When it comes to mass layoff it seems like the news fluxuates. It is good, then it is bad. Sometimes it is good and bad at the same time, depending on where you are. To add to the confusion the same news can be seen as good or bad depending on the situation. After all a decrease in the number of mass layoffs can be good because fewer jobs are lost, or it can be bad because organizations have fewer jobs to cut.

This is not the case in the state of Ohio where the news is decidedly bad. According to information released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the number of layoffs in the state have actually gone up by a significant amount. How big of a jump was it? Well, according to the official data the number of mass layoffs in the state have actually doubled in the last year.

For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of a mass layoff action here is the definition of the term as per the US Government:

“The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

In the last month there were 48 mass layoff actions in the state of Ohio. In March of last year there were only 22 of these claims. In Ohio not only did the number of overall mass layoff actions double, but also they were the highest in the region and the nation, in terms of the percentage of overall growth.

This is not the first time that a single state has borne the brunt of a mass layoff action. For those of you who missed out on some of earlier coverage of mass layoff reports here is a look at that coverage that will get you up to speed in no time at all:

“Now that you are all up to speed we can talk about the bad news for workers in the state of Arkansas. According to information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011 was a very bad year for Arkansas workers as they had a significant uptick in the number of mass layoff actions. You may be wondering exactly how bad it was for them? After all, we are in the middle of a global economic downturn so what could be remarkable.

Well as it turns out in the state of Arkansas last summer was the worst one in t the last ten years. They had the most mass layoffs and the highest number of people in search of unemployment benefits. The number of people was 16,665 workers, which is much more than there were in 2010. In 2010 it was only 7,748 who were part of mass layoffs actions.

The industries that were hardest hit by the changes includes waste management and manufacturing. Administrative positions were also impacted by the layoffs disproportionately.”