(Indiana) sees mass layoffs balloon

Seasonal stops contribute to higher number

By Kimberly Peterson

The Journal Gazette

Indiana had 44 instances of mass layoffs during November, more than double the number reported in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. Some of those layoffs are seasonal and happen every year, economic development experts said.

Mass layoffs occur when 50 or more workers from the same company make an initial claim for unemployment within a given month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics press release.

While mass layoffs are increasing, Indiana has seen a steady decrease in the unemployment rate. The rate went from 5.5 percent in July to 4.6 percent in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. November’s statewide unemployment rate has not been released.

Nationally, the manufacturing sector accounted for 35 percent of all mass layoffs in November.

Gary Zehr, economic development director for LaGrange County, said that because Indiana is reliant on manufacturing, the state tends to see some companies downsizing in November and December.

Zehr said that in LaGrange County, for example, many of the RV manufacturers give their employees two to four weeks of vacation around the holidays, and those employees might collect unemployment insurance during that time.

Zehr, however, said employment levels are solid in his area.

“I think in LaGrange County the overall outlook is fairly strong,” Zehr said.

Wells County, southeast of LaGrange County, suffered one of the region’s biggest job losses this year when Johnson Controls shut down its plant in Ossian on Nov. 3, putting more than 200 workers out of a job.

And more mass layoffs could be on the way. Hendrickson Suspension in Kendallville will lay off as many as 80 employees by the end of January, and in September, the Dana plant in Syracuse is slated to close, putting 60 employees out of work.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development tracks permanent layoffs and plant closures statewide through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notices.

Companies are required to issue those notices when a plant is closing or if they lay off 50 or more employees, who make up more than one third of the employer’s workforce. Based on WARN notices taking effect in November, 577 employees were told they would be out of jobs.

But statewide, 7,285 workers filed unemployment claims in November.

The disparity in the numbers can be partly explained by the fact that many companies offer severance packages, so workers might not collect unemployment insurance until weeks or months after they are laid off, said Pat Carey, an economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So layoffs that took place in September and October may show up on November’s mass layoff data.

Department of Workforce Development spokesman Joe DiLaura said that the mass layoff report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is different because it also includes workers laid off temporarily.

kpeterson@jg.net

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Mass layoff events

State	November 2005	October 2006	November 2006
Indiana	29	19	44
Michigan	62	43	82
Ohio	52	35	48
Nationwide	1,254	964	1,315

A mass layoff event is when 50 or more people from the same company file an initial claim for unemployment in a given month.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics