Layoff statistics 2008

Nervous about corporate earnings? Worried about recession?

It could be too late for worrying. While Wall Street is reeling from the daily dose of bad news, the negative numbers keep on coming. “What if?” seems to be giving way to “How bad?” and “How long?”

In the third quarter of 2008, U.S. employers initiated 1,330 mass layoff events that resulted in the separation of 218,158 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to figures released
by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

How bad is that? The figures are down from the first and second quarters, but the number of events was highest for a third-quarter since 2001, while the number of third-quarter separations were the worst since 2003.

Year to year? Events were 312 higher than in 2007, and separations were up 58,134.

Here’s the list for the first three quarter of 2008:

January-March: 1,340 events; 229,858 separations
April-June: 1,756 events; 354,361 separations
July-September: 1,330 events; 218,158 separations

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics