Kentucky Layoffs — October 2015

Employers in Kentucky recorded 18 WARN Act notices in October 2015, covering approximately 3,801 workers — marking a sharp increase from September and up 79% versus October 2014. The average filing covered 211 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Manufacturing	2	1,466
Other	6	1,267
Mining & Energy	2	16

The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 1,466 workers across 2 notices. At the same time, Other reported 1,267 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Boyd	4	1,572
Whitley	2	450
Henderson	3	444
Montgomery	2	200
Letcher	3	24

Boyd saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 41% of all affected workers with 1,572 workers across 4 notices.

City	Notices	Workers
Boyd	2	786
Whitley	1	225
Henderson	1	148
Montgomery	1	100
Letcher	1	8

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Layoff	10	2,084
Closure	2	450

Closures accounted for 12% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
AK Steel Corporation -Ashland Works		733	Layoff	2015-10-16
AK Steel Corporation -Ashland Works		733	Layoff	2015-10-16
AK Steel Holding	Boyd	733		2015-10-16
CSX Transportation Inc		225	Closure	2015-10-20
CSX Transportation Inc		225	Closure	2015-10-20
CSX Transportation	Whitley	225		2015-10-20
Century Aluminum Sebree LLC		148	Layoff	2015-10-30
Century Aluminum Sebree LLC		148	Layoff	2015-10-30
Century Aluminum	Henderson	148		2015-10-30
Lexington Metal Systems, LLC		100	Layoff	2015-10-19
Lexington Metal Systems, LLC		100	Layoff	2015-10-19
Lexington Metal Systems, LLC	Montgomery	100		2015-10-19
STEIN INC. -Ashland KY Facility		53	Layoff	2015-10-27
STEIN INC. -Ashland KY Facility		53	Layoff	2015-10-27
STEIN INC. -Ashland KY Facility	Boyd	53		2015-10-27

Leading the list was AK Steel Corporation -Ashland Works at its Kentucky facility, reporting 733 affected workers. AK Steel Corporation -Ashland Works followed with 733 workers.

Trend & Outlook

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

The filings reflect mounting pressure on the Kentucky 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 Kentucky. 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 Kentucky WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.