BLS: MASS LAYOFFS IN JULY 2008 [

In July, employers took 1,512 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted,
as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the
month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported
today.  Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer; the
number of workers involved totaled 151,171, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The number of mass layoff events this July decreased by 131 from the prior
month, while the number of associated initial claims decreased by 14,526.
In July, 443 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector,
seasonally adjusted, resulting in 57,470 initial claims.  Over the month,
mass layoff events in manufacturing decreased by 98 and initial claims de-
creased by 19,044.  (See table 1.)

   From January through July 2008, the total number of mass layoff events
(seasonally adjusted), at 10,770, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted),
at 1,100,810, were the highest for the January-July period since 2003.

   The national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in July, seasonally adjusted,
up from 5.5 percent in the prior month and up from 4.6 percent a year earlier.
Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 51,000 in July from the previous
month and decreased by 67,000 from a year earlier.