In the fourth quarter of 2004, 1,295 mass layoff actions were taken by employers that resulted in the separation of 236,637 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply lower than in October-December 2003, with separations at its lowest level for any fourth quarter since the program began in 1995. The declines over the year were most notable in food and beverage stores, administrative and support services, heavy and civil engineering construction, and transportation equipment manufacturing. Extended mass layoffs that involve the movement of work within the same company or to a different company, domestically or outside the U.S., occurred in about 11 percent of the nonseasonal layoff events and accounted for about 14 percent of the worker separations in nonseasonal events. Forty-eight percent of the employers anticipating a recall expected to extend the offer to all laid-off workers, the highest proportion for a fourth quarter since 2000.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, the national unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted; a year earlier it was 5.5 percent. Private nonfarm payroll employment, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 1.8 percent or about 2 million jobs from October-December 2003 to October-December 2004.
The completion of seasonal work accounted for 47 percent of all events and resulted in 118,684 separations during the period--the lowest level for any fourth quarter since 1999. Layoffs due to internal company restructuring (bankruptcy, business ownership change, financial difficulty, and reorganization) represented 15 percent of events and resulted in 36,266 separations, the lowest level for a fourth quarter since 1995. Permanent closure of worksites occurred in 12 percent of all events and affected 32,733 workers, the fewest number of workers for any fourth quarter.
For all of 2004, the total of extended mass layoff events was 4,879 and the total number of worker separations was 956,327. These annual totals were significantly lower than in 2003 (6,181 and 1,216,886, respectively). Since reaching a peak in 2001, the annual number of extended layoff events has fallen by 2,496, or 34 percent, and the number of separations has declined by 568,505, or 37 percent.
Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs
Extended mass layoff separations occurred in 356 of the 1,197 detailed industries for which data are available for the fourth quarter 2004. This is the fewest number of industries to have at least one extended mass layoff event in a fourth quarter since 1995.Manufacturing industries accounted for 31 percent of private nonfarm layoff events and 30 percent of separations during October-December 2004. The 69,922 worker separations in manufacturing were the fewest for manufacturing for any fourth quarter since the series began in 1995. In the fourth quarter of 2004, layoff activity in this sector was concentrated in food manufacturing (23,882) followed by transportation equipment manufacturing (7,939) and computer and electronic products manufacturing (4,679).
The construction sector had 29 percent of events and 23 percent of separations, mostly in heavy and civil engineering construction. Administrative and waste services accounted for 11 percent of private nonfarm layoff events and separations, primarily in temporary help services. Layoffs in the retail trade sector comprised 4 percent of events and 8 percent of separations, mostly among general merchandise stores and nonstore retailers. Layoffs in accommodation and food services accounted for 6 percent of events and 8 percent of separations, mainly in hotels and motels, except casino hotels.
Information technology-producing industries (communication equipment, communications services, computer hardware, and software and computer services) accounted for 4 percent of layoff events and 7,857 worker separations in the fourth quarter of 2004. A year earlier these industries accounted for 4 percent of layoff events and 15,318 separations. This also marked the fewest number of separations in this industry grouping for a fourth quarter since 1999. Layoffs in the information technology-producing industries were most numerous in communications services with 3,082 separations, followed by the computer hardware industry.
