Technical information:  (202) 691-6392     USDL 07-0112
               http://www.bls.gov/mls/
                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:                691-5902     Wednesday, January 24, 2007


         MASS LAYOFFS IN DECEMBER 2006 AND ANNUAL TOTALS FOR 2006
   
   In December, employers took 1,201 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 133,818,
on a seasonally adjusted basis.  The number of mass layoff events decreased
by 19 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims de-
creased by 2,522.  During December, 390 mass layoff events were reported
in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 53,828 ini-
tial claims.  Both the number of events and the number of initial claims
in manufacturing were lower in December than a month earlier.  (See table 1.)

   The national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in December, seasonally
adjusted, unchanged from the prior month and down from 4.9 percent a year
earlier.  Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased
by 167,000 over the month and by 1.8 million over the year.
   
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
   
   The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial
claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 36 percent of the total
initial claims in December.  The industry with the highest number of
initial claims was highway, street, and bridge construction with 19,021,
followed by school and employee bus transportation with 14,747, and food
service contractors with 13,903.  Together, these three industries accounted 
for 19 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs during the month.  
(See table A.)
   
   The manufacturing sector accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff
events and 41 percent of all related initial claims filed in December; a
year earlier, manufacturing made up 30 percent of events and 38 percent of
initial claims.  In December 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants
was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (38,811, mostly in
motor vehicle manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (8,557), and
wood products manufacturing (6,359).  (See table 3.)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
   |          Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data         | 
   |                                                                   |
   |    Seasonally adjusted mass layoff data have been revised using   |
   | updated seasonal adjustment factors that incorporate 2006 data.   |
   | Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2002 were subject   |
   | to revision.  Revised seasonally adjusted data for January 2003   |
   | forward are shown in table 1.  The originally published and re-   |
   | vised figures for January 2002-December 2006 are available at     |
   | http://www.bls.gov/mls/home.htm, along with additional informa-   |
   | tion about the revisions.                                         |
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  - 2 -
   
Table A.  Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 
December 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |        |       December peak         
                   Industry               |Initial |--------------------------
                                          | claims |   Year  |  Initial claims
------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------
                                          |        |         |                
Highway, street, and bridge construction..| 19,021 |   2005  |       20,088   
School and employee bus transportation....| 14,747 |   2006  |       14,747   
Food service contractors..................| 13,903 |   2006  |       13,903   
Temporary help services...................| 12,647 |   2005  |       16,656   
Heavy duty truck manufacturing............|  7,443 |   2006  |        7,443   
Light truck and utility vehicle           |        |         |                
   manufacturing..........................|  6,888 |   2000  |        7,338   
Motion picture and video production.......|  6,541 |   1998  |       16,192   
Motor home manufacturing..................|  4,257 |   2006  |        4,257   
Automobile manufacturing..................|  4,123 |   2005  |        9,021   
Discount department stores................|  3,255 |   2006  |        3,255   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
   Construction accounted for 19 percent of mass layoff events and 14
percent of initial claims in December, mostly from heavy and civil engi-
neering construction.  Administrative and waste services comprised 11
percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims filed over the month,
with the majority of layoffs in temporary help services.  Accommodation 
and food services made up 8 percent of events and associated initial 
claims, mainly from food service contractors.  Seven percent of all mass 
layoff events and 8 percent of related initial claims filed were from 
transportation and warehousing, primarily from the school and employee 
bus transportation industry.  Government establishments accounted for 3 
percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed, largely from 
educational services.
   
   On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in
December, at 2,249, was down by 74 from a year earlier, and the number of
associated initial claims increased by 245 to 254,503.  (See table 2.)  
The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in
transportation equipment manufacturing (+4,303), machinery manufacturing
(+2,585), and electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing (+1,985).
For transportation equipment manufacturing, states with the largest over-
the-year increases in initial claims were Kentucky (+3,826), Iowa (+2,561),
Minnesota (+2,423), Virginia (+2,109), and Ohio (+2,065).  The largest over-
the-year decreases in mass layoff initial claims were reported in administra-
tive and support services (-5,409), food manufacturing (-2,124), and heavy 
and civil engineering construction (-1,709).
   
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
   
   Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in
December due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 109,495.  Transportation
equipment manufacturing and heavy and civil engineering construction to-
gether accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that
region during the month.  The South had the second largest number of initial 
claims among the regions, 54,023, followed by the West, 50,247, and the North-
east 40,738.  (See table 5.)
   
   The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs decreased over the year
in three of the four regions--the West (-3,149), the Midwest (-2,167), and
the Northeast (-2,159).  The South experienced the only regional increase
(+7,720).  Five geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the
numbers of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest
decrease in the East North Central division (-7,215), followed by the
Pacific division (-2,989).  Of the four divisions with over-the-year in-
creases, the largest were in the East South Central (+7,523) and West
North Central (+5,048).
   
   Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial
claims filed due to mass layoff events in December (34,848), followed by
Michigan (22,842), Illinois (17,195), Kentucky (15,975), and Ohio (15,848).
These five states accounted for 40 percent of all mass layoff events and 42
percent of all associated initial claims for unemployment insurance.  (See
table 6.)
   
   Kentucky had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial
claims (+6,109), mostly due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufac-
turing.  States having the next largest increases in initial claims were Iowa 
(+2,981), Maryland (+2,825), New York (+2,824), and Ohio (+2,789).  The largest 
over-the-year decreases in claims occurred in Michigan (-7,614), Georgia (-4,553), 
and California (-4,078).

                                  - 3 -

Table B.  Number of mass layoff events and initial
claimants for unemployment insurance, 1996-2006
--------------------------------------------------------
            |                 |                         
     Year   |  Layoff events  |  Initial claimants for  
            |                 | unemployment insurance  
--------------------------------------------------------
            |                 |                         
1996........|      14,111     |         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       
2006........|      13,998     |         1,484,391       
--------------------------------------------------------

   
Review of 2006
   
   During 2006, 13,998 mass layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting
in 1,484,391 initial claims filings for unemployment insurance.  In 2005,
there were 16,466 events and 1,795,341 initial claimants.  The total number
of initial claims for 2006 was the lowest reported for any January-December
period since 1996.  (See table B.)
      
   The 10 industries with the highest number of mass layoff initial claims
accounted for 31 percent of the total in 2006.  (See table C.)  Temporary
help services and school and employee bus transportation ranked 1 and 2
among these 10 industries in both 2006 and 2005.  Heavy duty truck manufac-
turing and discount department stores entered the top 10 industries in terms 
of initial claims.  These industries replaced motor vehicle seating and trim 
manufacturing and elementary and secondary schools.
   
   Manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of all mass layoff events and 39
percent of initial claims filed during 2006.  A year earlier, manufacturing
accounted for 29 percent of events and 37 percent of initial claims.  Initial 
claim filings were most numerous in transportation equipment (221,383) fol-
lowed by food manufacturing (62,927) and machinery manufacturing, (40,069).  
During 2006, the largest declines in initial claims occurred in transporta-
tion equipment manufacturing (-32,351) and food manufacturing (-13,999).  
The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims occurred in machinery 
manufacturing (+6,356).
   
   The number of initial claims filed in 2006 due to mass layoffs was
higher in the Midwest (508,798) than in any other region.  Layoffs in
transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of the
claims in the Midwest.  Administrative and support services, machinery
manufacturing, and heavy and civil engineering construction accounted 
for an additional 16 percent of layoffs in that region in 2006.  The 
fewest number of mass layoff initial claims was reported in the North-
east region (254,684).  In 2006, mass layoff initial claims decreased 
in all four of the regions.  The largest declines were in the South 
(-172,613) and Midwest (-63,152).  In 2005, the South experienced a 
substantial increase of initial claimants in Louisiana and Mississippi 
as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
   
   Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California recorded
the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in 2006
(317,907), 21 percent of the national total.  The states with the next
highest numbers of initial claims were Michigan (127,964), Pennsylvania
(89,559), Ohio (80,291), and New York (76,638).  Fifty percent of events
and 47 percent of all initial claims were from these five states.
   
   Louisiana reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims
(-107,685), followed by California (-42,231) and Ohio (-32,874).  The
largest over-the-year increases were reported in Maryland (+6,773) and
Kentucky (+6,168).

