US Layoffs — March 2020

The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers submitted 8,536 WARN Act notices in March 2020, putting at risk an estimated 1,159,483 workers — up substantially from February and up 3192% versus March 2019. Filings came from 49 states and territories, with an average of 136 workers per notice.

Top States by Workers Affected

California led the nation with 317,846 workers affected across 2777 notices , followed by New York (174,911 workers) and Florida (90,191 workers) .

Industry Breakdown

The Accommodation & Food sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 587,672 workers across 3627 notices. Separately, Arts & Entertainment reported 115,048 workers.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 19% of all affected workers nationally, with the majority of events being layoffs rather than full closures.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was USI Services Group in Union, New Jersey, reporting 23,695 affected workers. OS Restaurant Services, LLC Outback followed with 7,293 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, which also tracks SEC 8-K filings, bankruptcy proceedings, H-1B visa petitions, and unemployment claims across all six datasets. API access and data exports available.