April 1999 — 1999-08-11

In April 1999, there were 1,250 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor�s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 161,269. The number of layoff events was about the same as a year earlier, but the number of initial claimants for unemployment insurance was higher in April 1999 than in April 1998. (See table 1.) The monthly series in this release covers mass layoffs of 50 or more workers beginning in a given month, regardless of the duration of the layoffs.