Technical information:   (202) 691-6392      USDL 05-1980
http://www.bls.gov/mls/

                                             For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                 691-5902      Tuesday, October 25, 2005


                      MASS LAYOFFS IN SEPTEMBER 2005
   
   Mass layoff data for September 2005 reflect the impact of Hurricane
Katrina on workers in Louisiana and Mississippi and, to a lesser extent,
the impact of Hurricane Rita on workers in Texas.  In September 2005,
employers took 2,069 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 257,454, on a seasonally adjusted
basis.  (See table 1.)  The number of layoff events in September rose by
927 to 2,069, the highest number of events for any month since November
2001 and the fourth highest number of events since the program began in
April 1995.  The number of associated initial claims increased by 129,988
from August to 257,544 and was at its highest total for any month since the
series high in September 2001.  In the manufacturing sector, 422 mass
layoff events were reported during September 2005, seasonally adjusted,
resulting in 54,245 initial claims; both figures were higher than a month
earlier.  (See table 1.)
   
   From January through September 2005, the total number of events
(seasonally adjusted), at 11,884, was lower than in January-September
2004 (12,054), while the number of initial claims (seasonally adjusted),
at 1,309,263, was higher (1,213,262).

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
   
   In September, the 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-
layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 70,955 ini-
tial claims, 37 percent of the total.  (See table A.)  More than 4 out
of 5 of these claims were filed against employers located in Louisiana
(59 percent) and Mississippi (23 percent).  In 7 of these 10 industries,
the share of initial claims accounted for by Louisiana or Mississippi
employers was 90 percent or higher.


     ----------------------------------------------------------------
    |                    Hurricanes Katrina and Rita                 |
    |                                                                |
    |    Data for September are the first from the Mass Layoff       |
    | Statistics (MLS) program to reflect the initial job losses     |
    | associated with Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf       |
    | Coast on August 29, and Hurricane Rita, which made landfall    |
    | on September 24.  In the MLS program, the September 2005       |
    | reference period includes the Sunday through Saturday calen-   |
    | dar weeks from August 28 through October 1.                    |
    |                                                                |
    |    For additional information on the storms' impacts on MLS    |
    | data, including questions and answers on concepts and defini-  |
    | tions, data collection, and future publication plans, please   |
    | see http://www.bls.gov/katrina/mlsquestions.htm or call        |
    | (202) 691-6392.                                                |
     ----------------------------------------------------------------      

                                  - 2 -

Table A.  Industries with the largest mass-layoff initial claims in
September 2005p
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         |   Initial claims   |  September peak                       
                                         |--------------------|  
                 Industry                |         | Percent  |-------------------                           
                                         |  Total  | in La.   |         | Initial
                                         |   U.S.  | and Miss.|   Year  |  claim          
-----------------------------------------|---------|----------|---------|---------                                                                                                          
Elementary and secondary schools.........|  14,126 |   91.8   |   2005  |  14,126
Temporary help services .................|  11,057 |   29.0   |   2001  |  12,752
General medical and surgical hospitals...|   9,943 |   92.6   |   2005  |   9,943
Casino hotels............................|   6,404 |   90.0   |   2001  |   9,453
Ship building and repairing..............|   6,168 |   98.0   |   2005  |   6,168
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels..|   5,148 |   87.7   |   2001  |  10,886
Limited-service restaurants..............|   4,867 |   95.9   |   2005  |   4,867
Full-service restaurants.................|   4,625 |   94.8   |   2005  |   4,625
Supermarkets and other grocery stores....|   4,325 |   68.9   |   2005  |   4,325
Casinos, except casino hotels............|   4,292 |   94.2   |   2005  |   4,292 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    p = preliminary.              


   In the U.S. as a whole, the manufacturing sector accounted for 20 percent
of all mass layoff events and 24 percent of all initial claims filed in
September 2005.  A year earlier, manufacturing comprised 27 percent of events
and 37 percent of initial claims.  Within manufacturing, the number of claimants
in September 2005 was highest in transportation equipment (14,934, largely in the
ship building and repairing industry in the Katrina-affected areas), followed by
food manufacturing (5,584).  (See table 3.)
   
