Fourth Quarter — 1997-05-09

In October through December of 1996, there were 1,802 mass layoff actions by employers, resulting in the separation of 397,643 workers from their jobs for more than 30 days, according to preliminary figures released today by the U.S. Department of Labor�s Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Preliminary figures may not include all states.) A year earlier, employers reported that they had laid off 320,750 workers in 1,716 extended layoff events. "Seasonal work" was the major reason cited for the fourth- quarter 1996 layoffs and accounted for 50 percent of the events and 52 percent of the separations. "Slack work," "contract completion," and "reorganization within the company" were cited next most often and together accounted for about 30 percent of the events and separations. Closure of worksites occurred in 17 percent of all events and directly affected over 68,000 workers.