Mass layoff initial claims by industry, January 2011

In January, 11 of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year declines in initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits, with manufacturing having the largest decrease.

[Chart data]

In January, the manufacturing sector accounted for 30 percent of initial claims filed. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 38 percent of initial claims filed.

The number of mass layoff events in January was 2,558 on a not seasonally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 246,463. The number of mass layoff events was down by 302 from January 2010, and associated initial claims decreased by 32,216.

These data are from the Mass Layoffs Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Mass Layoffs — January 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0238. Each mass layoff event involves at least 50 people from a single employer.