The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers submitted 128 WARN Act notices in November 2003, putting at risk an estimated 20,716 workers — up substantially from October and up 87% versus November 2002. Filings came from 10 states and territories, with an average of 162 workers per notice.
| State | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 24 | 5,932 |
| Ohio | 24 | 4,893 |
| Texas | 22 | 2,422 |
| Florida | 14 | 2,240 |
| Alabama | 9 | 1,734 |
| Michigan | 9 | 1,600 |
| Georgia | 8 | 874 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 576 |
| Maryland | 2 | 246 |
| Kansas | 12 | 199 |
Pennsylvania led the nation with 5,932 workers affected across 24 notices , followed by Ohio (4,893 workers) and Texas (2,422 workers) .
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 14 | 2,782 |
| Transportation | 2 | 1,467 |
| Information & Technology | 7 | 737 |
| Finance & Insurance | 4 | 641 |
| Healthcare | 3 | 260 |
| Other | 2 | 246 |
| Retail | 3 | 169 |
| Government | 2 | 137 |
| Utilities | 1 | 121 |
| Accommodation & Food | 2 | 88 |
The Manufacturing sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 2,782 workers across 14 notices. Separately, Transportation reported 1,467 workers.
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 23 | 7,132 |
| Closure | 25 | 2,380 |
Closures accounted for 11% of all affected workers nationally, with the majority of events being layoffs rather than full closures.
| Company | Location | Workers | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merck | Pennsylvania | 4,400 | Layoff |
| WCISteel | Warren, Ohio | 1,705 | |
| Csx | Jacksonville, Florida | 1,000 | |
| GM (Lansing Car Ass'y) | Lansing, Michigan | 920 | Layoff |
| Computer Sciences Corporation | Huntsville, Alabama | 667 | Layoff |
| Convergys Customer Management Group, Inc | Toledo, Ohio | 560 | |
| Southwest Airlines Company | Grand Prairie, Texas | 467 | |
| Management & Training Corporation (MTC) | Dallas, Texas | 394 | |
| TNS Intersearch | Youngstown, Ohio | 356 | |
| O-Cedar Brands, Inc | Springfield, Ohio | 341 |
Topping the list was Merck in Pennsylvania, reporting 4,400 affected workers. WCISteel followed with 1,705 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the the nation labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Manufacturing sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This report covers all WARN Act filings with notice dates in November 2003. 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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