For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 25, 2013
USDL-13-0106
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 • [email protected] • www.bls.gov/mls
Media contact:
(202) 691-5902 • [email protected]
MASS LAYOFFS — DECEMBER 2012
ANNUAL TOTALS — 2012
Employers took 1,509 mass layoff actions in December involving 137,839 workers as measured by
new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. (Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a
single employer. Mass layoff events decreased by 240 from November, and the number of associated
initial claims decreased by 35,040. In December, 330 mass layoff events were reported in the
manufacturing sector resulting in 35,211 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff data are identified using
administrative data sources without regard to layoff duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this
release.)
Chart 1. Mass layoff initial claims and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, December 2001‐December 2012 Unemployment Rate
14.0
Initial Claims
350,000
300,000
12.0
250,000
10.0
200,000
8.0
150,000
6.0
100,000
4.0
50,000
2.0
0
Dec‐01
Dec‐02
Dec‐03
Dec‐04
Total mass layoff initial claims
Dec‐05
Dec‐06
Dec‐07
Dec‐08
Manufacturing mass layoff initial claims
Dec‐09
Dec‐10
Dec‐11
0.0
Dec‐12
Unemployment rate
Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Mass Layoff Data
Seasonally adjusted mass layoffs data have been revised using updated seasonal adjustment
factors that incorporate 2012 data. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2008 were
subject to revision. Revised seasonally adjusted data from January 2009 forward are shown in
table 1. The originally published and revised figures for January 2008-November 2012 will be
available at www.bls.gov/mls/mlssarevision.htm, along with additional information about the
revisions.
Table A. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in December 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted
December peak
Industry
Initial claims
Year
Initial claims
Food service contractors ..........................................
School and employee bus transportation ...................
1
Temporary help services ........................................
Highway, street, and bridge construction ...................
Motion picture and video production ........................
Hotels and motels, except casino hotels ....................
Landscaping services ................................................
Wood kitchen cabinet and countertop mfg. ...............
Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg. ...............
1
Professional employer organizations .......................
1
16,517
15,909
12,609
11,478
3,527
2,872
2,323
1,960
1,942
1,927
2011
2012
2011
2005
1998
2008
2011
2006
2008
2008
19,639
15,909
19,987
20,030
16,192
3,528
3,146
2,296
3,455
6,101
See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
The national unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in December, unchanged from the prior month and
down from 8.5 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 155,000 over the
month and by 1,835,000 over the year.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in December was 1,973, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 187,137
initial claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly
mass layoff events for December increased by 6 to 493, while associated average weekly initial claims
decreased by 5,949 to 46,784. Ten of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported
over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in
manufacturing. (See table 3.) The six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial
claims due to mass layoffs was food service contractors. (See table A.)
In December, the manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of mass layoff events and 28 percent of
associated initial claims in the private economy. Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff
claimants were highest in transportation equipment and in food. Sixteen of the 21 manufacturing
subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims. (See table 3.)
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the census regions, the Midwest registered the largest number of initial claims due to mass
layoffs in December. Three of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly
initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in the West. (See table 4.)
Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in December,
followed by Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Twenty-five states experienced over-the-year
-2-
Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial claimants
for unemployment insurance, 1996-2012, not seasonally adjusted
Initial claimants for
Year
Layoff events
unemployment insurance
1996 ........................
1997 ........................
1998 ........................
1999 ........................
2000 ........................
2001 ........................
2002 ........................
2003 ........................
2004 ........................
2005 ........................
14,111
14,960
15,904
14,909
15,738
21,467
20,277
18,963
15,980
16,466
1,437,628
1,542,543
1,771,069
1,572,399
1,835,592
2,514,862
2,245,051
1,888,926
1,607,158
1,795,341
2006 ........................
2007 ........................
2008 ........................
2009 ........................
2010 ........................
2011 ........................
2012 ........................
13,998
15,493
21,137
28,030
19,564
18,521
17,080
1,484,391
1,598,875
2,130,220
2,796,456
1,854,596
1,808,451
1,666,931
decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest declines in California and Pennsylvania.
(See table 4.)
