Internet address:  http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information: (202) 691-6392   USDL 01-53


                                        For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:               691-5902   Friday, March 2, 2001

                                     
                       MASS LAYOFFS IN JANUARY 2001

   In January 2001, there were 1,522 mass layoff actions by employers as
measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of
Labor Statistics.  Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single
establishment and the number of workers involved totaled 200,343.
(See table 1.)  The number of layoff events was the lowest for January since
the series began in April 1995, while the number of initial claims for
unemployment insurance was the lowest since January 1996.  These lower
levels were due, in part, to a calendar effect, since January in both 1996
and 2001 contained 4 weeks that ended in the month compared with 5 weeks in
each of the other four Januarys.
   
   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 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 1.)  See the Technical Note for
more detailed definitions.
   
Industry Distribution
   
   In January 2001, manufacturing industries accounted for 41 percent of
all mass layoff events and 53 percent of all initial claims filed.  A year
earlier, layoffs in manufacturing accounted for 44 percent of initial
claims.  Manufacturing industries with the highest number of initial
claimants were transportation equipment (41,715), primarily in motor
vehicles and car bodies, food and kindred products (8,620), primary metal
industries (8,620), and industrial machinery and equipment (7,961).
(See table 2.)
   
   Services accounted for 19 percent of events and 17 percent of initial
claims filed during the month.  Layoffs in services were highly concentrated
in business services (particularly help supply services).  This industry,
however, is more likely than most other industries to layoff workers for
fewer than 30 days.
   
   Retail trade accounted for 11 percent of all layoff events and 9 percent
of initial claimants during the month, mostly in general merchandise stores
(department stores).  Construction accounted for 9 percent of events and
5 percent of claims, largely in heavy construction, excluding buildings
(highway and street construction).  Transportation and public utilities
accounted for 6 percent of events and 4 percent of all initial claimants,
primarily in trucking and warehousing and in transportation by air.

                                  - 2 -

   Over the year, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported
in heavy construction (-8,412), business services (-6,378), and motion
pictures (-5,300).  The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims
was reported in transportation equipment (+22,792).                                  

Geographic Distribution
   
   In January, the number of initial claims due to mass layoffs was highest
in the Midwest (87,323), primarily in transportation equipment.  (See
table 3.)  Initial claimants from transportation equipment industries
accounted for 40 percent of all claimants in the Midwest.  The Northeast
region (21,994) continued to report the lowest number of mass layoff-related
initial claims.
   
   The Northeast reported the highest over-the-year decrease in initial
claims filings (-17,184), followed by the West (-11,434) and the South
(-7,931).  The Midwest was the only region to report an over-the-year
increase in initial claimants (+13,570).  Five of the nine geographic
divisions reported over-the-year declines in the number of initial
claimants generated in mass layoff actions.  These decreases were most
prevalent in the Middle Atlantic (mainly in heavy construction) and Pacific
divisions (primarily in business services and motion pictures).
   
   Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California reported
the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events (41,261),
mostly in business services, agricultural services, and motion pictures.
Other states with large numbers of mass-layoff initial claims were Ohio
(28,700) and Michigan (19,387).  These three states accounted for
37 percent of all layoff events and 45 percent of all initial claims for
unemployment insurance.  (See table 4.)
   
   From January 2000 to January 2001, 28 states reported over-the-year
declines in initial claims, led by California (-12,822).  Twenty states
and the District of Columbia reported over-the-year increases in initial
claims, with Ohio reporting the largest increase (+12,547).
   

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, January 1999 to January 2001

  
                                                           Extended mass layoffs 
                                                         lasting more than 30 days
             Date                                                                               
                                  Total mass layoffs                                    Event
                                                                                     realization
                                                                                       rate(1)
                                            Initial                    Initial          
                               Events      claimants       Events     claimants


              1999

 January ....................   2,421        226,995   
 February ...................   1,067         89,800   
 March ......................     880         91,890   		      

 First Quarter ..............   4,368        408,685        1,509       252,122           34.5     

 April ......................   1,270        136,885   
 May ........................   1,032        102,738   
 June .......................   1,140        130,951   		      

 Second Quarter .............   3,442        370,574        1,444       242,464           42.0     

