MASS LAYOFFS DECEMBER 2012 ANNUAL TOTALS 2012

Transcription

1 For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 25, 2013 USDL Technical information: (202) Media contact: (202) 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 Claims Unemployment Rate 350, , , , , , , Dec 01 Dec 02 Dec 03 Dec 04 Dec 05 Dec 06 Dec 07 Dec 08 Dec 09 Dec 10 Dec 11 Dec 12 Total mass layoff initial claims Manufacturing mass layoff initial claims 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 along with additional information about the revisions.

2 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 claims Year claims Food service contractors... 16, ,639 School and employee bus transportation... 15, ,909 Temporary help services , ,987 Highway, street, and bridge construction... 11, ,030 Motion picture and video production... 3, ,192 Hotels and motels, except casino hotels... 2, ,528 Landscaping services... 2, ,146 Wood kitchen cabinet and countertop mfg.... 1, ,296 Motor vehicle seating and interior trim mfg.... 1, ,455 Professional employer organizations , ,101 1 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 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 -

3 Table B. Number of mass layoff events and initial for unemployment insurance, , not seasonally adjusted for Year Layoff events unemployment insurance ,111 1,437, ,960 1,542, ,904 1,771, ,909 1,572, ,738 1,835, ,467 2,514, ,277 2,245, ,963 1,888, ,980 1,607, ,466 1,795, ,998 1,484, ,493 1,598, ,137 2,130, ,030 2,796, ,564 1,854, ,521 1,808, ,080 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 (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 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

4 Table C. Six-digit NAICS industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in 2012, private nonfarm, not seasonally adjusted Industry claims Rank claims Rank Temporary help services , ,304 1 School and employee bus transportation... 95, ,960 2 Food service contractors... 75, ,468 3 Motion picture and video production... 47, ,022 4 Highway, street, and bridge construction... 40, ,848 5 Professional employer organizations , ,394 6 Discount department stores... 29, ,425 7 Child day care services... 23, ,180 8 Supermarkets and other grocery stores... 19, ,490 9 Casino hotels... 11, , 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)

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. 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) ; Federal Relay Service: (800) Definitions Average weekly mass layoff events and initial. The number of events and initial 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 associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a mass layoff event may trigger. 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-12- ARIMA seasonal adjustment method on a concurrent basis.

6 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-12- ARIMA program and are permanently removed from the final seasonally adjusted series.

7 Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial for unemployment insurance, January 2009 to December 2012, seasonally adjusted Date Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing 2009 January... 2, ,182 2, , ,179 February... 3, ,171 2, ,194 1, ,592 March... 3, ,175 2, ,023 1, ,119 April... 2, ,938 2, ,211 1, ,682 May... 2, ,089 2, ,051 1, ,114 June... 2, ,680 2, ,529 1, ,105 July... 2, ,776 1, , ,345 August... 2, ,380 2, , ,387 September... 2, ,959 2, , ,250 October... 1, ,370 1, , ,681 November... 1, ,283 1, , ,887 December... 1, ,738 1, , , January... 1, ,561 1, , ,303 February... 1, ,694 1, , ,272 March... 1, ,784 1, , ,022 April... 1, ,962 1, , ,860 May... 1, ,959 1, , ,677 June... 1, ,080 1, , ,653 July... 1, ,750 1, , ,064 August... 1, ,455 1, , ,123 September... 1, ,074 1, , ,906 October... 1, ,985 1, , ,157 November... 1, ,394 1, , ,097 December... 1, ,252 1, , , January... 1, ,406 1, , ,431 February... 1, ,938 1, , ,036 March... 1, ,691 1, , ,699 April... 1, ,315 1, , ,177 May... 1, ,824 1, , ,238 June... 1, ,060 1, , ,630 July... 1, ,543 1, , ,458 August... 1, ,266 1, , ,267 September... 1, ,165 1, , ,505 October... 1, ,135 1, , ,310 November... 1, ,078 1, , ,715 December... 1, ,661 1, , , January... 1, ,169 1, , ,503 February... 1, ,199 1, , ,236 March... 1, ,195 1, , ,300 April... 1, ,164 1, , ,929 May... 1, ,603 1, , ,873 June... 1, ,080 1, , ,737 July... 1, ,694 1, , ,427 August... 1, ,266 1, , ,389 September... 1, ,692 1, , ,287 October... 1, ,153 1, , ,927 November... 1, ,879 1, , ,171 December... 1, ,839 1, , ,211

8 Table 2. Mass layoff events and initial for unemployment insurance, January 2009 to December 2012, not seasonally adjusted Date Total Private nonfarm Manufacturing 2009 January... 3, ,813 3, ,293 1, ,757 February... 2, ,438 2, , ,588 March... 2, ,387 2, , ,747 April... 2, ,930 2, , ,872 May... 2, ,628 2, ,047 1, ,683 June... 2, ,357 2, , ,726 July... 3, ,654 2, ,589 1, ,208 August... 1, ,024 1, , ,151 September... 1, ,177 1, , ,126 October... 1, ,904 1, , ,655 November... 1, ,496 1, , ,053 December... 2, ,648 2, , , January... 2, ,679 2, , ,846 February... 1, ,818 1,091 96, ,728 March... 1, ,727 1, , ,745 April... 1, ,690 1, , ,178 May... 1, ,333 1, , ,334 June... 1, ,190 1, , ,083 July... 2, ,254 1, , ,200 August , , ,088 September , , ,403 October... 1, ,638 1, , ,861 November... 1, ,048 1, , ,383 December... 1, ,130 1, , , January... 2, ,463 2, , ,006 February... 1,024 85, , ,471 March , , ,869 April... 1, ,919 1, , ,104 May... 1, ,911 1, , ,199 June... 1, ,930 1, , ,986 July... 2, ,774 1, , ,814 August , , ,916 September... 1, ,232 1, , ,058 October... 1,101 96, , ,447 November... 1, ,750 1, , ,799 December... 2, ,665 2, , , January... 1, ,703 1, , ,021 February , , ,555 March... 1, ,817 1, , ,241 April... 1, ,358 1, , ,518 May... 1, ,259 1, , ,800 June... 1, ,537 1, , ,570 July... 1, ,753 1, , ,963 August... 1, , , ,193 September , , ,748 October... 1, , , ,702 November... 2, ,949 2, , ,690 December... 1, ,137 1, , ,686

