November 16, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Extended mass layoffs up sharply in third quarter

In the third quarter of 2001, there were 1,689 mass layoff actions by employers that resulted in the separation of 349,866 workers from their jobs for more than 30 days. Both the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were sharply higher than July-September 2000.

[Chart data—TXT]

This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of significant over-the-year increases in extended mass layoff activity. For the first three quarters of 2001, the number of worker separations totaled 1,171,572, up from 743,357 during the same period in 2000 and slightly more than the total for all of 2000 (1,170,423). 

For the third quarter of 2001, 143 events involving 55,000 workers were identified by employers as directly or indirectly attributed to the terrorist attacks of September 11. These represent reports by employers for layoff events that occurred during the weeks ending September 15, 22, and 29 and are included in the totals for the third quarter.

These data are a product of the Mass Layoff Statistics program. "Extended mass layoffs" last more than 30 days and involve 50 or more individuals from a single establishment filing initial claims for unemployment insurance during a consecutive 5-week period. Additional information is available in "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Third Quarter of 2001", news release USDL 01-425.