WARN Act Layoffs vs S&P 500
Monthly employees affected by mass layoffs compared with S&P 500 index performance, 1996–present
Source: WARN Act filings (48 states + DC) • S&P 500 monthly close
Peak Layoff Months
The five months with the highest number of employees affected by WARN Act filings:
| Month | Employees Affected | Notices Filed |
|---|---|---|
| March 2020 | 539,329 | 4,214 |
| April 2020 | 146,436 | 1,230 |
| September 2020 | 80,317 | 321 |
| October 2020 | 71,418 | 329 |
| May 2020 | 60,164 | 434 |
About This Data
WARN Act Layoff Data
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs (50+ workers) and plant closures. LayoffAlert aggregates WARN filings from 48 US states and DC. Data from 2023 onward is collected via daily automated scraping of state government sources. Historical data (pre-2023) is sourced from a comprehensive CSV database of WARN filings.
S&P 500 Data
S&P 500 values represent the monthly closing price of the index. Data is sourced from publicly available historical records.
Limitations
- WARN Act filings undercount total layoffs — the Act only covers employers with 100+ workers and layoffs affecting 50+ employees.
- Filing compliance varies by state, and some states have more complete historical records than others.
- Employee counts reflect planned layoffs at time of filing; actual layoff numbers may differ.
- The S&P 500 is one measure of market performance and doesn't capture the full economic picture.