 July .......................   1,741        221,334   
 August .....................     698         75,691   
 September ..................     717         75,288   		      

 Third Quarter ..............   3,156        372,313        1,097       189,973           34.8     

 October ....................   1,098        118,938   
 November ...................   1,336        139,508   
 December ...................   1,509        162,381   		      

 Fourth Quarter .............   3,943        420,827        1,625    (r)287,685           41.2     

              2000

 January ....................   1,934        223,322   
 February ...................   1,045        103,898   
 March ......................     986        106,748   		      

 First Quarter ..............   3,965        433,968        1,331    (r)220,997           33.6     

 April ......................     924        101,359   
 May ........................     984         92,193   
 June .......................   1,597        192,025   		      

 Second Quarter .............   3,505        385,577        1,272    (r)230,696           36.3     

 July .......................   1,333        164,978   
 August .....................     751         97,215   
 September ..................     936        106,842   		      

 Third Quarter ..............   3,020        369,035     (r)1,014    (r)187,865        (r)33.6

 October ....................     874        103,755   
 November ...................   1,697        216,514   
 December(p) ................   2,677        326,743   		      

 Fourth Quarter(p) ..........   5,248        647,012        1,905       271,126           36.3     

              2001

 January(p) .................   1,522        200,343 

    1 The event realization rate is the percentage of total mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days.
    p = preliminary.
    r = revised.  
Table 2. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                                     Initial claimants for
                                                                  Mass layoff events                 unemployment insurance
                           Industry

                                                       January  November  December  January   January  November  December   January
                                                         2000     2000     2000(p)  2001(p)     2000     2000     2000(p)   2001(p)

      Total(1) ......................................   1,934     1,697     2,677     1,522   223,322   216,514   326,743   200,343     

 Total, private .....................................   1,877     1,651     2,605     1,469   218,041   212,318   320,875   194,889     

   Agriculture ......................................      72       254       152        65     5,401    21,916    11,007     6,371     
   Nonagriculture ...................................   1,768     1,374     2,388     1,372   207,411   186,788   301,367   183,453     
     Manufacturing ..................................     737       607     1,056       628    97,271    92,805   164,578   106,977     
       Durable goods ................................     420       363       676       414    63,521    59,217   118,984    82,785     
         Lumber and wood products ...................      56        61        88        54     9,228     7,725     9,636     5,396     
         Furniture and fixtures .....................      37        20        43        30     4,536     2,576     5,735     3,193     
         Stone, clay, and glass products ............      39        26        56        30     3,378     2,559     7,397     2,585     
         Primary metal industries ...................      23        35        75        37     2,870     4,643    12,796     8,620     
         Fabricated metal products ..................      54        44        89        50     4,993     4,332     9,500     5,427     
         Industrial machinery and equipment .........      45        48        88        47     8,281     9,899    14,979     7,961     
         Electronic and other electrical equipment ..      53        32        65        49     7,804     7,218    15,035     5,955     
         Transportation equipment ...................      75        77       139        92    18,923    18,322    40,342    41,715     
         Instruments and related products ...........      17         8        10         6     1,272       769     1,080       494     
         Miscellaneous manufacturing industries .....      21        12        23        19     2,236     1,174     2,484     1,439     

       Nondurable goods .............................     317       244       380       214    33,750    33,588    45,594    24,192     
         Food and kindred products ..................      99        84        98        72    10,287     9,927    11,932     8,620     
         Tobacco products ...........................   ( 2 )         -         4     ( 2 )     ( 2 )         -       338     ( 2 )
         Textile mill products ......................      46        48        50        30     7,157     9,379     7,874     4,336     
         Apparel and other textile products .........      82        37        66        35     7,946     4,147     6,395     3,402     
         Paper and allied products ..................      19        16        27        15     1,814     2,243     2,876     1,445     
         Printing and publishing ....................      12         7        16        16       829       585     1,788     1,686     
         Chemicals and allied products ..............       7         6        14         5       752       420     1,201       384     
         Petroleum and coal products ................   ( 2 )         6        14     ( 2 )     ( 2 )       548     1,437     ( 2 )
         Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products .      33        31        81        37     3,066     5,182    10,498     4,036     
         Leather and leather products ...............      13         9        10     ( 2 )     1,315     1,157     1,255     ( 2 )

