Area Development
Mass layoffs claimed 237,900 jobs in the United States during the month of January, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure was up 11,790 from the previous month. A mass layoff is defined as a single action by an employer that causes at least 50 workers to lose their jobs. While there were fewer mass layoff actions in January than December -- 2,227 events compared to 2,275 -- more employees overall were affected by the cuts. California had the largest number of workers cut by mass layoffs, with 54,150 losing their jobs, followed by New York with 31,890; Pennsylvania with 29,660; and Ohio with 27,970. The states with the largest increases in mass layoff job cuts over the same month in 2008 were Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The manufacturing sector accounted for 44 percent of the affected workers in the report.