Employers in California submitted 87 WARN Act notices in July 2018, putting at risk an estimated 4,855 workers — up substantially from June and up 36% versus July 2017. The average filing covered 56 workers, with 27 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 6 | 699 |
| Agriculture | 4 | 460 |
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 271 |
| Professional Services | 2 | 149 |
| Transportation | 4 | 138 |
| Accommodation & Food | 2 | 81 |
| Manufacturing | 6 | 57 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 0 |
The Education sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 699 workers across 6 notices. Separately, Agriculture reported 460 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 14 | 1,676 |
| San Bernardino | 4 | 595 |
| Alameda | 10 | 519 |
| Orange | 7 | 444 |
| Ventura | 2 | 410 |
Los Angeles bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 35% of all affected workers with 1,676 workers across 14 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 4 | 1,090 |
| Santa Ana | 4 | 408 |
| Oxnard | 1 | 380 |
| San Bernardino | 2 | 372 |
| San Francisco | 2 | 238 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 27 | 2,570 |
| Layoff | 21 | 2,285 |
The high proportion of closures (53% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in California's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swissport SA, LLC | Los Angeles | 829 | Layoff | 2018-07-23 |
| DW Berry Farms, LLC | Oxnard | 380 | Layoff | 2018-07-31 |
| Eagle Intermodal Services, Inc | San Bernardino | 262 | Closure | 2018-07-06 |
| Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC | Santa Ana | 161 | Closure | 2018-07-02 |
| Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc | Emeryville | 149 | Closure | 2018-07-16 |
| Kmart Corporation | Goleta | 146 | Closure | 2018-07-19 |
| Mattel, Inc | El Segundo | 140 | Layoff | 2018-07-31 |
| Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC | San Francisco | 138 | Closure | 2018-07-02 |
| Stearns Lending, LLC | Santa Ana | 136 | Closure | 2018-07-25 |
| Alaska USA Federal Credit Union | Apple Valley | 135 | Closure | 2018-07-03 |
| MV Transportation, Inc | Visalia | 135 | Layoff | 2018-07-27 |
| Theranos, Inc | Newark | 125 | Layoff | 2018-07-12 |
| Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC | Sacramento | 124 | Closure | 2018-07-02 |
| Fhi, LLC | Riverside | 115 | Closure | 2018-07-10 |
| Minson Corporation | Montebello | 113 | Closure | 2018-07-09 |
Topping the list was Swissport SA, LLC at its Los Angeles facility, reporting 829 affected workers. DW Berry Farms, LLC followed with 380 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Education sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by California. 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 California WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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