September 2001 — 2001-10-26

In September 2001, there were 1,316 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 sin- gle establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 158,859. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of September since the series began in April 1995. In January-September 2001, the total number of events, at 14,405, and initial claims, at 1,723,176, were substantially higher than in January-September 2000, at 10,490 and 1,188,580, respectively. The mass layoff data for September includes 3 weeks of initial claims filings that took place in the weeks that include and follow the terrorist attacks of September 11--the weeks ending September 15, 22, and 29.