Bankrupting the Common People

Say Goodbye to Full-time Jobs with Benefits

June 4, 2010

CNNMoney - Jobs may be coming back, but they aren’t the same ones workers were used to.

Many of the jobs employers are adding are temporary or contract positions, rather than traditional full-time jobs with benefits. With unemployment remaining near 10%, employers have their pick of workers willing to accept less secure positions.

In 2005, the government estimated that 31% of U.S. workers were already so-called contingent workers. Experts say that number could increase to 40% or more in the next 10 years.

James Stoeckmann, senior practice leader at WorldatWork, a professional association of human resource executives, believes that full-time employees could become the minority of the nation's workforce within 20 to 30 years, leaving employees without traditional benefits such as health coverage, paid vacations and retirement plans, that most workers take for granted today ...

Mass Layoffs April 2010 Summary

May 21, 2010

Bureau of Labor Statistics - [Private] Employers took 1,856 mass layoff actions in April that resulted in the separation of 200,870 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. [Public Employers (federal, state and local) took 79 mass layoff actions in April resulting in the separation of 8,026 workers (see table 3).]


The number of mass layoff events in April increased by 228 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 50,006. In April, 448 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 63,616 initial claims. (See table 1.)

During the 29 months from December 2007 through April 2010, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 58,793, and the associated number of initial claims was 5,932,553. (December 2007 was the start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.)

The national unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in April 2010, seasonally adjusted, up from 9.7 percent the prior month and from 8.9 percent a year earlier. In April, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 290,000 over the month but was down by 1,381,000 from a year earlier.

Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,840 on a not seasonally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 199,690. (See table 2.) Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events decreased by 269, and associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 24,295.

Sixteen of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by manufacturing. (Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing numbers of weeks in a month. See the Technical Note.) However, the health care and social assistance industry and the real estate and rental and leasing industry reported program highs in terms of average weekly initial claims for the month of April.

The manufacturing sector accounted for 23 percent of all mass layoff events and 28 percent of initial claims filed in April 2010. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 35 percent of events and 39 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in April 2010 was greatest in transportation equipment and food. (See table 3.) All 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease in machinery manufacturing.

Table A. Industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims in April 2010, not seasonally adjusted:

The six-digit industry with the largest number of initial claims in April 2010 was school and employee bus transportation. (See table A.) Of the 10 detailed industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims, food service contractors and tax preparation services reached program highs for the month of April, irrespective of the number of weeks in the month. (Data begin in 1995.)

Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

All four regions and all nine divisions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims due to mass layoffs in April. Among the four census regions, the Midwest and South registered the largest over-the-year declines in average weekly initial claims. Of the nine geographic divisions, the East North Central and the South Atlantic had the largest over-
the-year declines.

California recorded the highest number of initial claims in April, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. (See table 6.) Forty-one states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by Illinois, New York, California, and Ohio. However, six states reached April program highs for average weekly initial claims in 2010: Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.

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