     Nonmanufacturing ...............................   1,031       767     1,332       744   110,140    93,983   136,789    76,476     
       Mining .......................................      25         9        26         8     2,034       984     2,379       496     
       Construction .................................     283       241       433       139    22,277    22,983    37,175    10,236     
       Transportation and public utilities ..........     128        45       152        91    11,037     4,811    17,514     8,761     
       Wholesale and retail trade ...................     204       139       247       190    24,006    15,743    26,324    20,828     
          Wholesale trade ...........................      41        32        48        28     5,775     2,649     4,796     2,622     
          Retail trade ..............................     163       107       199       162    18,231    13,094    21,528    18,206     
       Finance, insurance, and real estate ..........      26        18        26        21     2,193     1,562     2,177     2,464     
       Services .....................................     365       315       448       295    48,593    47,900    51,220    33,691     

   Not identified ...................................      37        23        65        32     5,229     3,614     8,501     5,065     

 Government .........................................      57        46        72        53     5,281     4,196     5,868     5,454     
   Federal ..........................................      17        15         6        27     1,752     1,275       583     3,182     
   State ............................................       8        20        20        11       633     2,002     1,705     1,030     
   Local ............................................      32        11        46        15     2,896       919     3,580     1,242     


   1 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.                       
   2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.                           
   p = preliminary.
   NOTE: Dash represents zero. 

Table 3. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division
                                                                                          
                                             Mass layoff events                              Initial claimants for
                                                                                             unemployment insurance
  Census region and division
                                 January    November  December   January         January      November    December      January
                                   2000       2000     2000(p)   2001(p)           2000         2000       2000(p)      2001(p)

         United States(1) .....   1,934      1,697      2,677      1,522         223,322      216,514      326,743      200,343     

 Northeast ....................     397        187        397        227          39,178       21,489       40,688       21,994     

     New England ..............      78         30         95         37           8,146        2,926       10,739        2,857     
     Middle Atlantic ..........     319        157        302        190          31,032       18,563       29,949       19,137     

 South ........................     369        329        487        323          43,938       44,026       56,297       36,007     

     South Atlantic ...........     185        154        246        154          25,391       24,888       29,409       15,870     
     East South Central .......      70         68        119         68           8,156        7,936       14,617        7,121     
     West South Central .......     114        107        122        101          10,391       11,202       12,271       13,016     

 Midwest ......................     601        464      1,079        468          73,753       65,286      157,486       87,323     

     East North Central .......     470        361        837        376          60,165       52,987      125,559       72,119     
     West North Central .......     131        103        242         92          13,588       12,299       31,927       15,204     

 West .........................     567        717        714        504          66,453       85,713       72,272       55,019     

     Mountain .................      75         66         94         72           6,378        7,552        9,093        6,527     
     Pacific ..................     492        651        620        432          60,075       78,161       63,179       48,492     


      1 See footnote 1, table 2.                                                                                       
      p = preliminary.                                                   
      NOTE:  The States (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the census divisions are: New England: Connecticut, 
Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania;                                                            
South Atlantic:  Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and 
West Virginia; East South Central:  Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, 
Oklahoma, and Texas; East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, 
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico,
Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.
Table 4. State distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance

                                                                                           Initial claimants for                
                                           Mass layoff events                              unemployment insurance
                                                                                           
              State       

                               January     November  December     January       January      November    December      January
                                 2000        2000     2000(p)     2001(p)         2000         2000       2000(p)      2001(p)

    Total(1) ................   1,934       1,697       2,677       1,522       223,322      216,514      326,743      200,343     

