Report: Fewer Missourians laid off in 2010

Missouri employers performed 420 mass layoffs in 2010, resulting in the loss of 32,586 jobs, according to data released May 18 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  In 2009, Missouri recorded 54,046 layoffs.

The report data is measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the year, and each layoff included in the report involved at least 50 employees, according to a news release.

The manufacturing industry laid off the most workers during 2010: 17,597; followed by transportation and warehousing, 1,850; finance and insurance, 1,102; and administrative and waste services, 996.

Total layoffs in 2010 are on par with 2007 levels, which came in at 33,557.

Stanley Suchman, BLS regional commissioner, said in the release that the number of  claims in 2010 was the second-lowest recorded figure in the state since 1996, when annual data was first recorded. The more than 54,000 initial claims in 2009 were the third-highest count on record.[[In-content Ad]]