Review of 2012
In 2012, the annual totals of mass layoff events, at 17,080, and of initial claims, at 1,666,931, declined
to their lowest levels since 2007. (See table B.) Eleven of the 19 major industry sectors in the private
economy reported decreases in initial claims in 2012, led by administrative and waste services,
manufacturing, and information. In 2012, total initial claims in the manufacturing sector declined to a
series low 448,687.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 24 percent of all mass layoff events and 29 percent of initial
claims filed in the private economy in 2012, down slightly from 2011 percentages. The number of
manufacturing claimants in 2012 was highest in transportation equipment and in food. Total initial
claims in 17 of the 21 manufacturing subsectors decreased in 2012 from 2011, with transportation
equipment and wood products experiencing the largest declines.
The six-digit industry in the private nonfarm sector with the greatest number of initial claims in 2012
was temporary help services. Casino hotels entered the list of 10 industries with the highest initial claims
for the entire year and reached a program high. (See table C.) Two other industries among these 10
reached program highs in 2012—school and employee bus transportation and food service contractors.
-3-
Table C. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims
in 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted
2011
2012
Industry
Initial claims Rank Initial claims Rank
1
Temporary help services ......................................
School and employee bus transportation .................
Food service contractors ........................................
Motion picture and video production ......................
Highway, street, and bridge construction .................
1
Professional employer organizations .....................
Discount department stores ....................................
Child day care services ...........................................
Supermarkets and other grocery stores ...................
Casino hotels .........................................................
1
143,938
95,287
75,006
47,988
40,349
31,916
29,807
23,237
19,781
11,148
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
24
126,304
104,960
80,468
40,022
37,848
26,394
24,425
22,180
19,490
18,722
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
See the Technical Note for more information on these industries.
Three of the 4 census regions reported over-the-year decreases in total annual initial claims from 2011 to
2012, with the largest decline occurring in the West. Among the states, California recorded the highest
number of total annual mass layoff initial claims in 2012, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, and North Carolina. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year
decreases in total initial claims for the year, led by California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
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. The monthly data series in this release are subjected to average weekly analysis,
which mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. See the Technical Note for more detailed
definitions and for a description of average weekly analysis.
_____________
The Extended Mass Layoffs news release for Fourth Quarter 2012 and Annual Totals for 2012 is
scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 14, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EST) and will include
information on the impact of Hurricane Sandy on MLS data. The Mass Layoffs new release for
January 2013 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (EST).
-4-
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.
The monthly data present preliminary mass layoff
activity in the reference month and are not revised in
subsequent months except in special circumstances (e.g.,
layoffs in states affected by Hurricane Katrina). Counts of
initial claims associated with mass layoff events reflect
activity through the end of the reference month. Additional
mass layoff event and initial claims activity received after
data for the reference month have been published by BLS are
not updated in the monthly mass layoff series and, therefore,
may not match revised mass layoff data issued in state
publications. However, any additional mass layoff
information meeting the extended mass layoff criteria will be
reflected in BLS’ quarterly publication of extended mass
layoff data.
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, data
users who intend to perform analysis of over-the-year change
in the not seasonally adjusted series should use the average
weekly mass layoff figures displayed in tables 3 and 4 of this
release. The average weekly adjustment process produces a
consistent series for each month across all years, permitting
over-the-year analysis to be performed using strictly
comparable data.
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
Average weekly mass layoff events and initial claimants.
The number of events and initial claimants in a given month
divided by the number of weeks contained within that month.
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 2009 to December 2012,
seasonally adjusted
Total
Date
Private nonfarm
Manufacturing
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
2009
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
2,256
3,079
3,022
2,537
2,712
2,470
2,184
2,358
2,274
1,970
1,764
1,720
237,182
334,171
304,175
246,938
286,089
248,680
