US Layoffs — March 2020

The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers submitted 6,066 WARN Act notices in March 2020, putting at risk an estimated 545,797 workers — up substantially from February and up 1207% versus March 2019. Filings came from 48 states and territories, with an average of 90 workers per notice.

Top States by Workers Affected

State	Notices	Workers
Illinois	167	142,844
New York	902	79,542
California	2164	44,986
Texas	602	35,847
New Jersey	112	26,960
Georgia	256	21,470
Minnesota	146	16,193
Florida	142	13,860
Nevada	55	13,359
Ohio	62	12,671
Michigan	59	10,380
Pennsylvania	53	9,995
South Carolina	55	9,629
Wisconsin	93	8,692
Arizona	84	8,464
Colorado	198	7,563
North Carolina	75	7,357
Hawaii	73	7,191
Indiana	89	6,804
Virginia	85	5,901
Delaware	25	4,851
Massachusetts	40	4,691
Missouri	28	4,617
Oregon	89	4,591
Washington	35	4,213
Tennessee	34	3,822
Mississippi	17	3,808
Kansas	46	3,366
Washington DC	22	2,686
Connecticut	40	2,596
Oklahoma	32	2,156
Rhode Island	22	2,018
Nebraska	15	1,979
Kentucky	33	1,822
Alaska	6	1,348
Maryland	25	1,293
Vermont	7	977
Maine	18	846
Louisiana	11	830
Idaho	15	790
North Dakota	5	729
Utah	4	467
New Mexico	6	405
Montana	8	404
Iowa	2	368
West Virginia	5	240
South Dakota	2	112
New Hampshire	2	64

Illinois led the nation with 142,844 workers affected across 167 notices , followed by New York (79,542 workers) and California (44,986 workers) .

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Accommodation & Food	1373	137,509
Other	289	28,932
Manufacturing	243	21,015
Healthcare	190	20,685
Transportation	66	7,777
Information & Technology	38	6,928
Retail	108	6,852
Arts & Entertainment	112	6,292
Utilities	13	4,469
Admin & Support Services	16	3,050

The Accommodation & Food sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 137,509 workers across 1373 notices. Separately, Other reported 28,932 workers.

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Layoff	1247	152,259
Closure	735	82,250
Temporary Closure	42	3,372
Temporary Layoff	21	2,276

Closures accounted for 16% of all affected workers nationally, with the majority of events being layoffs rather than full closures.

Largest Layoffs

Company	Location	Workers	Type
usi services group , inc	Chattanooga, New Jersey	23,695
Haliburton Energy Services-N. Sam Houston	Houston, Texas	3,500
Greater Philadelphia YMCA	Conshohocken, Pennsylvania	3,400	Closure
Phwlv, LLC	Las Vegas, Nevada	3,200	Layoff
ZF Transmissions	Gray Court, South Carolina	2,300	Layoff
Treasure Island Hotel & Casino	Las Vegas, Nevada	2,225	Layoff
900 Hotel Venture LLC	120 E Delaware Place, Illinois	2,020
A.R.M. Staffing, Inc	2750 Kildcare, Illinois	2,020
Adventurous Journeys LLC	4th Floor, Illinois	2,020
Agency EA LLC	311 W Walton St, Illinois	2,020

Topping the list was usi services group , inc in Chattanooga, New Jersey, reporting 23,695 affected workers. Haliburton Energy Services-N. Sam Houston followed with 3,500 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

These figures highlight mounting pressure on the the nation labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Accommodation & Food sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This report covers all WARN Act filings with notice dates in March 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.