Mass layoffs soared by a third in ‘08 from year earlier (The Toledo Blade)

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 risen in the first month of 2009. The U.S. Labor Department reported yesterday 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 …