US witnessed 1199 mass layoff actions in April involving 116849 workers

Employers took 1,199 mass layoff actions in April involving 116,849 workers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events decreased by 138 from March, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 11,090. In April, 293 mass layoff events occurred in the manufacturing sector resulting in 29,744 initial claims. Monthly mass layoff events are identified using administrative data sources without regard to layoff duration.

The national unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in April, essentially unchanged from the prior month and down from 8.1 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 165,000 over the month, and increased by 2,077,000 over the year.

The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,174, resulting in 119,196 initial claims for unemployment insurance. Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events for April decreased by 61 to 294, and associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 6,791 to 29,799. Fourteen of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in transportation and warehousing. School and employee bus transportation was the six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims due to mass layoffs in April.

Read full report at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/mmls.pdf