Washington Layoffs — July 2004
Employers in Washington logged 6 WARN Act notices in July 2004, involving roughly 684 workers — climbing above June. The average filing covered 114 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3 | 466 |
| Retail | 1 | 134 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 82 |
| Wholesale Trade | 1 | 2 |
The Manufacturing sector dominated layoff filings with 466 workers across 3 notices. Meanwhile, Retail reported 134 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Chelan | 1 | 400 |
| King | 3 | 167 |
| Snohomish | 1 | 82 |
| Kitsap | 1 | 35 |
Chelan saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 58% of all affected workers with 400 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Malaga | 1 | 400 |
| Federal Way | 1 | 134 |
| Mountlake Terrace | 1 | 82 |
| Silverdale | 1 | 35 |
| Bellevue | 1 | 31 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 3 | 437 |
| Closure | 3 | 247 |
Closures accounted for 36% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoa-Wenatchee | Malaga | 400 | Layoff | |
| Target | Federal Way | 134 | Closure | |
| Premera Blue Cross | Mountlake Terrace | 82 | Closure | |
| Johnson Controls | Silverdale | 35 | Layoff | |
| Brown & Williamson Tobacco | Bellevue | 31 | Closure | |
| Guidant Sales | Kirkland | 2 | Layoff |
The biggest impact was at Alcoa-Wenatchee at its Malaga facility, reporting 400 affected workers. Target followed with 134 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Washington 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 Washington. 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 Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.