Technical information:  (202) 691-6392      USDL 07-0562
               http://www.bls.gov/mls/

                                            For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                691-5902      Friday, April 20, 2007


                        MASS LAYOFFS IN MARCH 2007
   
   
   In March, employers took 1,276 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 re-
ported today.  Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single es-
tablishment; the number of workers involved totaled 130,687, on a season-
ally adjusted basis.  The number of mass layoff events decreased by 4 from
the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims fell by 13,290.
During March, 420 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sec-
tor, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 54,441 initial claims.  Compared with
the prior month, mass layoff events in manufacturing remained about the same
and initial claims decreased by 9,631.  (See table 1.) 
   
   The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in March, essentially un-
changed from 4.5 percent the prior month and down from 4.7 percent a year
earlier.  Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 180,000 over the
month and by 2.0 million over the year.
   
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
   
   The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass layoff initial
claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 36 percent of the total
initial claims in March.  The industry with the highest number of initial
claims was temporary help services with 9,217, followed by food service
contractors with 7,636, and automobile manufacturing with 5,746.  Together,
these three industries accounted for 18 percent of all initial claims due to
mass layoffs during the month.  (See table A.)
   
   The manufacturing sector accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff
events and 40 percent of all related initial claims filed in March; a year
earlier, manufacturing made up 31 percent of events and 40 percent of ini-
tial claims.  In March 2007, the number of manufacturing claimants was
highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (19,397, largely automo-
bile manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (6,087) and wood pro-
duct manufacturing (2,674).  (See table 3.)
   
   Administrative and waste services accounted for 13 percent of mass lay-
off events and 12 percent of initial claims in March, mostly from temporary
help services.  Retail trade comprised 9 percent of events and initial
claims filed over the month, with the majority of layoffs in general mer-
chandise stores.  Eight percent of all mass layoff events and 9 percent of
related initial claims filed were from accommodation and food services,
primarily from food service contractors.  Construction made up 10 percent
of events and 6 percent of associated initial claims, primarily from the
heavy and civil engineering industry.

                                  - 2 -

Table A.  Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in March 2007
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          |       |        March peak      
                 Industry                 |Initial|------------------------
                                          | claims|      |                 
                                          |       | Year |  Initial claims 
------------------------------------------|-------|------|-----------------
Temporary help services ..................| 9,217 | 2002 |      14,338     
Food service contractors .................| 7,636 | 2007 |       7,636     
Automobile manufacturing .................| 5,746 | 1996 |      15,411     
School and employee bus transportation ...| 4,305 | 2002 |       6,064     
Ship building and repairing ..............| 3,961 | 2007 |       3,961     
Motion picture and video production ......| 3,758 | 2005 |       7,192     
Discount department stores ...............| 3,670 | 2007 |       3,670     
Professional employer organizations ......| 2,716 | 2002 |       2,987     
Heavy duty truck manufacturing ...........|  (1)  | 1996 |       2,781     
Motor vehicle body manufacturing .........| 1,981 | 2007 |       1,981     
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

   1 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

   
   On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in
March at 1,082, was up by 161 from a year earlier, and the number of asso-
ciated initial claims increased by 12,136 to 123,974.  (See table 2.)  The
largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in trans-
portation equipment manufacturing (+4,439), general merchandise stores
(+2,312), and professional and technical services (+1,972).  The largest
over-the-year decreases in mass layoff initial claims were reported in pri-
mary metal manufacturing (-1,691) and food manufacturing (-1,432).

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

   Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in
March due to mass layoffs was in the West with 41,139.  The administrative
and support services, and motion picture and sound recording industries to-
gether accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that
region during the month.  The South had the second largest number of ini-
tial claims among the regions, 34,812, followed by the Midwest, 33,410,
and the Northeast, 14,613.  (See table 5.)
   
   The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year
in three of the four regions--the South (+13,811), the West (+3,838), and
the Northeast (+1,658).  The Midwest region experienced the only decrease
(-7,171).  Five geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the
number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest
increases in the East South Central (+10,418), the Pacific (+4,018), and
the Middle Atlantic (+1,857).  The division with the largest over-the-year
decrease was the East North Central (-5,618).
   
   Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial
claims filed due to mass layoff events in March (33,172), followed by
Illinois (8,754), Kentucky (6,623), Michigan (6,508), and Wisconsin
(5,585).  These five states accounted for 49 percent of all mass layoff
events and associated initial claims for unemployment insurance.  (See
table 6.)

