February 28, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Extended mass layoffs idle 1.1 million in 2000

For all of 2000, there were 5,522 extended mass layoff actions resulting in 1,117,183 workers being separated from their jobs for more than 30 days in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

[Chart data—TXT]

Forty-four percent of all layoff events and separations in 2000 were due to the completion of seasonal work. These layoffs occurred in establishments primarily engaged in food production (agriculture and food and kindred products).

The number of workers separated due to internal company restructuring declined slightly from its peak in 1999 to 239,564 separations in 2000. 

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 the "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2000", news release USDL 01-47.