Dayton Business Journal...
Mass layoffs hit lowest level since 2006
by DBJ Staff
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 

The number of mass layoffs dropped to their lowest level since 2006 during the first quarter, according to new data on the economy. 

There were 1,077 mass layoffs nationwide in the first quarter, hitting 182,101 workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down from the 1,490 layoffs affecting 225,456 workers in the first quarter of 2011. 

In Ohio, there were 62 mass layoffs, down from 66 for the same period last year. The BLS labels any job cuts of 50 or more workers at a time as a mass layoff, and tracks those stats as an indicator of the economy. 

Note: Click here for a slideshow of the worst 10 states for unemployed workers 

The 62 mass layoffs in Ohio hit 7,949 employees, down from 10,086 a year ago. 

In the 12-state Midwest area, 258 mass layoffs hit 35,889 workers during the quarter, a decline from 323 layoffs and 48,474 workers in the first quarter of 2011. 

While the total layoffs were the lowest since 2006, the mass job cuts in manufacturing dropped to the lowest since the BLS started tracking data in 1995. 

“Business demand factors, primarily contract completion, accounted for 39 percent of the events and 44 percent of related separations in the private nonfarm sector during the first quarter of 2012,” according to the BLS. 

The Dayton-region has been hit particularly hard by the recession and job cuts, with its unemployment rate often much higher than the national average. The local mass job cuts included thousands of jobs lost when General Motors closed its SUV assembly plant in Moraine, and thousands of jobs cut from Navistar International Corp.’s truck plant in Springfield. Those have been offset somewhat by new companies moving in, including 500 jobs brought by Caterpillar Inc. 

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