The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers posted 597 WARN Act notices in January 2020, affecting an estimated 47,708 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to December and up 31% versus January 2019. Filings came from 40 states and territories, with an average of 80 workers per notice.
| State | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| California | 138 | 5,949 |
| New York | 71 | 5,720 |
| Kentucky | 21 | 4,690 |
| Kansas | 25 | 3,405 |
| Illinois | 7 | 2,576 |
| Texas | 19 | 2,438 |
| Maryland | 4 | 2,211 |
| Arizona | 6 | 1,316 |
| Florida | 14 | 1,307 |
| Colorado | 26 | 1,271 |
| Virginia | 6 | 1,205 |
| Pennsylvania | 11 | 1,186 |
| Minnesota | 26 | 1,128 |
| New Mexico | 9 | 1,065 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 1,009 |
| New Jersey | 8 | 933 |
| Massachusetts | 6 | 817 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 788 |
| Alabama | 8 | 764 |
| Washington | 6 | 726 |
| Indiana | 9 | 726 |
| Oregon | 10 | 724 |
| Hawaii | 15 | 685 |
| Ohio | 6 | 678 |
| Wisconsin | 6 | 654 |
| Michigan | 7 | 508 |
| Maine | 16 | 505 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 484 |
| Tennessee | 6 | 410 |
| Connecticut | 60 | 316 |
| South Carolina | 1 | 287 |
| Idaho | 3 | 267 |
| Mississippi | 3 | 190 |
| Iowa | 9 | 188 |
| Missouri | 1 | 168 |
| Montana | 2 | 140 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 133 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 57 |
| Vermont | 2 | 47 |
| Georgia | 8 | 37 |
California led the nation with 5,949 workers affected across 138 notices , followed by New York (5,720 workers) and Kentucky (4,690 workers) .
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 56 | 5,588 |
| Transportation | 29 | 4,541 |
| Healthcare | 57 | 4,414 |
| Retail | 40 | 4,224 |
| Manufacturing | 29 | 1,765 |
| Information & Technology | 6 | 1,107 |
| Finance & Insurance | 7 | 582 |
| Admin & Support Services | 2 | 438 |
| Wholesale Trade | 3 | 344 |
| Utilities | 3 | 282 |
The Other sector saw the heaviest impact with 5,588 workers across 56 notices. On a related front, Transportation reported 4,541 workers.
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 146 | 18,494 |
| Layoff | 103 | 11,893 |
Closures accounted for 39% of all affected workers nationally, with the majority of events being layoffs rather than full closures.
| Company | Location | Workers | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit AeroSystems, Inc | Wichita, Kansas | 2,796 | |
| IAS Logistics DFW, LLC d/b/a Pinnacle Logistics | Maryland | 1,609 | Layoff |
| Pinnacle Logistics | Illinois | 1,374 | Closure |
| Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, LLC | Kentucky | 1,226 | Closure |
| Oour Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, L.L.C | Kentucky | 1,226 | Closure |
| Macy's Credit and Customer Services, Inc | Tempe, Arizona | 843 | |
| LSC Communications US, LLC | Illinois | 796 | Closure |
| ViacomCBS Inc. (and its subsidiaries) | New York, New York | 708 | Layoff |
| ViacomCBS Inc. (and its subsidiaries) | New York, New York | 669 | Layoff |
| Aramark (at VCU Health Systems) | Richmond, Virginia | 572 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Spirit AeroSystems, Inc in Wichita, Kansas, reporting 2,796 affected workers. IAS Logistics DFW, LLC d/b/a Pinnacle Logistics followed with 1,609 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the the nation labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Other sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This report covers all WARN Act filings with notice dates in January 2020. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is sourced from official state filings and updated daily by WARN Firehose. Download the full dataset or explore state-by-state data.
Get weekly layoff reports in your inbox
Free weekly digest of WARN Act filings and analysis.
