USDL-10-0098
For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact:
(202) 691-5902 • [email protected]
MASS LAYOFFS – DECEMBER 2009
ANNUAL TOTALS – 2009
Employers took 1,726 mass layoff actions in December that resulted in the separation of 153,127
workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during
the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons
from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in December decreased by 87 from the prior
month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 10,696. Both figures reached their lowest level since July 2008. In December, 433 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,072 initial claims. Both figures decreased over the month to their
lowest levels since November and August 2007, respectively. (See table 1.)
Chart 1. Mass layoff events, seasonally adjusted,
January 2005-December 2009
Events
3,500
Chart 2. Mass layoff initial claims, seasonally adjusted,
January 2005-December 2009
Claims
350,000
3,000
300,000
2,500
250,000
2,000
200,000
150,000
1,500
100,000
1,000
500
0
Total
Total
Private nonfarm
Private nonfarm
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
50,000
0
Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data
Seasonally adjusted mass layoff data have been revised using updated seasonal adjustment
factors that incorporate 2009 data. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2005 were
subject to revision. Revised seasonally adjusted data from January 2006 forward are shown in
table 1. The originally published and revised figures for January 2006-November 2009 are
available at www.bls.gov/mls/mlssarevision.htm, along with additional information about the
revisions.
Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in December 2009,
not seasonally adjusted
Industry
Initial claims
Food service contractors ...................................
Highway, street, and bridge construction ............
School and employee bus transportation .............
1
Temporary help services ..................................
Motion picture and video production ..................
1
Professional employer organizations .................
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ..............
Commercial building construction .......................
Discount department stores ................................
Ready-mix concrete manufacturing .....................
14,565
13,893
13,206
10,339
4,439
3,630
3,460
3,120
2,720
2,683
1
December peak
Year
Initial claims
2009
2005
2006
2005
1998
2008
2008
2009
2006
2005
14,565
20,088
14,747
16,656
16,192
6,101
3,528
3,120
3,255
3,232
See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
During the 25 months from December 2007 through December 2009, the total number of mass layoff
events (seasonally adjusted) was 51,978, and the associated number of initial claims was 5,242,840.
(December 2007 was the start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic
Research.)
In 2009, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total numbers of mass layoff events, at 28,030, and
initial claims, at 2,796,456, reached their highest annual levels on record. (Annual data began in 1996.
See table B.) Among the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy, 12 registered annual program
highs for both mass layoff events and initial claims. All 4 regions, all 9 divisions, and 43 states and the
District of Columbia experienced increases in total annual initial claims from 2008 to 2009. In addition,
3 of the 4 regions, 6 of the 9 divisions, and 26 states recorded program highs in terms of initial claims
activity in 2009.
The national unemployment rate was 10.0 percent in December 2009, seasonally adjusted, unchanged
from the prior month but up from 7.4 percent a year earlier. In December, nonfarm payroll employment
decreased by 85,000 over the month and by 4,164,000 from a year earlier.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in December was 2,310 on a not seasonally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 214,648. Over the year, the number of mass layoff events decreased
by 1,067, and associated initial claims decreased by 136,657. (See table 2.) Thirteen of the 19 major
industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in initial claimants, led by
manufacturing (-107,989). (See table 3.) Three sectors reported December program highs in terms of
average weekly initial claimants: retail trade; educational services; and accommodation and food services. (Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. See the Technical
Note.)
-2-
Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants for
unemployment insurance, 1996-2009, not seasonally adjusted
Initial claimants for
Year
Layoff events
unemployment insurance
1996 ........................
1997 ........................
1998 ........................
1999 ........................
14,111
14,960
15,904
14,909
1,437,628
1,542,543
1,771,069
1,572,399
2000 ........................
2001 ........................
2002 ........................
2003 ........................
2004 ........................
2005 ........................
2006 ........................
2007 ........................
2008 ........................
2009 ........................
15,738
21,467
20,277
18,963
15,980
16,466
13,998
15,493
21,137
28,030
1,835,592
2,514,862
2,245,051
1,888,926
1,607,158
1,795,341
1,484,391
1,598,875
2,130,220
2,796,456
The manufacturing sector accounted for 27 percent of all mass layoff events and 30 percent of initial
claims filed in December 2009. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 41 percent of events and 49
percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in December was greatest in
transportation equipment, machinery, and food. All 21 North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in initial claims, led by transportation equipment (-50,799) and plastics and rubber products (-10,728). (See table 3.)
