November 6 Is the Second-Lightest Upcoming Layoff Week: 3,302 Workers Scheduled

The week of November 6 is shaping up to be one of the quietest stretches on the current layoff calendar. According to the latest WARN data tracked by Layoff Atlas, 3,302 workers are scheduled for layoffs effective that week — the second-lightest week in the six-week outlook, behind only the week of December 4, when 1,708 workers are scheduled.

That does not mean layoffs stop. More than three thousand workers still face a scheduled effective date in a single week. But after a heavy run of effective dates in late October, the November 6 figure marks a clear breather — and it sits between two much heavier weeks.

The six-week outlook

• Week of October 30: 7,049 workers
• Week of November 6: 3,302 workers
• Week of November 13: 8,793 workers
• Week of November 20: 7,181 workers
• Week of November 27: 5,778 workers
• Week of December 4: 1,708 workers

Together, the six weeks account for 33,811 scheduled workers, an average of about 5,635 per week. The November 6 figure sits roughly 41 percent below that average. It is also about 62 percent below the heaviest week on the calendar, the week of November 13, when 8,793 workers are scheduled.

The pattern is a sharp dip followed by a sharp rebound. The week of October 30 carries 7,049 workers, more than double the November 6 total. Then, just one week later, the calendar jumps back up to 8,793. Workers and employers watching the calendar should not read the November 6 dip as a turning point — it is a valley between two peaks, not the end of the wave.

Why a "light" week still matters

A week with 3,302 scheduled workers is light only in relative terms. For comparison, the lightest week in the outlook, December 4, carries about half as many workers. And the November 6 total is still larger than the entire workforce of many single WARN filings tracked this year.

It is also worth remembering what these numbers are — and are not. WARN figures describe reported plans, not confirmed job losses. Employers file notices of planned mass layoffs and plant closures with state labor agencies, and those filings are what Layoff Atlas tracks. Some planned layoffs are postponed, reduced, or cancelled. Others take effect exactly as filed. A scheduled effective week is a snapshot of plans on file today, and the numbers shift as new notices arrive and old ones roll off the calendar.

Coverage also varies by state. Reporting rules, thresholds, and publication practices differ across the country, so the national total is a partial picture of US layoffs, not a census of them.

The national picture behind the week

The November 6 figure comes from a national registry that currently holds 673 WARN notices covering 65,395 reported workers in its 90-day notice window, with 29 counts unavailable. California leads the state ranking with 17,715 workers, followed by Washington with 16,879, Illinois with 4,385, Texas with 3,280, and Georgia with 2,492.

Those state totals reflect where notices have been filed over the past 90 days, not where next week's effective dates fall. A state's ranking in the window and its share of any single effective week can look very different, because effective dates lag notice dates by weeks or months.

What to watch next

1. New filings. Notices filed in the coming days with effective dates in the November 6 week would raise the total. The figure is current as of the latest data refresh, not a final count.
2. The November 13 rebound. The week after November 6 is the heaviest on the calendar at 8,793 workers. Anyone treating the dip as relief should note how quickly the numbers climb again.
3. Date changes. Employers can postpone or move effective dates, and those changes show up in the data as notices are updated. A quiet week can get quieter — or heavier — before it arrives.

For workers with an effective date in the November 6 week, the practical steps are the same regardless of the national ranking: confirm the filing details with the employer, check unemployment filing timelines, and look into Rapid Response services offered through the state workforce agency. Those services are free and are designed for exactly this situation.

The November 6 week is a breather on a busy calendar. It is not a slowdown in layoffs overall — with 8,793 workers scheduled the following week and 7,181 the week after that, the calendar stays heavy well into late November. But for one week, the numbers ease, and that easing is itself worth noting.

Data source: Layoff Atlas