Kentucky Layoffs — April 2008
Employers in Kentucky posted 4 WARN Act notices in April 2008, affecting an estimated 494 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to March and up 559% versus April 2007. The average filing covered 124 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 4 | 494 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 494 workers across 4 notices.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Owsley | 1 | 220 |
| Hardin | 1 | 124 |
Owsley was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 45% of all affected workers with 220 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Island City | 1 | 220 |
| Elizabethtown | 1 | 124 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 1 | 220 |
| Layoff | 2 | 174 |
Closures accounted for 45% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.O. Smith | Island City | 220 | Closure | |
| Lear | Elizabethtown | 124 | Layoff | |
| Sumitomo Electric Wiring System | 100 | |||
| Johnson Controls @ AK Steel | 50 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by A.O. Smith at its Island City facility, reporting 220 affected workers. Lear followed with 124 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Kentucky 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 Kentucky. 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 Kentucky WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.