The six-digit NAICS industry with the largest number of initial claims in December 2009 was food
service contractors. Of the 10 six-digit industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims,
food service contractors and commercial building construction reached program highs for the month of
December. (See table A.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the four census regions, the Midwest registered the highest number of initial claims in December
due to mass layoffs, followed by the South and the West. Initial claims decreased over the year in all of
the regions, with the Midwest (-69,329) and the South (-46,059) experiencing the largest decreases. Of
the nine geographic divisions, the East North Central had the highest number of initial claims due to
mass layoffs in December, followed by the Pacific and Middle Atlantic. All 9 divisions experienced
over-the-year decreases in initial claims, led by the East North Central (-56,114). (See table 5.)
California recorded the highest number of initial claims in December, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia experienced over-theyear decreases in initial claims, led by Ohio (-18,948) and Kentucky (-16,557). (See table 6.) In 2009,
-3-
Table C. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 2009,
not seasonally adjusted
2009
2008
Industry
Initial claims Rank
Initial claims Rank
1
Temporary help services ......................................
School and employee bus transportation .................
Food service contractors ........................................
1
Professional employer organizations .....................
Elementary and secondary schools ..........................
Construction machinery manufacturing ....................
Motion picture and video production ......................
Automobile manufacturing ......................................
Light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing .............
Highway, street, and bridge construction .................
1
151,957
92,324
68,888
65,280
62,774
55,334
53,275
46,306
40,422
40,186
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
134,699
79,083
54,677
54,016
28,996
4,496
45,394
51,804
38,450
39,467
1
2
3
4
10
102
6
5
8
7
See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
three states reached December program highs for average weekly initial claims: Florida, New York, and
Utah.
Review of 2009
For all of 2009, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total numbers of mass layoff events, at 28,030,
and initial claims, at 2,796,456, reached their highest annual levels on record. (See table B.) Among the
19 major industry sectors in the private economy, manufacturing had the most initial claims in 2009
(1,137,106), followed by administrative and waste services (294,709) and construction (205,765).
Manufacturing also had the largest over-the-year increase in total annual initial claims (+266,796),
with retail trade (+57,283) and administrative and waste services (+48,039) experiencing the next
largest increases. Among the major industry sectors, 12 registered series highs for both mass layoff
events and initial claims in 2009: mining; construction; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation
and warehousing; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; management of companies
and enterprises; administrative and waste services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and accommodation and food services.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 36 percent of all mass layoff events and 43 percent of initial
claims filed in the private economy in 2009; in 2008, manufacturing made up 34 percent of events and
43 percent of initial claims. The number of manufacturing claimants in 2009 was highest in transportation equipment (304,693), followed by machinery (164,176) and fabricated metal products (84,702).
Total initial claims for 18 of the 21 manufacturing subsectors increased from 2008 to 2009, with machinery experiencing the largest change (+110,503). Transportation equipment recorded the largest
over-the-year decrease (-18,929).
The six-digit NAICS industries with the largest total number of initial claims in 2009 were temporary
help services, school and employee bus transportation, and food service contractors. Construction
machinery manufacturing entered the top 10 in terms of initial claims, displacing heavy duty truck
manufacturing. (See table C.) Of the top 10 industries, 6 reached program highs in 2009: construction
machinery manufacturing; light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing; school and employee bus
-4-
transportation; professional employer organizations; elementary and secondary schools; and food
service contractors.
Among the 4 census regions, the Midwest reported the highest number of mass layoff initial claims filed
during 2009 (892,202), followed by the West and the South. All 4 regions experienced over-the-year
annual increases, with the largest increases taking place in the Midwest (+215,611). The Midwest,
Northeast, and South also reached program highs for total initial claims in 2009. All 9 geographic divisions also experienced higher claimant activity in 2009 when compared with 2008, with the largest increases occurring in the East North Central (+167,804)—which also had the largest number of claims in
2009, the Middle Atlantic (+119,644), and the South Atlantic (+118,688). Six of the 9 divisions reached
program highs for total annual claims in 2009: East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic,
Mountain, South Atlantic, and West North Central.
