Mass layoffs in September 2012

October 24, 2012

State distribution: Initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted

	Sept. 2012	Sept. 2011
Alabama	1,396	1,419
Alaska	1	532
Arizona	207	678
Arkansas	598	825
California	16,581	33,690
Colorado	307	680
Connecticut	200	242
Delaware	0	null
District of Columbia	0	null
Florida	3,549	4,538
Georgia	1,477	3,256
Hawaii	296	1
Idaho	1	365
Illinois	2,481	5,092
Indiana	1,317	2,179
Iowa	919	741
Kansas	798	334
Kentucky	1,556	2,202
Louisiana	2,039	1,554
Maine	0	194
Maryland	919	617
Massachusetts	418	617
Michigan	1,808	2,186
Minnesota	507	419
Mississippi	910	521
Missouri	1,908	1,520
Montana	1	228
Nebraska	1	578
Nevada	574	1,274
New Hampshire	0	null
New Jersey	2,156	3,922
New Mexico	null	null
New York	4,140	7,664
North Carolina	3,622	5,449
North Dakota	null	0
Ohio	2,532	4,985
Oklahoma	1	372
Oregon	632	1,178
Pennsylvania	5,026	12,300
Puerto Rico	446	2,823
Rhode Island	170	0
South Carolina	758	1,944
South Dakota	null	0
Tennessee	1	846
Texas	3,485	4,470
Utah	1	329
Vermont	0	537
Virginia	2,615	569
Washington	1,082	1,006
West Virginia	0	null
Wisconsin	1,742	3,851
Wyoming	0	0

Employers took 811 mass layoff actions involving 70,570 workers in September 2012, not seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. This was down from a year earlier when employers took 1,189 mass layoff actions, involving 117,232 workers.

State distribution: Initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted

Mouse over states to change chart data. Click on a state for more about employment and unemployment.

State distribution: Initial claimants for unemployment insurance, not seasonally adjusted

	Sept. 2012	Sept. 2011
Alabama	1,396	1,419
Alaska	1	532
Arizona	207	678
Arkansas	598	825
California	16,581	33,690
Colorado	307	680
Connecticut	200	242
Delaware	0	null
District of Columbia	0	null
Florida	3,549	4,538
Georgia	1,477	3,256
Hawaii	296	1
Idaho	1	365
Illinois	2,481	5,092
Indiana	1,317	2,179
Iowa	919	741
Kansas	798	334
Kentucky	1,556	2,202
Louisiana	2,039	1,554
Maine	0	194
Maryland	919	617
Massachusetts	418	617
Michigan	1,808	2,186
Minnesota	507	419
Mississippi	910	521
Missouri	1,908	1,520
Montana	1	228
Nebraska	1	578
Nevada	574	1,274
New Hampshire	0	null
New Jersey	2,156	3,922
New Mexico	null	null
New York	4,140	7,664
North Carolina	3,622	5,449
North Dakota	null	0
Ohio	2,532	4,985
Oklahoma	1	372
Oregon	632	1,178
Pennsylvania	5,026	12,300
Puerto Rico	446	2,823
Rhode Island	170	0
South Carolina	758	1,944
South Dakota	null	0
Tennessee	1	846
Texas	3,485	4,470
Utah	1	329
Vermont	0	537
Virginia	2,615	569
Washington	1,082	1,006
West Virginia	0	null
Wisconsin	1,742	3,851
Wyoming	0	0

[Chart data]

Among the census regions, the South registered the largest number of initial claims resulting from mass layoffs in September. Three of the four regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in the West.

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in September, followed by Pennsylvania and New York. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by California and Pennsylvania.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. For more information, see "Mass Layoffs — September 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-2120. Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer.