Extended Mass Layoffs In The First Quarter Of 2006 — 2006-05-11

In the first quarter of 2006, employers took 892 mass layoff actions in the private nonfarm sector that resulted in the separation of 161,686 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply lower than during January-March 2005, with both events and separations at their lowest levels for any first quarter since data collection began in 1995. (See table A.) The over-the-year declines were most notable in administrative and support services, nonstore retailers, and food manufacturing. Extended mass layoffs that involve the movement of work within the same company or to a different company, either domestically or outside the U.S., occurred in 8 percent of the nonseasonal layoff events and worker separations.