Record High Mass Layoffs

By Steven Greenhouse

There’s more bad news on the layoff front.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that employers laid off a record 508,859 workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 in what the bureau calls extended mass layoff events — layoffs involving 50 or more workers for at least 31 days.

That is by far the highest number involved in mass layoffs since the bureau began collecting that data in 1995. The fourth-quarter number represents a 69 percent increase over the 301,592 workers involved in extended mass layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2007.

According to the bureau, employers initiated 3,140 extended mass layoff events in the fourth quarter of 2008 — also a record — compared with 1,814 in the year-earlier quarter.

Factory and construction workers were hit especially hard. Manufacturing accounted for 185,686 of the workers involved in the extended mass layoffs. That was a record and represented 35 percent of all workers involved in extended mass layoffs nationwide even though manufacturing represents less than 10 percent of all jobs in the United States.

Construction accounted for 100,922 of those involved in extended mass layoffs in the fourth quarter. Some of this is explained by the seasonal construction slowdown, but even so, the fourth quarter number was more than double the number for the year-earlier quarter.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 45 percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the fourth quarter said they anticipated some type of recall of those workers. That was down from 56 percent in the year-earlier quarter.

The Midwest reported the highest number of workers involved in extended mass layoffs — 202,392 — followed by the West with 164,717.

California had the largest number of such layoffs of any state (103,470), followed by Illinois (55,229), Michigan (38,820) and Ohio (30,295).

Among 369 metropolitan areas surveyed, Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (a metropolitan area falling in Ill.-Ind.-Wis.), reported the highest number of workers involved in these layoffs in the fourth quarter (19,894). Next were Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., with 14,714 workers involved in mass layoffs, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., with 12,438.

Ohio second in nation for mass layoffs

Ohio ranked second in the nation for the number of workers in line for unemployment benefits from large-scale job cuts in October, according to a federal report released Friday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 118 layoffs of 50 or more workers in the state last month, up from 53 a year ago, seasonally unadjusted. Resulting first-time unemployment insurance claims hit 17,764, up 63 percent from 18,896 in October 2007.

The increase came as the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in September, according to figures released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

California had the largest number of first-time claims from mass layoffs at 51,286, but Michigan – the epicenter of unprecedented troubles for the automobile industry – logged about 900 fewer claims than second-ranked Ohio.

The Midwest had the highest share of unemployment insurance filings among the nation’s four geographic regions, the bureau said. Around the nation, seasonally adjusted mass job cuts jumped to 2,140 events from 1,347 a year ago as total insurance claims shot up more than 70 percent to 232,468 from 136,124 a year ago.

About a third of all companies that initiated mass job cuts last month were in the manufacturing sector, while about 45 percent of all unemployment insurance filings were from the industry, the bureau said.

The bureau plans to release November statistics on Dec. 19.

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Planned layoffs in U.S. near 5-year high

On the day after U.S. voters made history by electing Barack Obama as the country's first black president, the dire economic situation his administration will face was reinforced.

A U.S. outplacement firm said Wednesday that planned layoffs at companies in October hit levels that were almost a five-year high, with cuts centred in the financial and auto industries.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas said job cuts in October totalled 112,884, up 19 per cent from September.

Job cuts are rising across the board, said John Challenger, the CEO of the outplacement firm.

The layoff news comes just a couple of days ahead of the release of a U.S. government unemployment report on Friday. Economists are expecting to see 200,000 jobs were lost in October, pushing overall job losses to almost one million for the year.

The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 6.3 per cent from 6.1 per cent. Some analysts expect U.S. unemployment will rise to eight per cent before the situation improves.

Service sector slowdown

Also on Wednesday, a private U.S. research group, the Institute for Supply Management, said activity in the service sector fell in October.

The trade group said its services sector index fell to 44.4 in October from 50.2 in September. An index number below 50 indicates contraction in activity.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had been looking for a reading of 47.5.

The soft service-sector report came just two days after similar manufacturing sector showed activity for October came in its worst reading since September 1982, a time when the U.S. was in recession.

Mass layoffs highest since 9/11

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of layoff announcements involving at least 50 workers rose in September to the highest level since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago, the government said Wednesday.

There were 2,269 mass layoff actions, up 497 from August, according to statistics released by the Labor Department. That was the most mass layoffs since the 2,407 in September 2001.

At large firms, basically what I see is an across-the-board, shotgun approach," said Paul Sarvadi, chairman and CEO of human resources outsourcing firm Administaff in Houston. "If they anticipate revenues going down, then they see how much they need to cut to reach operating targets, and equate that cost to a number of people."

Overall, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits related to mass layoffs rose by 61,726 to 235,681. That was the highest level since September 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, resulting in 297,544 claims.

The manufacturing industry pulled the most devastating numbers, accounting for 28% of all mass layoffs and 36% of unemployment insurance claims in September. More specifically, 19,278 of the 46,391 claims in that industry came from the transportation equipment sector.

"Most manufacturers are pretty secure," said Chris Kuehl, economic analyst for the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. "But there's been a lot of action in the auto and aerospace sectors, such as the Boeing strikes and the low demand for cars due to the credit crunch."

Kuehl believes that layoffs at auto and aerospace companies, a large segment of the manufacturing industry, don't tell the whole story. "After all, the medical manufacturing and energy segments are gangbusters," he said.

But the overall situation is grim, and the worst may not be over, according to some experts.

Sue Murphy, manager for National Human Resources Association in Nashua, N.H., believes that there will be an increase in layoffs as the practice of scrutinizing employee count continues.

She said companies will accelerate the trend of cutting hours, replacing jobs with technology and outsourcing labor during tough times like these, when their priorities are protecting costs and market share.

"The companies look at the nice-to-haves and the must-haves, and the employees that are not essential will be up for review," Murphy said. "A lot of quality people will be out of work."

Report: Mass job cuts double in Ohio during August

Large-scale job cutbacks in Ohio put more than twice the number of workers in line for unemployment benefits in August compared with a year ago, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 62 dismissals of 50 workers or more in Ohio last month, up from 29 a year ago. First-time unemployment insurance claims hit 7,994, up from 3,064 in August 2007. That’s the fifth-highest number of unemployment insurance filings in the nation, according to bureau data.

Ohio in July also saw insurance claims sparked by mass job cuts more than double as they exceeded 19,400, nearly double the 10,435 seen in July 2007.

Ohio is one of 36 states nationwide that saw unemployment insurance claims increase since last year.

All four geographic regions in the nation saw cutbacks and claims increase, as well, though the Midwest had the most dramatic increase in insurance claims. Those jumped more than 80 percent to 33,238 in the 12-state region, versus 18,319 last year.

Nationwide, mass job cuts and unemployment insurance claims grew more than 40 percent each. The bureau reported 1,772 cutbacks during the month, up 44 percent from 1,228 a year ago. Initial claims grew 43 percent to 173,955 from 121,886, seasonally adjusted.

The bureau plans to release September data on Oct. 22.


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Manufacturing accounts for 29% of August mass layoffs

In August, employers took 1,772 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 September 23. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer; the number of workers involved totaled 173,955, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Layoff events reached a program high for the month of August (with data available back to 1995), and associated initial claimants reached its highest level for the month since 2001. The number of mass layoff events this August increased by 260 from the prior month, while the number of associated initial claims rose by 22,784. In August, 599 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 72,244 initial claims. Over the month, mass layoff events in manufacturing increased by 156, and initial claims increased by 14,774.

From January through August 2008, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted), at 12,542, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 1,274,765, were the highest for the January-August period since 2003.

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, up from 5.7 percent in the prior month and from 4.7 percent a year earlier. In August, total non-farm payroll employment decreased by 84,000 over the month and by 283,000 from a year earlier.

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in August was 1,427 on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 139,999. Over the year, increases were recorded in both the number of layoff events (+464) and initial claims (+46,541). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing (+14,191) and in administrative and waste services (+4,524). The largest decrease in initial claims occurred in credit intermediation and related activities (-6,363).

The manufacturing sector accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 37 percent of initial claims filed in August; a year earlier, manufacturing made up 23 percent of events and 25 percent of initial claims. In August 2008, the number of manufacturing claimants was greatest in transportation equipment manufacturing (19,787), followed by machinery manufacturing (4,887). Administrative and waste services accounted for 15 percent of mass layoff events and 14 percent of associated initial claims, primarily from temporary help services.

Read the full report and view all of the data tables by clicking on the link below:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm

Hawaii reports 4 'mass layoffs' in August

There were four “mass layoffs” in Hawaii in August, which resulted in the loss of 408 jobs for at least 31 days, according to the U.S. Department of Labor on Tuesday.

In July, there were four mass layoff events that resulted in the loss of 271 jobs. In August 2007, there were five mass layoffs that resulted in the loss of 169 jobs.

A mass layoff is when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from one employer during a five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days.

Nationwide there were 1,772 mass layoffs in August that resulted in the separation of 173,955 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, seasonally adjusted.

Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays and the beginning and ending of the school year.

The temporary-help services industry had the largest number of initial claims, followed by school and employee bus transportation.

Layoff numbers decline in Colorado

The number and size of mass layoffs in Colorado dropped in August from the month before, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

Three companies cut jobs through mass layoffs, defined as the elimination of at least 50 jobs at a single site. That’s down from four in July.

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance in Colorado fell to 258 from 343 during the same period.

Nationally, the number of mass layoffs reached a high of 1,772, and initial claims involved 173,955 people, with the manufacturing sector particularly hard hit. Of the four census regions, the West had the highest number of initial claims — 45,837 — because of mass layoffs in August. But most of those, or 41,149, were from the Pacific states in the West, instead of from Colorado and other mountain states.

Kansas mass layoffs lower in August

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The number of mass layoffs in Kansas fell in August compared to June and July, but was slightly higher than the same month a year ago.

That's according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said Kansas mass layoff events in August totaled four, down from eight in July and 12 in June.

In August 2007, there were three mass layoff events in Kansas.

The BLS defines a mass layoff as the lay off of at least 50 people by a single employer.

Nationwide there were 1,427 mass layoffs in August compared to 963 in the same month a year ago.

