The national unemployment rate averaged 9.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in the second quarter of 2009, up from 5.2 percent a year earlier. Private nonfarm payroll employment, not seasonally adjusted, decreased by 5 percent (-5,607,000) over the year.
Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs
Manufacturing firms reported 932 extended mass layoff events involving 166,240 separations in the second quarter of 2009. The number of events in manufacturing reached a second quarter program high, while associated worker separations for this industry sector were at its highest second quarter level since 1998 (with data available back to 1995). Manufacturing industries were responsible for 31 percent of private nonfarm extended layoff events and related separations in the second quarter of 2009. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 22 percent of events and 18 percent of separations. The largest numbers of separations within manufacturing were associated with transportation equipment manufacturing (57,136, mostly associated with automobile and light truck manufacturing) and machinery manufacturing (18,096). Six of the 21 manufacturing industry sub-sectors reached second quarter program highs in terms of the numbers of separations - printing and related support activities; plastics and rubber products; nonmetallic mineral products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; and machinery.
In the second quarter of 2009, seven major industry sectors reported second quarter program highs in terms of the number of worker separations - mining; construction; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; real estate and rental and leasing; health care and social assistance; and accommodation and food services.
Reasons for Extended Layoffs
Among the seven categories of economic reasons for extended mass layoffs, business demand factors accounted for 45 percent of the events and 38 percent of separations during the second quarter of 2009, this was up from 32 percent of events and 23 percent of separations in the same period a year earlier. Separations related to business demand factors more than doubled over the year from 79,925 to 202,151, a second quarter program high for this reason category. Within the business demand category, employers citing slack work/insufficient demand/nonseasonal business slowdown had the largest over-the-year increase in separations (+92,546),largely in transportation equipment manufacturing.
Extended mass layoffs stemming from financial issues sharply increased from 120 events associated with 27,999 separations in the second quarter of 2008 to 264 events and 68,017 separations in the second quarter of 2009. Manufacturing accounted for the largest number of separations due to financial issues, mostly in transportation equipment manufacturing.
Movement of Work
Ninety-nine extended mass layoffs involved the movement of work and were associated with 18,242 separated workers in the second quarter of 2009. A year earlier, there were 71 layoff events and 12,317 separations associated with the movement of work. Movement of work layoffs accounted for 4 percent of nonseasonal layoff events in the second quarter of 2009. Sixty percent of movement of work layoff events involved the permanent closure of worksites--affecting 11,647 workers - compared to 9 percent of total layoff events.
Sixty-four percent of extended mass layoff events and 56 percent of the laid-off workers related to the movement of work were from manufacturing industries. In comparison, manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of events and separations in the total private nonfarm economy. Employers cited an organizational change or a business demand reason in most extended layoff events involving movement of work. Among the regions, the largest proportions of workers affected by movement of work were in the West (31 percent) and Midwest(30 percent).
The 99 extended layoff events with movement of work for the second quarter of 2009 involved 137 identifiable relocation of work actions, of which employers were able to provide more complete separations information for 86 of the actions. In these 86 actions, 91 percent involved work moving within the same company, while 79 percent were domestic reassignments.
Recall Expectations
Thirty-eight percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the second quarter of 2009 indicated they anticipated some type of recall,
down from 51 percent a year earlier and the lowest second quarter proportion in program history (with data available back to 1995). Of those employers expecting to recall workers, 41 percent indicated that the offer would be extended to all displaced employees, and 79 percent of employers anticipated extending the offer to at least half of the workers, the lowest proportions on record for a second quarter.
Seventy-seven percent of employers expecting to recall laid-off employees intend to do so within 6 months. Excluding layoff events due to seasonal work and vacation period, in which 95 percent of the employers expected a recall, employers anticipated recalling laid-off workers in 22 percent of the events.
Size of Extended Layoffs
The average size of a layoff (as measured by separations per layoff event) in the second quarter of 2009 was 179, compared to 202 per layoff in second quarter 2008. Three of 18 major industry sectors registered average layoff sizes of 250 or more workers per event in the second quarter - accommodation and food services (256 workers), utilities (255 workers), and professional and technical services (253 workers). Among the seven categories of economic reasons for extended mass layoffs, financial issues recorded the largest average size of layoff in the second quarter of 2009, at 258 workers per event.
Layoff events continued to be concentrated at the lower end of the extended layoff-size spectrum, with 45 percent of events involving between 50 and 99 workers and 68 percent of events with less than 150 workers. Layoffs involving between 50 and 99 workers accounted for 18 percent of all separations during the period, and layoffs with less than 150 separated workers accounted for 32 percent. These proportions are up from 14 and 28 percent respectively from a year earlier. Separations involving 500 or more workers accounted for 31 percent of all separations in the second quarter of 2009, down from 37 percent a year earlier.
Initial Claimant Characteristics
A total of 506,533 initial claimants for unemployment insurance were associated with extended mass layoffs in the second quarter of 2009. Of these claimants, 15 percent were black, 15 percent were Hispanic, 41 percent were women, 34 percent were 30 to 44 years of age, and 21 percent were 55 years of age or older. Among persons in the civilian labor force for the same period, 11 percent were black, 14 percent were Hispanic, 47 percent were women, 33 percent were age 30 to 44, and 19 percent were 55 years of age or older.
Geographic Distribution
Among the 4 census regions, the West (173,840) and the Midwest (171,053) recorded the highest numbers of separations due to extended mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009. All regions reported second quarter program highs in terms of the numbers of worker separations (with data availble back to 1995). Among the 9 census divisions, the highest numbers of separations during the second quarter of 2009 were in the Pacific (141,608) and East North Central (133,588). Five divisions reported second quarter program highs in terms of the numbers of separations - the Middle Atlantic, East South Central, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific.
California recorded the largest number of worker separations (116,207), followed by Ohio (42,578) and Illinois (42,325). After excluding the impact of seasonal reasons, California still reported the highest number of job cuts (104,761). Fourteen states reported second quarter program highs in terms of numbers of separations -Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Eighty percent of the initial claimants associated with extended mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009 resided within metropolitan areas, about the same as a year earlier (81 percent). Among the 372 metropolitan areas, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., reported the highest number of resident initial claimants (31,813) associated with extended mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009. Next were Chicago-Naperville-Joliet,Ill.-Ind.-Wis., with 20,922 resident claimants, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., with 19,891 resident claimants, and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., with 19,193 resident claimants. In the second quarter of 2009, Peoria, Ill., and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., entered the list of the 10 metro-politan areas with the most resident initial claimants associated with extended mass layoffs, replacing Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla., and St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., which were on the list in the second quarter of 2008.