                                  - 3 -

   Mississippi had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of
initial claims (+4,288).  States having the next largest increases in
initial claims were California (+3,645), Kentucky (+3,313), North Carolina
(+3,137), and Alabama (+2,713).  The largest over-the-year decreases in
claims occurred in Michigan (-2,887) and Ohio (-2,512).
   
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 First Quarter of 2007 is
scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 16.  The report on Mass Layoffs
in April 2007 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 23.


   
   
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
   |          Upcoming Changes to Extended Mass Layoff Data           |
   |                                                                  |
   |    As previously published in the Extended Mass Layoffs news re- |
   | lease issued on February 13, the collection and presentation of  |
   | data on economic reasons for extended mass layoffs will be im-   |
   | proved.  Clearer definitions and titles for many of the current  |
   | reasons will be introduced, and four new reasons will be added.  |
   | Moreover, seven higher-level categories--business demand, disas- |
   | ter/safety, financial, organizational, production, seasonal, and |
   | other/miscellaneous--will be used to aggregate and report the    |
   | detailed economic reasons for layoff.                            |
   |                                                                  |
   |    For additional information on the changes to the MLS reasons, |
   | including detailed definitions of each reason and a crosswalk of |
   | the old to the new reasons, please see http://www.bls.gov/mls/   |
   | home.htm or call (202) 691-6392.                                 |
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
   
   
   


                                  - 4 -

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, April 2003 to 
March 2007, seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm         Manufacturing   

             Date                                                                               
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial  
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants     Events  claimants 

            2003                                                                              

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

            2007                                                                              

January ....................     1,237     126,368     1,095     115,615       389      51,141
February ...................     1,280     143,977     1,166     135,252       419      64,072
March ......................     1,276     130,687     1,165     122,150       420      54,441





Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,  April 2003 to 
March 2007, not seasonally adjusted

                                       Total            Private nonfarm        Manufacturing  

             Date                                                                             
                                           Initial               Initial               Initial
                                 Events   claimants    Events   claimants    Events   claimants

            2003                                                                              

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

            2007                                                                              

January ....................     1,407     134,984     1,263     124,475       456      53,615
February ...................       935      86,696       861      82,097       273      36,170
March ......................     1,082     123,974     1,015     118,431       367      49,886





Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                                     Initial claimants for        
                                                             Mass layoff events                     unemployment insurance        
                    Industry                                                                                                      

                                                     March     January  February  March       March     January  February  March  
                                                      2006       2007     2007     2007        2006       2007     2007     2007  

               Seasonally adjusted                                                                                               

      Total .....................................     1,105      1,237    1,280    1,276     120,954    126,368  143,977  130,687

  Total, private nonfarm ........................     1,003      1,095    1,166    1,165     112,730    115,615  135,252  122,150
    Manufacturing ...............................       335        389      419      420      50,149     51,141   64,072   54,441

             Not seasonally adjusted                                                                                             

      Total (1)..................................       921      1,407      935    1,082     111,838    134,984   86,696  123,974

Total, private ..................................       897      1,344      913    1,046     109,302    129,715   85,170  120,544
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ..        41         81       52       31       3,125      5,240    3,073    2,113

  Total, private nonfarm ........................       856      1,263      861    1,015     106,177    124,475   82,097  118,431
    Mining ......................................      (2)          10     (2)      (2)         (2)         769     (2)      (2) 
    Utilities ...................................      (2)        (2)      (2)      (2)         (2)        (2)      (2)      (2) 
    Construction ................................       123        194      203      107       9,007     12,426   13,191    7,815
    Manufacturing ...............................       285        456      273      367      44,688     53,615   36,170   49,886
        Food ....................................        73         59       40       67       7,519      4,525    4,188    6,087
        Beverage and tobacco products ...........         7          6        4        7         776        456      280      778
        Textile mills ...........................         8         16        6       16         951      1,703      998    1,882
        Textile product mills ...................      (2)           9        4        4        (2)       1,132      383      350
        Apparel .................................        10         12        5       15       1,012      1,020      286    1,355
        Leather and allied products .............      (2)        (2)      (2)        -         (2)        (2)      (2)        - 
        Wood products ...........................        18         46       47       30       2,430      4,342    4,497    2,674
        Paper ...................................         7          7        7       10         668        572      397      779
        Printing and related support activities .         9         13        4        8         616      1,110      358      637
        Petroleum and coal products .............        -        (2)      (2)        -           -        (2)       (2)       - 

