1

MASS LAYOFFS IN DECEMBER 2005 AND ANNUAL AVERAGES FOR 2005

In December 2005, employers took 1,308 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 149,565. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events in December rose by 103 from November, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 28,782. In

the manufacturing sector, 365 mass layoff events were reported during December 2005, seasonally adjusted,

resulting in 49,641 initial claims. Both figures were higher than a month earlier. (See table 1.)

Technical information: (202) 691-6392

Media contact:

USDL 06-122

For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

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

Chart 1. Mass-layoff events, seasonally 

adjusted, January 2001-December 2005

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Events

2001 

Note: Shaded area represents recession period.

2002 2003 2004 2005 

Private nonfarm

Total

Manufacturing

Chart 2. Mass-layoff initial claims, seasonally 

adjusted, January 2001-December 2005

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

Claims

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Manufacturing

Total

Private nonfarm

Note: Shaded area represents recession period.

 Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data

Seasonally adjusted mass layoff data have been revised using updated seasonal

adjustment factors that incorporate 2005 data. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to

January 2001 were subject to revision. The totals for each of the six seasonally adjusted

series for January-December 2005 (as originally published and as revised) will be available

at http://www.bls.gov/mls/home.htm, along with additional information about the revisions.

691-5902
2

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

Industry Initial claims

December peak

Year

Initial claims

Highway, street, and bridge construction ............... 2005 20,088

Temporary help services........................................ 2005 16,656

School and employee bus transportation................ 14,464 2005 14,464

Food service contractors ....................................... 12,926 2005 12,926

Automobile manufacturing...................................... 9,021 2005 9,021

Motion picture and video production ..................... 5,286 1998 16,192

Professional employer organizations ....................... 3,534 2000 4,032

All other plastics product manufacturing ................. 3,322 2002 5,563

Ready-mix concrete manufacturing ........................ 3,232 2005 3,232

Travel trailer and camper manufacturing ................. 2,970 2,970

p = preliminary.

 16,656

 20,088

2005

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In December, the 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims, not seasonally

adjusted, accounted for 91,499 initial claims, 36 percent of the total. (See table A.) Seven of these industries reached a series peak for December, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, in 2005. The two industries

with the highest number of initial claims were highway, street, and bridge construction, with 20,088, and temporary help services, with 16,656. Together, these two industries accounted for 14 percent of the 254,258

initial claims filed during the month.

 The manufacturing sector accounted for 30 percent of all mass layoff events and 38 percent of all initial

claims filed in December 2005. A year earlier, manufacturing comprised 27 percent of events and 31 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in December 2005 was highest in transportation equipment (34,508, largely automotive-related), followed by food manufacturing (10,681). (See

table 3.)

Construction accounted for 21 percent of events and 16 percent of initial claims filed in December, with

layoffs mainly from highway, street, and bridge construction. Eleven percent of all layoff events and initial

claims filed during the month were from administrative and waste services, largely from temporary help services. Accommodation and food services accounted for 7 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims

in December, mostly from food service and drinking places. Transportation and warehousing accounted for

7 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, largely in transit and ground passenger

transportation. An additional 5 percent of events and 4 percent of initial claims were from retail trade,

primarily from general merchandise stores.

Government establishments accounted for 4 percent of events and 3 percent of initial claims filed in

December, mostly from educational services and executive, legislative, and general government agencies.

On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events in December 2005, at 2,323, was up by

709 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims rose by 92,987 to 254,258. These were

the highest event and initial claim totals for December since 2002. The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+21,961), administrative and support

services (+14,365), heavy and civil engineering construction (+8,849), and transit and ground passenger
3

1996 ............... 1,437,628

1997 ............... 14,960 1,542,543

1998 ............... 15,904 1,771,069

1999 ............... 14,909 1,572,399

2000 ............... 15,738 1,835,592

2001 ............... 21,467 2,514,862

2002 ............... 20,277 2,245,051

2003 ............... 18,963 1,888,926

2004 ............... 15,980 1,607,158

2005 ............... 16,466 1,795,341

Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants

for unemployment insurance, 1996-2005

p

Year

 Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance Layoff events

p = preliminary.

 14,111

transportation (+5,684). The largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims was in motion picture and sound

recording industries (-1,164).

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

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

in the Midwest (111,662). (See table 5.) Transportation equipment manufacturing and heavy and civil engineering construction accounted for 34 percent of the Midwest total. The West had the next largest number

of initial claims (53,396), followed by the South (46,303) and the Northeast (42,897).

