Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release — 2010-01-27

Employers took 1,726 mass layoff actions in December that resulted in the separation of 153,127 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new fil- ings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each action involved at least 50 per- sons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in December decreased by 87 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 10,696. Both figures reached their lowest level since July 2008. In December, 433 mass layoff events were reported in the manu- facturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 44,072 initial claims. Both figures decreased over the month to their lowest levels since November and August 2007, respectively. (See table 1.) During the 25 months from December 2007 through December 2009, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 51,978, and the as- sociated number of initial claims was 5,242,840.