Mass Layoffs soared in August

August mass layoff events, at 1,772 seasonally adjusted, reached a program high for the month, while associated initial claims, at 173,955, were the highest for August since 2001. Year-to-date totals of layoff events (12,542) and related initial claims (1,274,765) in 2008 were the highest January-August totals since 2003.

Tennessee reports 17 mass layoffs in August

Tennessee reported 17 mass layoffs in August resulting in 1,496 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

That was up from nine mass layoffs and 574 unemployment claims in August 2007.

In July this year there were 18 mass layoffs with 1,412 unemployment claims.

A mass-layoff occurs when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from an employer in five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days.

Nationwide, there were 1,772 mass layoff actions in August affecting 173,995 workers, the bureau reports. The number of actions was the highest since 1995 and the number of affected workers was the highest since August 2001.

The number of mass layoffs increased in August nationally by 260 compared to July and the number of affected workers rose by 22,784.

At 38,188 in August, the South had the second-largest number of initial claims among the nations four regions.

Tennessee's unemployment rate for August was 6.6 percent, up from 4.7 percent a year ago.

Mass layoffs down in Kansas

Kansas saw a dip in its mass layoffs in August, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday.

After eight mass layoffs in July put 731 people out of work, the total fell to four layoffs, which affected 291 workers. In August 2007, three mass layoffs — defined as an action that involves at least 50 people from a single employer — put 538 people out of work.

The numbers go against the national trend that saw August mass layoff events, at 1,772 seasonally adjusted, reach a program high for the month, while associated initial claims, at 173,955, were the highest for August since 2001.

Nationwide, there have been 12,542 mass layoffs this year, which resulted in more than one million initial unemployment claims. At 1,274,765, the total is the highest January to August totals since 2003, the labor department reports.

The number of mass layoffs this August increased by 260 from the prior month, while the number of associated initial claims rose by 22,784.

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, up from 5.7 percent in the previous month and from 4.7 percent a year earlier.

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia registered over-the-year increases in initial claims associated with mass layoffs, led by California (+5,054), Ohio (+4,930), and Florida (+4,674). States with the largest over-the-year decreases in claims were Arizona (-704) and Washington (-461).

BLS: MASS LAYOFFS IN JULY 2008 [

In July, employers took 1,512 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted,
as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today.  Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer; the
number of workers involved totaled 151,171, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The number of mass layoff events this July decreased by 131 from the prior
month, while the number of associated initial claims decreased by 14,526.
In July, 443 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector,
seasonally adjusted, resulting in 57,470 initial claims.  Over the month,
mass layoff events in manufacturing decreased by 98 and initial claims de-
creased by 19,044.  (See table 1.)

   From January through July 2008, the total number of mass layoff events
(seasonally adjusted), at 10,770, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted),
at 1,100,810, were the highest for the January-July period since 2003.

   The national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in July, seasonally adjusted,
up from 5.5 percent in the prior month and up from 4.6 percent a year earlier.
Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 51,000 in July from the previous
month and decreased by 67,000 from a year earlier.

Hawaii reports 4 ‘mass layoffs’ in July

There were four “mass layoffs” in Hawaii in July, which resulted in the loss of 271 jobs for at least 31 days, according to the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday.

In June, there were six mass layoff events that resulted in the loss of 783 jobs. July 2007’s numbers were not available, according to the department.

A mass layoff is when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from one employer during a five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days.

Nationwide there were 1,512 mass layoffs in July that resulted in the separation of 151,171 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, seasonally adjusted.

Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the effect of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays and the beginning and ending of the school year.

The manufacturing industry accounted for 40 percent of all mass layoff events in June.

Tennessee Counts 19 Mass Layoffs in July

 Tennessee reported 18 mass layoffs in July which resulted in 1,412 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

That was up from 12 mass layoffs in July 2007 and 784 unemployment insurance claims. The numbers were down from June which had 19 mass layoffs resulting in 1,877 unemployment claims.

The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Nationwide, there were 1,512 mass layoff actions affecting 151,171 workers. The number of layoffs dropped in July by 131 compared to June and the number of affected workers dropped by 14,526.

The South had the second largest number of initial claims among the four regions at 48,440.

Tennessee's unemployment rate for July was 6.9 percent, up from 6.5 percent in June and 4.6 percent a year ago.

A mass layoff event is when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from an employer during a five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days.

Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing the statistical effect of regularly recurring seasonal events such as changes in the weather, holidays and the beginning and ending of the school year. 

Employers Took 1,643 Mass Layoff Actions In June

Wednesday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on mass layoffs in the month of June, showing that layoff events were the highest for the month of June since 2003.

The report showed that employers took 1,643 mass layoff actions in June, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month.

The Labor Department said that each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer, with the layoffs involving a total of 165,697 workers

While the number of mass layoff events in June increased by 17 from the previous month, the number of associated initial claims was 5,690 lower.

The report also said that employers in the manufacturing sector took 541 mass layoff actions, resulting in 76,514 initial jobless claims. The Labor Department said both measures were at their highest monthly levels since August of 2003.

by RTT Staff Writer

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