The number of initial claimants from mass layoffs increased over the year in all of the four regions. The

largest increase occurred in the Midwest (+50,385), followed by the South (+16,355), the Northeast

(+15,510), and the West (+10,737). Each of the nine geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in

the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest in the East North Central (+43,083),

Middle Atlantic (+11,294), and the South Atlantic (+9,886) divisions.

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

in December (38,926), mostly in administrative and support services and in motion picture and sound recording industries. Michigan had the next highest initial claims total, with 30,456, followed by Illinois (16,869),

Pennsylvania (16,249), and Wisconsin (13,071). These five states accounted for 46 percent of all mass

layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 6.)

Michigan had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+19,615), followed

by Ohio (+7,749) and Pennsylvania (+6,836). The largest over-the-year decrease occurred in Maryland

(-924).

Review of 2005

During 2005, 16,466 layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting in 1,795,341 initial claims filings for

unemployment insurance. In 2004, there were 15,980 events and 1,607,158 initial claimants. (See table B.)
4

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

Industry Initial claims

2004

Initial claims Rank

Temporary help services ...................................... 1 103,868 1

School and employee bus transportation .............. 2 64,663 2

Automobile manufacturing .................................... 54,800 3 35,520 6

Motion picture and video production .................... 54,769 4 50,030 3

Food service contractors ...................................... 49,942 5 42,920 4

Highway, street, and bridge construction .............. 45,581 6 36,853 5

Elementary and secondary schools ....................... 36,743 7 27,648 8

Light truck and utility vehicle mfg. ........................ 34,378 8 18,742 13

Professional employer organizations ...................... 30,882 9 31,434 7

Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. .......... 22,329 14,459 18

p = preliminary.

 73,797

 111,110

 10

2005

Rank

The 10 industries with the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 29 percent of the total in 2005. (See table C.) In 2004, they comprised 27 percent of the total. Temporary help services and

school and employee bus transportation were ranked one and two among the 10 industries in both 2005 and

2004. Automobile manufacturing ranked three in 2005, as compared to six in the previous year.

Manufacturing accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 37 percent of initial claims filed

during 2005. A year earlier, manufacturing accounted for 29 percent of events and 35 percent of initial

claims. Initial claim filings were most numerous in transportation equipment, 253,681, followed by food

manufacturing, 76,926, and machinery manufacturing, 33,713. During 2005, the largest increase in initial

claims occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing (+90,655) and wood product manufacturing

(+6,370). The largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims occurred in food manufacturing (-5,188).

The number of initial claims filed in 2005 due to mass layoffs was higher in the Midwest (571,950)

than in any other region. Layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for 30 percent of

the claims in the Midwest. Administrative and support services, heavy and civil engineering construction,

and food manufacturing accounted for an additional 16 percent of layoffs in that region in 2005. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast region (280,628). In 2005, increases

in mass-layoff initial claims occurred in three of the four regions. The largest increases were in the South

(+129,944) and Midwest (+86,695). The West had the only over-the-year decrease (-38,296).

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California recorded the largest number of initial

claims filed in mass layoff events in 2005 (360,138), 20 percent of the national total. The states with the

next highest numbers of initial claims were Michigan (131,411), Louisiana (120,600), Ohio (113,165), and

Pennsylvania (99,183). Forty-eight percent of events and 46 percent of all initial claims were from these

five states.

Louisiana reported the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims (+104,081), largely due to the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The next largest increase occurred in Michigan (+32,287), followed

by Ohio (+26,315) and Mississippi (+25,587). The largest over-the-year decreases were reported in

California (-33,976) and Florida (-11,552).
5

Note

The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given

month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs. For private nonfarm establishments, information on the

length of the layoff is obtained later and issued in a quarterly release that reports on mass layoffs lasting

more than 30 days (referred to as “extended mass layoffs”). The quarterly release provides more information on the industry classification and location of the establishment and on the demographics of the 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 Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2005 is scheduled to be released on

Thursday, February 9, 2006. The report on Mass Layoffs in January 2006 is scheduled to be released

on Thursday, February 23, 2006.
Technical Note

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

program that uses a standardized, automated approach to

identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job

cutbacks, using data from each state’s unemployment insurance

database. Each month, states report on establishments which

have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during a

consecutive 5-week period. These establishments then are

contacted by the state agency to determine whether these

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

information concerning the layoff is collected. States report on

layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a quarterly basis.

A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly

unemployment insurance claims filings for the Sunday through

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

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

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

tabulations. This means that some months will contain 4 weeks

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

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

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

calendar effect into consideration.

