Alabama Layoffs — July 2009
Employers in Alabama posted 7 WARN Act notices in July 2009, affecting an estimated 1,072 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to June and up 1454% versus July 2008. The average filing covered 153 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3 | 822 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 78 |
| Transportation | 1 | 64 |
| Retail | 1 | 16 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 822 workers across 3 notices. On a related front, Professional Services reported 78 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Limestone | 1 | 640 |
| Jefferson | 3 | 182 |
| Winston | 1 | 108 |
| Madison | 1 | 78 |
| Colbert | 1 | 64 |
Limestone felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 60% of all affected workers with 640 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Athens | 1 | 640 |
| Haleyville | 1 | 108 |
| Birmingham | 2 | 108 |
| Huntsville | 1 | 78 |
| Fairfield | 1 | 74 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 1 | 640 |
| Layoff | 6 | 432 |
The high proportion of closures (60% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Alabama's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilgrim'S Pride | Athens | 640 | Closure | |
| Winston Furniture | Haleyville | 108 | Layoff | |
| Assurant Employee Benefits | Birmingham | 92 | Layoff | |
| Teledyne Brown Engineering | Huntsville | 78 | Layoff | |
| Harbison-Walker Refractories | Fairfield | 74 | Layoff | |
| Norfolk Southern | Muscle Shoals | 64 | Layoff | |
| United Retail Service (Urs) | Birmingham | 16 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Pilgrim'S Pride at its Athens facility, reporting 640 affected workers. Winston Furniture followed with 108 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Alabama 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 Alabama. 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 Alabama WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.