January 31, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Mass layoffs in 2010
In 2010, the total numbers of mass layoff events, at 19,564, and initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, at 1,854,596, were lower than in 2009 when totals reached their highest annual levels on record.
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Among the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy, 17 reported over-the-year decreases in initial claims, led by manufacturing, which declined to its lowest annual level on record. Of the 17 sectors reporting over-the-year declines in claims, 9 decreased by record amounts. The manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of all mass layoff events and 29 percent of initial claims filed in the private economy in 2010; in 2009 manufacturing made up 36 percent of events and 43 percent of initial claims.
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The industry with the greatest number of initial claims in 2010 was temporary help services. Food service contractors and elementary and secondary schools reached annual series highs in 2010. (These industry data include both publicly and privately owned establishments.)
These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Annual data are not seasonally adjusted. Each mass layoff event involves at least 50 persons from a single establishment. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs — December 2010; Annual Totals — 2010," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-11-0085.
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