November 2000 — 2001-01-09

In November 2000, there were 1,697 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; the number of workers involved totaled 216,514. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claims for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of November since the series began in 1995. From January through November 2000, the total number of layoff events (13,061) was slightly lower than in January-November 1999, while the total number of initial claims (1,508,849) was higher. 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.