Monthly mass layoff events grew rapidly after October 2008 in Colorado, andhave gradually declined since.
Nationally, mass layoff events decreased 18.8 percent from 1,750 during April 2011 to 1,421 during April of this year.
In the year-to-date total for April, mass layoffs have now fallen three years in a row after peaking at 71 mass layoffs during the first four months of 2009. The second graph shows year-to-date totals for April since 2002:
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, but as we've seen in the most recent employment data for Colorado, job growth continues to disappoint and total employment totals remain well below 2008's peak totals.
New jobless claims
New claims for unemployment insurance fell year over year in April by 19.9 percent to 1,401 in April 2012. There were 1,750 new claims during April of last year. New claims for unemployment insurance have also gradually fallen since early 2010. Nationally, new claimants fell 22.9 percent during the same period.
As can be seen in the third graph, during April new unemployment claims fell year over year in Colorado and nationally.March 2012 showed the largest year over year increase in new claims since late 2009, although the overall monthly trends show much variation in year-over-year changes and do not point to a strong downward trend.
In year-to-date totals for new unemployment claims through April, totals are down 5.6 percent year over year in Colorado. There were 3,600 new claims during the first four months of 2012, compared to 3,816 new claims during the same period last year. In the year-to-date total for April, new claims for unemployment insurance have now fallen three years in a row after peaking at 6,325 claims during the first four months of 2009. The last graph shows year-to-date totals for April since 2002:
