Mass Layoffs (Monthly) News Release — 2011-01-27

Employers took 1,483 mass layoff actions in December involving 137,992 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance bene- fits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each mass layoff involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in December decreased by 96 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 10,808. The number of events reached its lowest level since April 2008. In December, 319 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 35,977 initial claims; both figures declined over the month. (See table 1.) The total number of mass layoff events in 2010, at 19,564, not seasonally adjust- ed, and initial claims, at 1,854,596, were lower than in 2009 when both events and claims reached their highest annual levels on record. (Data begin in 1996.