October 23, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoff actions in September 2008

In September, employers took 2,269 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. The number of mass layoff events this September increased by 497 from the prior month.

[Chart data—TXT]

Layoff events reached their highest level since September 2001, a month that experienced substantial layoff activity due to the September 11 attacks. The effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike contributed to the higher September 2008 layoff activity.

Each mass layoff action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer; in September 2008, the number of workers involved totaled 235,681. Mass layoff initial claims reached their highest level since September 2005, which was a month with high layoff activity due to Hurricane Katrina.

From January through September 2008, the total number of events, at 14,811, and initial claims, at 1,510,446, were the highest for the January-September period since 2003 and 2002, respectively.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs in September 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1497.