 Alabama ....................       9          13          17          15           929        2,039        2,086        1,370     
 Alaska .....................       3           6           7           5           212          399          619          340     
 Arizona ....................      11           3           6           7           743          274          408          569     
 Arkansas ...................      10          13          14          13           874        1,254        1,765        1,515     
 California .................     426         581         534         365        54,083       71,002       52,576       41,261     
 Colorado ...................       8           8          12          11           755          850          983        1,084     
 Connecticut ................      10           3           7           6         1,031          233          677          424     
 Delaware ...................       3           3       ( 2 )       ( 2 )         1,710        2,368        ( 2 )        ( 2 )
 District of Columbia .......       3           -           3           7           253            -          265          496     
 Florida ....................      42          34          66          49         3,193        2,240        4,956        3,147     
 Georgia ....................       9          19          29          15           871        2,187        2,965        1,200     
 Hawaii .....................      12           3       ( 2 )           6         1,086          285        ( 2 )          429     
 Idaho ......................      10          14          17          10           904        1,795        2,201          677     

 Illinois ...................      70          70         157          68        14,210       16,382       29,157       12,163     
 Indiana ....................      31          48          95          37         2,750        6,698       17,391        4,425     
 Iowa .......................      46          25          67          21         5,832        4,355        9,619        2,505     
 Kansas .....................      14          13          19          10           989        1,212        1,949        3,766     
 Kentucky ...................      23          24          68           9         2,725        3,711        9,418        1,101     
 Louisiana ..................      21          24          20          23         1,558        2,214        1,345        4,410     
 Maine ......................       5       ( 2 )          10           6           618        ( 2 )        1,168          434     
 Maryland ...................      17           6           9          10         1,156          724          709        1,085     
 Massachusetts ..............      36          16          41          21         3,789        1,284        3,887        1,723     
 Michigan ...................     128          90         301          69        13,643        9,558       43,436       19,387     
 Minnesota ..................      21          45          55          20         2,399        4,711        7,140        3,669     
 Mississippi ................      10          16          11          18         1,659        1,041        1,110        2,036     
 Missouri ...................      37          17          93          37         3,281        1,730       12,435        4,567     

 Montana ....................   ( 2 )           4           4           6          ( 2 )         455          585          484     
 Nebraska ...................      12       ( 2 )           4           3           988        ( 2 )          367          284     
 Nevada .....................      35          23          44          23         3,263        2,847        4,091        2,195     
 New Hampshire ..............       7       ( 2 )          10       ( 2 )           790        ( 2 )        1,445        ( 2 )
 New Jersey .................      73          31          51          35         7,270        4,912        5,250        4,544     
 New Mexico .................       7           -           5           4           441            -          292          397     
 New York ...................      37          22          41          21         3,570        2,287        3,980        2,198     
 North Carolina .............      14          15          25          21         2,818        1,987        2,893        3,982     
 North Dakota ...............   ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )         ( 2 )        ( 2 )        ( 2 )        ( 2 )
 Ohio .......................     118          53         142         132        16,153        6,756       18,623       28,700     
 Oklahoma ...................       7           9          13           8           536        2,155          937          833     
 Oregon .....................      39          30          42          44         3,816        3,293        5,545        5,354     
 Pennsylvania ...............     209         104         210         134        20,192       11,364       20,719       12,395     

 Rhode Island ...............      18           5          19        ( 2 )        1,728          518        2,522        ( 2 )
 South Carolina .............      38          46          51          28         5,526        9,339        8,404        3,327     
 South Dakota ...............       -           -           3           -             -            -          362            -
 Tennessee ..................      28          15          23          26         2,843        1,145        2,003        2,614     
 Texas ......................      76          61          75          57         7,423        5,579        8,224        6,258     
 Utah .......................       3          13           6          11           205        1,276          533        1,121     
 Vermont ....................   ( 2 )           3           8       ( 2 )         ( 2 )          281        1,040        ( 2 )
 Virginia ...................      55          29          59          20         9,568        5,889        8,561        2,210     
 Washington .................      12          31          36          12           878        3,182        4,379        1,108     
 West Virginia ..............       4       ( 2 )       ( 2 )       ( 2 )           296        ( 2 )        ( 2 )        ( 2 )
 Wisconsin ..................     123         100         142          70        13,409       13,593       16,952        7,444     
 Wyoming ....................       -       ( 2 )           -           -             -        ( 2 )            -            -

 Puerto Rico ................      14           7          18          17         1,055          537        2,413        1,475     


    1 See footnote 1, table 2.                                              
    2 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.  
    p = preliminary.
    NOTE: Dash represents zero.