   Accommodation and food services accounted for 13 percent of events and
12 percent of initial claims filed in September, with layoffs mostly from
restaurants.  Twelve percent of all layoff events and 11 percent of initial
claims filed during the month were from retail trade, primarily from
general merchandise stores.  Administrative and waste services accounted
for 12 percent of events and 10 percent of initial claims in September,
mainly from temporary help services.  Healthcare and social assistance
accounted for 8 percent of events and initial claims during the month,
largely from hospitals.  An additional 7 percent of events and 4 percent
of initial claims were from construction, largely among specialty trade
contractors.
   
   Government establishments accounted for 8 percent of events and 15 per-
cent of initial claims filed in September, mostly from educational services.
   
   Over the year, the number of layoff events increased by 840 to 1,548
and the number of associated initial claims rose by 121,934 to 190,906, the
highest totals for any September on record (not seasonally adjusted).  In
addition to the impact of the hurricanes, September 2005 contained 5 weeks
for possible mass layoffs, compared with 4 weeks in each September of the
prior 2 years.  (See the Technical Note for an explanation of how the
number of weeks for data collection can vary from month to month.)  The
largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in educa-
tional services (+15,186), hospitals (+10,839), food services and drinking
places (+9,893), and accommodation (+9,534).  The largest over-the-year de-
creases in initial claims were reported in agriculture and forestry support
activities (-549).
   
   Excluding layoffs in Louisiana and Mississippi, the number of mass
layoff events rose over-the-year by 68, and the number of associated
initial claims rose by 16,103.  These increases were most likely due to the
additional week present in September 2005. The over-the-year increases in
initial claims excluding those in Louisiana and Mississippi were mostly in
machinery manufacturing (+3,353), general merchandise stores (+2,863), and
textile mills (+1,935).  The largest over-the-year decrease was in food
services and drinking places (-1,260).

                                  - 3 -

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

   Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in
September due to mass layoffs was in the South (129,647).  (See table 5.)
Eighty-one percent of events and 82 percent of initial claims in the South
were from Louisiana and Mississippi.  The number of mass layoff events and
initial claims in the South was the highest for any September since the
program began.  Educational services, food services and drinking places,
hospitals, and accommodation accounted for 37 percent of the South total.
The West had the next largest number of initial claims (28,517), followed
by the Midwest (22,952) and the Northeast (9,790).
   
   The number of initial claimants from mass layoffs increased over the
year in each of the four regions.  The largest increase occurred in the
South (+110,180), followed by the Midwest (+6,572), the West (+4,193),
and the Northeast (+989).  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 West South Central (+89,195), which
includes Louisiana, followed by the East South Central division (+20,890),
which includes Mississippi.
   
   Among the states, Louisiana recorded the highest number of initial
claims filed due to mass layoff events in September (87,449).  Fifteen
detailed industries in the state each had more than 1,000 initial claims;
five had more than 4,000 each.  California had the next highest initial
claims total, with 24,865 initial claims, followed by Mississippi (19,098).
Four detailed industries in Mississippi each had more than 1,000 initial
claims.  These three states accounted for 67 percent of all mass layoff
events and 69 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance.
(See table 6.)
   
   The weekly initial claims data by state provide a clearer picture of
the impact of the two hurricanes.  As shown in table B, mass layoff initial
claims in Louisiana were highest in the first week of the September 2005
reference period, the first week following Hurricane Katrina's landfall.
In Mississippi, they peaked in the second week.  The significant rise in
initial claims in Texas occurred in the last week of the reporting period,
which followed Hurricane Rita's landfall.  Louisiana also reported an
increase in that week.
   
   Louisiana had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of
initial claims (+87,047), with the greatest rises occurring in educational
services, food services and drinking places, hospitals, and administrative
and support services.  Mississippi had the next highest over-the-year
increase (+18,784).  The largest over-the-year decreases occurred in
Florida (-3,035) and Michigan (-2,762).

