The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in March, essentially unchanged from 4.5 percent the prior month and down from 4.7 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 180,000 over the month and by 2.0 million over the year.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The 10 industries reporting the highest number of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 36 percent of the total initial claims in March. The industry with the highest number of initial claims was temporary help services with 9,217, followed by food service contractors with 7,636, and automobile manufacturing with 5,746. Together, these three industries accounted for 18 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs during the month.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff events and 40 percent of all related initial claims filed in March; a year
earlier, manufacturing made up 31 percent of events and 40 percent of initial claims. In March 2007, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (19,397, largely automobile manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (6,087) and wood product manufacturing (2,674).
Administrative and waste services accounted for 13 percent of mass layoff events and 12 percent of initial claims in March, mostly from temporary help services. Retail trade comprised 9 percent of events and initial claims filed over the month, with the majority of layoffs in general merchandise stores. Eight percent of all mass layoff events and 9 percent of related initial claims filed were from accommodation and food services, primarily from food service contractors. Construction made up 10 percent of events and 6 percent of associated initial claims, primarily from the heavy and civil engineering industry.
On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in March at 1,082, was up by 161 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 12,136 to 123,974. The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+4,439), general merchandise stores (+2,312), and professional and technical services (+1,972). The largest over-the-year decreases in mass layoff initial claims were reported in primary metal manufacturing (-1,691) and food manufacturing (-1,432).
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in March due to mass layoffs was in the West with 41,139. The administrative and support services, and motion picture and sound recording industries together accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The South had the second largest number of initial claims among the regions, 34,812, followed by the Midwest, 33,410, and the Northeast, 14,613.
The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs increased over the year in three of the four regions--the South (+13,811), the West (+3,838), and the Northeast (+1,658). The Midwest region experienced the only decrease (-7,171). Five geographic divisions had over-the-year increases in the number of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest increases in the East South Central (+10,418), the Pacific (+4,018), and the Middle Atlantic (+1,857). The division with the largest over-the-year decrease was the East North Central (-5,618).
Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in March (33,172), followed by Illinois (8,754), Kentucky (6,623), Michigan (6,508), and Wisconsin (5,585). These five states accounted for 49 percent of all mass layoff events and associated initial claims for unemployment insurance.
Mississippi had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+4,288). States having the next largest increases in initial claims were California (+3,645), Kentucky (+3,313), North Carolina (+3,137), and Alabama (+2,713). The largest over-the-year decreases in claims occurred in Michigan (-2,887) and Ohio (-2,512).
