Mass layoffs of 50 or more workers surge in 2008
2009-01-28

Category Layoffs Nations U.S. States Michigan Ohio Category Regions Event 2008 U.S. Layoff Crisis Company Corning Inc Sprint Nextel Caterpillar Inc. Home Depot Wyeth Pfizer Inc General Motors Source (AP)

WASHINGTON - The number of layoffs involving 50 or more workers jumped by one-third last year, and the pace of large job cuts appears to have quickened in the first month of 2009.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that 21,137 mass layoffs took place last year, up from 15,493 in 2007. That's the highest annual total since 2001, the last time the economy was in recession, and the second-highest since the department began tracking mass layoffs in 1995.

More than 2.1 million workers were fired as a result of last year's mass layoffs, the department said.

Mass layoffs did drop slightly in December, to a seasonally adjusted 2,275, from 2,328 in November.

The government seasonally adjusts many economic indicators to smooth out fluctuations resulting from weather changes, holidays and other predictable factors. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, mass layoffs soared in December to 3,377, up from 2,167 a year earlier.

The data come as employers appear to be cutting workers at an even faster pace in the new year.

On Tuesday, specialty glass company Corning Inc. said it would cut 3,500 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, as demand slumped for glass used in flat-screen televisions and computers. Chemical company Ashland Inc. said it would eliminate 1,300 jobs, freeze wages and adopt a two-week furlough program.

On Monday alone, roughly 40,000 more U.S. workers got the grim news, including 5,000 workers at heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., which is buying rival drugmaker Wyeth in a $68 billion deal, and Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's third-largest wireless provider, each said they will slash 8,000 jobs.

Home Depot Inc., the biggest home improvement retailer in the U.S., said it will get rid of 7,000 jobs, and General Motors Corp. said it will cut 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio because of slow sales.