January 27, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs down again in 2004

During 2004, 15,980 mass layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting in 1,607,158 initial claims filings for unemployment insurance.

[Chart data—TXT]

The 2004 annual totals were lower than in the previous year (18,963 events and 1,888,926 initial claims). In addition, the annual total in 2004 for events was the lowest since 2000 and the total for initial claims was the lowest since 1999.

Manufacturing accounted for 29 percent of all mass layoff events and 35 percent of initial claims filed during 2004. These were the lowest shares of events and initial claims in manufacturing for any year which data are available. (The annual mass layoffs series extend back to 1996.)

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for 2004 are preliminary and subject to revision. See "Mass Layoffs in December 2004 and Annual Averages for 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-111, for more information.