UPI (04/23/13)

The U.S. Department of Labor reports the number of mass layoffs in March fell by 85 compared with February. Employers took 1,337 mass layoff actions in March, which affected 127,939 jobs as measured by new fillings for unemployment insurance benefits. In the manufacturing sector, there were 311 mass layoff events in the month, resulting in 36,696 initial benefit claims. The largest number of initial claims from mass layoffs in the month were in school and employee bus transportation jobs, resulting in 11,169 initial claims. Among food service contractors, 10,408 initial claims associated with mass layoffs were filed.