February 2001 — 2001-03-29

In February 2001, there were 1,501 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 and the number of workers involved totaled 172,908. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claims for unem- ployment insurance were the highest for any February since the series began in April 1995. 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.