222,776
218,380
216,959
196,370
159,283
155,738
2,087
2,921
2,827
2,332
2,522
2,261
1,976
2,119
2,054
1,775
1,598
1,549
223,230
318,194
287,023
231,211
270,051
231,529
203,347
198,877
200,863
178,648
146,802
141,699
716
1,274
1,261
1,022
1,206
1,063
639
743
754
567
469
425
91,179
152,592
158,119
114,682
151,114
140,105
76,345
75,387
90,250
64,681
51,887
44,455
2010
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,699
1,647
1,703
1,622
1,585
1,701
1,521
1,612
1,526
1,661
1,584
1,476
169,561
161,694
153,784
154,962
150,959
152,080
137,750
162,455
137,074
149,985
153,394
136,252
1,522
1,480
1,501
1,442
1,345
1,481
1,315
1,409
1,303
1,454
1,407
1,277
155,298
147,259
138,188
138,849
131,482
133,366
121,313
138,849
117,582
132,373
138,925
121,849
461
387
373
378
317
335
303
384
310
349
353
322
53,303
47,272
43,022
44,860
31,677
34,653
32,064
41,123
33,906
38,157
38,097
36,611
2011
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,522
1,456
1,307
1,526
1,573
1,522
1,566
1,585
1,463
1,349
1,312
1,392
150,406
137,938
119,691
145,315
144,824
144,060
144,543
168,266
150,165
118,135
123,078
144,661
1,335
1,263
1,156
1,366
1,387
1,342
1,347
1,364
1,319
1,220
1,177
1,247
132,659
123,141
106,721
130,841
129,296
129,136
123,815
153,081
136,564
106,478
113,239
129,994
327
312
269
352
399
359
342
374
346
335
312
346
37,431
30,036
31,699
37,177
42,238
38,630
35,458
46,267
37,505
32,310
33,715
38,469
2012
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,435
1,275
1,290
1,403
1,370
1,320
1,354
1,297
1,346
1,400
1,749
1,509
129,169
120,199
125,195
138,164
131,603
133,080
138,694
130,266
125,692
136,153
172,879
137,839
1,298
1,134
1,141
1,235
1,220
1,178
1,217
1,172
1,223
1,249
1,574
1,334
118,127
109,458
112,889
122,236
119,788
120,857
128,186
120,391
116,792
125,026
159,872
125,505
325
283
269
294
277
282
355
322
365
346
412
330
32,503
28,236
28,300
34,929
31,873
31,737
43,427
39,389
40,287
42,927
47,171
35,211
Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, January 2009 to December 2012,
not seasonally adjusted
Total
Date
Private nonfarm
Manufacturing
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
Events
Initial
claimants
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
2010
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
2,860
1,183
1,197
1,840
1,354
1,861
2,124
976
920
1,642
1,676
1,931
278,679
102,818
111,727
199,690
123,333
171,190
206,254
92,435
77,654
148,638
158,048
184,130
2,682
1,091
1,111
1,697
1,170
1,355
1,732
897
806
1,373
1,477
1,763
265,074
96,022
105,514
184,654
109,203
125,872
172,248
83,021
67,987
127,865
142,591
172,881
962
282
273
424
216
212
532
230
187
351
389
465
104,846
30,728
29,745
55,178
19,334
21,083
64,200
23,088
19,403
40,861
41,383
52,816
2011
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
2,558
1,024
908
1,750
1,367
1,661
2,176
961
1,189
1,101
1,393
2,433
246,463
85,585
85,095
189,919
119,911
159,930
216,774
99,213
117,232
96,914
127,750
263,665
2,372
919
844
1,625
1,221
1,238
1,759
875
1,095
950
1,245
2,258
229,765
78,718
80,014
176,478
108,531
122,821
174,078
93,159
107,300
83,748
117,474
247,916
693
222
191
397
270
226
602
228
296
265
349
658
75,006
18,471
20,869
47,104
25,199
22,986
71,814
26,916
32,058
28,447
37,799
75,033
2012
January ........................................................
February .......................................................
March ...........................................................
April ..............................................................
May ..............................................................
June .............................................................
July ...............................................................
August ..........................................................
September ...................................................
October ........................................................
November ....................................................
December ....................................................
1,705
895
1,125
1,421
1,201
1,890
1,515
1,063
811
1,142
2,339
1,973
141,703
73,974
117,817
146,358
109,259
198,537
157,753
104,045
70,570
109,829
249,949
187,137
1,587
820
1,040
1,293
1,081
1,485
1,321
992
749
968
2,078
1,822
132,754
69,076
110,954
132,697
100,434
158,334
144,340
97,694
66,214
97,390
228,124
177,452
415
196
242
256
186
255
559
251
221
277
551
477
38,021
16,555
24,241
32,518
18,800
28,570
74,963
31,193
22,748
37,702
72,690
50,686
Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted
Average weekly mass layoffs1
Events
Initial claimants
Mass layoff totals
Industry
Events
Initial claimants
December
December
December
December
December
December
December
December
2011
2012
2011
2012
2011
2012
2011
2012
Total, private ..................................................................
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ....................
2,433
2,322
64
1,973
1,882
60
263,665
252,259
4,343
187,137
180,516
3,064
487
464
13
493
471
15
52,733
50,452
869
46,784
45,129
766
Total, private nonfarm ..................................................
Mining .........................................................................
Utilities ........................................................................
Construction ...............................................................
Construction of buildings ........................................
Heavy and civil engineering construction ...............
Specialty trade contractors .....................................
