In May 2006, employers took 1,074 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported June 22. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 109,858, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The number of layoff events declined by 74, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 8,646 from April 2006. In the manufacturing sector, 293 mass layoff events were reported during May 2006, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 42,006 initial claims. Both figures were lower than a month earlier.
In May 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, compared with 4.7 percent in April 2006 and 5.1 percent in May 2005. Total non-farm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 75,000 from April to May 2006 and by 1.9 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 29,094 initial claims in May, 34 percent of the total. Temporary help services, with 8,156 initial claims, and food service contractors, with 5,078 claims, together accounted for 16 percent of all initial claims in May.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 22 percent of all mass layoff events and 28 percent of all initial claims filed in May; a year earlier, manufacturing comprised 25 percent of events and 30 percent of initial claims. In May 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (7,657, mostly automotive-related), followed by food manufacturing (3,335).
