August 2001 — 2001-09-26

In August 2001, there were 1,474 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 163,263. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of August since the series began in April 1995, due, in part, to a calendar effect. (August 2001 contained 5 weeks that ended in the month compared with 4 weeks in each of the prior three Augusts.) In January-August 2001, the total number of events, at 13,089, and initial claims, at 1,564,317, were substantially higher than in January-August 2000, at 9,554 and 1,081,738, respectively.