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 .................................
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 .................................
2,258
26
5
402
38
252
112
658
99
10
44
8
17
5
49
10
11
14
12
44
47
28
41
38
27
16
107
22
9
1,822
28
4
312
29
184
99
477
63
8
10
8
12
177,452
2,169
337
24,737
2,119
15,854
6,764
50,686
6,713
651
846
791
1,056
(3)
2
2
3
8
9
6
9
8
4
3
26
5
3
49,583
481
95
6,480
615
4,328
1,538
15,007
2,468
245
1,247
262
317
87
917
236
157
260
226
944
933
621
809
1,094
445
552
2,492
542
152
44,363
542
84
6,184
530
3,964
1,691
12,672
1,678
163
212
198
264
(3)
675
371
723
3,067
3,377
3,389
3,009
4,250
1,428
1,510
12,281
2,862
1,122
452
5
1
80
8
50
22
132
20
2
9
2
3
1
10
2
2
3
2
9
9
6
8
8
5
3
21
4
2
456
7
1
78
7
46
25
119
16
2
3
2
3
(3)
7
6
10
32
35
23
37
33
17
13
103
19
11
247,916
2,404
476
32,402
3,075
21,638
7,689
75,033
12,340
1,225
6,237
1,312
1,586
433
4,583
1,180
786
1,298
1,131
4,720
4,666
3,104
4,047
5,472
2,223
2,759
12,458
2,712
761
Wholesale trade .........................................................
4
Retail trade ..............................................................
Building material and garden supply stores ...........
Food and beverage stores .....................................
Clothing and clothing accessories stores ...............
General merchandise stores ..................................
4
Transportation and warehousing .............................
Truck transportation ...............................................
Transit and ground passenger transportation ........
Support activities for transportation ........................
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 ............................
Accommodation .....................................................
Food services and drinking places .........................
Other services, except public administration ..............
Unclassified ................................................................
29
135
15
20
12
41
161
8
128
8
54
24
8
67
4
338
11
56
28
232
67
165
19
1
23
114
8
12
9
42
167
13
124
4
31
19
7
58
3
277
17
59
19
188
46
142
17
2
2,411
14,295
1,797
1,580
958
5,876
21,508
572
18,520
819
14,865
1,843
495
9,581
374
32,076
860
4,900
2,022
30,635
5,876
24,759
1,681
55
1,992
9,654
623
851
513
3,850
19,556
741
16,621
265
4,026
1,242
1,001
5,254
390
22,425
1,702
4,804
1,325
24,651
3,953
20,698
1,385
116
6
27
3
4
2
8
32
2
26
2
11
5
2
13
1
68
2
11
6
46
13
33
4
-
6
29
2
3
2
11
42
3
31
1
8
5
2
15
1
69
4
15
5
47
12
36
4
1
482
2,859
359
316
192
1,175
4,302
114
3,704
164
2,973
369
99
1,916
75
6,415
172
980
404
6,127
1,175
4,952
336
11
498
2,414
156
213
128
963
4,889
185
4,155
66
1,007
311
250
1,314
98
5,606
426
1,201
331
6,163
988
5,175
346
29
Government ...................................................................
Federal .......................................................................
State ...........................................................................
State government education .................................
Local ...........................................................................
Local government education .................................
111
9
25
15
77
46
91
5
19
11
67
46
11,406
755
2,580
1,868
8,071
5,123
6,621
322
1,324
773
4,975
3,290
22
2
5
3
15
9
23
1
5
3
17
12
2,281
151
516
374
1,614
1,025
1,655
81
331
193
1,244
823
2
Total .......................................................................
1
(3)
23
(3)
1,979
(3)
6
(3)
495
(3)
169
93
181
767
844
847
752
1,063
357
378
3,070
716
281
Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing
2
Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
lengths of months. There were 5 weeks in December 2011
3
Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
and 4 weeks in December 2012. Average weekly events
4
Includes other industries not shown.
and initial claimants may not sum to subtotals and totals
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
due to rounding.
Table 4. Region and state distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance,
not seasonally adjusted
Mass layoff totals
Events
Census region and state
December
2011
Average weekly mass layoffs¹
Initial Claimants
December
2012
December
2011
December
2012
Events
December
2011
Initial Claimants
December
2012
December
2011
December
2012
Total ² ...............................................
2,433
1,973
263,665
187,137
487
493
52,733
46,784
Northeast ............................................
Connecticut .....................................
Maine ..............................................
Massachusetts ................................
