Mass layoffs
bls.gov
In August 2004, employers took 809 mass layoff actions, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 69,033. (See table 1.) Both the number of events and initial claims were lower than a year ago. It should be noted that August 2004 contained 4 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 5 weeks in each August of the prior 3 years. (See the Tech- nical Note for an explanation of how the number of weeks for data collection can vary from month to month.) From January through August 2004, the total number of events, at 11,017, and of initial claims, at 1,118,574, were lower than in January-August 2003 (13,205 and 1,316,863, respectively).
Industry Distribution
The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass-layoff initial claims accounted for 23,342 initial claims in August, 34 percent of the total (See table A.) Temporary help services, with 4,978 initial claims, and school and employee bus transportation, with 4,718 initial claims, together accounted for 14 percent of all initial claims in August.
The manufacturing sector had 24 percent of all mass layoff events and 26 percent of all initial claims filed in August--the smallest shares for any August since 1995, when the monthly series began. A year ago, manufacturing reported 32 percent of events and 39 percent of initial claims. Within manu- facturing, the number of claimants was highest in transportation equipment (2,846, mainly automotive-related), followed by food processing (2,797) and fabricated metal products (2,031). (See table 2.)
The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 15 percent of events and initial claims filed in August, with layoffs mainly in temporary help services. Temporary help services, at 4,978 initial claims, accounted for more than 7 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in August. Twelve percent of all layoff events and 13 percent of initial claims filed during the month were in retail trade, primarily in general merchandise stores. Construction accounted for 9 percent of events and 8 percent of initial claims during the month, mainly among specialty trade contractors. Transportation and warehousing accounted for 6 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims, mostly in school and employee bus transportation. An additional 5 percent of events and 7 percent of initial claims were from the information sector, largely in motion picture and sound recording. |