9 Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs 1 Industry December December December December December December December December Total ,433 1, , , ,733 46,784 Total, private... 2,322 1, , , ,452 45,129 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ,343 3, Total, private nonfarm... 2,258 1, , , ,583 44,363 Mining ,404 2, Utilities Construction ,402 24, ,480 6,184 Construction of buildings ,075 2, Heavy and civil engineering construction ,638 15, ,328 3,964 Specialty trade contractors ,689 6, ,538 1,691 Manufacturing ,033 50, ,007 12,672 Food ,340 6, ,468 1,678 Beverage and tobacco products , Textile mills , , Textile product mills , Apparel ,586 1, Leather and allied products... 5 ( 3 ) 433 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 87 ( 3 ) Wood products ,583 1, Paper ( 3 ) 1,180 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 236 ( 3 ) Printing and related support activities Petroleum and coal products , Chemicals , Plastics and rubber products ,720 3, Nonmetallic mineral products ,666 3, Primary metals ,104 3, Fabricated metal products ,047 3, Machinery ,472 4, ,094 1,063 Computer and electronic products ,223 1, Electrical equipment and appliances ,759 1, Transportation equipment ,458 12, ,492 3,070 Furniture and related products ,712 2, Miscellaneous manufacturing , Wholesale trade ,411 1, Retail trade ,295 9, ,859 2,414 Building material and garden supply stores , Food and beverage stores , Clothing and clothing accessories stores General merchandise stores ,876 3, , Transportation and warehousing ,508 19, ,302 4,889 Truck transportation Transit and ground passenger transportation ,520 16, ,704 4,155 Support activities for transportation Information ,865 4, ,973 1,007 Finance and insurance ,843 1, Real estate and rental and leasing , Professional and technical services ,581 5, ,916 1,314 Management of companies and enterprises Administrative and waste services ,076 22, ,415 5,606 Educational services , Health care and social assistance ,900 4, ,201 Arts, entertainment, and recreation ,022 1, Accommodation and food services ,635 24, ,127 6,163 Accommodation ,876 3, , Food services and drinking places ,759 20, ,952 5,175 Other services, except public administration ,681 1, Unclassified Government ,406 6, ,281 1,655 Federal State ,580 1, State government education , Local ,071 4, ,614 1,244 Local government education ,123 3, , 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 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. and 4 weeks in December Average weekly events 4 Includes other industries not shown. and initial may not sum to subtotals and totals NOTE: Dash represents zero. due to rounding.

10 Table 4. Region and state distribution: Mass layoff events and initial for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs¹ Census region and state Claimants Claimants December December December December December December December December Total ²... 2,433 1, , , ,733 46,784 Northeast ,617 37, ,523 9,386 Connecticut Maine Massachusetts ,946 3, New Hampshire , New Jersey ,098 8, ,620 2,118 New York ,498 9, ,300 2,463 Pennsylvania ,719 11, ,144 2,894 Rhode Island ,571 1, Vermont South ,741 46, ,548 11,537 Alabama ,134 1, , Arkansas ,759 2, Delaware... 9 ( 3 ) 820 ( 3 ) 2 ( 3 ) 164 ( 3 ) District of Columbia... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Florida ,239 4, ,248 1,164 Georgia ,507 5, ,501 1,252 Kentucky ,047 5, ,609 1,299 Louisiana ,923 1, Maryland ,959 3, Mississippi ,812 2, North Carolina ,050 5, ,210 1,364 Oklahoma , South Carolina ,612 2, Tennessee ,157 1, Texas ,033 5, ,007 1,284 Virginia ,450 4, ,490 1,091 West Virginia... ( 3 ) 3 ( 3 ) 249 ( 3 ) 1 ( 3 ) 62 Midwest ,074 65, ,615 16,289 Illinois ,449 11, ,690 2,855 Indiana ,758 4, ,152 1,086 Iowa ,797 5, ,359 1,416 Kansas ,952 2, Michigan ,542 15, ,508 3,932 Minnesota ,073 3, , Missouri ,586 5, ,317 1,292 Nebraska ,252 2, North Dakota... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Ohio ,550 8, ,310 2,235 South Dakota... ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) Wisconsin ,117 5, ,023 1,305 West ,233 38, ,047 9,573 Alaska Arizona California ,031 25, ,606 6,351 Colorado ,179 1, Hawaii Idaho , Montana Nevada ,127 2, New Mexico Oregon ,705 2, Utah Washington ,844 3, Wyoming Puerto Rico ,729 1, See footnote 1, table 3. 4 Data starting in June 2012 may not be comparable to prior data 2 See footnote 2, table 3. due to a change in MLS unemployment insurance procedures. 3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. NOTE: Dash represents zero.