July 21, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs by industry, June 2006

As summer officially began, school and employee bus transportation, food service contractors, and elementary and secondary schools were the three industries with the highest number of initial claims for unemployment compensation due to mass layoffs in June 2006.

Mass layoff initial claims, June 2006, selected industries
[Chart data—TXT]

School and employee bus transportation registered 18,267 initial claims, food service contractors recorded 11,707, and elementary and secondary schools accounted for 11,029—together, these three industries accounted for 25 percent of all initial claims in June.

Government establishments accounted for 12 percent of initial claims filed in June, largely in educational services as the school year ended.

These data are from the BLS Mass Layoff Statistics program. Learn more about mass layoff actions and workers filing for unemployment insurance benefits in "Mass Layoffs in June 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1235. Initial claimants are persons who file any notice of unemployment to initiate a request for compensation. Mass layoff events involve at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed against a single establishment.