Fourth Quarter — 2000-03-23

In the fourth quarter of 1999, there were 1,571 mass layoff actions by employers that resulted in the separation of 310,954 workers from their jobs for more than 30 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply lower than in October-December 1998. (See table A.) For all of 1999, the total of extended mass layoff events, at 5,624, and the total number of worker separations, at 1,126,278, declined to pre-1998 levels. Additional information on the 1999 annual data is provided in the review of 1999 section beginning on page 4 of this release. The completion of seasonal work was the major reason cited for layoffs in the fourth quarter and accounted for 59 percent of all events and 60 percent of all separations. These percentages were the highest since the mass layoff program was resumed in the second quarter of 1995.