                                  - 4 - 

Table B.  Mass-layoff initial claims by week, selected states,
September 2005p
--------------------------------------------------------------
    Week      |                Initial claims
    ending    |-----------------------------------------------
              |  Louisiana  | Mississippi |       Texas
--------------|-------------|-------------|-------------------
              |             |             |
Sept. 3 ......|    73,101   |    7,936    |        353
Sept. 10 .....|     8,010   |   10,482    |        381
Sept. 17 .....|     1,282   |      399    |        568
Sept. 24 .....|       214   |      201    |        809
Oct. 1 .......|     4,842   |       80    |      2,947
              |             |             |
Total ........|    87,449   |   19,098    |      5,058
-------------------------------------------------------------
   p = preliminary
   

   From January to September, California reported 274,820 mass-layoff
initial claims, 21 percent of the national total.  Louisiana had the
next largest number of claims over this period (98,548), followed by
Ohio (91,624) and Michigan (89,693).

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 Third Quarter of 2005 is
scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 17, 2005.  The report on
Mass Layoffs in October 2005 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday,
November 23, 2005.






                                  - 5 -

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, October 2001 to September 2005,
seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing   

             Date                                                                               
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants     Events  claimants 

            2001                                                                              

October ....................     2,109     233,569     1,986     223,808       897     118,136
November ...................     2,094     218,273     1,935     207,129       944     114,556
December ...................     1,799     194,759     1,658     183,178       722      93,193

            2002                                                                              

January ....................     1,801     208,835     1,659     195,862       739      96,689
February ...................     1,773     204,089     1,620     192,450       701      91,285
March ......................     1,674     187,924     1,517     175,998       610      75,367
April ......................     1,685     186,574     1,497     169,228       591      69,481
May ........................     1,720     191,841     1,558     178,993       611      74,809
June .......................     1,615     170,307     1,438     156,759       551      73,064
July .......................     1,637     179,165     1,457     164,398       568      73,230
August .....................     1,475     160,855     1,330     149,148       562      65,564
September ..................     1,909     217,475     1,742     202,640       607      79,413
October ....................     1,716     178,860     1,524     162,411       598      71,765
November ...................     1,644     176,462     1,500     165,578       607      70,640
December ...................     1,825     193,627     1,661     179,368       638      86,714

            2003                                                                              

January ....................     1,383     134,258     1,193     120,033       402      49,440
February ...................     1,771     185,502     1,589     173,392       643      75,331
March ......................     1,773     176,540     1,577     161,662       618      75,289
April ......................     1,735     176,645     1,574     165,416       646      86,857
May ........................     1,709     186,158     1,532     173,123       624      87,615
June .......................     1,704     163,646     1,515     148,547       636      70,888
July .......................     1,653     163,061     1,444     147,883       590      71,203
August .....................     1,502     170,353     1,364     156,731       540      71,944
September ..................     1,559     145,961     1,370     132,233       471      56,274
October ....................     1,541     154,908     1,312     136,604       412      49,518
November ...................     1,400     137,651     1,241     125,115       397      46,955
December ...................     1,425     141,780     1,281     129,464       420      53,436

            2004                                                                              

January ....................     1,458     146,147     1,257     127,917       413      50,074
February ...................     1,237     126,421     1,091     115,302       358      36,783
March ......................     1,348     142,480     1,211     134,118       409      63,380
April ......................     1,422     149,049     1,239     132,180       360      43,158
May ........................     1,178     114,247     1,016     100,499       314      37,950
June .......................     1,375     141,300     1,215     129,466       361      47,548
July .......................     1,363     139,374     1,200     127,011       390      49,276
August .....................     1,392     130,483     1,208     115,035       330      36,422
September ..................     1,281     123,761     1,153     114,223       332      45,917
October ....................     1,274     125,414     1,145     116,042       350      44,908
November ...................     1,361     130,168     1,201     117,545       402      43,504
December ...................     1,211     119,649     1,064     108,157       283      34,940

            2005                                                                              

January ....................     1,457     150,990     1,321     140,826       379      58,908
February ...................     1,128     117,684     1,001     107,415       345      43,186
March ......................     1,194     130,848     1,060     121,408       371      55,377
April ......................     1,274     136,837     1,142     126,807       395      63,121
May ........................     1,196     128,771     1,060     117,036       359      53,243
June .......................     1,175     127,887     1,059     118,736       347      55,820
July .......................     1,249     131,326     1,107     118,835       360      48,967
August(p) ..................     1,142     127,466     1,002     115,674       328      48,155
September(p) ...............     2,069     257,454     1,833     212,725       422      54,245
                                                                                              

    p = preliminary.





Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,  October 2001 to September 2005,
not seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm        Manufacturing    

             Date                                                                               
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants    Events   claimants 

            2001                                                                              

October ....................     1,831     215,483     1,676     202,053       742     107,030
November ...................     2,721     295,956     2,373     270,268     1,122     151,969
December ...................     2,440     268,893     2,319     259,497     1,103     136,820

            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(p) ..................       645      67,582       598      63,484       188      22,531
September(p) ...............     1,548     190,906     1,400     160,630       315      46,353
                                                                                              

    p = preliminary.






Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                                     Initial claimants for        
                                                             Mass layoff events                     unemployment insurance        
                    Industry                                                                                                      

                                                    September    July   August  September    September    July   August  September
                                                      2004       2005    2005p    2005p        2004       2005    2005p    2005p  
                                                                                                                                 
               Seasonally adjusted                                                                                               

      Total .....................................     1,281      1,249    1,142    2,069     123,761    131,326  127,466  257,454
  
  Total, private nonfarm ........................     1,153      1,107    1,002    1,833     114,223    118,835  115,674  212,725
    Manufacturing ...............................       332        360      328      422      45,917     48,967   48,155   54,245
             
             Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                             

      Total(1) ..................................       708      1,981      645    1,548      68,972    244,216   67,582  190,906

Total, private ..................................       669      1,849      610    1,423      64,917    231,250   64,211  162,013
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..        32        104       12       23       1,815      8,873      727    1,383

  Total, private nonfarm ........................       637      1,745      598    1,400      63,102    222,377   63,484  160,630
    Mining ......................................     ( 2 )      ( 2 )    ( 2 )    ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )    ( 2 )    ( 2 )
    Utilities ...................................     ( 2 )      ( 2 )    ( 2 )    ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )    ( 2 )    ( 2 )
    Construction ................................        65         80       51      109       4,160      6,252    3,458    8,203
    Manufacturing................................       189        856      188      315      25,808    136,210   22,531   46,353
        Food ....................................        56         72       28       56       4,848      6,874    2,762    5,584
        Beverage and tobacco products ...........         3          7    ( 2 )        4         271        377    ( 2 )      261
        Textile mills ...........................         6         16       13       20         701      1,682    1,177    2,636
        Textile product mills ...................         4         12        3        6         438      1,597      268      956
        Apparel .................................         9         27       10       12       1,878      2,666      560    2,286
        Leather and allied products .............     ( 2 )          7    ( 2 )    ( 2 )       ( 2 )      1,426    ( 2 )    ( 2 )
        Wood products ...........................         4         39        7       20         268      5,109      547    2,058
        Paper ...................................         4          9        7       10         369        582      615    1,206
        Printing and related support activities .         -          4        5        5           -        271      452      312
        Petroleum and coal products .............         -          -    ( 2 )        -           -          -    ( 2 )        -

        Chemicals ...............................     ( 2 )         18    ( 2 )        6       ( 2 )      2,164    ( 2 )      787
        Plastics and rubber products ............        12         77        7       13         976      9,202      588    1,824
        Nonmetallic mineral products ............         8         16        6        9         759      2,178      420      637
        Primary metals ..........................     ( 2 )         53        7       11       ( 2 )      7,984      852    1,112
        Fabricated metal products ...............        11         67       13       18         794      7,052    1,012    1,297
        Machinery ...............................        11         44       20       30       1,118      5,426    1,815    4,947
        Computer and electronic products ........        11         32       12       17         742      3,729    1,235    1,330
        Electrical equipment and appliances .....         5         24        6       12       3,211      3,409    1,693    3,127
        Transportation equipment ................        21        286       27       52       7,400     69,393    6,855   14,934
        Furniture and related products ..........        10         26        3        9         912      2,917      383      567
        Miscellaneous manufacturing .............        10         20        8    ( 2 )         842      2,172      910    ( 2 )

