In February, employers took 1,570 mass layoff actions that resulted in the separation of 155,718 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. This is according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of mass layoff events in February fell by 191 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 26,543. Both events and initial claims have decreased in five out of the last six months.
In February, 376 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 43,100 initial claims. In not seasonally adjusted terms, the manufacturing sector accounted for 24 percent of all mass layoff events and 30 percent of initial claims filed in February 2010. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 42 percent of events and 47 percent of initial claims.
During the 27 months from December 2007 through February 2010, the total number of mass layoff events was 55,309, and the associated number of initial claims was 5,580,819.
This data is from the Mass Layoffs Statistics program. December 2007 was the start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Each action involved at least 50 people from a single employer. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs—February 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL–10–0362.
