February 15, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Extended mass layoffs, fourth quarter 2010
Employers initiated 1,910 mass layoff events in the fourth quarter of 2010 that resulted in the separation of 295,571 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days.
[Chart data]
Fifteen of 18 major industry sectors in the private nonfarm economy registered declines over the year in the number of extended mass layoff events. Seventeen of 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in the number of layoff events.
Construction firms recorded 673 events and 84,205 separations, primarily due to the ending of seasonal work. Both layoff events and separations in this sector decreased over the year. Of the 673 events, 80 percent of employers anticipated recalling some workers.
Manufacturing firms reported 362 events involving the separation of 60,832 workers, largely due to the ending of seasonal work. Of those events, 50 percent of employers anticipated recalling some workers. This sector accounted for 19 percent of private nonfarm extended layoff events and 21 percent of related separations in the quarter, the lowest fourth quarter proportions in program history.
Permanent worksite closures accounted for 6 percent of extended mass layoff events in the fourth quarter 2010, the lowest proportion in program history (with data available back to 1995). Sixty percent of employers expected to recall at least some laid-off workers, the highest fourth quarter percentage since 2005 and up from 48 percent a year earlier.
These data are from the Mass Layoff Statistics program. Fourth quarter 2010 layoff data are preliminary and are subject to revision. To learn more, see "Extended Mass Layoffs — Fourth Quarter 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0156. The quarterly series on extended mass layoffs cover layoffs of at least 31-days duration that involve 50 or more individuals from a single employer filing initial claims for unemployment insurance during a consecutive 5-week period.
Related TED articles
Labor force |
Manufacturing |
Unemployment
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
.
Read more »
