The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers reported 34 WARN Act notices in February 1998, displacing an estimated 6,534 workers — signaling an acceleration from January and up 365% versus February 1997. Filings came from 2 states and territories, with an average of 192 workers per notice.
| State | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 19 | 4,082 |
| Ohio | 15 | 2,452 |
Florida led the nation with 4,082 workers affected across 19 notices , followed by Ohio (2,452 workers) .
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 912 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 250 |
| Healthcare | 1 | 215 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 135 |
| Construction | 1 | 64 |
| Retail | 1 | 14 |
The Finance & Insurance sector topped the list of affected industries with 912 workers across 1 notice. Notably, Manufacturing reported 250 workers.
Layoff type data was not available for filings this month.
| Company | Location | Workers | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan American Corp | Miami, Florida | 1,200 | |
| Nations Bank | Jacksonville, Florida | 912 | |
| Doehler-Jarvis | Toledo, Ohio | 690 | |
| Greenwich Air Services | Miami, Florida | 550 | |
| CompuServe | Columbus, Ohio | 490 | |
| American National Can | Mt. Vernon, Ohio | 230 | |
| Kendall Healthcare Facility | Ocala, Florida | 215 | |
| J.C. Penney | Columbus, Ohio | 210 | |
| Russell Corporation | Milton, Florida | 200 | |
| Ramad Resort Deauville | Miami Beach, Florida | 200 |
The most significant filing came from Pan American Corp in Miami, Florida, reporting 1,200 affected workers. Nations Bank followed with 912 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the the nation labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Finance & Insurance sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This report covers all WARN Act filings with notice dates in February 1998. 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.
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