| In October, employers took 1,171 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported November 24. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 113,724, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of layoff events increased by 39 from the prior month, while the number of associated initial claims decreased by 3,049. During October, 398 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 54,852 initial claims. Both the number of events and the number of initial claims in manufacturing were higher than a month earlier. In October 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, down from 4.6 percent the prior month and 4.9 percent in October 2005. Total non-farm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 92,000 over the month and by about 2.0 million over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 36 percent of the total initial claims in October. The industry with the highest number of mass layoff initial claims was temporary help services with 8,283, followed by heavy-duty truck manufacturing and automobile manufacturing. Together, these three industries accounted for 21 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs in October. The manufacturing sector accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff events and 47 percent of all related initial claims filed in October; a year earlier, manufacturing comprised 28 percent of events and 41 percent of initial claims. In the current month, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (19,224, mostly in motor vehicle manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (5,246) and machinery manufacturing (5,167). Administrative and waste services accounted for 15 percent of events and 13 percent of initial claims filed in October, with the majority of layoffs in temporary help services and professional employer organizations. Retail trade accounted for 8 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims during the month, largely from general merchandise stores. Construction accounted for 10 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims in October, largely from specialty trade contractors. Ten percent of all layoff events and 6 percent of initial claims filed during the month were from agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, mostly in the farm labor contractors and crew leaders industry. Government establishments accounted for 5 percent of both mass layoff events and initial claims filed in the current month, largely from educational services and from executive, legislative, and general government. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of layoff events in October 2006, at 964, was up 59 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 6,863 to 98,804. The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in machinery manufacturing (+3,879), wood product manufacturing (+3,440) and transportation equipment manufacturing (+3,383). The largest over-the-year decreases in initial claims were reported in motion picture and sound recording industries (-2,224), apparel manufacturing (-1,922), and professional and technical services (-1,642). From January through October 2006, the total number of initial claims, at 1,093,702, was the lowest reported for any January-October period in program history. Collection of comparable mass layoff data for the January-October period began in 1996. Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in October due to mass layoffs was in the West, 32,780. Administrative and support services and agriculture and forestry support activities accounted for 32 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The Midwest had the second largest number of initial claims, 28,833, followed by the South, 23,687. Transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for 35 percent of initial claims in both the Midwest and the South regions. The Northeast, with 13,504, had the lowest number of initial claims. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year in three of the four regions – the South (+6,071), the West (+1,658) and the Midwest (+992). The Northeast experienced the only regional decrease (-1,858). Four geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the numbers of initial claims associated with mass layoffs. The largest increase was in the East South Central division (+7,323), followed by the Pacific (+1,763) and East North Central (+1,242). Of the five divisions with over-the-year decreases, the largest declines were in the Middle Atlantic (-1,591) and West South Central (-1,577). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in October (25,931), followed by Kentucky (9,645), Pennsylvania (6,920), Michigan (6,432) and Illinois (5,508). These five states accounted for 54 percent of all mass layoff events and 55 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance. Kentucky had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+6,935), largely due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing. Indiana had the next largest increase in initial claims (+2,341), followed by South Carolina (+1,409). The largest over-the-year decreases in claims occurred in Ohio (-1,930) and Delaware (-1,583). From January to October, California reported 255,626 mass layoff initial claims, 23 percent of the national total. The states with the next largest number of claims over this period were Michigan (94,486)Pennsylvania (66,594),New York (61,989) and Ohio (59,445). |
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