New York Layoffs — January 2018

Employers in New York reported 54 WARN Act notices in January 2018, displacing an estimated 3,461 workers — signaling an acceleration from December and up 54% versus January 2017. The average filing covered 64 workers, with 39 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Retail sector topped the list of affected industries with 1,270 workers across 15 notices. Notably, Transportation reported 665 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

New York was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 33% of all affected workers with 1,133 workers across 14 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

The high proportion of closures (82% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in New York's labor market.

Largest Layoffs

The most significant filing came from Union Beer Distributors, LLC (Warehouse and Distribution Units) at its Brooklyn facility, reporting 233 affected workers. Sears Full Line Store (#01264) followed with 179 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the New York labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Retail sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by New York. 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 New York WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.