Employers in Pennsylvania filed 24 WARN Act notices in November 2003, impacting roughly 5,932 workers and up 132% versus November 2002. The average filing covered 247 workers, with 14 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 296 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 120 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 99 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 0 |
The Finance & Insurance sector led the way in workforce reductions with 296 workers across 2 notices. In a parallel development, Healthcare reported 120 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 6 | 453 |
| Lycoming | 1 | 215 |
| York | 2 | 125 |
| Allegheny | 2 | 122 |
| Bucks | 2 | 119 |
Philadelphia absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 8% of all affected workers with 453 workers across 6 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 6 | 453 |
| Williamsport | 1 | 215 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 | 122 |
| Lewisberry | 1 | 120 |
| Uniontown | 1 | 99 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 10 | 4,981 |
| Closure | 14 | 951 |
Closures accounted for 16% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merck | 4,400 | Layoff | 2003-11-01 | |
| Williamsport Wirerope Works | Williamsport | 215 | Layoff | 2003-11-01 |
| PMA Capital Insurance Company | Philadelphia | 174 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Kurz-Hastings, Inc | Philadelphia | 167 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Deluxe Financial Services | Pittsburgh | 122 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Woodland Center for Nursing | Lewisberry | 120 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Teletech | Uniontown | 99 | Layoff | 2003-11-01 |
| Garden State Tanning, Inc., GST Autoleather, Inc | Reading | 98 | Layoff | 2003-11-01 |
| Jack & Jill Ice Cream Co | Bensalem | 89 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Plumbmaster, Inc | Concordville | 83 | Layoff | 2003-11-01 |
| NVF Company | Kennett Square | 81 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Hunt Corporation | Philadelphia | 50 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Bostik Findley, Inc | Clarks Summit | 40 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| Mann Edge Tool Company | Lewistown | 39 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
| PMA Capital | Philadelphia | 38 | Closure | 2003-11-01 |
The single largest action involved Merck at its Pennsylvania facility, reporting 4,400 affected workers. Williamsport Wirerope Works followed with 215 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the Pennsylvania 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 analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Pennsylvania. 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 Pennsylvania 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.
