U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mountain-Plains Information Office

MASS LAYOFFS IN MISSOURI – 2010 ANNUAL TOTALS (PDF)

Employers in Missouri took 420 mass layoff actions in 2010 that resulted in the separation of 32,586 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. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the number of claims in 2010 was the second-lowest recorded in the State since 1996 when annual data first became available. Only one year earlier, in 2009, initial claims had totaled 54,046, third highest count on record.

Chart 1. Mass layoff initial claims, Missouri, annual totals, 2005 - 2010

Industry distribution

Of all the industry sectors in Missouri, manufacturing experienced the most mass layoff events in 2010 with 95. (See table 1.) This sector also had the largest number of initial claimants at 7,817, accounting for 24.0 percent of the State's total. (See chart 1.) Even though manufacturing accounted for the largest number of Missouri's initial claimants in 2010, it was the lowest recorded for this industry since the inception of the series in 1996. Construction had the second-highest mass layoff count, 53, but the 3,150 associated claims for unemployment insurance ranked fourth in the State; even so, this industry reached a series high in claims in 2010. (See table A.) Accommodation and food services, with 45 events, ranked second in claims with 4,234, followed by retail trade with 3,262 claims.

Manufacturing had the largest decrease in mass layoff-related claims from 2009 to 2010 with a decline of 17,597, followed by transportation and warehousing (-1,850), finance and insurance (-1,102), and administrative and waste services (-996). All four of these industries had posted increases from 2008 to 2009. (See table B.)

On a percentage basis, finance and insurance experienced the largest decrease in annual claims from 2009 to 2010, down 74.1 percent, followed by manufacturing, down 69.2 percent.

Nine industry sectors registered increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoff events in 2010. Two of these sectors, local government and state government, recorded the highest numbers of initial claims since publication began. Local government had 1,250 claims and the state government, 547. Two additional sectors—retail trade (3,262 claims) and information (834 claims)—reported the second-highest levels in the history of these series.

Among the states, California recorded the greatest number of initial claims during 2010 with 419,809, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Florida. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in total initial claims for the year. The largest declines in claims occurred in California (-112,219) and Illinois (-102,218).

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.

Additional information

For personal assistance or further information on the Mass Layoffs program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mountain-Plains Information Office at 816-285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

Last Modified Date: May 18, 2011

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