Employers in New York took 1,251 mass layoff actions in 2012 that resulted in the separation of 141,137 workers, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli pointed out that the number of claims rose by 21,739 over the year to reach the second highest total in the history of the series, which goes back to 1996 on an annual basis.

Industry distribution

Of all the industry sectors in New York, transportation and warehousing experienced the most mass layoff events with 278, resulting in 35,209 claims for unemployment insurance. (See table 1. and chart 1.) Accommodation and food services had the next highest number of layoff events (133) and initial claimants (14,679). Two other industries reported more than 100 events and 10,000 claimants—construction (132 events and 10,215 claimants) and administrative and waste services (124 events and 10,779 claimants). An additional four sectors recorded at least 7,000 claimants.

Of the 11 sectors recording an increase in mass layoffs-related initial claimants over the year, retail trade registered the largest rise (4,164), reaching a high in 2012. Transportation and warehousing posted the next highest increase (3,351), and five other sectors finished the year with at least 1,500 initial claimants above the 2011 level. (See table A.) In six of the seven industries, the number of claimants rose to highest total in the history of the series; in transportation and warehousing, the claimant total rose to the second-highest on record.

Table A. Sectors with at least 1,500 more mass layoff initial claims in 2012, New York

Sector	Net change
	2010-2011	2011-2012
Retail trade	-553	4,164
Transportation and warehousing	314	3,351
Healthcare and social assistance	-286	2,977
Administrative and waste services	-814	2,274
Accommodation and food services	-1,483	2,163
State government	417	1,596
Educational services	174	1,559

In contrast, six sectors saw a decrease in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoff events, led by local government, down 2,314, or 23.2 percent, from the 2011 total. Only one other sector experienced a drop of more than 1,000 claims—professional and technical services. A decline of 1,141 claims, or 24.0 percent, pulled that sector’s number of claimants down to the lowest level since 2004.

Among the states, California recorded the greatest number of initial claims, 327,275, in 2012. New York (141,137) ranked second, followed by Pennsylvania (106,303) and New Jersey (85,979). Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year declines in total initial claims. Eleven states recorded a decline of at least 5,000, with the largest reduction in claims occurring in California (-50,138) and Wisconsin (-19,338). Fourteen states had more initial claims related to mass layoffs in 2012 than in 2011, with New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina each recording more than 19,000 additional claimants. New Jersey and North Carolina’s 2012 claimant totals reached the highest levels on record; while in New York, the 2012 claimant total was 2.2 percent below the series high reported for 2009.

Technical note

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state 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.

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, analysis of over-the-month and over-the-year change in not seasonally adjusted series should take this calendar effect into consideration.

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) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Definitions

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 claimants associated with many such layoffs are assigned to a temporary help or professional employer organization firm, a mass layoff event may trigger.

Initial 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.

Table 1. Mass layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance, New York State, selected sectors, annual totals

