US Layoffs — March 2012

The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers posted 266 WARN Act notices in March 2012, affecting an estimated 24,606 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to February and up 19% versus March 2011. Filings came from 27 states and territories, with an average of 93 workers per notice.

Top States by Workers Affected

California led the nation with 4,211 workers affected across 66 notices , followed by Missouri (2,334 workers) and Texas (2,198 workers) .

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 7,629 workers across 86 notices. On a related front, Information & Technology reported 4,314 workers.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 30% of all affected workers nationally, with the majority of events being layoffs rather than full closures.

Largest Layoffs

The largest notice was filed by Ford Motor Company in Claycomo, Missouri, reporting 1,222 affected workers. NCO Customer Management followed with 685 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

The trends suggest 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 March 2012. 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, which also tracks SEC 8-K filings, bankruptcy proceedings, H-1B visa petitions, and unemployment claims across all six datasets. API access and data exports available.