Employers in Washington logged 14 WARN Act notices in August 2019, involving roughly 2,116 workers — climbing above July. The average filing covered 151 workers, with 6 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 2 | 172 |
The Transportation sector dominated layoff filings with 172 workers across 2 notices.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Pierce | 4 | 898 |
| Yakima | 2 | 600 |
| King | 4 | 306 |
| Benton | 2 | 190 |
| Skagit | 2 | 122 |
Pierce felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 42% of all affected workers with 898 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Tacoma | 4 | 898 |
| Yakima | 2 | 600 |
| Prosser | 2 | 190 |
| Seattle | 2 | 172 |
| Kent | 2 | 134 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 6 | 963 |
| Layoff | 1 | 95 |
Closures accounted for 46% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seneca Foods Corporation | Yakima | 300 | Closure | 2019-08-06 |
| Seneca Foods Corporation | Yakima | 300 | 2019-08-06 | |
| United Natural Foods/SUPERVALU | Tacoma | 280 | Closure | 2019-08-02 |
| United Natural Foods/SUPERVALU | Tacoma | 280 | 2019-08-02 | |
| Conifer | Tacoma | 169 | Closure | 2019-08-14 |
| Conifer | Tacoma | 169 | 2019-08-14 | |
| Zirkle Fruit Company | Prosser | 95 | Layoff | 2019-08-16 |
| Zirkle Fruit Company | Prosser | 95 | 2019-08-16 | |
| First Transit | Seattle | 86 | Closure | 2019-08-22 |
| First Transit | Seattle | 86 | 2019-08-22 | |
| Nestle | Kent | 67 | Closure | 2019-08-16 |
| Nestle | Kent | 67 | 2019-08-16 | |
| Brinderson | Anacortes | 61 | Closure | 2019-08-29 |
| Brinderson | Anacortes | 61 | 2019-08-29 |
The biggest impact was at Seneca Foods Corporation at its Yakima facility, reporting 300 affected workers. Seneca Foods Corporation followed with 300 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. 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 Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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