................... 219 230 24,470 26,698 44 46 4,894 5,340

 Illinois .............................................. 36 49 4,610 6,864 7 10 922 1,373

 Indiana ............................................ 18 16 1,830 1,982 4 3 366 396

 Iowa ................................................. 9 11 1,278 1,399 2 2 256 280

 Kansas ............................................ 11 11 1,588 878 2 2 318 176

 Michigan .......................................... 25 25 3,749 3,110 5 5 750 622

 Minnesota ........................................ 10 15 844 1,072 2 3 169 214

 Missouri ........................................... 20 19 1,614 2,674 4 4 323 535

 Nebraska ......................................... ( 3 ) 8 ( 3 ) 816 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 163

 North Dakota ................................... ( 3 ) 3 ( 3 ) 412 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 82

 Ohio ................................................. 48 36 4,638 3,942 10 7 928 788

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

 Wisconsin ........................................ 37 37 3,777 3,549 7 7 755 710

West .................................................... 419 383 42,902 32,319 84 77 8,580 6,464

 Alaska ............................................. 3 7 178 634 1 1 36 127

 Arizona ............................................ 15 11 1,286 752 3 2 257 150

 California ......................................... 319 289 33,461 23,802 64 58 6,692 4,760

 Colorado .......................................... 9 ( 3 ) 1,165 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 233 ( 3 ) Hawaii ............................................. ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 3 ) -

 Idaho ............................................... 7 8 694 881 1 2 139 176

 Montana .......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Nevada ............................................ 9 12 879 1,302 2 2 176 260

 New Mexico ..................................... 8 5 765 458 2 1 153 92

 Oregon ............................................ 20 13 2,153 1,204 4 3 431 241

 Utah ................................................. 5 7 385 582 1 1 77 116

 Washington ..................................... 19 25 1,546 2,256 4 5 309 451

 Wyoming ......................................... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 )

 Puerto Rico ..................................... 15 15 1,899 2,172 3 3 380 434

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