Technical information:  (202) 691-6392     USDL 02-550
               http://www.bls.gov/mls/

                                           For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                691-5902     Wednesday, September 25, 2002

                                     
                        MASS LAYOFFS IN AUGUST 2002

   
   Employers initiated 1,247 mass layoff actions in August 2002, as
measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics.  Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single esta-
blishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 128,080.  (See
table 1.)  A year earlier, in August 2001, there were 1,490 mass layoff
events involving 166,148 workers.  Mass layoff initial claims in August 
are usually among the lowest for the year.  Almost 9 percent of the initial
claims in August were from the temporary help services industry (11,059).
From January through August 2002, both the total number of events, at
13,090, and initial claims, at 1,445,228, were lower than January-August
2001 (13,148 and 1,574,128, respectively).
   
   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.  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") and provides 
more information on the industry classification and location of the esta-
blishment and on the demographics of the laid-off workers.  Because month-
ly 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 1.)  See the
Technical Note for more detailed definitions.

Industry Distribution
   
   Manufacturing industries accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff
events and 38 percent of all initial claims filed in August.  A year earlier, 
layoffs in this sector accounted for 40 percent of events and 48 percent of 
initial claims.  The number of initial claimants was highest in machinery man-
ufacturing (9,197, mostly in air conditioning, refrigeration, and forced air 
heating equipment), followed by transportation equipment (6,665, largely in 
aircraft manufacturing) and computer and electronic products (6,202, primar-
ily in semiconductors and related devices).  (See table 2.)
   
   Fourteen percent of all layoff events and initial claims filed during
the month were in administrative and waste services, mostly in temporary
help services.  (From January through August, 102,476 mass layoff initial
claims were filed from temporary help services.)  Nine percent of the
events and initial claims in August were from retail trade industries,
mainly in general merchandise stores.  Construction accounted for 8 percent
of events and 6 percent of initial claims, primarily among specialty trade
contractors.  The transportation and warehousing sector accounted for an
additional 5 percent of events and 6 percent of initial claims, largely in
school and employee bus transportation.
   
                                  - 2 -

   Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of events and initial
claims filed during the month, mostly in executive, legislative, and general 
government agencies.
   
   Compared with August 2001, the largest decreases in initial claims were
reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-9,491) and computer
and electronic product manufacturing (-9,386).  The largest over-the-year
increases in initial claims were reported in transit and ground passenger
transportation (+1,893) and general merchandise stores (+1,399).

Geographic Distribution
   
   Among the four regions, the highest number of initial claims in August
due to mass layoffs was in the West, 43,122.  (See table 3.)  Administrative 
and support services and professional and technical services accounted for 
34 percent of all initial claims in the West during the month.  The South fol-
lowed with 31,764 initial claims (mainly in administrative and support ser-
vices), then the Midwest, with 28,016 (largely in machinery manufacturing).  
The Northeast continued to report the lowest number of initial claims, with 
25,178 (mostly in transit and ground passenger transportation).
   
   The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs declined over the year
in three of the four geographic regions, with the largest decreases occur-
ring in the West (-19,704) and Midwest (-16,601).  Seven of the nine geograph-
ic divisions reported over-the-year declines in the number of initial claims 
associated with mass layoffs, with the largest declines in the Pacific 
(-18,754) and East North Central (-14,303).  The largest increase (+717) 
was reported in the New England division.
   
   California had the largest number of initial claims filed in mass
layoff events this August, 34,590, mostly in administrative and support
services and in professional and technical services, followed by Texas
(11,660) and New York (11,213).  These three states accounted for 48
percent of all layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for
unemployment insurance.  (See table 4.)  Thus far this year, 366,386 
mass layoff initial claims were filed in California, 25 percent of the 
national total.  The states with the next largest number of claims were 
Texas (87,953) and Pennsylvania (84,225).
   
   California reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial
claims (-15,753), followed by Michigan (-10,379).  The largest over-
the-year increase occurred in New York (+5,035).
   
                      ______________________________
   
   The report on Mass Layoffs in September 2002 will be issued on
Thursday, October 24, 2002.
   
                                  - 3 -

  --------------------------------------------------------------------
 |              Change in Industry Classification System              |
 |                                                                    |
 |   Beginning with the release of January 2002 mass layoff data      |
 | on February 28, 2002, the Mass Layoff Statistics program imple-    |
 | mented the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classifi-   |
 | cation System (NAICS) as the basis for the assignment and tabula-  |
 | tion of economic data by industry.  NAICS is the product of a co-  |
 | operative effort on the part of the statistical agencies of the    |
 | United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Due to differences in NAICS    |
 | and the previously used Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)   |
 | structures, data by industry for 2002 will not be comparable to    |
 | the SIC-based data for earlier years.  However, the monthly histor-|
 | ical industry series from April 1995 through December 2001 are a-  |
 | vailable on both SIC and NAICS bases.                              |
 |                                                                    |
 |   NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic |
 | units.  Units with similar production processes are classified in  |
 | the same industry.  NAICS focuses on how products and services are |
 | created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced. This ap- |
 | proach yields significantly different industry groupings than those|
 | produced by the SIC approach.                                      |
 |                                                                    |
 |   Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the  |
 | BLS Web page at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm or the Bureau of  |
 | the Census Web page at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.  |
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Note
 
 
 
 The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state program that
uses a standardized, automated approach to identifying, describing, and
tracking the effects of major job cutbacks, using data from each state's
unemployment insurance database.  Each month, states report on
establishments which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them
during a consecutive 5-week period.  These establishments then are
contacted by the state agency to determine whether these separations lasted
31 days or longer, and, if so, other information concerning the layoff is
collected.  States report on layoffs lasting more than 1 month on a
quarterly basis.
 
 A given month contains an aggregation of the weekly unemployment
insurance claims filings for the Sunday through Saturday weeks in that
month.  All weeks are included for the particular month, except if the
first day of the month falls on Saturday.  In this case, the week is
included in the prior month's tabulations.  This means that some months
will contain 4 weeks and others 5 weeks, and the number of weeks in a given
month may be different from year to year.  Therefore, analysis of over-the-
month and over-the-year change 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.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, July 2000 to August 2002
                            
                                                            Extended mass layoffs  
                                 Total mass layoffs       lasting more than 30 days        Realization rates(1)  
             Date           

                                           Initial                        Initial                      Initial 
                                 Events   claimants       Events         claimants         Events     claimants
                            
             2000           

July .......................     1,333     164,978
August .....................       751      97,215
September ..................       936     106,842

Third Quarter ..............     3,020     369,035         1,014          189,250           33.6         51.3

October ....................       874     103,755
November ...................     1,697     216,514
December ...................     2,677     326,743

Fourth Quarter .............     5,248     647,012         2,005          376,611           38.2         58.2

             2001           

January ....................     1,522     200,343
February ...................     1,501     172,908
March ......................     1,527     171,466

First Quarter ..............     4,550     544,717         1,765          340,210           38.8         62.5

April ......................     1,450     176,265
May ........................     1,434     159,365
June .......................     2,107     253,826

Second Quarter .............     4,991     589,456         2,072          401,168           41.5         68.1

July .......................     2,117     273,807
August .....................     1,490     166,148
September ..................     1,327     160,402

Third Quarter ..............     4,934     600,357         1,815          370,620           36.8         61.7

October ....................     1,831     215,483
November ...................     2,721     295,956
December ...................     2,440     268,893

Fourth Quarter .............     6,992     780,332         2,698          500,925           38.6         64.2

             2002           

January ....................     2,146     263,821
February ...................     1,383     138,984
March ......................     1,460     161,336

First Quarter ..............     4,989     564,141         1,749          313,686           35.1         55.6