California recorded the largest number of initial claims during 2009 followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, and Ohio. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year annual
increases in initial claims; Illinois reported the largest over-the-year increase in 2009 (+89,810), followed by California (+85,548) and Pennsylvania (+54,483). Of the 7 states with over-the-year decreases in initial claims in 2009, the largest were reported in Louisiana (-5,566), Mississippi (-3,702),
and Kentucky (-2,632). Twenty-six states recorded series highs in mass layoff claimant activity in 2009:
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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 Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter 2009 news release is scheduled to be released
on Friday, February 12, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. (EST). The Mass Layoffs in January news release is
scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. (EST).
-5-
Technical Note
The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federalstate 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 employers
which have at least 50 initial claims filed against them during
a consecutive 5-week period. These employers 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. 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339
Definitions
Employer. Employers in the MLS program include
those covered by state unemployment insurance laws.
Information on employers is obtained from the Quarterly
Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which
is administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Industry. Employers are classified according to the
2007 version of the North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS). For temporary help and professional
employer organization industries, monthly MLS-related
statistics generally reflect layoffs related to underlying client
companies in other industries. An individual layoff action at
a client company can be small, but when initial claimants
associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a
mass layoff event may trigger.
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 employer
during a 5-week period, regardless of duration.
Seasonal adjustment
Effective with the release of data for January 2005, BLS
began publishing 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 expansions and contractions.
The MLS data are seasonally adjusted using the X-12ARIMA seasonal adjustment method on a concurrent basis.
Concurrent seasonal adjustment uses all available monthly
estimates, including those for the current month, in developing 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 1 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-12ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the
final seasonally adjusted series.
Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2006 to December 2009,
seasonally adjusted
Total
Date
Private nonfarm
Manufacturing
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
2006
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,110
938
1,069
1,189
1,121
1,150
1,182
1,238
1,154
1,208
1,244
1,227
112,550
96,542
117,725
123,056
117,834
125,318
121,056
135,707
124,200
123,691
135,465
134,176
979
846
965
1,055
1,003
1,039
1,056
1,104
1,043
1,094
1,128
1,123
102,802
88,629
109,241
112,922
107,929
115,883
111,432
125,704
115,261
115,102
125,976
124,570
289
304
312
352
302
349
373
372
393
409
413
376
34,737
40,029
45,687
48,731
40,703
43,476
51,691
58,962
45,972
53,957
58,509
51,403
2007
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,264
1,191
1,225
1,268
1,172
1,241
1,274
1,247
1,255
1,370
1,415
1,569
130,834
121,289
126,391
129,098
118,648
131,394
130,331
126,108
123,632
137,108
148,952
155,095
1,113
1,075
1,113
1,135
1,070
1,125
1,169
1,158
1,160
1,248
1,289
1,448
119,874
112,607
117,760
118,175
111,103
122,123
122,381
118,575
116,744
128,387
139,665
145,666
404
374
386
362
345
338
403
323
436
449
424
483
55,217
54,581
48,298
43,205
44,391
37,931
55,973
34,902
51,814
58,360
58,543
60,368
2008
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,481
1,578
1,487
1,327
1,604
1,674
1,531
1,845
2,222
2,287
2,489
2,461
151,269
162,152
151,539
133,318
170,619
170,329
152,447
189,798
235,755
239,768
240,181
243,505
1,348
1,432
1,372
1,201
1,465
1,523
1,389
1,711
2,049
2,125
2,334
2,277
140,570
150,712
141,574
122,651
160,529
158,084
141,707
179,737
220,832
226,098
227,368
229,171
436
470
436
460
468
501
461
607
634
721
929
962
57,147
60,276
56,919
59,377
