West Virginia Layoffs — October 2018

Employers in West Virginia posted 2 WARN Act notices in October 2018, affecting an estimated 81 workers — reflecting a cooling compared to September and up 800% versus October 2017. The average filing covered 40 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Retail	1	72
Mining & Energy	1	9

The Retail sector saw the heaviest impact with 72 workers across 1 notice. On a related front, Mining & Energy reported 9 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Kanawha	1	72
Webster	1	9

Kanawha saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 89% of all affected workers with 72 workers across 1 notices.

City	Notices	Workers
Charleston	1	72
Cowen	1	9

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Closure	1	72
Layoff	1	9

The high proportion of closures (89% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in West Virginia's labor market.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
Kmart Store #04188	Charleston	72	Closure	2018-10-15
Arch Coal Eastern Complex	Cowen	9	Layoff	2018-10-13

The largest notice was filed by Kmart Store #04188 at its Charleston facility, reporting 72 affected workers. Arch Coal Eastern Complex followed with 9 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.

The trends suggest a mixed picture for West Virginia's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. The Retail sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by West Virginia. 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 West Virginia WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.