First-time unemployment claims down 26 percent during 2011 in Colorado

Mass layoff events fell 30 percent to 85 events during the first ten months of 2011 in Colorado. There were 122 mass layoff events during the same period last year. According to a new report released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 10 mass layoff events during October 2011, which is down 41 percent from the 17 events reported during October of last year.

Monthly mass layoff events grew rapidly after October 2008 in Colorado, and have gradually lessened since early 2010.



Nationally, mass layoff events decreased 33 percent from 1,642 during October 2010 to 1,101 during October of this year.

In the year-to-date Colorado total for October, mass layoffs have now fallen two years in a row after peaking at 150 mass layoffs during the first ten months of 2009. The second graph shows year-to-date totals for October since 2001:



Mass layoffs were rare from 2004 through most of 2008.

Overall, the most recent mass layoffs data suggests that the employment situation continues to stabilize. New layoffs continue to lessen, and as we've seen in the most recent employment data, October 2011 showed the strongest year-over-year growth in employment in 53 months.

New claims for unemployment insurance

New claims for unemployment insurance in Colorado fell year over year by 48 percent to 873 in October 2011. There were 1675 new claims during September of last year. New claims for unemployment insurance have also gradually fallen since early 2010. Nationally, new claims fell 34 percent during the same period.

In year-to-date totals for new unemployment claims in Colorado through September, totals are down 26 percent year over year. There were 8,499 new claims during the first ten months of 2011, compared to 11,572 new claims during the same period last year. In the year-to-date total for October, new claims for unemployment insurance have now fallen two years in a row after peaking at 13,419 claims during the first ten months of 2009. The last graph shows year-to-date totals for October since 2001:



See the employment data archive for more on October's job creation.

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.