Almost 1,000 Hawai'i workers were cut from payrolls last month in so-called mass layoffs, or those in which companies let go 50 or more workers.

A report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the state's economic downturn is continuing to take a toll on employees, with the number of mass layoffs jumping to 14 from three a year earlier.

The layoffs involved 998 workers versus 217 in January 2008.

Hawai'i wasn't alone in reporting the jump in jobless, with 47 other states registering an increase in the number of initial jobless claims from mass layoffs. But Hawai'i's mass layoff events grew at a much faster pace than the national average, which was up by one-half compared with a year earlier.

Local companies have tried to cope with the recession here by cutting expenses and in some cases shedding employees. Among those chopping payrolls here last month was Matson Navigation Co., which said it was laying off 10 percent, or 60, of its nonunion staff.