April ......................     1,507     165,861
May ........................     1,726     180,007
June .......................     1,580     161,928

Second Quarter .............     4,813     507,796   (2)(p)1,754    (2)(p)256,338        (p)36.4      (p)50.5

July(p) ....................     2,041     245,211
August(p) ..................     1,247     128,080

    1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The
initial claimant realization rate is the percentage of total mass-layoff initial claimants associated with
layoffs lasting more than 30 days. 
    2 These quarterly numbers are provisional and will increase as more data on these layoffs become available.
Recent 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 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
                                                 
                                                                                                    Initial claimants for          
                                                             Mass layoff events                     unemployment insurance         
                     Industry                    

                                                     August   June     July     August      August     June       July       August 
                                                     2001r    2002     2002p    2002p       2001r      2002       2002p      2002p 


     Total(1) ...................................    1,490    1,580    2,041    1,247      166,148    161,928    245,211    128,080

Total, private ..................................    1,459    1,356    1,936    1,189      163,504    142,567    235,558    122,106

  Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ....       73       92      118       39        5,197      6,256      8,734      2,255
  Mining ........................................        8        8       12       10          682      1,210      1,450        701
  Utilities .....................................        3        3        4    ( 2 )          169        303        320      ( 2 )
  Construction ..................................       83       84       74       98        7,352      5,809      5,675      8,241
  Manufacturing .................................      603      336      908      427       79,515     42,117    135,313     48,733
      Food ......................................       49       49       60       47        5,082      5,851      6,102      5,150
      Beverage and tobacco products .............        7        6    ( 2 )        5          504        452      ( 2 )        405
      Textile mills .............................       27       10       33       12        3,166      1,118      4,795      1,177
      Textile product mills .....................        6        5       11    ( 2 )          359        663      2,336      ( 2 )
      Apparel ...................................       33       15       34       24        3,546      1,363      3,196      3,127
      Leather and allied products ...............        9    ( 2 )        6    ( 2 )          809      ( 2 )        378      ( 2 )
      Wood products .............................        9       18       28       11          803      2,359      2,893      1,198
      Paper .....................................       16        8       13        8        2,876      1,078      1,244        741
      Printing and related support activities ...       10       13       13        5          623      1,057      1,331        558
      Petroleum and coal products ...............        -    ( 2 )    ( 2 )        -            -      ( 2 )      ( 2 )          -

      Chemicals .................................       10        6       14    ( 2 )          825        606      1,451      ( 2 )
      Plastics and rubber products ..............       20       10       71       16        1,834        898     10,080      1,368
      Nonmetallic mineral products ..............        8        8       18       12        1,233        754      2,813      1,334
      Primary metals ............................       32       18       64       25        3,267      2,681      7,651      2,862
      Fabricated metal products .................       44       20       60       33        4,170      2,103      7,556      3,136
      Machinery .................................       71       27       76       50        9,001      4,543     12,778      9,197
      Computer and electronic products ..........      118       36       94       74       15,588      2,959     11,950      6,202
      Electrical equipment and appliances .......       36       25       31       23        5,264      5,281      5,036      3,082
      Transportation equipment ..................       64       34      234       50       16,156      5,594     47,583      6,665
      Furniture and related products ............       24       17       27       11        3,550      2,005      4,187        888
      Miscellaneous manufacturing ...............       10        7       17       13          859        527      1,699        931

