Mass Layoffs In August 2006 — 2006-09-21

In August 2006, employers took 1,193 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 127,944, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of layoff events increased by 68, and the number of associated initial claims rose by 13,049 from July 2006. In the manufacturing sector, 357 mass layoff events were reported during August 2006, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 59,256 initial claims. The number of events in manufacturing was lower than a month earlier, while the number of initial claims increased. (See table 1.) In August 2006, the national unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, season- ally adjusted, essentially unchanged from July 2006 and down from 4.9 per- cent in August 2005.