Employers in Pennsylvania logged 13 WARN Act notices in December 2008, involving roughly 2,046 workers — climbing above November and up 801% versus December 2007. The average filing covered 157 workers, with 9 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 1 | 140 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 119 |
The Manufacturing sector dominated layoff filings with 140 workers across 1 notice. Meanwhile, Healthcare reported 119 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Chester | 3 | 711 |
| Northumberland | 1 | 328 |
| Allegheny | 2 | 324 |
| Philadelphia | 2 | 214 |
| Beaver | 1 | 209 |
Chester was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 35% of all affected workers with 711 workers across 3 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| West Chester | 1 | 500 |
| Milton | 1 | 328 |
| Warrendale | 1 | 253 |
| Philadelphia | 2 | 214 |
| Midland | 1 | 209 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 9 | 1,390 |
| Layoff | 4 | 656 |
The high proportion of closures (68% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Pennsylvania's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qvc | West Chester | 500 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| ACF Industries, Inc | Milton | 328 | Layoff | 2008-12-01 |
| Ericsson, Inc | Warrendale | 253 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| ATI Allegheny Ludlum Corporation | Midland | 209 | Layoff | 2008-12-01 |
| Reynolds Packaging Group | Downington | 140 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| Excel, Inc | Philadelphia | 125 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| J.G. Wentworth | Bryn Mawr | 120 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| DHL Express | Bristol | 92 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| WuXi AppTec | Philadelphia | 89 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| American Medical Response Mid-Atlantic, Inc | Bridgeville | 71 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
| Huhtamaki Flexibles Inc | Malvern | 71 | Layoff | 2008-12-01 |
| My Choice Medical Holdings, Inc | Stroudsburg | 48 | Layoff | 2008-12-01 |
| DHL Express | Trooper | 0 | Closure | 2008-12-01 |
The biggest impact was at Qvc at its West Chester facility, reporting 500 affected workers. ACF Industries, Inc followed with 328 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Pennsylvania labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Manufacturing 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.
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