        Chemicals ...............................         5          9        4        5         436        771      348      310
        Plastics and rubber products ............        15         22        9       18       1,492      1,513      469    1,682
        Nonmetallic mineral products ............        12         28       24       16         837      2,059    1,624    1,483
        Primary metals ..........................        11         13       13       17       3,667      1,687    1,411    1,976
        Fabricated metal products ...............         9         32       14       14         894      2,581    1,315    1,567
        Machinery ...............................        20         24       17       11       2,024      2,309    2,946    2,013
        Computer and electronic products ........        11         15        9       26       1,296      1,351      667    2,562
        Electrical equipment and appliances .....        11          8        4       15       3,570        514      281    2,502
        Transportation equipment ................        42        104       43       68      14,958     22,315   14,510   19,397
        Furniture and related products ..........         5         23       15       16         436      2,948      994    1,571
        Miscellaneous manufacturing .............         7          6     (2)         4         712        454     (2)       281

    Wholesale trade .............................        11         22        5       17         688      1,603      278    1,828
    Retail trade ................................        65        112       71       93       7,315      9,587    5,869   11,407
    Transportation and warehousing ..............        47         88       40       55       6,326      9,275    4,254    5,896
    Information .................................        28         32       24       30       5,779      6,296    2,966    4,843
    Finance and insurance .......................        22         29       21       39       1,610      2,197    1,511    2,883
    Real estate and rental and leasing ..........         5          6        4        7         411        307      275      400
    Professional and technical services .........        22         28       25       29       2,467      3,088    2,403    4,391
    Management of companies and enterprises .....      (2)         (2)     (2)         5        (2)        (2)      (2)       324
    Administrative and waste services ...........       120        172      114      140      14,361     16,699    9,156   15,153
    Educational services ........................      (2)           5        4        4        (2)         647      322      192
    Health care and social assistance ...........        18         14       18       16       1,167        776    1,099    1,160
    Arts, entertainment, and recreation .........        14         26        5       10       1,187      1,897      289      680
    Accommodation and food services .............        79         56       42       86       9,792      4,124    3,555   10,895
    Other services, except public administration       (2)           8        5        6        (2)         772      310      364
    Unclassified  ...............................         7          2        1       -          556        104       71       - 

Government ......................................        24         63       22       36       2,536      5,269    1,526    3,430
    Federal .....................................         6         21        5        6         757      2,311      339      501
    State .......................................         7         15        6       11         844      1,272      482      820
    Local .......................................        11         27       11       19         935      1,686      705    2,109

   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.





Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2005 to March 2007,
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 


           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       246,188          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       193,102          36.5         69.7

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       264,494          44.3         79.6

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           929       160,813          33.5         52.8

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  (2)(p) 1,444 (2)(p) 217,742       (p)35.1      (p)47.5

           2007                                                                                                                

January .................         1,407    134,984     1,263     124,475                                                       
February ................           935     86,696       861      82,097                                                       
March ...................         1,082    123,974     1,015     118,431                                                       

First Quarter ...........         3,424    345,654     3,139     325,003                                                       

   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                                                                                       

                                  March      January  February  March        March      January  February  March  
                                   2006        2007     2007     2007         2006        2007     2007     2007  

        United States (1) ..       921       1,407      935    1,082       111,838     134,984   86,696  123,974

Northeast ..................       124         299      179      137        12,955      25,463   18,272   14,613

    New England ............        22          41       25       17         1,849       3,349    2,602    1,650
    Middle Atlantic ........       102         258      154      120        11,106      22,114   15,670   12,963

South ......................       176         283      168      238        21,001      29,870   17,850   34,812

    South Atlantic .........        95         163       84      115        11,298      14,996    9,938   13,072
    East South Central .....        39          71       42       77         4,819       9,489    4,336   15,237
    West South Central .....        42          49       42       46         4,884       5,385    3,576    6,503

Midwest ....................       259         373      239      283        40,581      38,412   26,603   33,410

    East North Central .....       199         295      198      225        32,836      31,681   23,364   27,218
    West North Central .....        60          78       41       58         7,745       6,731    3,239    6,192

West .......................       362         452      349      424        37,301      41,239   23,971   41,139

    Mountain ...............        34          46       25       41         3,380       3,508    1,833    3,200
    Pacific ................       328         406      324      383        33,921      37,731   22,138   37,939