Industry	Mass layoff events				Initial claims for unemployment insurance
	2009	2010	2011	2012	2009	2010	2011	2012
Total, all industries(1)	1,367	1,121	1,096	1,251	144,247	125,909	119,398	141,137
Total private	1,318	1,068	1,021	1,171	137,942	118,012	107,583	130,219
Total private nonfarm	1,318	1,068	1,021	1,171	137,942	118,012	107,583	130,219
Mining quarrying and oil and gas extraction	6	5	(2)	(2)	612	364	(2)	(2)
Mining except oil and gas	5	5	(2)	(2)	538	364	(2)	(2)
Construction	169	158	140	132	12,513	12,466	11,035	10,215
Construction of buildings	19	13	16	10	1,293	869	1,182	724
Heavy and civil engineering construction	36	46	31	28	2,752	3,473	2,370	1,933
Specialty trade contractors	114	99	93	94	8,468	8,124	7,483	7,558
Manufacturing	206	113	104	93	20,671	13,185	9,212	9,603
Food	17	16	20	18	1,837	1,752	1,797	2,020
Beverage and tobacco products	(2)	3	(2)	(2)	(2)	160	(2)	(2)
Apparel	11	5	6	8	969	352	408	786
Paper	16	(2)	(2)	(2)	1,282	(2)	(2)	(2)
Printing and related support activities	11	7	10	5	888	491	713	369
Petroleum and coal products	7	5	6	5	546	437	525	514
Chemicals	12	6	(2)	5	1,117	583	(2)	426
Nonmetallic mineral products	15	9	4	(2)	1,380	620	377	(2)
Primary metals	15	7	(2)	(2)	1,722	576	(2)	(2)
Fabricated metal products	8	3	(2)	(2)	728	384	(2)	(2)
Machinery	19	13	8	(2)	1,811	3,504	738	(2)
Computer and electronic products	15	6	6	9	1,188	725	578	933
Electrical equipment and appliances	13	(2)	4	(2)	2,613	(2)	407	(2)
Transportation equipment	25	19	14	12	2,441	2,216	1,651	1,364
Furniture and related products	8	4	(2)	3	706	318	(2)	249
Miscellaneous manufacturing	6	(2)	(2)	6	636	(2)	(2)	721
Wholesale trade	27	14	7	10	2,370	1,091	682	976
Merchant wholesalers durable goods	17	9	6	6	1,690	789	630	565
Merchant wholesalers nondurable goods	9	4	(2)	4	614	221	(2)	411
Retail trade	59	48	51	90	6,231	5,216	4,663	8,827
Furniture and home furnishings stores	3	(2)	-	-	241	(2)	-	-
Electronics and appliance stores	6	(2)	(2)	(2)	558	(2)	(2)	(2)
Building material and garden supply stores	7	(2)	(2)	6	911	(2)	(2)	835
Food and beverage stores	8	(2)	3	12	576	(2)	217	873
Health and personal care stores	(2)	(2)	6	9	(2)	(2)	501	629
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	9	(2)	7	15	739	(2)	537	1,641
Sporting goods hobby book and music stores	3	(2)	6	(2)	211	(2)	647	(2)
General merchandise stores	15	15	16	29	1,895	2,347	1,516	3,356
Miscellaneous store retailers	(2)	(2)	-	3	(2)	(2)	-	239
Nonstore retailers	(2)	(2)	3	6	(2)	(2)	213	379
Transportation and warehousing	246	220	250	278	35,457	31,544	31,858	35,209
Transit and ground passenger transportation	224	206	237	264	32,952	30,224	30,734	33,971
Scenic and sightseeing transportation	4	(2)	(2)	(2)	328	(2)	(2)	(2)
Couriers and messengers	5	4	(2)	(2)	920	368	(2)	(2)
Information	65	39	41	46	5,928	3,994	3,926	4,742
Publishing industries except Internet	16	4	5	(2)	1,246	265	367	(2)
Motion picture and sound recording industries	29	24	28	35	3,004	2,861	2,967	3,929
Broadcasting, except Internet	12	8	(2)	(2)	976	554	(2)	(2)
Telecommunications	6	(2)	(2)	(2)	568	(2)	(2)	(2)
Finance and insurance	65	26	22	30	6,266	2,059	2,203	2,515
Credit intermediation and related activities	27	16	13	15	2,904	1,399	1,133	1,256
Securities commodity contracts investments	29	6	6	8	2,730	385	576	711
Insurance carriers and related activities	9	(2)	(2)	(2)	632	(2)	(2)	(2)
Real estate and rental and leasing	6	6	(2)	(2)	1,016	1,068	(2)	(2)
Real estate	(2)	6	(2)	(2)	(2)	1,068	(2)	(2)
Management of companies and enterprises	6	(2)	(2)	(2)	519	(2)	(2)	(2)
Professional and technical services	69	48	46	37	6,040	5,429	4,757	3,616
Administrative and waste services	117	110	97	124	10,578	9,319	8,505	10,779
Administrative and support services	110	105	91	117	9,963	9,023	8,046	10,287
Waste management and remediation services	(2)	(2)	6	7	(2)	(2)	459	492
Educational services	29	31	32	48	5,270	5,388	5,562	7,121
Health care and social assistance	50	54	53	80	3,548	4,401	4,115	7,092
Ambulatory health care services	7	(2)	(2)	10	486	(2)	(2)	893
Hospitals	13	11	7	18	968	1,183	510	1,846
Nursing and residential care facilities	(2)	3	(2)	9	(2)	177	(2)	1,041
Social assistance	28	36	35	43	1,935	2,788	2,728	3,312
Arts entertainment and recreation	54	54	48	47	4,643	5,041	5,200	4,591
Performing arts and spectator sports	45	41	37	35	4,015	3,728	3,610	3,358
Museums historical sites zoos and parks	3	(2)	(2)	3	191	(2)	(2)	367
Amusements gambling and recreation	6	11	9	9	437	1,137	1,417	866
Accommodation and food services	122	119	104	133	13,624	13,999	12,516	14,679
Accommodations	27	21	12	21	2,481	1,622	1,090	1,508
Food services and drinking places	95	98	92	112	11,143	12,377	11,426	13,171
Other services except public administration	21	17	18	13	2,599	1,721	2,295	1,561
Repair and maintenance	4	(2)	(2)	-	269	(2)	(2)	-
Personal and laundry services	15	12	12	9	2,175	1,329	1,587	1,259
Membership associations and organizations	(2)	3	4	4	(2)	236	360	302
Government	49	53	75	80	6,305	7,897	11,815	10,918
Federal	5	7	10	9	530	707	791	612
State	11	9	13	14	964	646	1,063	2,659
Local	33	37	52	57	4,811	6,544	9,961	7,647
Footnotes: (1) Total includes all industries including those not listed in the table. (2) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
NOTE: Dash represents zero.

Last Modified Date: April 15, 2013

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