Initial claims for unemployment insurance caused by mass layoff events — where 50 or more workers are laid off from a single workplace — rose by 10.7 percent in December from November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 145,648 initial claims for unemployment insurance related to mass layoffs were filed in December, up 14,021, from November. On a year-over-year basis, initial claims due to mass layoffs rose 5.5 percent in December.

Meanwhile, the number of mass layoff events rose in December by 52, to 1,384, a 3.9 percent increase from November. Year-over-year, there were 99 fewer mass layoff events, or a 6.7 percent drop.

Temporary help services was the industry with the most initial claims due to mass layoff events in December with 19,987 claims, according to numbers that were not seasonally adjusted. The food service contractors industry was second, with 19,639 initial claims in December.