Tennessee reports 17 mass layoffs in August

Tennessee reported 17 mass layoffs in August resulting in 1,496 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

That was up from nine mass layoffs and 574 unemployment claims in August 2007.

In July this year there were 18 mass layoffs with 1,412 unemployment claims.

A mass-layoff occurs when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from an employer in five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days.

Nationwide, there were 1,772 mass layoff actions in August affecting 173,995 workers, the bureau reports. The number of actions was the highest since 1995 and the number of affected workers was the highest since August 2001.

The number of mass layoffs increased in August nationally by 260 compared to July and the number of affected workers rose by 22,784.

At 38,188 in August, the South had the second-largest number of initial claims among the nations four regions.

Tennessee's unemployment rate for August was 6.6 percent, up from 4.7 percent a year ago.