Recall Expectations
Forty-three percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the third quarter of 2004 indicated they anticipated some type of recall. This compares with 32 percent of the employers anticipating a recall a year earlier. Most of the employers not expecting a recall were in administrative and support services, credit intermediation and related activities, and food services and drinking places.Among establishments expecting a recall, most employers expected to recall over one-half of the separated employees and to do so within 6 months. Forty-seven percent of the employers expected to extend the offer to all laid-off workers, the highest proportion for a third quarter since 2000.
Excluding layoff events due to seasonal work and vacation period (in which 98 percent of the employers expected a recall), employers expected to recall laid-off workers in 27 percent of the events. A year earlier 21 percent of employers expected a recall in nonseasonal and nonvacation events. In layoff events due to internal company restructuring, employers anticipated a recall in only 4 percent of the events.
Size of Extended Layoff
Layoff events during the third quarter continued to be concentrated at the lower end of the extended layoff-size spectrum, with 66 percent involving fewer than 150 workers. These events, however, accounted for only 34 percent of all separations. Separations involving 500 or more workers accounted for 24 percent of all separations, down from 32 percent a year earlier. The average size of layoffs (as measured by separations per layoff event) differed widely by industry, ranging from a low of 78 separations in furniture and home furnishings stores to a high of 363 in credit intermediation and related activities.
Initial Claimant Characteristics
A total of 101,456 initial claimants for unemployment insurance were associated with extended mass layoffs in the third quarter of 2004. Of these claimants, 17 percent were black, 16 percent were Hispanic, 49 percent were women, and 17 percent were 55 years of age or older. Thirty-six percent of claimants were 30 to 44 years of age. Among the civilian labor force for the same period, 11 percent were black, 13 percent were Hispanic, 46 percent were women, and 16 percent were 55 years of age or older. Thirty-five percent of the civilian labor force were ages 30 to 44.
