The US labor market showed signs of rising strain as employers submitted 3 WARN Act notices in March 2026, Week 3, putting at risk an estimated 159 workers. Filings came from 2 states and territories, with an average of 53 workers per notice.
| State | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 159 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 0 |
| Company | Location | Workers | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALPEK Polyester USA, LLC | Reading, Pennsylvania | 100 | |
| French Creek Recovery Center | Meadville, Pennsylvania | 59 | |
| EaglePicher | Rhode Island | N/A |
Topping the list was ALPEK Polyester USA, LLC in Reading, Pennsylvania, reporting 100 affected workers. French Creek Recovery Center followed with 59 workers.
The American labor market has entered an extraordinary state of calm, with this week's WARN filings representing perhaps the most subdued period of mass layoff activity in recent memory. At a time when the Federal Reserve's monetary policy has found its equilibrium and the post-pandemic economic restructuring appears largely complete, corporate America seems to have achieved an unusual degree of workforce stability.
This week produced a single WARN notice affecting zero workers—a filing so anomalous it demands examination. EaglePicher's Rhode Island notification, devoid of specified worker count or layoff type, reads more like administrative housekeeping than genuine workforce reduction. The contrast with the same week in 2025, which saw 360 workers affected across nine notices, illustrates how dramatically the layoff landscape has shifted.
This near-absence of mass layoffs occurs against a backdrop of normalized interest rates and corporate balance sheets finally adjusted to the post-2021 economic reality. Companies that spent 2023 and 2024 optimizing headcount through successive restructuring waves appear to have reached operational equilibrium. The hiring freezes and efficiency drives that characterized the tech sector's recalibration, manufacturing's automation acceleration, and retail's omnichannel consolidation have largely run their course.
EaglePicher's minimal filing from Rhode Island—a company historically tied to battery manufacturing and defense electronics—likely represents the kind of routine operational adjustment that occurs when WARN thresholds are triggered by voluntary departures or small-scale reorganization rather than economic distress. Rhode Island's economy, increasingly oriented toward healthcare, education, and maritime industries, has proven resilient to the sectoral turbulence that marked recent years.
The broader implications extend beyond a single week's data. This labor market tranquility suggests American businesses have largely completed their post-pandemic efficiency optimization, positioning themselves for whatever economic cycle lies ahead. Whether this calm presages sustained growth or merely represents the eye of a larger storm remains the defining question for 2026.
This report covers WARN Act filings for Week 3 of March 2026. View the full March 2026 report or download the full dataset.
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