Mass Layoffs In January 2005 — 2005-02-24

In January 2005, employers took 1,457 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 150,990, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events rose by 246 from December and was the highest for any month since January 2004. The number of initial claims due to mass layoff actions grew by 31,341 over the month and was the highest for any month since October 2003. There were 379 mass layoff events in the manufacturing sector during January 2005, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 58,908 initial claims, both higher than a month earlier. The number of mass layoff events and initial claims reached their respective highs, on a seasonally adjusted basis, of 2,409 and 277,214 in September 2001.