    Wholesale trade .............................        14         33       15       29       1,028      2,889    1,259    2,073
    Retail trade ................................        68        102       72      190       5,974     10,765    5,434   20,202
    Transportation and warehousing ..............        21        123       50       46       1,692     11,543    5,878    5,641
    Information .................................        26         32       21       40       3,455      5,599    6,889    5,871
    Finance and insurance .......................        16         18       14       29       1,211      1,416    1,493    2,242
    Real estate and rental and leasing ..........     ( 2 )         12    ( 2 )       13       ( 2 )      1,083    ( 2 )      782
    Professional and technical services .........        19         51       18       28       1,709      7,387    3,104    2,495
    Management of companies and enterprises .....     ( 2 )      ( 2 )        -    ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )        -    ( 2 )
    Administrative and waste services ...........       106        239       84      192      10,255     23,794    6,764   18,794
    Educational services.........................     ( 2 )         16        6       10       ( 2 )      1,118      454    1,467
    Health care and social assistance ...........        15         56       19      128         975      4,000    1,227   14,460
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation .........        21         34        7       33       1,366      2,517      486    5,528
    Accommodation and food services .............        61         73       35      200       4,173      5,857    2,436   23,548
    Other services, except public administration.         8         10        9       28         525        619    1,400    2,101
    Unclassified  ...............................         1          4        1        3          71        354       96      154

Government ......................................        39        132       35      125       4,055     12,966    3,371   28,893
    Federal .....................................         5         19        8       10         364      2,243    1,041      957
    State .......................................         3         20       11       34         233      1,553      862    4,895
    Local .......................................        31         93       16       81       3,458      9,170    1,468   23,041
                                                                                                                                 

    1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
    p = preliminary.
    NOTE:  Dash represents zero.






Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 2003 to September 2005,
not seasonally adjusted

                                                                                    Private nonfarm                               
										  
                                Total mass layoffs                               Extended mass layoffs         Realization                    
             Date                                        Mass layoffs          lasting more than 30 days        rates (1) 

                                          Initial               Initial                        Initial                  Initial  
                                Events   claimants    Events   claimants        Events        claimants     Events     claimants 

           2003                                                                                                                

July ....................         2,087    226,435     1,815     206,901                                                       
August ..................         1,258    133,839     1,163     124,131                                                       
September ...............           868     82,647       756      73,914                                                       

Third Quarter ...........         4,213    442,921     3,734     404,946         1,190         227,909        31.9         56.3

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         148,549        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         1,144         186,030        29.5         45.9

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  (2)(p) 1,056  (2)(p) 150,140     (p)34.1      (p)43.5

July ....................         1,981    244,216     1,745     222,377                                                       
August(p) ...............           645     67,582       598      63,484                                                       
September(p) ............         1,548    190,906     1,400     160,630                                                       

Third Quarter(p) ........         4,174    502,704     3,743     446,491


    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                                                                                       

                                September   July     August  September    September      July       August    September
                                  2004      2005     2005p     2005p         2004        2005       2005p       2005p  
                                                                                                                      
        United States(1) ...       708     1,981       645     1,548        68,972     244,216      67,582     190,906

Northeast ..................       101       319       126       118         8,801      32,958      13,090       9,790

    New England ............         9        45        23        14           637       4,353       1,868       1,247
    Middle Atlantic ........        92       274       103       104         8,164      28,605      11,222       8,543

South ......................       204       415       170       965        19,467      44,995      18,286     129,647

    South Atlantic .........       123       193        92        81        10,152      18,350       8,771      10,247
    East South Central .....        41       136        34       147         5,643      17,428       5,988      26,533
    West South Central .....        40        86        44       737         3,672       9,217       3,527      92,867

Midwest ....................       125       695       138       164        16,380     114,158      14,023      22,952

    East North Central .....        99       581       111       136        13,827      94,359      10,618      19,035
    West North Central .....        26       114        27        28         2,553      19,799       3,405       3,917

West .......................       278       552       211       301        24,324      52,105      22,183      28,517

    Mountain ...............        15        56        17        22         1,163       5,836       1,717       1,901
    Pacific ................       263       496       194       279        23,161      46,269      20,466      26,616
                                                                                                                

    1 See footnote 1, table 3.
    p = preliminary.
    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                                                                                                         
                           September     July     August      September     September     July      August    September
                              2004       2005      2005p        2005p         2004        2005       2005p      2005p  

   Total(1) .............     708       1,981        645        1,548        68,972     244,216      67,582    190,906

