Mass layoff events reached a record high during the second quarter of 2009 with the manufacturing sector accounting for 31% of the separations, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers initiated 2,994 mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009 resulting in the separation of 534,881 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days.

Second quarter program highs in the number of separations were recorded in 7 of 18 major industry sectors, all four geographic regions, and fourteen states. Thirty-eight percent of employers reporting an extended layoff in the second quarter of 2009 indicated they anticipated some type of recall, down from 51% a year earlier, and was the lowest proportion of anticipated recalls for a …