Table 3. Industry distribution: Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted
Industry Mass layoff totals Average weekly mass layoffs (1)
Events Initial claimants Events Initial claimants
December December December December December December December December
2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011
Total (2) .................................. 1,931 2,433 184,130 263,665 483 487 46,033 52,733
Total, private ................................... 1,830 2,322 176,405 252,259 458 464 44,101 50,452
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ... 67 64 3,524 4,343 17 13 881 869
Total, private nonfarm ......................... 1,763 2,258 172,881 247,916 441 452 43,220 49,583
Mining ....................................... 29 26 2,439 2,404 7 5 610 481
Utilities .................................... (3) 5 (3) 476 (3) 1 (3) 95
Construction ................................. 379 402 29,458 32,402 95 80 7,365 6,480
Construction of buildings ................ 42 38 3,379 3,075 11 8 845 615
Heavy and civil engineering construction . 211 252 16,878 21,638 53 50 4,220 4,328
Specialty trade contractors .............. 126 112 9,201 7,689 32 22 2,300 1,538
Manufacturing ................................ 465 658 52,816 75,033 116 132 13,204 15,007
Food ..................................... 52 99 6,590 12,340 13 20 1,648 2,468
Beverage and tobacco products ............ 8 10 856 1,225 2 2 214 245
Textile mills ............................ 21 44 2,239 6,237 5 9 560 1,247
Textile product mills .................... 8 8 981 1,312 2 2 245 262
Apparel .................................. 18 17 1,294 1,586 5 3 324 317
Leather and allied products .............. 3 5 850 433 1 1 213 87
Wood products ............................ 39 49 3,623 4,583 10 10 906 917
Paper .................................... 14 10 1,055 1,180 4 2 264 236
Printing and related support activities .. 13 11 934 786 3 2 234 157
Petroleum and coal products .............. 10 14 892 1,298 3 3 223 260
Chemicals ................................ 8 12 561 1,131 2 2 140 226
Plastics and rubber products ............. 25 44 2,392 4,720 6 9 598 944
Nonmetallic mineral products ............. 48 47 4,212 4,666 12 9 1,053 933
Primary metals ........................... 21 28 1,919 3,104 5 6 480 621
Fabricated metal products ................ 29 41 2,380 4,047 7 8 595 809
Machinery ................................ 18 38 2,724 5,472 5 8 681 1,094
Computer and electronic products ......... 13 27 1,214 2,223 3 5 304 445
Electrical equipment and appliances ...... 12 16 2,372 2,759 3 3 593 552
Transportation equipment ................. 78 107 12,534 12,458 20 21 3,134 2,492
Furniture and related products ........... 20 22 2,521 2,712 5 4 630 542
Miscellaneous manufacturing .............. 7 9 673 761 2 2 168 152
Wholesale trade .............................. 23 29 1,706 2,411 6 6 427 482
Retail trade (4) ............................. 105 135 9,985 14,295 26 27 2,496 2,859
Building material and garden supply stores 8 15 779 1,797 2 3 195 359
Food and beverage stores ................. 27 20 2,394 1,580 7 4 599 316
Clothing and clothing accessories stores . 4 12 289 958 1 2 72 192
General merchandise stores ............... 33 41 3,735 5,876 8 8 934 1,175
Transportation and warehousing (4) ........... 114 161 13,341 21,508 29 32 3,335 4,302
Truck transportation ..................... 14 8 879 572 4 2 220 114
Transit and ground passenger
transportation ......................... 90 128 11,354 18,520 23 26 2,839 3,704
Support activities for transportation .... (3) 8 (3) 819 (3) 2 (3) 164
Information .................................. 25 54 2,818 14,865 6 11 705 2,973
Finance and insurance ........................ 29 24 2,151 1,843 7 5 538 369
Real estate and rental and leasing ........... 13 8 1,408 495 3 2 352 99
Professional and technical services .......... 44 67 3,549 9,581 11 13 887 1,916
Management of companies and enterprises ...... (3) 4 (3) 374 (3) 1 (3) 75
Administrative and waste services ............ 225 338 17,203 32,076 56 68 4,301 6,415
Educational services ......................... 9 11 958 860 2 2 240 172
Health care and social assistance ............ 46 56 3,904 4,900 12 11 976 980
Arts, entertainment, and recreation .......... 24 28 1,843 2,022 6 6 461 404
Accommodation and food services .............. 208 232 27,239 30,635 52 46 6,810 6,127
Accommodation ............................ 45 67 3,729 5,876 11 13 932 1,175
Food services and drinking places ........ 163 165 23,510 24,759 41 33 5,878 4,952
Other services, except public administration . 15 19 1,153 1,681 4 4 288 336
Unclassified ................................. 1 1 92 55 - - 23 11
Government ....................................... 101 111 7,725 11,406 25 22 1,931 2,281
Federal ...................................... 10 9 1,215 755 3 2 304 151
State ........................................ 22 25 1,724 2,580 6 5 431 516
State government education .............. 8 15 583 1,868 2 3 146 374
Local ........................................ 69 77 4,786 8,071 17 15 1,197 1,614
Local government education .............. 39 46 2,436 5,123 10 9 609 1,025
1 Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months. There were 4 weeks in December 2010 and 5 weeks in
December 2011. Average weekly events and initial claimants may not sum to subtotals and totals due to rounding.
2 Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
3 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
4 Includes other industries not shown.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics