Employers in Texas submitted 42 WARN Act notices in December 2002, putting at risk an estimated 4,969 workers — up substantially from November and up 51% versus December 2001. The average filing covered 118 workers, with 0 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Utilities | 4 | 585 |
| Transportation | 2 | 515 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 450 |
| Retail | 2 | 195 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 1 |
The Utilities sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 585 workers across 4 notices. Separately, Transportation reported 515 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Harris | 8 | 1,192 |
| Grayson | 3 | 543 |
| Dallas | 4 | 518 |
| El Paso | 1 | 450 |
| Tarrant | 6 | 416 |
Harris saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 24% of all affected workers with 1,192 workers across 8 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | 8 | 1,192 |
| Denison | 3 | 543 |
| Dallas | 2 | 490 |
| El Paso | 1 | 450 |
| Sugar Land | 2 | 400 |
Layoff type classification was not available for filings in Texas this month.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Apparel | El Paso | 450 | 2002-12-20 | |
| American Airlines - Dallas | Dallas | 415 | 2002-12-03 | |
| UBS Warburg Energy LLC | Houston | 304 | 2002-12-09 | |
| Imperial Sugar Company | Sugar Land | 300 | 2002-12-03 | |
| Donohue Industries Inc. Sheldon Division | Houston | 275 | 2002-12-10 | |
| LTD Direct Marketing, Inc | Denison | 256 | 2002-12-18 | |
| General Mills Operations, Inc | Denison | 243 | 2002-12-27 | |
| First Vector Services - Ft. Worth | Fort Worth | 196 | 2002-12-13 | |
| 3M Company-Austin | Austin | 180 | 2002-12-04 | |
| Service Corporation International | Houston | 177 | 2002-12-02 | |
| Fragrance Impressions Corporation | Pleasanton | 147 | 2002-12-10 | |
| Harbor Island Facility | Aransas Pass | 146 | 2002-12-02 | |
| Zimmerman Sign Company | Longview | 139 | 2002-12-04 | |
| TIC United Corporation | San Antonio | 114 | 2002-12-23 | |
| Staktek Group LP | Austin | 108 | 2002-12-13 |
Topping the list was Sun Apparel at its El Paso facility, reporting 450 affected workers. American Airlines - Dallas followed with 415 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Texas labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Utilities sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Texas. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Texas WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
Get weekly layoff reports in your inbox
Free weekly digest of WARN Act filings and analysis.