62,345
68,403
61,417
78,172
81,989
95,301
107,072
115,961
2009
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
2,279
2,737
2,913
2,663
2,794
2,598
2,039
2,480
2,326
2,055
1,813
1,726
251,807
289,162
295,970
263,162
306,788
260,596
196,578
238,911
221,639
205,502
163,823
153,127
2,115
2,592
2,715
2,461
2,589
2,371
1,818
2,244
2,109
1,856
1,650
1,542
238,990
274,040
279,671
247,329
289,012
241,864
176,542
218,425
204,462
187,880
151,810
138,747
764
1,186
1,202
1,033
1,183
1,072
565
798
783
594
485
433
109,124
141,264
146,381
125,093
145,166
135,844
66,918
87,201
90,440
65,801
54,858
44,072
Events
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2006 to December 2009,
not seasonally adjusted
Total
Date
Private nonfarm
Manufacturing
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
2006
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,245
719
921
1,140
872
1,489
1,511
708
865
964
1,315
2,249
117,946
66,555
111,838
121,589
84,809
164,761
166,857
72,844
87,699
98,804
136,186
254,503
1,123
658
856
1,038
794
1,224
1,335
656
785
820
1,172
2,126
108,701
62,208
106,177
112,964
78,663
140,687
154,342
69,054
81,274
88,133
125,009
244,783
331
210
285
296
192
319
648
203
296
311
455
735
35,097
24,892
44,688
39,538
23,570
41,095
96,152
28,494
39,076
46,737
58,473
105,462
2007
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,407
935
1,082
1,219
923
1,599
1,599
963
717
1,083
1,799
2,167
134,984
86,696
123,974
127,444
85,816
172,810
175,419
93,458
67,385
108,455
198,220
224,214
1,263
861
1,015
1,115
856
1,318
1,450
908
667
929
1,593
2,071
124,475
82,097
118,431
118,040
81,153
148,669
164,939
88,345
64,026
97,716
181,184
216,898
456
273
367
309
224
313
684
220
246
338
514
699
53,615
36,170
49,886
35,229
26,527
36,571
101,390
23,361
29,381
50,918
75,413
91,754
2008
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,647
1,269
1,089
1,272
1,552
1,622
1,891
1,427
1,292
2,125
2,574
3,377
154,503
119,508
114,541
130,810
159,471
166,742
200,382
139,999
129,586
221,784
241,589
351,305
1,520
1,178
1,039
1,172
1,438
1,315
1,687
1,343
1,202
1,917
2,389
3,232
144,191
113,587
110,147
121,625
150,462
140,916
186,018
133,146
122,505
205,553
226,657
340,220
488
361
333
394
388
309
760
414
361
689
997
1,378
54,418
42,527
43,740
48,188
51,698
42,097
108,733
51,912
46,391
100,457
107,620
172,529
2009
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
3,806
2,262
2,191
2,547
2,738
2,519
3,054
1,428
1,371
1,934
1,870
2,310
388,813
218,438
228,387
256,930
289,628
256,357
336,654
125,024
123,177
193,904
164,496
214,648
3,633
2,173
2,107
2,385
2,572
2,051
2,659
1,334
1,258
1,678
1,679
2,166
375,293
210,755
221,397
243,321
274,047
216,063
296,589
117,193
115,141
172,883
150,751
203,655
1,461
945
940
887
1,005
674
1,133
436
448
566
517
615
172,757
103,588
114,747
100,872
123,683
85,726
154,208
41,151
51,126
69,655
55,053
64,540
Events
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance
Initial claimants for
unemployment insurance
Mass layoff events
Industry
December
2008
October
2009
November
2009
December
2009
December
2008
2,461
2,277
962
2,055
1,856
594
1,813
1,650
485
1,726
1,542
433
243,505
229,171
115,961
Total 1 ............................................................
3,377
1,934
1,870
2,310
Total, private ........................................................
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting .........
Total, private nonfarm ........................................
Mining ..............................................................
Utilities .............................................................
Construction ....................................................
Manufacturing ..................................................
Food ............................................................
Beverage and tobacco products ..................
Textile mills ..................................................
Textile product mills .....................................
Apparel ........................................................
Leather and allied products .........................
Wood products ............................................
Paper ...........................................................
Printing and related support activities ..........
Petroleum and coal products .......................
3,278
46
3,232
43
6
544
1,378
77
12
44
7
22
4
86
34
20
12
1,806
128
1,678
15
6
205
566
91
12
9
3
7
–
41
14
17
3
1,791
112
1,679
22
3
308
517
61
9
12
–
17
(2)
10
11
2,219
53
2,166
34
6
485
615
63
5
14
3
19
5
40
12
14
10
Chemicals ....................................................
