US Layoffs — January 1997

The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers logged 10 WARN Act notices in January 1997, involving roughly 1,499 workers — climbing above December. Filings came from 1 states and territories, with an average of 150 workers per notice.

Top States by Workers Affected

State	Notices	Workers
Ohio	10	1,499

Ohio led the nation with 1,499 workers affected across 10 notices .

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Transportation	1	91
Manufacturing	1	82

The Transportation sector dominated layoff filings with 91 workers across 1 notice. Meanwhile, Manufacturing reported 82 workers.

Layoff Type Analysis

Layoff type data was not available for filings this month.

Largest Layoffs

Company	Location	Workers	Type
Hawkins Markets	Wooster, Ohio	539
Incredible Universe	Hilliard, Ohio	219
Hamilton Division & Hamilton Machine	Hamilton, Ohio	154
Col Convention Ctr	Columbus, Ohio	152
Laidlaw Transit Svc	Norwood, Ohio	91
Sandusky Plastics Injection Molding	Sandusky, Ohio	82
Miracle Adhesives	New Philadelphia, Ohio	75
MVN, Inc	Springfield, Ohio	71
BMI Transportation	Oregon, Ohio	62
BMI Transportation	Cleveland, Ohio	54

The biggest impact was at Hawkins Markets in Wooster, Ohio, reporting 539 affected workers. Incredible Universe followed with 219 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

This data points to mounting pressure on the the nation labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This report covers all WARN Act filings with notice dates in January 1997. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is sourced from official state filings and updated daily by WARN Firehose. Download the full dataset or explore state-by-state data.