Extended Mass Layoffs (Quarterly) News Release — 2009-08-12

Employers initiated 2,994 mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009 that resulted in the separation of 534,881 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 numbers of extended mass layoff events and associated separations were record highs for a second quarter (with data available back to 1995). (See table A.) Second quarter program highs in the number of separations were re- corded in 7 of 18 major industry sectors, all four geographic regions, and fourteen states. Separations due to business demand reasons (es- pecially slack work/insufficient demand) set a second quarter program high, while separations for financial reasons reached its highest sec- ond quarter level since 2001.