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Number of mass layoffs up slightly in April-BLS

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - The number of layoffs involving 50 or more workers rose a bit in April compared to the same month a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.

The BLS said there were 1,576 mass layoffs in April, up from 1,507 in April 2002. The number of workers made jobless through the layoffs declined, however, to 161,095 from 165,861 a year earlier.

The numbers are not adjusted for seasonal or holiday-related variations. The data are compiled from jobless insurance claims submitted by individual states. A mass layoff is counted when 50 or more claims filed are linked to a specific business over a five-week period.

The report showed the economy is still struggling to maintain a pace of growth fast enough to create new jobs. Also on Thursday, the Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy grew at a revised 1.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter of the year, up slightly from the 1.4 percent yearly rate seen in the final three months of 2002 but below the pace necessary to keep joblessness from rising.

According to the BLS, manufacturing continued to see the most layoff activity. There were 62,429 mass layoffs in the factory sector in April, up from 50,897 in April 2002. Weakness in auto production accounted for many of the layoffs, the BLS said.

Administrative and waste services had the second largest number of mass layoffs, with 16,593, down from 18,110 in April 2002.

By geographic region, the West had the largest number of group layoffs, 593, followed by the Midwest, 334; the South, 323; and the Northeast, 326.