Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release — 2010-03-23

Employers took 1,570 mass layoff actions in February that resulted in the sep- aration of 155,718 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 sin- gle employer. 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 5 out of the last 6 months. In February, 376 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 43,100 initial claims. Both figures declined over the month to their lowest levels since August 2007. (See table 1.) During the 27 months from December 2007 through February 2010, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 55,309, and the associated num- ber of initial claims was 5,580,819.