April 15, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Extended mass layoff events and
separations up slightly in 1998
U.S. employers conducted 5,759 extended mass
layoffs during 1998, resulting in 1,163,805 worker separations. These events and
separations were slightly higher than comparative figures for 1997 (5,645 and 1,112,513,
respectively). Extended mass layoffs last at least 31 days and involve at least 50 workers
from a single establishment.
[Chart data—TXT]
Seasonal work accounted for 50 percent of the separations and 45 percent of events in
the fourth quarter of 1998. Over the year, layoff events resulting from import competition
and slack work and separations caused by reorganizations reported the largest numerical
increases. Layoff events caused by seasonal work and separations caused by financial
difficulty experienced the largest numerical declines over the year.
Thirty-five percent of all layoff events and 34 percent of all separations occurred in
manufacturing during the fourth quarter of 1998. Over the year, construction reported the
largest decline in events, while wholesale and retail trade had the largest decline in
separations. Manufacturing experienced the largest increase in layoff events over the
year, while agriculture reported the largest increase in separations.
These data on mass layoff events are produced by the Local
Area Unemployment Statistics program. More information can be found in news release
USDL 99-95, "Extended Mass Layoffs
in the Fourth Quarter of 1998." Extended mass layoffs are defined as layoffs of
at least 31-days duration involving 50 or more workers from a single establishment filing
initial claims for unemployment insurance during a consecutive 5-week period. Data are not
seasonally adjusted.
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.
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