Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release — 2012-09-21

Employers took 1,267 mass layoff actions in August involving 127,454 workers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Data are seasonally adjusted.) Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events in August decreased by 73 from July, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 9,966. Year-to-date mass layoff events (10,692) and initial claims (1,032,764) both recorded their lowest figures for a January-August period since 2007. In August, 314 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector resulting in 38,667 initial claims. Mass layoff data are identified using administrative data sources without regard to layoff duration. (See table 1 and the note at the end of this release.) The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in August, down from 8.3 percent the prior month and from 9.1 percent a year earlier.