Mass Layoffs Slow Down

Recently a woman expressed lukewarm enthusiasm about her positive visit to the dentist.  “I didn’t believe my dentist at first when she said that I had no cavities,” the patient said.  “Then I realized that I hardly have any real enamel left.  At a certain point there just isn’t any tooth left to fill.”

It is with this degree of resignation that one might look at the good news of March in terms of layoffs.

The number of mass layoff events in March decreased by 135 from February, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 12,295. These were their lowest levels since September 2007 and May 2007, respectively.  Surely this is good news for the U.S. economy, but it’s hard to feel optimistic when it feels like so many people have already been laid off.  Maybe there are just less jobs left for people to lose.

Employers took 1,286 mass layoff actions in March involving 118,523 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month.

In March, 253 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 27,619 initial claims. Manufacturing events decreased by 38 from the prior month to the lowest level on record, while associated initial claims increased by 1,559 from a program low in February (data begin in April 1995).