January 30, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Layoffs in 2001

During 2001, 21,345 layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting in 2,496,784 initial claims filings for unemployment insurance.

[Chart data—TXT]

Both the number of events and the number of initial claimants were the highest in the nearly 7-year history of the program.

Manufacturing accounted for 42 percent of all mass layoff events and 49 percent of initial claims filed during 2001, the largest annual shares to date. Initial claim filings were most numerous in transportation equipment (256,703), followed by electronic and other electrical equipment (167,125) and industrial machinery and equipment (146,265).

The number of initial claims filed in 2001 due to mass layoffs was higher in the Midwest (841,597) than any other region. Layoffs in transportation equipment, industrial machinery and equipment, and electronic and other electrical equipment accounted for 39 percent of the claims in the Midwest. The fewest number of mass-layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast region (340,246). 

These data are products of the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for 2001 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see news release USDL 02-44, Mass Layoffs in December 2001.