The MLS program resumed operations in April 1995 after it

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

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

Information in this release will be made available to sensory

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

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

Definitions

Initial claimant. A person who files any notice of

unemployment to initiate a request either for a determination of

entitlement to and eligibility for compensation, or for a

subsequent period of unemployment within a benefit year or

period of eligibility.

Mass layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for

unemployment insurance benefits filed against an

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

Seasonal adjustment

Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS

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 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, January 2002 to December 2005,

seasonally adjusted

2002

January ................................................................... 1,815 210,217 1,670 197,065 733 100,182 

February ................................................................. 1,805 207,097 1,657 195,251 704 93,234 

March ...................................................................... 1,670 187,811 1,515 175,831 615 74,351 

April ......................................................................... 1,681 186,095 1,494 168,902 590 68,210 

May ......................................................................... 1,723 190,797 1,559 177,743 610 73,953 

June ........................................................................ 1,620 170,724 1,443 156,813 550 70,936 

July ......................................................................... 1,635 179,806 1,460 164,944 564 74,834 

August ..................................................................... 1,478 162,040 1,324 150,118 569 67,779 

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

p

 .............................................................. 1,205 120,783 1,074 109,680 359 45,069 

December

p

 .............................................................. 1,308 149,565 1,185 138,234 365 49,641 

 p

 = preliminary.

 NOTE: Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Date

Events Events Events Initial

claimants

Initial

claimants

Initial

claimants
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2002 to December 2005,

not seasonally adjusted

2002

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2003

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2004

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

p

 .............................................................. 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 363 41,442 

December

p

 .............................................................. 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 706 96,382 

 p

 = preliminary.

Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing

Date

Events Events Events Initial

claimants

Initial

claimants

Initial

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

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

December October November December December October November December

2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p

Seasonally adjusted

 Total ...................................................................... 1,188 1,114 1,205 1,308 120,602 104,584 120,783 149,565 

 Total, private nonfarm ............................................... 1,038 986 1,074 1,185 109,508 94,798 109,680 138,234 

 Manufacturing .......................................................... 293 328 359 365 33,123 45,475 45,069 49,641 

Not seasonally adjusted

 Total1

 ..................................................................... 1,614 905 1,254 2,323 161,271 91,941 116,127 254,258 

Total, private ................................................................ 1,527 850 1,187 2,237 154,496 87,226 109,395 246,748 

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ................. 40 93 108 69 2,404 6,532 7,213 3,995 

 Total, private nonfarm ............................................... 1,487 757 1,079 2,168 152,092 80,694 102,182 242,753 

 Mining ...................................................................... 18 ( 2 ) 7 33 1,492 ( 2 ) 509 2,802 

 Utilities ..................................................................... 6 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,395 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 Construction ............................................................ 342 88 192 478 27,433 5,755 15,824 40,395 

 Manufacturing .......................................................... 436 249 363 706 50,726 37,276 41,442 96,382 

 Food .................................................................... 59 61 66 88 6,309 5,666 7,092 10,681 

 Beverage and tobacco products .......................... 7 4 6 11 497 261 416 800 

 Textile mills .......................................................... 15 11 19 23 1,249 1,296 2,734 3,823 

 Textile product mills ............................................. 8 5 6 7 932 531 444 743 

 Apparel ................................................................ 16 11 13 19 2,720 2,589 2,125 2,297 

 Leather and allied products ................................. 4 – ( 2 ) 9 757 – ( 2 ) 1,032 

 Wood products .................................................... 25 ( 2 ) 20 54 2,346 ( 2 ) 2,353 5,319 

 Paper ................................................................... 7 9 8 8 575 748 479 943 

 Printing and related support activities ................. 3 – 8 16 331 – 574 1,870 

 Petroleum and coal products ............................... 11 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 14 1,126 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,478 

 Chemicals ............................................................ 8 8 7 10 669 682 510 862 

 Plastics and rubber products ............................... 30 11 19 60 2,327 1,097 1,469 5,605 

 Nonmetallic mineral products .............................. 32 8 11 58 3,168 759 1,005 5,756 

 Primary metals .................................................... 23 9 17 40 2,246 1,037 1,475 4,265 

 Fabricated metal products ................................... 34 12 20 38 2,546 863 1,751 3,815 

 Machinery ............................................................ 16 9 24 31 2,218 1,288 2,910 3,091 

 Computer and electronic products ...................... 19 20 12 16 2,039 1,764 1,001 1,290 

 Electrical equipment and appliances ................... 13 4 5 18 3,741 1,061 554 3,716 

 Transportation equipment ................................... 85 49 76 144 12,547 15,841 11,665 34,508 

 Furniture and related products ............................ 13 8 15 27 1,096 762 1,804 2,769 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing .............................. 8 6 6 15 1,287 688 676 1,719 

