September 01, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Layoff events in July 2004

In July 2004, employers took 2,094 mass layoff actions, 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 253,929.

[Chart data—TXT]

Both the number of events and the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance were higher than a year ago. However, July 2004 contained 5 weeks for possible mass layoffs, compared with 4 weeks in July of each of the prior 4 years.

From January through July 2004, the total number of events, at 10,208, and of initial claims, at 1,049,541, were lower than in January-July 2003 (11,947 and 1,183,024, respectively).

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for June and July 2004 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see news release USDL 04-1712, "Mass Layoffs in July 2004" (PDF) (TXT).