Plastics and rubber products .......................
Nonmetallic mineral products ......................
Primary metals .............................................
Fabricated metal products ...........................
Machinery ....................................................
Computer and electronic products ...............
Electrical equipment and appliances ...........
Transportation equipment ............................
Furniture and related products ....................
Miscellaneous manufacturing ......................
23
136
89
83
145
75
53
51
352
37
16
8
35
16
44
49
51
29
29
72
22
14
13
29
30
38
36
44
25
18
86
19
11
Wholesale trade ...............................................
Retail trade ......................................................
Transportation and warehousing .....................
Information .......................................................
Finance and insurance ....................................
Real estate and rental and leasing ..................
Professional and technical services ................
Management of companies and enterprises ...
Administrative and waste services ..................
Educational services ........................................
Health care and social assistance ...................
Arts, entertainment, and recreation .................
Accommodation and food services ..................
Other services, except public administration ...
Unclassified ....................................................
60
142
196
71
40
16
76
17
348
11
36
23
199
24
2
50
124
61
57
49
13
57
6
260
3
37
34
126
9
–
Government .........................................................
Federal ............................................................
State ................................................................
Local ................................................................
99
10
19
70
128
28
32
68
October
2009
November
2009
December
2009
205,502
187,880
65,801
163,823
151,810
54,858
153,127
138,747
44,072
351,305
193,904
164,496
214,648
343,963
3,743
340,220
4,191
355
40,579
172,529
7,797
1,222
4,725
672
2,479
800
8,465
4,384
1,904
1,124
181,476
8,593
172,883
1,038
550
15,258
69,655
8,999
1,001
1,407
419
438
–
4,326
1,216
1,337
312
158,146
7,395
150,751
1,551
206
23,902
55,053
6,631
682
1,337
–
1,361
(2)
888
852
206,930
3,275
203,655
2,807
444
35,718
64,540
6,447
396
2,242
300
1,661
324
3,218
850
1,659
866
10
35
59
34
54
53
23
19
106
28
9
2,046
14,215
9,104
8,558
12,576
7,531
5,245
9,049
64,336
4,764
1,533
533
2,672
1,172
4,703
4,702
10,892
2,169
3,394
17,069
1,865
1,029
1,239
2,802
2,514
3,426
2,764
5,080
2,788
1,379
13,806
2,407
931
768
3,487
4,990
3,456
4,387
6,827
1,429
2,191
13,537
4,617
888
33
99
83
52
33
13
55
3
220
6
38
45
129
20
–
50
121
157
51
30
12
47
5
253
12
38
19
214
16
1
5,374
12,104
22,751
9,138
2,998
1,382
6,280
2,433
31,069
634
2,626
1,503
22,312
1,821
141
4,645
12,914
5,541
9,567
3,716
870
5,974
812
25,694
226
2,165
2,435
11,346
477
–
2,389
7,083
6,651
5,414
2,691
963
4,651
290
18,219
453
2,886
3,705
13,264
1,380
–
3,858
12,300
17,909
7,042
2,357
763
3,746
545
21,653
755
2,653
1,734
23,507
1,171
153
79
12
25
42
91
11
26
54
7,342
1,011
1,296
5,035
12,428
2,550
3,433
6,445
6,350
1,155
2,213
2,982
7,718
921
2,560
4,237
Seasonally adjusted
Total ...............................................................
Total, private nonfarm ........................................
Manufacturing ..................................................
Not seasonally adjusted
1
Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
2
Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(2)
40
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
(2)
3,505
Table 4. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, October 2007 to December 2009,
not seasonally adjusted
Private nonfarm
Total mass layoffs
Date
Mass layoffs
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Extended mass layoffs
lasting more than 30 days
Initial
claimants
Realization rates 1
Events
Initial
claimants
1,814
347,151
39.5
70.0
1,340
259,292
35.9
70.5
1,756
339,630
44.7
82.2
1,581
304,340
37.4
68.9
3,582
766,592
47.5
99.2
3,979
835,017
50.3
103.4
3,396
727,494
48.5
99.2
Events
Initial
claimants
2007
October ......................................
November ..................................
December ..................................
1,083
1,799
2,167
108,455
198,220
224,214
929
1,593
2,071
97,716
181,184
216,898
Fourth Quarter ...........................
