February 26, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs by industry in January 2009

The manufacturing sector accounted for 38 percent of all mass layoff events and 44 percent of initial claims for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs filed in January 2009.

Initial claimants for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs, selected industry sectors, January 2009
[Chart data—TXT]

A year earlier, manufacturing made up 30 percent of events and 35 percent of initial claims.

This January, the number of manufacturing claimants was greatest in transportation equipment (57,173) and machinery (14,120). The administrative and waste services industry accounted for 12 percent of mass layoff events and associated initial claims during the month.

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs in January 2009," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0185.