Employers in Iowa posted 20 WARN Act notices in November 2019, affecting an estimated 736 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to October and down 29% versus November 2018. The average filing covered 37 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 8 | 56 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 50 |
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 14 |
The Agriculture sector saw the heaviest impact with 56 workers across 8 notices. On a related front, Healthcare reported 50 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Wright | 2 | 370 |
| Fayette | 2 | 96 |
| Floyd | 2 | 86 |
| Palo Alto | 2 | 64 |
| Allamakee | 2 | 50 |
Wright absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 50% of all affected workers with 370 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Belmond | 2 | 370 |
| Arlington | 2 | 96 |
| Charles City | 2 | 86 |
| Emmetsburg | 2 | 64 |
| Waukon | 2 | 50 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 3 | 276 |
| Layoff | 7 | 92 |
Closures accounted for 38% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eaton Corporation | Belmond | 185 | Closure | 2019-11-04 |
| Eaton Corporation | Belmond | 185 | 2019-11-04 | |
| Associated Milk Producers, Inc | Arlington | 48 | Closure | 2019-11-01 |
| Associated Milk Producers, Inc | Arlington | 48 | 2019-11-01 | |
| Transform KM, LLC (Kmart) | Charles City | 43 | Closure | 2019-11-08 |
| Transform KM, LLC (Kmart) | Charles City | 43 | 2019-11-08 | |
| POET DSM - Project LIBERTY, LLC | Emmetsburg | 32 | Layoff | 2019-11-19 |
| POET DSM - Project LIBERTY, LLC | Emmetsburg | 32 | 2019-11-19 | |
| Mayo Clinic Health System - Franscican Healthcare | Waukon | 25 | Layoff | 2019-11-01 |
| Mayo Clinic Health System - Franscican Healthcare | Waukon | 25 | 2019-11-01 | |
| MetaBank - Storm Lake Plaza | Storm Lake | 7 | Layoff | 2019-11-20 |
| MetaBank - Ingersoll Branch | Des Moines | 7 | Layoff | 2019-11-20 |
| MetaBank - Storm Lake Branch | Storm Lake | 7 | Layoff | 2019-11-20 |
| MetaBank - Highland Park Branch | Des Moines | 7 | Layoff | 2019-11-20 |
| MetaBank - Urbandale Branch | Urbandale | 7 | Layoff | 2019-11-20 |
The largest notice was filed by Eaton Corporation at its Belmond facility, reporting 185 affected workers. Eaton Corporation followed with 185 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest a mixed picture for Iowa's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. The Agriculture sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Iowa. 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 Iowa WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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