Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 340,474. In January-February 2002, there were 3,529 mass layoff events involving 402,805 workers. (January-February 2003 had one more week than the January-February periods of the prior two years.)

With the resumption of the Mass Layoff Statistics program, data are now available since November 2002 (issued on Dec. 24, 2002). The addition of December brings the total of layoff events for all of 2002 to 20,269 and the total of initial claimants to 2,244,631. Both of these measures were lower than in 2001 (21,467 and 2,514,862, respectively).

Manufacturing industries accounted for 35 percent of all mass layoff events and 40 percent of all initial claims filed in January-February. A year earlier, layoffs in this sector accounted for 39 percent of events and 47 percent of initial claims. Twelve percent of all layoff events and all initial claims filed during the 2 months were in administrative and waste services, mostly in temporary help services. Thirteen percent of the events and 9 percent of all initial claims in January-February were from construction, largely specialty trade contractors. Retail trade accounted for 9 percent of all events and initial claims, mainly from general merchandise stores

Compared with January-February 2002, the largest decreases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (-19,730) and in computer and electronic products manufacturing (-9,627). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims was reported in transit and ground passenger transportation (+6,334).

The MLS program was discontinued as of Dec. 31, 2002, due to a lack of funding. However, funds for the MLS resumption were contained in H.J. Res. 2, the Omnibus Appropriation Bill, signed into law on Feb. 20.

Links

• Mass Layoff Statistics from the BLS