Alabama .................      18          58          5           20         1,793       6,449         709      1,968
Alaska ..................   ( 2 )       ( 2 )          -            3         ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -        280
Arizona .................       -          22      ( 2 )        ( 2 )             -       2,288       ( 2 )      ( 2 )
Arkansas ................   ( 2 )           8          3            -         ( 2 )         698         201          -
California ..............     246         445        182          260        21,752      41,741      19,530     24,865
Colorado ................       3           5      ( 2 )            3           199         434       ( 2 )        185
Connecticut .............   ( 2 )           7          4            3         ( 2 )         553         397        254
Delaware ................       -           -          -            -             -           -           -          -
District of Columbia ....       -       ( 2 )      ( 2 )            -             -       ( 2 )       ( 2 )          -
Florida .................      86          86         35           40         6,349       6,526       2,031      3,314
Georgia .................      11          46         22           14           815       4,374       3,488      3,230
Hawaii ..................   ( 2 )           3          -            3         ( 2 )         246           -        249
Idaho ...................       3           7          6            3           331         981         684        239

Illinois ................      26          57         27           46         2,567       6,808       2,128      5,779
Indiana .................      19          82         10           13         2,767      15,176       1,000      2,336
Iowa ....................       6          23          6            3           764       5,154       1,755        996
Kansas ..................       4           8          5            3           380         720         487        259
Kentucky ................      11          62         13           24         2,892       9,576       3,954      4,779
Louisiana ...............       5          20         11          684           402       1,916         596     87,449
Maine ...................       -           4      ( 2 )            3             -         303       ( 2 )        224
Maryland ................       5           8          3            -           529         811         219          -
Massachusetts ...........       6          24         12            4           439       2,333         873        493
Michigan ................      23         248         29           23         5,997      34,561       2,838      3,235
Minnesota ...............       6          27          6            7           441       4,573         502        741
Mississippi .............       3           5          6           96           314         374         481     19,098
Missouri ................       3          49          6           10           195       8,285         404        981

Montana .................       -       ( 2 )          -        ( 2 )             -       ( 2 )           -      ( 2 )
Nebraska ................       6           6          3            4           646         991         200        811
Nevada ..................       7          13          5           12           471       1,084         648        997
New Hampshire ...........       -           5          -            3             -         497           -        217
New Jersey ..............      11          37         20           19         1,630       3,325       1,786      1,867
New Mexico ..............   ( 2 )           5      ( 2 )        ( 2 )         ( 2 )         287       ( 2 )      ( 2 )
New York ................      31         107         42           40         2,950      12,136       6,164      3,213
North Carolina ..........      10          19         10            6           712       2,121       1,323        601
North Dakota ............   ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )        ( 2 )         ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )
Ohio ....................      16         115         26           24         1,352      25,306       2,881      4,353
Oklahoma ................   ( 2 )           7          -            3         ( 2 )       1,303           -        360
Oregon ..................       6          26      ( 2 )            3           370       2,399       ( 2 )        342
Pennsylvania ............      50         130         41           45         3,584      13,144       3,272      3,463

Rhode Island ............   ( 2 )           3          4        ( 2 )         ( 2 )         419         326      ( 2 )
South Carolina ..........       6          11          9           14           921       1,627         678      1,907
South Dakota ............       -           -          -            -             -           -           -          -
Tennessee ...............       9          11         10            7           644       1,029         844        688
Texas ...................      32          51         30           50         2,965       5,300       2,730      5,058
Utah ....................   ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )            -         ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )          -
Vermont .................       -       ( 2 )      ( 2 )            -             -       ( 2 )       ( 2 )          -
Virginia ................       5          20         11            6           826       2,589         918      1,086
Washington ..............       7          21         10           10           819       1,809         730        880
West Virginia ...........       -       ( 2 )      ( 2 )        ( 2 )             -       ( 2 )       ( 2 )      ( 2 )
Wisconsin ...............      15          79         19           30         1,144      12,508       1,771      3,332
Wyoming .................       -           -          -            -             -           -           -          -

Puerto Rico .............      30          12          8           20         4,059       1,270       1,210      2,245

    1  See footnote 1, table 3.
    2  Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
    p = preliminary.
    NOTE:  Dash represents zero.