First-time unemployment claims in Colorado down 23 percent through November

Mass layoff events fell 27 percent to 101 events during the first eleven months of 2011 in Colorado. There were 139 mass layoff events during the same period last year. According to a new report released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 16 mass layoff events during November 2011, which is down 5.8 percent from the 17 events reported during November 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 16 percent from 1,676 during November 2010 to 1,393 during November of this year.

In the year-to-date Colorado total through November, mass layoffs have now fallen two years in a row after peaking at 164 mass layoffs during the first eleven months of 2009. The second graph shows year-to-date totals through November 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, November employment increased year over year for the fifth month in a row.

New claims for unemployment insurance

New claims for unemployment insurance in Colorado fell year over year by 1.5 percent to 1,358 in November 2011. There were 1,379 new claims during November of last year. New claims for unemployment insurance have also gradually fallen since early 2010. Nationally, new claims fell 19 percent from November 2010 to November 2011.

In year-to-date totals for new unemployment claims in Colorado through November, totals are down 23 percent year over year. There were 9,857 new claims during the first eleven months of 2011, compared to 12,951 new claims during the same period last year. In the year-to-date total through November, new claims for unemployment insurance have now fallen two years in a row after peaking at 14,483 claims during the first eleven months of 2009. The last graph shows year-to-date totals for November since 2001:



See the employment data archive for more on November'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.