Employers in Iowa logged 36 WARN Act notices in July 2024, involving roughly 2,851 workers — climbing above June and up 131% versus July 2023. The average filing covered 79 workers, with 8 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 14 | 1,559 |
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 103 |
The Manufacturing sector dominated layoff filings with 1,559 workers across 14 notices. Meanwhile, Finance & Insurance reported 103 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Polk | 9 | 911 |
| Black Hawk | 8 | 828 |
| Iowa | 3 | 577 |
| Cass | 4 | 240 |
| Clarke | 3 | 153 |
Polk was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 32% of all affected workers with 911 workers across 9 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 8 | 828 |
| Altoona | 2 | 638 |
| Williamsburg | 3 | 577 |
| Atlantic | 4 | 240 |
| Johnston | 3 | 201 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 16 | 1,417 |
| Closure | 8 | 932 |
Closures accounted for 33% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp | Altoona | 319 | Closure | 2024-07-02 |
| Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp | Altoona | 319 | Closure | 2024-07-02 |
| Kinze Manufacturing, Inc | Williamsburg | 193 | Layoff | 2024-07-31 |
| Kinze Manufacturing, Inc | Williamsburg | 192 | Layoff | 2024-07-31 |
| Kinze Manufacturing, Inc | Williamsburg | 192 | 2024-07-31 | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 191 | Layoff | 2024-07-11 |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 191 | Layoff | 2024-07-11 |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 89 | Layoff | 2024-07-11 |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 89 | Layoff | 2024-07-11 |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 69 | Layoff | 2024-07-24 |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 69 | Layoff | 2024-07-24 |
| John Deere Financial | Johnston | 67 | Layoff | 2024-07-24 |
| John Deere Financial | Johnston | 67 | Layoff | 2024-07-24 |
| John Deere | Johnston | 67 | 2024-07-24 | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 65 | Layoff | 2024-07-11 |
The biggest impact was at Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp at its Altoona facility, reporting 319 affected workers. Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp followed with 319 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Iowa labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Manufacturing 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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