Thread regarding City of Honolulu layoffs

Via Pacific Business News (2/15/2010): State of Hawaii had five "mass layoffs" in the fourth quarter of 2009. The layoffs resulted in the loss of 467 private nonagricultural jobs in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor released Wednesday. That's down from the seven mass layoffs that eliminated 888 jobs reported in the third quarter of 2009. By comparison, there were 10 mass layoffs that resulted in the loss of 1,233 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Labor Department defines a mass layoff as occurring when there are 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from one employer during a five-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for more than 30 days. Nationwide, there were 2,043 mass layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2009 that resulted in the separation of 321,569 workers from their jobs for the month, the Labor Department said. That's down from the 3,582 mass layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2008 that resulted in the separation of 641,714 workers from their jobs. California recorded the largest number of worker separations, followed by Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Department of Labor does not specify where the layoffs occurred. The quarterly figures released Wednesday may be revised later. --- Link at http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2010/02/15/daily24.html