 Wholesale trade ...................................................... 18 10 21 37 1,853 812 1,687 3,214 

 Retail trade .............................................................. 80 72 61 113 8,092 5,666 5,176 10,856 

 Transportation and warehousing ............................. 96 29 45 161 10,687 2,697 3,479 19,173 

 Information .............................................................. 30 26 21 36 8,002 5,300 2,395 6,572 

 Finance and insurance ............................................ 18 24 14 20 1,455 1,656 1,307 1,284 

 Real estate and rental and leasing .......................... 4 4 3 9 249 244 122 1,203 

 Professional and technical services ........................ 48 28 34 64 5,955 2,967 3,056 6,663 

 Management of companies and enterprises ........... 3 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 296 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 )

 Administrative and waste services .......................... 163 132 138 259 13,192 11,017 11,350 27,527 

 Educational services ............................................... 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 5 245 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 353 

 Health care and social assistance ........................... 28 7 34 35 2,539 621 2,555 2,731 

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ......................... 30 22 40 26 1,967 1,568 3,623 1,869 

 Accommodation and food services ......................... 146 53 88 158 14,923 4,168 8,204 19,293 

 Other services, except public administration ........... 13 3 8 19 1,342 173 668 1,527 

 Unclassified ............................................................ 4 5 6 4 249 356 436 295 

Government ................................................................. 87 55 67 86 6,775 4,715 6,732 7,510 

 Federal .................................................................... 8 16 15 18 842 1,551 1,608 1,568 

 State ........................................................................ 16 12 24 16 1,472 992 2,527 1,750 

 Local ........................................................................ 63 27 28 52 4,461 2,172 2,597 4,192 

 1

 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. NOTE: Dash represents zero. Seasonally adjusted data have 

 2

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.

 p

 = preliminary.

Industry
Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2003 to December 2005,

not seasonally adjusted

Extended mass layoffs 

lasting more than 30 days Realization rates1

Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants Events Initial

claimants

2003

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

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

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

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

2004

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

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

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

First Quarter ....................................... 4,289 416,209 3,905 385,046 1,339 238,392 34.3 61.9 

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

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

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

Second Quarter ................................. 3,825 379,403 3,271 332,247 1,358 254,063 41.5 76.5 

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 1,142 185,374 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 1,203 212,671 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 2.p 742 2,p 108,647 p19.3 p23.4

October .............................................. 905 91,941 757 80,694 

Novemberp

 ......................................... 1,254 116,127 1,079 102,182 

Decemberp ......................................... 2,323 254,258 2,168 242,753 

Fourth Quarterp

 .................................. 4,482 462,326 4,004 425,629 

 1 The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm data on these layoffs become available. Experience suggests that the

mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards

rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants by less than 10 percent and the number of initial claimants associated

associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days. with such events increases by 25-40 percent.

 2

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

Mass layoffs Total mass layoffs

Private nonfarm

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

not seasonally adjusted

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

December October November December December October November December

2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p

 United States1 .................................................... 1,614 905 1,254 2,323 161,271 91,941 116,127 254,258 

Northeast .................................................................... 285 175 218 445 27,387 15,362 19,125 42,897 

 New England .......................................................... 47 12 24 83 4,894 1,233 2,703 9,110 

 Middle Atlantic ........................................................ 238 163 194 362 22,493 14,129 16,422 33,787 

South .......................................................................... 288 158 279 371 29,948 17,616 31,437 46,303 

 South Atlantic ......................................................... 140 85 165 180 13,620 8,903 14,596 23,506 

 East South Central ................................................. 76 25 42 113 8,995 4,194 5,296 14,562 

 West South Central ................................................ 72 48 72 78 7,333 4,519 11,545 8,235 

Midwest ...................................................................... 588 199 355 942 61,277 27,841 34,901 111,662 

 East North Central .................................................. 414 154 279 708 42,598 21,404 27,180 85,681 

 West North Central ................................................. 174 45 76 234 18,679 6,437 7,721 25,981 

West ........................................................................... 453 373 402 565 42,659 31,122 30,664 53,396 

 Mountain ................................................................. 60 32 50 88 5,295 3,285 4,552 7,995 

 Pacific ..................................................................... 393 341 352 477 37,364 27,837 26,112 45,401 

 1

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

 = preliminary. Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: Arkansas, NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, 

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

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

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

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

 

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

not seasonally adjusted

Mass layoff events Initial claimants for

unemployment insurance

December October November December December October November December

2004 2005 2005p 2005p 2004 2005 2005p 2005p

 Total1 ........................................................................ 1,614 905 1,254 2,323 161,271 91,941 116,127 254,258 

