Employers in Rhode Island recorded 9 WARN Act notices in March 2009, covering approximately 851 workers — marking a sharp increase from February. The average filing covered 95 workers, with 6 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2 | 238 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 121 |
| Utilities | 2 | 108 |
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 238 workers across 2 notices. At the same time, Finance & Insurance reported 121 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Kent | 4 | 346 |
| Providence | 4 | 235 |
Kent saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 41% of all affected workers with 346 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| East Providence and Providence | 1 | 270 |
| Warwick | 2 | 238 |
| Lincoln | 2 | 135 |
| West Warwick | 2 | 108 |
| East Providence | 1 | 71 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 6 | 645 |
| Layoff | 1 | 121 |
The high proportion of closures (76% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Rhode Island's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colibri Group, Inc | East Providence and Providence | 270 | Closure | 2009-03-04 |
| Bank of America | Lincoln | 121 | Layoff | 2009-03-05 |
| Leviton Mfg | Warwick | 119 | Closure | 2009-03-05 |
| Leviton Mfg | Warwick | 119 | Closure | 2009-03-09 |
| Victoria & Company | East Providence | 71 | 2009-03-09 | |
| APC by Schneider Electric | West Warwick | 54 | Closure | 2009-03-06 |
| APC by Schneider Electric | West Warwick | 54 | Closure | 2009-03-11 |
| Honeywell | Pawtucket | 29 | Closure | 2009-03-10 |
| A.T. Cross | Lincoln | 14 | 2009-03-23 |
Leading the list was Colibri Group, Inc at its East Providence and Providence facility, reporting 270 affected workers. Bank of America followed with 121 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The filings reflect mounting pressure on the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island. 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 Rhode Island WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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