September 27, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoff events in August

Employers initiated 1,247 mass layoff actions in August 2002, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 128,080.

[Chart data—TXT]

A year earlier, in August 2001, there were 1,490 mass layoff events involving 166,148 workers. Mass layoff initial claims in August are usually among the lowest for the year. 

From January through August 2002, both the total number of events, at 13,090, and initial claims, at 1,445,228, were lower than January-August 2001 (13,148 and 1,574,128, respectively).

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for August 2002 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see news release USDL 02-550, "Mass Layoffs in August 2002" (PDF) (TXT).