The August release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Mass Layoff Report indicated a decline in large-scale layoffs with 1546 mass layoff events resulting in an increased 150,192 initial unemployment claimants on a seasonally adjusted basis.It's important to note that this increase in mass layoff claimants appears to be contributing to a flattening of the series that is, more or less, consistent with a similar flattening trend currently shaping up for the weekly unemployment initial claims series.
It could be that we are now seeing the initial signs of a job market that is settling into a long trend of elevated unemployment and general weakness.
The BLS considers a mass layoff event to be a condition where there are at least fifty initial claims for unemployment insurance originating from a single employer over a period of five consecutive weeks.