                                  - 4 -

Table C.  Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              |       2006     |       2005       
                  Industry                    |-----------------------------------
                                              | Initial |      | Initial |        
                                              |  claims | Rank |  claims | Rank   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              |         |      |         |        
Temporary help services.......................|  93,740 |   1  | 111,110 |   1    
School and employee bus transportation........|  74,116 |   2  |  73,797 |   2    
Automobile manufacturing......................|  59,711 |   3  |  54,800 |   3    
Food service contractors......................|  52,428 |   4  |  49,942 |   5    
Motion picture and video production...........|  50,553 |   5  |  54,769 |   4    
Highway, street, and bridge construction......|  36,264 |   6  |  45,581 |   6    
Professional employer organizations...........|  25,291 |   7  |  30,882 |   9    
Heavy duty truck manufacturing................|  25,280 |   8  |  18,142 |  16    
Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing.|  24,181 |   9  |  34,378 |   8    
Discount department stores....................|  22,372 |  10  |  20,896 |  12    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
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 2006 is
scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 13.  The report on Mass
Layoffs in January 2007 is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 23.
   




                                  - 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, January 2003 to 
December 2006,seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing  

             Date                                                                              
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial 
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants     Events  claimants

            2003                                                                               

January.....................     1,347     133,398     1,166     119,292       382      45,042
February....................     1,848     192,197     1,664     178,963       650      81,370
March.......................     1,787     174,936     1,592     159,242       610      73,015
April.......................     1,707     172,348     1,557     162,117       634      82,756
May.........................     1,731     184,479     1,550     170,984       635      87,049
June........................     1,733     164,442     1,523     147,609       638      68,976
July........................     1,649     164,146     1,443     148,650       567      72,023
August......................     1,498     169,799     1,362     156,687       546      74,509
September...................     1,562     147,054     1,370     132,262       479      57,332
October.....................     1,536     158,137     1,328     140,298       420      52,105
November....................     1,366     138,079     1,223     126,597       377      49,716
December....................     1,412     139,423     1,243     127,356       445      50,923

            2004                                                                              

January.....................     1,428     146,692     1,232     128,191       394      45,544
February....................     1,320     134,626     1,170     122,329       367      40,849
March.......................     1,372     139,716     1,237     130,737       401      59,987
April.......................     1,374     140,190     1,202     124,962       349      38,197
May.........................     1,209     113,091     1,047      99,615       330      38,965
June........................     1,403     141,048     1,231     128,137       366      47,015
July........................     1,330     137,484     1,180     126,106       372      51,424
August......................     1,394     127,671     1,224     113,376       345      36,963
September...................     1,277     125,351     1,154     115,343       338      46,955
October.....................     1,288     132,250     1,172     122,831       362      47,571
November....................     1,314     130,558     1,171     118,904       378      46,276
December....................     1,170     114,641     1,013     103,434       301      33,022

            2005                                                                              

January.....................     1,489     160,986     1,353     150,640       383      56,133
February....................     1,172     123,377     1,045     112,752       358      45,794
March.......................     1,219     132,035     1,079     122,013       377      55,061
April.......................     1,263     137,381     1,132     126,747       398      60,826
May.........................     1,226     133,221     1,085     120,899       382      54,886
June........................     1,194     126,834     1,074     117,712       359      57,018
July........................     1,248     131,500     1,101     118,800       353      47,136
August......................     1,109     123,125       986     111,879       338      46,915
September...................     2,217     292,177     1,998     246,227       419      56,289
October.....................     1,098     108,665       977      99,402       321      44,666
November....................     1,167     115,803     1,036     104,576       330      43,307
December....................     1,253     135,721     1,125     124,632       372      48,592

            2006                                                                              

January.....................     1,112     109,429       984      99,277       282      29,911
February....................     1,065     112,742       973     105,055       329      46,548
March.......................     1,105     120,954     1,003     112,730       335      50,149
April.......................     1,175     121,376     1,041     111,369       365      48,038
May.........................     1,098     113,195       982     103,839       297      42,993
June........................     1,130     123,558     1,007     113,037       331      40,500
July........................     1,160     118,843     1,038     109,509       372      49,069
August .....................     1,218     131,105     1,083     120,923       367      58,983
September...................     1,158     120,795     1,043     111,876       392      46,802
October.....................     1,186     119,914     1,069     111,036       401      55,795
November....................     1,220     136,340     1,111     127,286       411      60,599
December....................     1,201     133,818     1,099     124,526       390      53,828

   NOTE:  Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.





Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2003 to 
December 2006, not seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm        Manufacturing   

             Date                                                                              
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial 
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants    Events   claimants

            2003                                                                              

January.....................     2,315     225,430     2,130     210,918       822      90,244
February....................     1,363     124,965     1,222     116,264       435      48,161
March.......................     1,207     113,026     1,099     104,468       390      41,063
April.......................     1,581     161,412     1,470     152,937       499      62,349
May.........................     1,703     174,204     1,538     160,729       499      61,278
June........................     1,691     157,552     1,336     127,743       389      40,845
July........................     2,087     226,435     1,815     206,901       946     136,410
August......................     1,258     133,839     1,163     124,131       405      52,620
September...................       868      82,647       756      73,914       271      31,428
October.....................     1,523     158,240     1,265     137,706       438      53,741
November....................     1,438     138,543     1,234     123,524       408      48,419
December....................     1,929     192,633     1,793     182,750       648      77,915

            2004                                                                              

January.....................     2,428     239,454     2,226     220,687       848      89,551
February....................       941      84,201       832      76,577       240      23,043
March.......................       920      92,554       847      87,782       258      34,686
April.......................     1,458     157,314     1,316     142,657       343      36,172
May.........................       988      87,501       878      78,786       219      22,141
June........................     1,379     134,588     1,077     110,804       222      27,307
July........................     2,094     253,929     1,860     234,877       885     145,895
August .....................       809      69,033       745      63,876       194      17,698
September...................       708      68,972       637      63,102       189      25,808
October.....................     1,242     127,918     1,101     117,375       372      48,265
November....................     1,399     130,423     1,201     115,549       412      44,243
December....................     1,614     161,271     1,487     152,092       436      50,726

            2005                                                                              

January.....................     2,564     263,952     2,421     253,409       823     108,985
February ...................       810      74,644       722      68,372       230      24,931
March.......................       806      88,937       733      83,793       246      33,030
April.......................     1,373     158,582     1,263     148,133       395      59,129
May.........................       986     101,358       891      93,332       249      30,424
June........................     1,157     120,463       941     103,307       216      32,783
July........................     1,981     244,216     1,745     222,377       856     136,210
August......................       645      67,582       598      63,484       188      22,531
September...................     1,662     213,281     1,505     179,042       318      47,497
October.....................       905      91,941       757      80,694       249      37,276
November....................     1,254     116,127     1,079     102,182       363      41,442
December....................     2,323     254,258     2,168     242,753       706      96,382

            2006                                                                              

January.....................     1,245     117,946     1,123     108,701       331      35,097
February....................       719      66,555       658      62,208       210      24,892
March.......................       921     111,838       856     106,177       285      44,688
April.......................     1,140     121,589     1,038     112,964       296      39,538
May.........................       872      84,809       794      78,663       192      23,570
June........................     1,489     164,761     1,224     140,687       319      41,095
July........................     1,511     166,857     1,335     154,342       648      96,152
August......................       708      72,844       656      69,054       203      28,494
September...................       865      87,699       785      81,274       296      39,076
October.....................       964      98,804       820      88,133       311      46,737
November....................     1,315     136,186     1,172     125,009       455      58,473
December....................     2,249     254,503     2,126     244,783       735     105,462





Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                                     Initial claimants for        
                                                             Mass layoff events                     unemployment insurance        
                    Industry                                                                                                      

                                                    December   October  November December    December   October  November December
                                                      2005       2006     2006     2006        2005       2006     2006     2006  

               Seasonally adjusted                                                                                               

      Total......................................     1,253      1,186    1,220    1,201     135,721    119,914  136,340  133,818

Total, private nonfarm...........................     1,125      1,069    1,111    1,099     124,632    111,036  127,286  124,526
    Manufacturing................................       372        401      411      390      48,592     55,795   60,599   53,828

             Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                             

      Total (1)..................................     2,323        964    1,315    2,249     254,258     98,804  136,186  254,503

  Total, private.................................     2,237        913    1,273    2,176     246,748     93,939  132,337  248,383
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting...        69         93      101       50       3,995      5,806    7,328    3,600

  Total, private nonfarm.........................     2,168        820    1,172    2,126     242,753     88,133  125,009  244,783
    Mining.......................................        33        (2)        7       28       2,802       (2)       648    3,048
    Utilities....................................       (2)         -        3        3         (2)         -        161      154
    Construction.................................       478        100      212      423      40,395      6,445   17,364   36,426
    Manufacturing................................       706        311      455      735      96,382     46,737   58,473  105,462
        Food.....................................        88         56       59       80      10,681      5,246    7,222    8,557
        Beverage and tobacco products............        11          9        8        6         800        711      502      468
        Textile mills............................        23         11       14       18       3,823      1,388    2,247    2,480
        Textile product mills....................         7        (2)        9        9         743       (2)     1,325      758
        Apparel..................................        19          9        6       21       2,297        667      820    2,323
        Leather and allied products..............         9        (2)      (2)        5       1,032       (2)      (2)       493
        Wood products............................        54         35       53       59       5,319      3,548    5,044    6,359
        Paper....................................         8          6        9       13         943        456      854    1,415
        Printing and related support activities..        16          5      (2)       12       1,870        315     (2)     1,178
        Petroleum and coal products..............        14        (2)        8       14       1,478       (2)       635    1,396

        Chemicals................................        10          4        6        7         862        332      489      608
        Plastics and rubber products.............        60         13       24       48       5,605      1,295    2,716    5,674
        Nonmetallic mineral products.............        58         11       17       56       5,756        787    1,991    5,824
        Primary metals...........................        40         15       28       38       4,265      1,349    3,154    4,714
        Fabricated metal products................        38         16       35       57       3,815      1,395    3,710    5,346
        Machinery................................        31         24       34       38       3,091      5,167    6,563    5,676
        Computer and electronic products.........        16          8       21       24       1,290        631    1,711    2,085
        Electrical equipment and appliances......        18          9       11       25       3,716      1,879    2,588    5,701
        Transportation equipment.................       144         55       79      159      34,508     19,224   13,352   38,811
        Furniture and related products...........        27         11       21       34       2,769      1,040    2,075    4,510
        Miscellaneous manufacturing..............        15          6        9       12       1,719        629    1,145    1,086

    Wholesale trade..............................        37         13       17       26       3,214        829    1,328    2,119
    Retail trade.................................       113         75       54      109      10,856      6,557    4,681   13,055
    Transportation and warehousing...............       161         31       48      165      19,173      3,053    3,583   19,172
    Information..................................        36         23       20       33       6,572      2,516    6,096    7,949
    Finance and insurance........................        20         26       23       34       1,284      2,123    1,376    2,687
    Real estate and rental and leasing...........         9          3        5        8       1,203        416      270      442
    Professional and technical services..........        64         17       27       50       6,663      1,325    3,137    5,572
    Management of companies and enterprises......       (2)        (2)        5        3        (2)        (2)       387      130
    Administrative and waste services............       259        140      158      258      27,527     12,596   12,907   22,076
    Educational services.........................         5        (2)        3        4         353       (2)       200      288
    Health care and social assistance............        35          9       21       31       2,731        546    1,696    2,450
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation..........        26         22       27       26       1,869      1,475    2,266    1,760
    Accommodation and food services..............       158         40       81      175      19,293      2,583    9,883   20,735
    Other services, except public administration.        19          5        6       14       1,527        287      553    1,198
    Unclassified.................................         4         -        -         1         295         -        -        60

Government.......................................        86         51       42       73       7,510      4,865    3,849    6,120
    Federal......................................        18         16       10       12       1,568      1,721      970    1,215
    State........................................        16         17       12       16       1,750      1,489    1,057    1,517
    Local........................................        52         18       20       45       4,192      1,655    1,822    3,388

    1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.   
    NOTE:  Dash represents zero.  Seasonally adjusted data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
 
  
   
    
    
Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2004 to December 2006,
not seasonally adjusted

