November 24, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs and initial claims in October 2009

Employers took 2,127 mass layoff actions in October that resulted in the separation of 217,182 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month.

[Chart data]

The number of mass layoff events in October decreased by 434 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 30,824. Over the year, the number of mass layoff events decreased by 77, and associated initial claims decreased by 13,148.

Year-to-date mass layoff events (25,872) and initial claims (2,627,390) both recorded program highs.

In October, 619 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 70,572 initial claims. Over the month, the number of manufacturing events decreased by 237, and associated initial claims decreased by 26,494.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. To learn more, see “Mass Layoffs—October 2009” (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-1404.

 

For citation purposes, this TED article is archived at:
www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/ted_20091124.htm