Mass Layoffs Hit Michigan and Missouri

Students do steel work at Ironworkers Local 29 during an apprenticeship. Missouri and Michigan are at the front of the jobless claims uptick with increases of 1,443 and 1,204 claims respectively.

In newly released data on initial jobless claims, two states had notable spikes in mass layoffs, primarily in the automobile and manufacturing sectors.

Missouri and Michigan saw increases of 1,443 and 1,204, respectively, in jobless claims filed the week ending March 16. In Missouri, the automobile industry bore the brunt of the layoffs. In Michigan, the manufacturing sector did, the Department of Labor reported.

The new data follows an increase in the national unemployment rate in February, as states across the country have faced a rise in job losses.

In Michigan, the automotive manufacturing sector has faced challenges, leading to layoffs at General Motors, which had announced plans to lay off 1,314 workers across two plants through March 25.

GM’s Orion Assembly facility laid off almost 1,000 employees, while its Lansing Grand River Assembly/Stamping plant lost almost 400 workers, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices filed with state workforce-development offices.

Meanwhile, in Missouri, the layoffs span various jobs in the automobile industry. School-bus drivers who work for Missouri Central School Bus could see 332 job cuts. Other companies, including Student Transportation of America in Kansas City, plan to lay off 149 employees by June 30, according to WARN notices.

The layoffs in Missouri come as the companies end their contracts with local school districts, according to letters filed, leading to the closure of facilities and affecting hundreds of full-time and part-time employees.

Additional layoffs in the state have been announced by other sectors, including food manufacturing, Big Tech and biotech.

According to the Department of Labor, jobless claims for the week ending March 23 were slightly below projections at 210,000.

“Initial claims essentially remain flat at very low levels, though the print for the week ending March 23 likely was depressed slightly by imprecise seasonal adjustment for this year’s early Easter,” Ian Shepherdson, the chair and chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told Newsweek, offering insight into the broader economic landscape.

Shepherdson listed a trio of leading indicators—Challenger layoff announcements, WARN notices, and Google searches for “layoffs”—that suggest an uptick in jobless claims is on the horizon.

Coupled with a decrease in hiring intentions, as per a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, he said the scenario suggests it may become increasingly difficult for laid-off workers to find immediate employment.

Shepherdson said a rising trend in claims would become evident by late May, potentially influencing the Federal Open Market Committee to start a rate-cutting cycle in June.

The WARN notices, serving as a formal announcement of employment changes, indicate the scale of the effect on workers and communities. Shepherdson’s anticipation of increased jobless claims aligns with broader concerns over employment stability, with implications for potential adjustments in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy aimed at mitigating the impact on the workforce.

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