                                                                                   Private nonfarm                              

                                Total mass layoffs                              Extended mass layoffs                           
             Date                                        Mass layoffs         lasting more than 30 days     Realization rates (1)

                                          Initial               Initial                      Initial                    Initial 
                                Events   claimants    Events   claimants        Events      claimants       Events     claimants

           2004                                                                                                                

October..................         1,242    127,918     1,101     117,375                                                       
November.................         1,399    130,423     1,201     115,549                                                       
December.................         1,614    161,271     1,487     152,092                                                       

Fourth Quarter...........         4,255    419,612     3,789     385,016         1,427       262,049          37.7         68.1

           2005                                                                                                                

January..................         2,564    263,952     2,421     253,409                                                       
February.................           810     74,644       722      68,372                                                       
March....................           806     88,937       733      83,793                                                       

First Quarter............         4,180    427,533     3,876     405,574         1,142       185,486          29.5         45.7

April....................         1,373    158,582     1,263     148,133                                                       
May......................           986    101,358       891      93,332                                                       
June.....................         1,157    120,463       941     103,307                                                       

Second Quarter...........         3,516    380,403     3,095     344,772         1,203       212,673          38.9         61.7

July.....................         1,981    244,216     1,745     222,377                                                       
August ..................           645     67,582       598      63,484                                                       
September................         1,662    213,281     1,505     179,042                                                       

Third Quarter............         4,288    525,079     3,848     464,903         1,136       190,186          29.5         40.9

October..................           905     91,941       757      80,694                                                       
November.................         1,254    116,127     1,079     102,182                                                       
December.................         2,323    254,258     2,168     242,753                                                       

Fourth Quarter...........         4,482    462,326     4,004     425,629         1,400       246,181          35.0         57.8

           2006                                                                                                                

January..................         1,245    117,946     1,123     108,701                                                       
February.................           719     66,555       658      62,208                                                       
March....................           921    111,838       856     106,177                                                       

First Quarter ...........         2,885    296,339     2,637     277,086           963       192,793          36.5         69.6

April....................         1,140    121,589     1,038     112,964                                                       
May......................           872     84,809       794      78,663                                                       
June.....................         1,489    164,761     1,224     140,687                                                       

Second Quarter ..........         3,501    371,159     3,056     332,314         1,353       263,787          44.3         79.4

July.....................         1,511    166,857     1,335     154,342                                                       
August...................           708     72,844       656      69,054                                                       
September................           865     87,699       785      81,274                                                       

Third Quarter............         3,084    327,400     2,776     304,670    (2)(p) 836 (2)(p)104,458       (p)30.1      (p)34.3

October..................           964     98,804       820      88,133                                                       
November.................         1,315    136,186     1,172     125,009                                                       
December.................         2,249    254,503     2,126     244,783                                                       

Fourth Quarter...........         4,528    489,493     4,118     457,925                                                       

    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                                                                                      

                                 December    October  November December     December    October November December
                                   2005        2006     2006     2006         2005        2006     2006     2006 

        United States (1) ..     2,323         964    1,315    2,249       254,258      98,804  136,186  254,503

Northeast...................       445         143      207      412        42,897      13,504   20,723   40,738

    New England.............        83          14       25       60         9,110         966    2,090    6,612
    Middle Atlantic.........       362         129      182      352        33,787      12,538   18,633   34,126

South.......................       371         183      227      416        46,303      23,687   27,536   54,023

    South Atlantic..........       180         111      113      202        23,506       9,228   12,800   22,765
    East South Central......       113          46       54      126        14,562      11,517    6,109   22,085
    West South Central......        78          26       60       88         8,235       2,942    8,627    9,173

Midwest.....................       942         223      429      898       111,662      28,833   49,067  109,495

    East North Central......       708         177      333      674        85,681      22,646   39,291   78,466
    West North Central......       234          46       96      224        25,981       6,187    9,776   31,029

West........................       565         415      452      523        53,396      32,780   38,860   50,247

    Mountain................        88          35       49       82         7,995       3,180    4,457    7,835
    Pacific.................       477         380      403      441        45,401      29,600   34,403   42,412

