February 10, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Separations due to mass layoffs, 2005

For all of 2005, employers reported 4,780 extended mass layoff actions affecting 851,997 workers, down from 993,909 separations in 2004.

[Chart data—TXT]

The total number of separations for 2005 was the lowest for any year since annual totals became available in 1996. Compared to the peak level in 2001, the number of separations was down by 44 percent.

The Midwest reported more laid-off workers in 2005 than any other region. The Northeast region continued to report the lowest annual number of separations. Compared with 2004, three of the four geographic regions reported a decrease in laid-off workers, with the largest decline in the West. The South had the only over-the-year increase.

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Illinois reported the largest number of separated workers in 2005. After Illinois were California, New York, and Florida. These four states accounted for 37 percent of separations in 2005. California had the largest over-the-year decline in the number of separations; Louisiana recorded the largest over-the-year increase.

These data come from the BLS Mass Layoff Statistics program. Learn more in "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2005 and Annual Averages for 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-226. Extended mass layoff events consist of fifty or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from an establishment during a 5-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days. Data for 2005 are preliminary.