  Wholesale trade ...............................       30       23       29       23        2,286      2,165      3,017      2,357
  Retail trade ..................................      113       83       93      111       11,613      7,257     10,412     11,322
  Transportation and warehousing ................       71      141       71       68        7,359     18,068      6,658      8,140
  Information ...................................       80       42       72       45        6,942      4,210     12,559      4,006
  Finance and insurance .........................       24       35       52       26        2,117      2,431      4,394      2,161
  Real estate and rental and leasing ............        7        7       11       11          559        602      1,066        647
  Professional and technical services ...........       46       36       74       47       11,618      8,902      6,818      6,455
  Management of companies and enterprises .......        5        3        3        -          361        621        323          -
  Administrative and waste services .............      192      165      233      179       17,168     14,236     24,762     18,192
  Educational services ..........................        7       18       15    ( 2 )          385      1,128      1,239      ( 2 )
  Health care and social assistance .............       20      117       54       27        1,574     10,987      3,652      1,738
  Arts, entertainment, and recreation ...........       14       29       23       17        1,482      1,983      1,599      1,422
  Accommodation and food services ...............       56       80       70       38        4,473      9,966      5,930      2,702
  Other services, except public administration ..       15       49       17       13        1,419      3,976      1,385      1,745

  Unclassified ..................................        9        5        3        3        1,233        340        252        737

Government ......................................       31      224      105       58        2,644     19,361      9,653      5,974
  Federal .......................................        5       13        6       15          480      1,791        781      2,056
  State .........................................       13       16       17       12        1,231      1,665      1,315      1,596
  Local .........................................       13      195       82       31          933     15,905      7,557      2,322

    1 For August 2002, data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
    p = preliminary.
    r = revised.
    NOTE: Beginning with data for January 2002, the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is
the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part
of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, data by
industry for 2002 will not be comparable to the SIC-based data for earlier years. However, the monthly historical industry series
from April 1995 to December 2001 are available on both SIC and NAICS bases. Dash represents zero. 
 
 
 
 

Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division
                            
                                                                                       Initial claimants for            
                                           Mass layoff events                          unemployment insurance           
  Census region and division

                               August      June       July       August      August       June        July        August 
                                2001       2002       2002p      2002p        2001        2002        2002p       2002p 

      United States(1) ..... (r)1,490      1,580      2,041      1,247    (r)166,148     161,928     245,211     128,080

Northeast ..................      224        258        315        195        24,891      30,153      35,012      25,178

  New England ..............       34         57         68         27         3,180       6,746       7,000       3,897
  Middle Atlantic ..........      190        201        247        168        21,711      23,407      28,012      21,281

South ......................   (r)318        380        485        308     (r)33,814      37,559      56,170      31,764

  South Atlantic ...........      149        197        202        159        14,245      17,657      22,290      13,884
  East South Central .......       52         67        137         30         5,444       7,935      16,850       3,574
  West South Central .......   (r)117        116        146        119     (r)14,125      11,967      17,030      14,306

Midwest ....................      315        311        574        251        44,617      36,493      89,068      28,016

  East North Central .......      245        238        468        186        35,511      27,739      66,354      21,208
  West North Central .......       70         73        106         65         9,106       8,754      22,714       6,808

West .......................      633        631        667        493        62,826      57,723      64,961      43,122

  Mountain .................       53         59         66         38         4,883       7,073       6,399       3,933
  Pacific ..................      580        572        601        455        57,943      50,650      58,562      39,189


    1 See footnote 1, table 2.
    p = preliminary.
    r = revised.
    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 4. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
                            
                                                                                          Initial claimants for            
                                            Mass layoff events                            unemployment insurance           
            State           

                               August       June        July        August      August       June        July        August 
                                2001        2002        2002p       2002p        2001        2002        2002p       2002p 

   Total(1) ................ (r)1,490       1,580       2,041       1,247    (r)166,148     161,928     245,211     128,080

