August 1998 — 1998-11-19

In August 1998, there were 553 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 49,070. Although the number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were lower this August than in 1997, this was due in part to a calendar effect. This year, 4 weeks of mass layoff activities were reported in August versus 5 weeks in 1997. (See Technical Note.) The total of layoff events from January through August 1998, at 10,148, was about the same as a year earlier (10,208), while the total number of initial claimants, at 1,123,952, was slightly higher than in January-August 1997 (1,072,104).