Mass layoffs continue, but numbers fall to 2006 levels.

By Dee DePass

May 16, 2012 — 5:16pm

A U.S. Department of Labor report Wednesday shows the economy is making progress but that worried workers are not completely out of danger just yet. The Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the following:

• Employers in the private nonfarm sector initiated 1,077 mass layoff events in the first quarter of 2012, resulting in the separation of 182,101 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days.

• Compared to a year ago, total mass layoff events and associated worker separations are down from 1,490 and 225,456, respectively.

• Total layoff events reached their lowest first quarter levels since 2006.

• Mass layoff events in the manufacturing sector declined to their lowest levels in the history of data collection, which dates to 1995.

Dee DePass has been a Star Tribune business reporter since 1993, covering small business, financial institutions, manufacturing and, most recently, the economy. Originally from New York, Dee came to Minnesota after earning her master's in journalism at the University of Maryland and her undergraduate degree at Vassar College.

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