Alabama ....................       10          24          56           5           678       3,415       7,290         691
Alaska .....................    ( 2 )           4           -       ( 2 )         ( 2 )         401           -       ( 2 )
Arizona ....................       10          23          28           7           655       2,576       2,528         485
Arkansas ...................        6           3          11       ( 2 )           854         210         999       ( 2 )
California .................      519         507         545         415        50,343      43,520      52,556      34,590
Colorado ...................        5           3          15           7           492         277       1,658         573
Connecticut ................        3          14           6           4           308       2,018         598         588
Delaware ...................    ( 2 )       ( 2 )           4           -         ( 2 )       ( 2 )         642           -
District of Columbia .......        -       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -             -       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -
Florida ....................       71         104          92          72         5,822       7,222       6,405       5,154
Georgia ....................       16          20           9          17         1,368       2,966         824       1,734
Hawaii .....................    ( 2 )       ( 2 )           3       ( 2 )         ( 2 )       ( 2 )         256       ( 2 )
Idaho ......................        8           7           7          10           804       1,571         864       1,708

Illinois ...................       56          58          62          51         6,441       6,074       9,521       6,185
Indiana ....................       24          27          72          23         3,291       4,628      11,367       2,954
Iowa .......................       15          13          25          10         1,373       1,615       6,494         939
Kansas .....................       11           4          15          11         1,104         439       3,701       1,378
Kentucky ...................       24          20          59          14         3,422       2,252       7,580       2,032
Louisiana ..................    (r)19          28          18          19      (r)3,105       2,757       1,294       1,513
Maine ......................        3           4       ( 2 )           -           211         225       ( 2 )           -
Maryland ...................    ( 2 )          10          11           8         ( 2 )       1,095       1,225         898
Massachusetts ..............       15          23          44          17         1,246       1,851       4,130       2,132
Michigan ...................       57          50         144          26        12,914       5,002      15,700       2,535
Minnesota ..................       11          19          16          11         1,421       2,900       1,702       1,243
Mississippi ................        3           6           5           3           182         405         583         176
Missouri ...................       27          26          42          28         4,474       2,665       9,917       2,884

Montana ....................    ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -         ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -
Nebraska ...................    ( 2 )           5           8           4         ( 2 )         429         900         287
Nevada .....................       23          15          11          11         1,958       1,933         991         891
New Hampshire ..............        7           5           5           3           840       1,229         696         618
New Jersey .................       30          57          44          33         3,108       9,137       5,367       3,371
New Mexico .................    ( 2 )           3       ( 2 )       ( 2 )         ( 2 )         168       ( 2 )       ( 2 )
New York ...................       53          40          88          86         6,178       3,072       9,715      11,213
North Carolina .............       22          18          23          27         1,732       1,771       2,244       3,104
North Dakota ...............        3           5           -       ( 2 )           430         644           -       ( 2 )
Ohio .......................       50          46          98          47         6,153       5,247      15,236       5,602
Oklahoma ...................        3           7          20           5           211         450       2,757       1,008
Oregon .....................       33          30          27          24         4,986       3,446       2,829       2,603
Pennsylvania ...............      107         104         115          49        12,425      11,198      12,930       6,697

Rhode Island ...............        5           8           9       ( 2 )           525       1,246       1,163       ( 2 )
South Carolina .............       26          19          35          19         3,583       1,848       6,590       1,238
South Dakota ...............    ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -           -         ( 2 )       ( 2 )           -           -
Tennessee ..................       15          17          17           8         1,162       1,863       1,397         675
Texas ......................       89          78          97          93         9,955       8,550      11,980      11,660
Utah .......................        4           6       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           242         422       ( 2 )       ( 2 )
Vermont ....................    ( 2 )           3           3       ( 2 )         ( 2 )         177         353       ( 2 )
Virginia ...................       10          20          24          15         1,372       2,193       3,974       1,693
Washington .................       25          29          26          14         2,337       3,163       2,921       1,856
West Virginia ..............        -       ( 2 )           3       ( 2 )             -       ( 2 )         308       ( 2 )
Wisconsin ..................       58          57          92          39         6,712       6,788      14,530       3,932
Wyoming ....................        -           -           -           -             -           -           -           -

Puerto Rico ................        9           9          11          10           862         998       2,251         772

    1 See footnote 1, table 2.
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
    p = preliminary. 
    r = revised.
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.