July 2000 — 2000-09-28

In July 2000, there were 1,333 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 164,978. (See table 1.) The number of layoffs events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the lowest for the month of July since this series began in April 1995. From January through July 2000, the total number of layoff events (8,803) and the total number of initial claimants (984,523) were lower than in January-July 1999. The monthly data series in this release cover mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs.