Mass Layoffs In October 2002 — 2002-11-26

Employers initiated 1,497 mass layoff actions in October 2002, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to 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 171,088. (See table 1.) Almost 10 percent of the initial claims in October 2002 (16,548) were in the temporary help services industry. In October 2001, which included the initial direct and indirect effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks, there were 1,831 mass layoff events involving 215,483 workers. In January through October 2002, both the total number of events, 15,649, and initial claims, 1,740,828, were lower than in January-October 2001 (16,306 and 1,950,013, respectively). 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.