In March, 15 of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in initial claimants for unemployment insurance due to mass layoff events, led by manufacturing (-85,002, on a not seasonally adjusted basis). This is according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Within manufacturing, the number of claimants in March 2010 was greatest in transportation equipment and food. Of the 21 manufacturing subsectors, 19 experienced over-the-year reductions in initial claims, led by transportation equipment (-18,884) and machinery (-5,708).
This data is from the Mass Layoffs Statistics program and is not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs — March 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0492. Each mass layoff event involves at least 50 people from a single employer.
