Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release — 2013-01-25

Employers took 1,509 mass layoff actions in December involving 137,839 workers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events decreased by 240 from November, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 35,040. In December, 330 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector resulting in 35,211 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff data are identified using administrative data sources without regard to layoff duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this release.) The national unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in December, unchanged from the prior month and down from 8.5 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 155,000 over the month and by 1,835,000 over the year.