May 31, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Initial claims due to mass layoffs down from year ago

Employers initiated 1,507 mass layoff actions in April 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 165,861.

[Chart data—TXT]

Compared with April 2001, the number of initial claims was down by 6 percent, while the number of layoff events had increased by 4 percent. This was the third consecutive month of over-the-year declines in initial claims due to mass layoffs. However, because of high levels in January 2002, the total number of events and initial claims was higher in January-April 2002 than in January-April 2001.

These data are products of the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Mass layoffs data for March and April 2002 are preliminary and subject to revision. For more information, see news release USDL 02-317, Mass Layoffs in April 2002.