WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of workers laid off from their jobs in the first three months of this year was up 20 percent from a year ago, with nearly half of the layoffs in the manufacturing sector, the government said on Thursday.
More than 305,000 workers were laid off during the first quarter, up from nearly 255,000 in the first quarter of 2000. The first-quarter tally was the highest since the government began tracking layoffs six years ago, the Labor Department said in a quarterly report.
Compared with the final three months of 2000, layoffs were actually down 28 percent. But the department cautioned against comparing back-to-back quarters since layoffs can be heavily influenced by seasonal factors, such as when farmers no longer need as many workers after their crops have been harvested.
Manufacturing workers experienced the largest number of layoffs in the first quarter, accounting for 45 percent of job losses. Some 15 percent of the layoffs in the quarter were in the retail sector, largely in department stores, and 13 percent were in the services industry, mainly in businesses supplying temporary workers, the report said.
The government includes layoffs that last at least 31 days and involve at least 50 people from a single firm in its quarterly report.
Other details from the first-quarter survey include:
-- One-third of layoffs were attributed to ``internal company restructuring'' such as ``bankruptcy, business ownership change, financial difficulty and reorganization;''
-- Of those laid off who filed for unemployment benefits, 40 percent were women, 20 percent were Hispanic, 15 percent were black and 12 percent were 55 years old or older. Of the total civilian labor force in the first quarter, 47 percent were women, 11 percent were Hispanic, 12 percent were black and 13 percent were 55 or older;
-- The West recorded the largest number of workers laid off, with nearly 103,000. The Northeast had the lowest number of layoffs with approximately 38,500;
-- Forty-seven percent of firms that laid off workers said they expected to hire their former employees back, down from 58 percent during the first quarter of 2000 and the lowest percentage since the government survey began in April 1995.
where does all these people get layoff go, do they become day traders ??? |