Alabama ....................................................................... 22 4 6 24 2,244 569 783 2,119 

Alaska .......................................................................... ( 2 ) 4 4 – ( 2 ) 264 401 –

Arizona ......................................................................... 5 6 4 4 358 606 350 387 

Arkansas ...................................................................... 3 4 7 6 218 767 1,866 989 

California ...................................................................... 344 315 302 415 32,279 25,317 21,324 38,926 

Colorado ...................................................................... 13 6 7 16 1,347 510 758 1,536 

Connecticut .................................................................. 5 – 3 9 510 – 235 897 

Delaware ...................................................................... – ( 2 ) ––– ( 2 ) – –

District of Columbia ...................................................... ( 2 ) – – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) – – ( 2 )

Florida .......................................................................... 44 36 100 61 3,567 2,706 7,138 5,288 

Georgia ........................................................................ 37 16 24 42 3,082 1,739 2,511 8,974 

Hawaii .......................................................................... – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 6 – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 510 

Idaho ............................................................................ 10 5 11 17 736 476 976 1,240 

Illinois ........................................................................... 99 35 34 144 10,222 5,717 3,600 16,869 

Indiana ......................................................................... 68 14 29 98 9,331 1,940 2,811 12,226 

Iowa ............................................................................. 36 13 20 61 3,442 2,473 1,636 7,058 

Kansas ......................................................................... 16 ( 2 ) 6 18 1,864 ( 2 ) 647 1,779 

Kentucky ...................................................................... 38 10 23 62 5,474 2,710 3,521 9,866 

Louisiana ..................................................................... 16 3 36 13 1,297 215 4,030 868 

Maine ........................................................................... 7 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 7 570 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 449 

Maryland ...................................................................... 7 5 ( 2 ) – 924 451 ( 2 ) –

Massachusetts ............................................................. 15 6 10 29 2,085 669 650 3,229 

Michigan ...................................................................... 115 41 62 222 10,841 6,276 4,986 30,456 

Minnesota .................................................................... 55 18 27 64 6,064 1,579 2,503 6,016 

Mississippi ................................................................... ( 2 ) 4 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 356 ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Missouri ....................................................................... 41 8 19 63 5,231 1,773 2,640 7,912 

Montana ....................................................................... 6 6 7 9 474 695 770 682 

Nebraska ..................................................................... 18 4 ( 2 ) 20 1,375 447 ( 2 ) 2,605 

Nevada ........................................................................ 17 6 13 24 1,630 764 1,144 2,315 

New Hampshire ........................................................... 5 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 12 423 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 1,386 

New Jersey .................................................................. 46 30 32 96 4,979 2,248 3,239 8,631 

New Mexico ................................................................. 5 ( 2 ) 3 7 319 ( 2 ) 201 766 

New York ..................................................................... 88 52 36 91 8,101 4,806 3,197 8,907 

North Carolina .............................................................. 16 16 10 19 1,187 1,423 841 1,999 

North Dakota ................................................................ 6 – ( 2 ) 4 526 – ( 2 ) 320 

Ohio ............................................................................. 67 33 52 133 5,310 4,820 5,607 13,059 

Oklahoma .................................................................... 13 3 4 9 1,041 500 596 780 

Oregon ......................................................................... 23 5 16 32 2,798 675 1,610 3,830 

Pennsylvania ............................................................... 104 81 126 175 9,413 7,075 9,986 16,249 

Rhode Island ................................................................ 7 ( 2

 ) ( 2 ) 17 628 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 2,441 

South Carolina ............................................................. 11 4 18 20 1,679 428 2,251 3,376 

South Dakota ............................................................... ( 2 ) – – 4 ( 2 ) – – 291 

Tennessee ................................................................... 15 7 11 25 1,219 559 905 2,408 

Texas ........................................................................... 40 38 25 50 4,777 3,037 5,053 5,598 

Utah ............................................................................. 4 – 3 11 431 – 218 1,069 

Vermont ....................................................................... 8 3 7 9 678 212 1,285 708 

Virginia ......................................................................... 21 7 10 35 2,836 573 1,570 3,638 

Washington .................................................................. 24 16 29 24 2,149 1,527 2,695 2,135 

West Virginia ................................................................ 3 – ( 2 ) ( 2 ) 276 – ( 2 ) ( 2 )

Wisconsin .................................................................... 65 31 102 111 6,894 2,651 10,176 13,071 

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

Puerto Rico .................................................................. 10 11 12 10 706 854 1,202 1,698 

 1 See footnote 1, table 3. p

 = preliminary.

2

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

State