New Hampshire ..............................
New Jersey .....................................
New York ........................................
Pennsylvania ..................................
Rhode Island ...................................
Vermont ..........................................
450
5
10
19
6
88
117
186
13
6
378
8
4
31
7
78
100
133
10
7
47,617
578
771
1,946
951
8,098
11,498
20,719
2,571
485
37,544
841
317
3,408
1,051
8,472
9,853
11,575
1,338
689
90
1
2
4
1
18
23
37
3
1
95
2
1
8
2
20
25
33
3
2
9,523
116
154
389
190
1,620
2,300
4,144
514
97
9,386
210
79
852
263
2,118
2,463
2,894
335
172
South ..................................................
Alabama ..........................................
Arkansas .........................................
Delaware .........................................
District of Columbia .........................
Florida .............................................
Georgia ...........................................
Kentucky .........................................
Louisiana ........................................
Maryland 4 .......................................
Mississippi ......................................
North Carolina .................................
Oklahoma .......................................
South Carolina ................................
Tennessee ......................................
Texas ..............................................
Virginia ............................................
West Virginia ...................................
602
46
24
9
465
15
19
67,741
5,134
2,759
820
46,148
1,444
2,322
120
9
5
2
116
4
5
13,548
1,027
552
164
11,537
361
581
Midwest ...............................................
Illinois ..............................................
Indiana ............................................
Iowa ................................................
Kansas ............................................
Michigan .........................................
Minnesota .......................................
Missouri ..........................................
Nebraska ........................................
North Dakota ...................................
Ohio ................................................
South Dakota ..................................
Wisconsin .......................................
3
( )
70
60
67
20
18
21
82
10
32
24
52
64
(3)
743
118
49
58
23
135
49
67
15
3
3
( )
3
( )
61
52
54
17
31
25
52
8
19
19
47
38
3
630
114
38
48
20
158
38
42
12
3
3
( )
3
( )
4,655
5,006
5,197
1,644
3,079
2,317
5,454
1,062
2,063
1,771
5,136
4,364
249
3
( )
6,239
7,507
8,047
1,923
1,959
1,812
11,050
981
4,612
2,157
5,033
7,450
(3)
78,074
13,449
5,758
6,797
2,952
12,542
5,073
6,586
2,252
65,155
11,418
4,345
5,663
2,325
15,726
3,197
5,167
2,006
3
3
( )
14
12
13
4
4
4
16
2
6
5
10
13
(3)
149
24
10
12
5
27
10
13
3
3
3
( )
3
( )
15
13
14
4
8
6
13
2
5
5
12
10
1
158
29
10
12
5
40
10
11
3
( )
1,248
1,501
1,609
385
392
362
2,210
196
922
431
1,007
1,490
(3)
15,615
2,690
1,152
1,359
590
2,508
1,015
1,317
450
3
3
( )
3
( )
1,164
1,252
1,299
411
770
579
1,364
266
516
443
1,284
1,091
62
16,289
2,855
1,086
1,416
581
3,932
799
1,292
502
( )
107
( )
90
( )
11,550
3
( )
8,941
( )
21
( )
23
( )
2,310
( )
2,235
(3)
111
(3)
59
(3)
10,117
(3)
5,218
(3)
22
(3)
15
(3)
2,023
(3)
1,305
West ....................................................
Alaska .............................................
Arizona ............................................
California .........................................
Colorado .........................................
Hawaii .............................................
Idaho ...............................................
Montana ..........................................
Nevada ...........................................
New Mexico ....................................
Oregon ............................................
Utah ................................................
Washington .....................................
Wyoming .........................................
638
3
8
458
13
4
20
11
31
8
49
10
23
-
500
3
10
359
12
4
9
4
22
6
25
8
38
-
70,233
447
750
53,031
1,179
388
1,584
895
3,127
590
4,705
693
2,844
-
38,290
406
646
25,405
1,011
220
647
324
2,161
359
2,923
607
3,581
-
128
1
2
92
3
1
4
2
6
2
10
2
5
-
125
1
3
90
3
1
2
1
6
2
6
2
10
-
14,047
89
150
10,606
236
78
317
179
625
118
941
139
569
-
9,573
102
162
6,351
253
55
162
81
540
90
731
152
895
-
Puerto Rico .....................................
14
10
1,729
1,012
3
3
346
253
4
3
3
3
1
See footnote 1, table 3.
2
See footnote 2, table 3.
Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data
due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance procedures.
3
Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.