If you want to know where US layoffs actually stand in October 2026, the most reliable public signal is the federal WARN Act system — the advance notices employers are legally required to file before large layoffs and plant closures. Layoff Atlas currently tracks 750 such notices covering 69,260 workers across the United States.
These figures come from state labor agency filings, updated as new notices are published. They represent a rolling 90-day window of published notice dates, which is why the totals move from week to week.
The headline numbers
As of October 8, 2026, the registry shows:
- 750 WARN notices filed across US jurisdictions
- 69,260 workers covered by those notices
- 48 of 51 jurisdictions have imported records
That is a substantial volume of advance layoff activity. But the more useful way to read this data is not as a single total — it is as a timeline. WARN notices include an effective date (when the layoffs actually take effect), which means the data shows not just what has been announced, but what is scheduled to happen in the coming weeks.
What is coming: layoffs by effective week
Here is the upcoming schedule based on published effective dates:
| Week of | Workers affected |
|---|---|
| Oct 7 | 2,902 |
| Oct 14 | 3,726 |
| Oct 21 | 1,317 |
| Oct 28 | 8,220 |
| Nov 4 | 3,760 |
| Nov 11 | 6,124 |
The week of October 28 stands out sharply: 8,220 workers — more than double any other week in the window. That concentration is worth watching, whether you are a worker in an affected industry, a journalist covering the labor market, or an analyst tracking employment trends.
The Nov 11 figure (6,124) is also elevated, suggesting the elevated pace continues into mid-November rather than being a one-week spike.
Which states are hit hardest
Layoff activity is not evenly distributed. The five states with the most workers covered by WARN notices right now:
- Washington — 16,776 workers
- California — 15,910 workers
- Illinois — 4,861 workers
- Texas — 3,957 workers
- Ohio — 3,224 workers
Washington and California together account for roughly 47% of all workers in the registry — nearly half the national total concentrated in two states. That reflects both the size of their economies and the concentration of industries currently cutting jobs.
Illinois, Texas, and Ohio form a second tier, each in the 3,000–5,000 range. The drop-off after the top two is steep, which is typical: layoff waves tend to cluster in specific sectors and regions rather than spreading evenly.
The latest filings
The most recent published notices (notice date October 5, 2026) illustrate how granular this data gets. Recent filings include James River Management in Richmond, Virginia (4 workers, effective November 30) and several Kaiser Foundation Hospitals filings across Oakland, Pleasanton, and Pasadena, California (effective December 4). Individually these are small numbers — but the registry's power is in the aggregate: hundreds of such filings adding up to 69,260 workers.
What these numbers are — and are not
An important caveat runs through all WARN data: these are reported plans, not confirmed job losses. A WARN notice is an employer's advance notification of an intended layoff or closure. Plans can change — notices can be withdrawn, delayed, or reduced in scope. Some announced layoffs never happen.
There are also coverage gaps. WARN rules vary by state, and not every layoff triggers a filing. The federal threshold (generally 100+ employees, with specific definitions of mass layoffs and plant closings) means smaller layoffs never appear in this data. Several states have stricter "mini-WARN" laws that capture more activity, while others follow only the federal baseline. So the registry is not a census of all US layoffs — it is the best available public window into large-scale layoff activity, with known blind spots.
Worker totals also exclude records where the headcount was unavailable, so the true figures are likely somewhat higher than stated.
Why WARN data matters more than headlines
Most layoff news you see is anecdotal — a single company's announcement, amplified by social media. WARN data gives you the aggregate: every qualifying filing, in one place, with dates and locations. That makes it possible to see patterns (which weeks, which states, which industries) that no single headline can show.
For workers, the practical value is early warning. A WARN notice's effective date tells you when layoffs at a specific employer take effect — typically 60 days after the notice. If your employer, your industry, or your state shows up in the data, you have lead time to prepare.
For everyone else, it is one of the few near-real-time indicators of labor market stress, published continuously rather than in monthly government reports.
How to follow the data
The numbers above are a snapshot. WARN filings arrive daily, and the picture shifts constantly. The full registry — searchable by company, state, and date, with the upcoming-weeks view and state-by-state breakdowns — is updated as new notices are published.
Data source: figures from Layoff Atlas, current as of October 8, 2026.