Ohio second in nation for mass layoffs

Ohio ranked second in the nation for the number of workers in line for unemployment benefits from large-scale job cuts in October, according to a federal report released Friday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 118 layoffs of 50 or more workers in the state last month, up from 53 a year ago, seasonally unadjusted. Resulting first-time unemployment insurance claims hit 17,764, up 63 percent from 18,896 in October 2007.

The increase came as the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in September, according to figures released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

California had the largest number of first-time claims from mass layoffs at 51,286, but Michigan – the epicenter of unprecedented troubles for the automobile industry – logged about 900 fewer claims than second-ranked Ohio.

The Midwest had the highest share of unemployment insurance filings among the nation’s four geographic regions, the bureau said. Around the nation, seasonally adjusted mass job cuts jumped to 2,140 events from 1,347 a year ago as total insurance claims shot up more than 70 percent to 232,468 from 136,124 a year ago.

About a third of all companies that initiated mass job cuts last month were in the manufacturing sector, while about 45 percent of all unemployment insurance filings were from the industry, the bureau said.

The bureau plans to release November statistics on Dec. 19.

BizPulse Survey: Should the government bail out the auto industry? Vote here.

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4400.