5,049
530,889
4,593
495,798
January ......................................
February ....................................
March .........................................
1,647
1,269
1,089
154,503
119,508
114,541
1,520
1,178
1,039
144,191
113,587
110,147
First Quarter ...............................
4,005
388,552
3,737
367,925
April ............................................
May ............................................
June ...........................................
1,272
1,552
1,622
130,810
159,471
166,742
1,172
1,438
1,315
121,625
150,462
140,916
Second Quarter .........................
4,446
457,023
3,925
413,003
July ............................................
August ........................................
September .................................
1,891
1,427
1,292
200,382
139,999
129,586
1,687
1,343
1,202
186,018
133,146
122,505
Third Quarter .............................
4,610
469,967
4,232
441,669
October ......................................
November ..................................
December ..................................
2,125
2,574
3,377
221,784
241,589
351,305
1,917
2,389
3,232
205,553
226,657
340,220
Fourth Quarter ...........................
8,076
814,678
7,538
772,430
January ......................................
February ....................................
March .........................................
3,806
2,262
2,191
388,813
218,438
228,387
3,633
2,173
2,107
375,293
210,755
221,397
First Quarter ...............................
8,259
835,638
7,913
807,445
April ............................................
May ............................................
June ...........................................
2,547
2,738
2,519
256,930
289,628
256,357
2,385
2,572
2,051
243,321
274,047
216,063
Second Quarter .........................
7,804
802,915
7,008
733,431
July ............................................
August ........................................
September .................................
3,054
1,428
1,371
336,654
125,024
123,177
2,659
1,334
1,258
296,589
117,193
115,141
Third Quarter .............................
5,853
584,855
5,251
528,923
October ......................................
November ..................................
December ..................................
1,934
1,870
2,310
193,904
164,496
214,648
1,678
1,679
2,166
172,883
150,751
203,655
Fourth Quarter ...........................
6,114
573,048
5,523
527,289
2008
2009
1
The event realization rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm
2,p
1,776
2,p
266,938
p
33.8
p
50.5
data on these layoffs become available. Experience suggests that the
mass layoff events lasting more than 30 days. The initial claimant realization
number of extended mass layoff events is generally revised upwards
rate is the percentage of all private nonfarm mass layoff initial claimants
by less than 10 percent and the number of initial claimants associated
associated with layoffs lasting more than 30 days.
with such events increases by 25-40 percent.
2
These quarterly numbers are provisional and will be revised as more
p
= preliminary.
Table 5. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance by census region and division,
not seasonally adjusted
Initial claimants for
unemployment insurance
Mass layoff events
Census region and division
December
2008
October
2009
November
2009
December
2009
United States 1 .........................................
3,377
1,934
1,870
2,310
351,305
Northeast ..........................................................
New England ................................................
Middle Atlantic ..............................................
491
70
421
260
30
230
285
40
245
461
71
390
South ................................................................
South Atlantic ...............................................
East South Central .......................................
West South Central ......................................
815
362
296
157
499
279
87
133
413
207
83
123
Midwest ............................................................
East North Central ........................................
West North Central .......................................
1,278
961
317
483
375
108
West .................................................................
Mountain .......................................................
Pacific ...........................................................
793
139
654
692
103
589
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,
December
2008
October
2009
November
2009
December
2009
193,904
164,496
214,648
44,901
7,024
37,877
22,709
2,134
20,575
26,974
3,750
23,224
41,913
6,743
35,170
494
284
115
95
94,307
33,456
42,388
18,463
45,772
23,144
9,545
13,083
37,708
19,029
6,656
12,023
48,248
25,236
13,749
9,263
530
382
148
739
508
231
146,155
108,017
38,138
60,792
49,277
11,515
51,989
39,265
12,724
76,826
51,903
24,923
642
98
544
616
126
490
65,942
12,780
53,162
64,631
9,020
55,611
47,825
9,393
38,432
47,661
10,700
36,961
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
unemployment insurance
Mass layoff events
State
December
2008
October
2009
November
2009
December
2009
3,377
1,934
1,870
2,310
351,305
88
27
8
20
17
514
19
9
3
16
3
9
9
472
14
5
6
(2)
104
83
15
25
(2)
167
39
7
10
(2)
86
26
7
19
36
7
9
7
412
24
8
5
4
96
56
7
16
14,160
(2)
13
25
546
24
10
8
Illinois ..................................................
