Florida second in the nation in mass layoffs for October

Florida had 91 mass layoff actions during the month of October, the second highest number in the nation, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics summary released Tuesday.

The Bureau summary also indicates that Florida had the second highest number (more than 6,500) of initial claimants for unemployment insurance in October, behind only California.

The summary shows that California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in October, “followed by Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains that “each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer.”

Florida’s total number of not seasonally adjusted mass layoff actions is up from 69 such actions during the month of September, and  78 during August. According to the Bureau, “seasonal adjustment eliminates the influence of recurring calendar-related events such as weather, holidays, and the opening and closing of schools.”

The Bureau study shows that across the U.S. “employers took 1,353 mass layoff actions in October involving 118,689 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits.” This number shows a drop compared to August and September of this year.

It also adds that 16 “of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decreases occurring in construction and manufacturing.”

Associated General Contractors of America reported Tuesday that Florida lost almost 5,000 construction jobs over the month of October. The data also shows that Florida has lost almost 12,000 jobs, “the second-highest number of job losses,” in the industry over the last 12 months.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity data indicates that the number of jobs in the manufacturing industry rose less than 1 percent from October 2010 through October 2011.

The Department of Economic Opportunity (.pdf) numbers show that the state’s unemployment rate fell to 10.3 percent in the month of October, a 0.3 precent drop compared with September. The state added 9,500 jobs in October; 7,900 of those jobs were added in the administrative and waste services sector, which is part of the professional and business services sector that added almost 11,000 jobs.