March 24, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Mass layoffs by region, February 2009

Of the 4 regions, the West registered the highest number of initial claims for unemployment insurance due to mass layoffs in February (65,792), followed by the Midwest (64,973), the South (55,542), and the Northeast (32,131).

Mass layoff initial claimants for unemployment insurance by region and division, not seasonally adjusted, February 2009
[Chart data—TXT]

Of the 9 geographic divisions, the Pacific (54,411) had the highest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs in February, followed by the East North Central (52,690) and the Middle Atlantic (24,387).

These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs in February 2009," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0272.