Indiana ................................................
Iowa ....................................................
Kansas ................................................
Kentucky .............................................
Louisiana ............................................
Maine ..................................................
Maryland .............................................
Massachusetts ....................................
Michigan .............................................
Minnesota ...........................................
Mississippi ..........................................
Missouri ..............................................
202
156
82
38
131
17
7
15
38
248
67
27
107
93
37
35
13
36
24
3
6
9
70
24
10
31
101
43
25
8
41
35
6
6
11
78
55
9
48
Montana ..............................................
Nebraska ............................................
Nevada ...............................................
New Hampshire ..................................
New Jersey .........................................
New Mexico ........................................
New York ............................................
North Carolina ....................................
North Dakota ......................................
Ohio ....................................................
Oklahoma ...........................................
Oregon ................................................
Pennsylvania ......................................
8
12
41
4
80
16
111
33
8
224
20
51
230
11
4
19
3
37
11
68
19
Rhode Island ......................................
South Carolina ....................................
South Dakota ......................................
Tennessee ..........................................
Texas ..................................................
Utah ....................................................
Vermont ..............................................
Virginia ................................................
Washington .........................................
West Virginia ......................................
Wisconsin ...........................................
Wyoming .............................................
7
84
3
50
95
12
4
27
40
6
131
Puerto Rico .........................................
16
Total 1 ..............................................
Alabama .............................................
Alaska .................................................
Arizona ...............................................
Arkansas .............................................
California ............................................
Colorado .............................................
Connecticut .........................................
Delaware ............................................
District of Columbia ............................
Florida .................................................
Georgia ...............................................
Hawaii .................................................
Idaho ...................................................
–
November
2009
December
2009
193,904
164,496
214,648
(2)
1,213
2,517
43,265
2,023
799
817
3,179
755
1,666
1,954
48,169
1,554
671
251
1,266
361
709
973
31,922
1,064
424
347
(2)
6,931
8,508
1,650
2,347
(2)
11,851
3,880
630
1,088
(2)
6,010
3,225
488
2,071
4,592
650
817
581
30,229
1,941
890
266
301
7,715
5,244
637
1,099
142
57
51
28
44
22
3
16
28
119
45
12
86
25,885
16,762
10,005
7,949
21,570
2,430
530
1,002
4,289
24,508
7,374
2,399
10,625
12,917
4,759
4,732
1,562
4,656
2,169
177
479
596
9,543
1,985
602
2,556
10,794
4,323
2,648
741
3,649
2,795
674
486
803
8,549
4,905
512
3,195
17,639
6,256
6,087
4,878
5,013
1,641
204
1,251
2,990
10,913
3,690
1,000
8,373
12
12
36
11
67
12
126
18
7
91
10
29
197
630
1,334
4,303
255
6,910
1,170
10,511
3,314
666
27,836
3,210
4,413
20,456
1,062
559
1,361
263
2,850
761
6,961
1,672
(2)
75
7
35
125
10
6
33
4
52
7
75
30
5
59
10
35
118
(2)
10,569
582
3,936
10,764
758
611
3,891
279
5,277
476
6,281
4,273
557
5,233
1,438
3,464
11,666
896
1,166
3,677
867
6,716
954
12,704
1,455
595
8,888
893
2,617
15,750
(2)
19
3
20
6
45
(2)
2,692
297
1,456
713
4,780
(2)
17
69
4
11
31
27
–
(2)
1,229
6,817
256
1,273
3,021
2,197
(2)
101
(2)
23
56
16
15
40
35
4
99
820
9,381
185
4,259
10,306
1,094
331
2,782
3,663
416
13,026
(2)
10,366
(2)
3,144
6,148
1,256
1,079
3,903
2,828
321
8,207
(2)
(2)
–
(2)
(2)
2,177
1,093
–
14
85
9
3
22
25
3
100
4
12
1
See footnote 1, table 3.
2
Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
22
11
December
2008
October
2009
1,108
8,378
1,058
254
1,955
2,121
250
11,489
470
1,285
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
1,079