First Quarter — 1997-07-15

In January through March of 1997, there were 993 mass layoff actions by employers, resulting in the separation of 189,283 workers from their jobs for more than 30 days, according to preliminary figures released today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Preliminary figures may not include all states.) A year earlier, employers reported that they had laid off 250,718 workers in 1,354 extended layoff events. "Seasonal work" was the major reason cited for the first quarter 1997 layoffs and accounted for one-third of the events and separations. "Contract completion," "slack work," and "reorganization within the company" were cited next most often and together accounted for about 37 percent of the events and separations. Closure of worksites occurred in 23 percent of all events and directly affected over 57,800 workers.