December 22, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs up in November

In November 2006, employers took 1,208 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. The number of mass layoff events increased by 37 from the prior month.

[Chart data—TXT]

Each mass layoff action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 136,415, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of associated initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits increased by 22,691 from October.

During November, 415 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 60,827 initial claims. Both the number of events and the number of initial claims in manufacturing were higher in November than a month earlier.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs in November 2006," news release USDL 06-2100.