June 1998 — 1998-09-14

In June 1998, there were 1,208 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 183,590. Though the number of layoff events was lower than in June 1997, the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance was significantly higher than a year ago, mostly due to large strike-related layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs.