Extended Mass Layoffs In The Third Quarter Of 2002 — 2002-11-13

In the third quarter of 2002, 1,309 mass layoff actions were taken by employers that resulted in the separation of 284,154 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the third consecutive quarter, both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were lower than in the same quarter a year earlier. (See table A.) The decline from third quarter 2001 was most notable in air transportation and in hotels and motels. For the first three quarters of 2002, the number of worker separations totaled 1,050,546, down from 1,209,243 during the same period in 2001. Layoffs due to internal company restructuring accounted for 29 percent of events and resulted in 89,071 separations, the highest for a third quarter on record. The completion of seasonal work accounted for 23 percent of all events and 84,499 separations.