   1 See footnote 1, table 3.
   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                                                                                                       
                             March      January    February      March         March      January     February    March
                              2006        2007       2007         2007          2006        2007        2007       2007

   Total (1) ............     921       1,407        935        1,082       111,838     134,984      86,696    123,974

Alabama .................       7          19         16           26           660       1,792       1,757      3,373
Alaska ..................       -        (2)          -           -             -          (2)          -          -  
Arizona .................       7           4        (2)            6           804         409        (2)         362
Arkansas ................       3        (2)         (2)         (2)            189        (2)         (2)        (2) 
California ..............     283         366        299          333        29,527      33,560      19,809     33,172
Colorado ................     (2)          11        (2)            4          (2)          818        (2)         458
Connecticut .............       6           8        (2)         (2)           390          819        (2)        (2) 
Delaware ................     (2)        (2)         (2)          -            (2)         (2)         (2)         -  
District of Columbia ....      -         (2)          -           -             -          (2)          -          -  
Florida .................      44          60         39           51         4,033       3,537       2,616      4,562
Georgia .................      20          48         15           14         1,880       4,802       1,831      1,635
Hawaii ..................       9           5          -            4           814         562          -         323
Idaho ...................       7          10         10            8           523         646         615        537

Illinois ................      44          48         44           54         7,478       5,524       4,684      8,754
Indiana .................      20          38         21           19         2,559       3,388       1,963      1,927
Iowa ....................       7          15         14           11         1,866       1,772       1,469      1,285
Kansas ..................       6          11        (2)            4           751         689        (2)         930
Kentucky ................      21          27         16           32         3,310       6,086       1,333      6,623
Louisiana ...............       8           7          8            5           520       1,891         492        446
Maine ...................     (2)           7        (2)            3          (2)          495        (2)         233
Maryland ................       5          11          8            6           497       1,000         747        462
Massachusetts ...........       4          16          7            4           253       1,235         442        268
Michigan ................      50          88         38           51         9,395       7,914       6,507      6,508
Minnesota ...............      10          15          9           15           882       1,474         615      1,231
Mississippi .............     (2)           3          4           10          (2)          236         254      4,428
Missouri ................      31          34         14           22         3,297       2,593         801      2,347

Montana .................     (2)           5        (2)            4          (2)          452        (2)         319
Nebraska ................       5        (2)          -             3           774        (2)          -          218
Nevada ..................       9           7          6           11         1,251         547         638        842
New Hampshire ...........     (2)        (2)         (2)            3          (2)         (2)         (2)         462
New Jersey ..............      15          38         27           35         1,817       2,737       2,558      3,529
New Mexico ..............       3        (2)           4            6           161        (2)         229         548
New York ................      36         113         20           40         3,566      10,678       2,184      4,636
North Carolina ..........       8          10          5           22           849       1,013         518      3,986
North Dakota ............     (2)        (2)         (2)         (2)           (2)         (2)         (2)        (2) 
Ohio ....................      32          61         41           43         6,956       8,883       4,175      4,444
Oklahoma ................       6           7         13            4           966         436       1,377      1,178
Oregon ..................      22          20         12           30         2,430       2,006       1,264      3,272
Pennsylvania ............      51         107        107           45         5,723       8,699      10,928      4,798

Rhode Island ............     (2)           7          7         (2)           (2)          489       1,249       (2) 
South Carolina ..........      10          14          7           10         1,359       1,466         641      1,210
South Dakota ............      -         (2)          -          (2)            -          (2)           -        (2) 
Tennessee ...............      10          22          6            9           709       1,375         992        813
Texas ...................      25          33         20           35         3,209       2,845       1,656      4,762
Utah ....................       4           7         -          (2)            274         494          -        (2) 
Vermont .................       8        (2)          4             4           848        (2)         240         465
Virginia ................       6          17          8           10           805       1,706       3,476      1,091
Washington ..............      14          14         13           16         1,150       1,528       1,065      1,172
West Virginia ...........     (2)           -        (2)         (2)           (2)          -          (2)        (2) 
Wisconsin ...............      53          60         54           58         6,448       5,972       6,035      5,585
Wyoming .................     (2)           -         -          (2)           (2)          -           -         (2) 

Puerto Rico .............      17          12          8           15         1,742       1,257         535      1,355

   1  See footnote 1, table 3.
   2  Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.  
   NOTE: Dash represents zero.