May 30, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs in April

Employers initiated 1,576 mass layoff actions in April 2003, 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 161,095.

[Chart data—TXT]

Compared with April 2002, the number of layoff events increased slightly, while the number of workers involved declined. April 2003 marked the 11th consecutive month the number of mass layoff initial claims declined over the year. From January through April 2003, the total number of events, at 6,460, and initial claims, at 624,401, were lower than in January-April 2002 (6,496 and 730,002, respectively).

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for April 2003 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see news release USDL 03-261, "Mass Layoffs in April 2003" (PDF) (TXT).