Mass layoffs of 50 or more workers surge (AP/CT post)

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By Christopher S. Rugaber
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The number of layoffs involving 50 or more workers jumped by one-third last year, and the pace of large job cuts appears to have quickened in the first month of 2009.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that 21,137 mass layoffs took place last year, up from 15,493 in 2007. That's the highest annual total since 2001, the last time the economy was in recession, and the second-highest since the department began tracking mass layoffs in 1995.

More than 2.1 million workers were fired as a result of last year's mass layoffs, the department said.

Large corporations continued to hemorrhage jobs Wednesday, as Boeing Co. said it would cut 5,500 positions, on top of 4,500 layoffs announced earlier this month. Airlines are ordering fewer planes as air travel declines due to the global economic slowdown.
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