    1 See footnote 1, table 3.
    NOTE:  The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the census divisions are:  New England:
New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic:  
New Jersey, 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                                                                                                        
                            December    October    November     December     December    October     November   December
                              2005        2006       2006         2006         2005        2006        2006       2006  

   Total (1)..............  2,323         964      1,315        2,249       254,258      98,804     136,186    254,503

Alabama..................      24           5         12           30         2,119         467       1,512      3,438
Alaska...................     -             4          6         (2)            -           266         716       (2) 
Arizona..................       4           3       (2)             5           387         295        (2)         406
Arkansas.................       6          -           5            7           989         -         1,014        836
California...............     415         336        327          374        38,926      25,931      27,433     34,848
Colorado.................      16           6          9           15         1,536         517         691      1,483
Connecticut..............       9         (2)          3            4           897        (2)          318        452
Delaware.................     -            -         -            -             -           -           -          -  
District of Columbia.....    (2)           -         -           (2)           (2)          -           -         (2) 
Florida..................      61          56         35           57         5,288       3,289       2,207      4,697
Georgia..................      42          16         28           42         8,974       2,207       3,904      4,421
Hawaii...................       6           5       (2)          (2)            510         422        (2)        (2) 
Idaho....................      17           6         12           11         1,240         664         963      1,191

Illinois.................     144          39         55          149        16,869       5,508       5,849     17,195
Indiana..................      98          19         44           82        12,226       4,281       7,285     10,123
Iowa.....................      61          15         19           62         7,058       2,664       2,352     10,039
Kansas...................      18           3          7           23         1,779         176         822      2,626
Kentucky.................      62          24         24           64         9,866       9,645       3,341     15,975
Louisiana................      13           4         13            9           868         365       1,229        901
Maine....................       7         (2)          4            6           449        (2)          322        452
Maryland.................      -            6          9           28           -           574       1,236      2,825
Massachusetts............      29          10          9           22         3,229         707         665      2,256
Michigan.................     222          43         82          184        30,456       6,432      10,636     22,842
Minnesota................      64          10         39           52         6,016         880       3,360      7,545
Mississippi..............    (2)            3          8            6          (2)          202         443        569
Missouri.................      63          13         26           75         7,912         901       2,448      9,687

Montana..................       9           5          7            6           682         672         789        513
Nebraska.................      20           4        (2)            8         2,605         345        (2)         815
Nevada...................      24           4         15           26         2,315         274       1,704      2,076
New Hampshire............      12          -         (2)            8         1,386         -          (2)         793
New Jersey...............      96          15         47           91         8,631       1,043       7,197      7,948
New Mexico...............       7           6          5           10           766         465         258      1,180
New York.................      91          39         33          106         8,907       4,575       2,918     11,731
North Carolina...........      19           7         13           16         1,999         592       1,423      1,511
North Dakota.............       4         (2)          4          (2)           320        (2)          406       (2) 
Ohio.....................     133          35         48          137        13,059       2,890       4,998     15,848
Oklahoma.................       9           4          5           11           780         691         890      1,152
Oregon...................      32          19         32           41         3,830       1,818       2,668      4,862
Pennsylvania.............     175          75        102          155        16,249       6,920       8,518     14,447

Rhode Island.............      17          -         (2)           11         2,441         -          (2)       1,885
South Carolina...........      20          16         16           17         3,376       1,837       1,994      2,836
South Dakota............        4          -          -           (2)           291         -           -         (2) 
Tennessee................      25          14         10           26         2,408       1,203         813      2,103
Texas....................      50          18         37           61         5,598       1,886       5,494      6,284
Utah.....................      11         (2)         -             9         1,069        (2)          -          986
Vermont..................       9         (2)          6            9           708        (2)          582        774
Virginia.................      35           9         11           35         3,638         598       1,979      5,969
Washington...............      24          16         36           21         2,135       1,163       3,390      2,350
West Virginia............    (2)          (2)        (2)            4          (2)         (2)         (2)         318
Wisconsin................     111          41        104          122        13,071       3,535      10,523     12,458
Wyoming..................     -             3         -            -            -           179         -          -  

Puerto Rico..............      10           6          7           17         1,698         729         626      1,977

    1  See footnote 1, table 3.
    2  Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.  
    NOTE:  Dash represents zero.