October 2001 — 2001-11-30

In October 2001, there were 1,816 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 212,695. (See table 1.) The number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were the highest for the month of October since the series began in April 1995. Over the January-October 2001 period, the total number of events, at 16,221, and initial claims, at 1,935,871, were substantially higher than in January-October 2000, at 11,364 and 1,292,335, respectively. The BLS also tabulated data through October 13 on the direct and indirect effects of the September 11 attacks on plant closings and mass layoffs lasting more than 30 days. See page 2.