Mississippi Layoffs — January 2021
Employers in Mississippi posted 5 WARN Act notices in January 2021, affecting an estimated 856 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to December and up 351% versus January 2020. The average filing covered 171 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale Trade | 1 | 434 |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 422 |
The Wholesale Trade sector saw the heaviest impact with 434 workers across 1 notice. On a related front, Manufacturing reported 422 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Madison | 1 | 434 |
| Noxubee | 1 | 235 |
| Lee | 1 | 105 |
| Wayne | 1 | 74 |
| Hancock | 1 | 8 |
Madison bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 51% of all affected workers with 434 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Canton | 2 | 669 |
| Tupelo | 1 | 105 |
| Waynesboro | 1 | 74 |
| Bay St. Louis | 1 | 8 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 4 | 782 |
| Layoff | 1 | 74 |
The high proportion of closures (91% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Mississippi's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peco Foods | Canton | 434 | Closure | |
| Peco Foods | Canton | 235 | Closure | |
| Genlyte Thomas Group, LLC/Signify | Tupelo | 105 | Closure | |
| Scotch Plywood | Waynesboro | 74 | Layoff | |
| Purple Banana - McKenzie PB | Bay St. Louis | 8 | Closure |
The largest notice was filed by Peco Foods at its Canton facility, reporting 434 affected workers. Peco Foods followed with 235 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Mississippi labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Wholesale Trade sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Mississippi. 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 Mississippi WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.