March 2, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Fewer mass layoffs in 1999

There were 14,909 layoff events in 1999, involving a total of 1,572,399 initial claims for unemployment insurance in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. After increasing in 1997 and 1998, the number of layoffs and initial claimants returned to around 1997 levels.

[Chart data—TXT]

Manufacturing accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events in 1999 and 40 percent of initial claims filed. Initial claims filings were most numerous in transportation equipment (98,746) and industrial machinery and equipment (87,363).

The number of initial claims due to mass layoffs continued to be higher in the West (576,654) than in any other region. Layoffs in business services, agricultural services, and motion pictures accounted for 41 percent of the claims in the West. The fewest mass-layoff initial claims continued to be reported in the Northeast region (207,057).

These data are a product of the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Find out more in "Mass Layoffs in December 1999" (USDL 00-49). A mass layoff action involves at least 50 persons from a single establishment.