Iowa Layoffs — August 2016
Employers in Iowa posted 13 WARN Act notices in August 2016, affecting an estimated 625 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to July and up 22% versus August 2015. The average filing covered 48 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 9 | 486 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 83 |
| Retail | 1 | 43 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 13 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 486 workers across 9 notices. On a related front, Finance & Insurance reported 83 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Allamakee | 2 | 128 |
| Clayton | 1 | 125 |
| Black Hawk | 1 | 115 |
| Polk | 2 | 91 |
| Washington | 2 | 44 |
Allamakee saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 20% of all affected workers with 128 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Lansing | 2 | 128 |
| Monona | 1 | 125 |
| Waterloo | 1 | 115 |
| West Des Moines | 1 | 83 |
| Washington | 2 | 44 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 3 | 173 |
| Layoff | 3 | 114 |
Closures accounted for 28% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Vehicle Group | Monona | 125 | Closure | |
| John Deere | Waterloo | 115 | ||
| Guide One Mutual Insurance | West Des Moines | 83 | Layoff | |
| Blumenthal Lansing | Lansing | 64 | ||
| Blumenthal Lansing | Lansing | 64 | ||
| Best Buy | Council Bluffs | 43 | Closure | |
| Modine Manufacturing | Washington | 41 | ||
| John Deere | Davenport | 30 | ||
| Eaton | Belmond | 23 | Layoff | |
| Eaton | Spencer | 21 | ||
| Noridian Healthcare Solutions | Des Moines | 8 | Layoff | |
| Webster City Medical | Webster City | 5 | Closure | |
| Modine Manufacturing | Washington | 3 |
The largest notice was filed by Commercial Vehicle Group at its Monona facility, reporting 125 affected workers. John Deere followed with 115 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest 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.