February 14, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Extended mass layoffs up sharply in 2001

Employers reported 8,191 extended mass layoff actions in 2001, up from 5,620 in 2000. A total of 1,695,335 workers were separated from their jobs in 2001 as a result of extended mass layoffs.

[Chart data—TXT]

In the private sector, manufacturing accounted for 41 percent of all mass layoff events and 37 percent of all separations that occurred during 2001.

Layoffs in the durable goods sector were most prevalent in electronic and other electrical equipment, primarily in printed circuit boards and in semiconductors and related devices. In the nondurable goods sector, food and kindred products accounted for 71,547 separated workers, mostly in canned and frozen fruits and vegetables.

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. Data for 2001 are preliminary. Additional information is available in the "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2001", news release USDL 02-79.