October 2000 — 2000-12-05

In October 2000, there were 874 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 103,755. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claims for unemployment insurance were the lowest for the month of October since the series began in 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. (October 2000 contained 4 weeks that ended in the month compared with 5 weeks in each of the prior three Octobers. See Technical Note.) From January through October 2000, the total number of layoff events (11,364) was slightly lower than in January-October 1999, while the total number of initial claims (1,292,335) was somewhat higher.