California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington WARN layoff notices fall to 123 in 30 days, from 154
PostNewz's count of WARN layoff notices in California, Colorado, Maryland, and Washington in the latest 30-day window fell to 123 notices covering 15,376 employees, from 154 notices in the prior 30 days.
WARN notices are the written filings large employers must make ahead of mass layoffs and plant closings, which makes the count a public record of announced job cuts rather than a private estimate.
The 30-day count of California WARN layoff notices in PostNewz's snapshot series was 123 notices covering 15,376 employees as of Oct. 23, 2026, up from 104 notices in the reading taken Oct. 22. The figures come from the California EDD WARN notices the series tracks.
The series holds three daily readings, dated Oct. 21, Oct. 22 and Oct. 23; the median of the three is 111 notices. The Oct. 21 reading was 111 notices and the Oct. 22 reading was 104, so the Oct. 23 value of 123 sits above both the median and the previous distinct reading.
The same Oct. 23 reading put the preceding 30-day window at 154 notices covering 15,110 employees. That window is measured across the California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington WARN lists the series combines, not California alone.
A notice records a filing, not a completed separation, and one filing can cover many employees.
Room for disagreement
Three daily readings is a short history to judge a move against, and a 30-day rolling window can swing on a single large filing. The series also combines four state WARN lists, so the California-only count may differ from 123.
About the data
Every figure in this story is read from PostNewz's data_snapshots table (3 rows read Oct 23, 3:01 p.m. HST): California WARN layoff notices (30 days): 104 (2026-10-22) to 123 (2026-10-23), 3 readings in data_snapshots. Prose by Julian Sanchez (pn93-pnj-v5, model @cf/deepseek-ai/deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017); numbers checked against the rows by the figure guard (1 sentence(s) removed); neutrality check passed.
Corrections
- : Correction: The story described the count as California's; it is the combined count of California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington. The headline and summary left out the prior-period comparison: 123 in the latest 30 days against 154 in the 30 days before. It compared a rolling 30-day total with the previous day's overlapping total instead of with the prior 30 days. The chart's scale for a count did not start at zero. The correct number of notices in the latest 30-day window is 123, down from 154 in the prior 30-day window. An earlier version of the headline read: “California WARN layoff notices rise to 123 in 30 days, from 104 a day earlier.” Corrected Oct. 24, 2026, 1:19 a.m. HST.
- : Correction: The story described the count as California's; it is the combined count of California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington. It compared a rolling 30-day total with the previous day's overlapping total instead of with the prior 30 days. The chart's scale for a count did not start at zero. The correct count combines California, Colorado, Maryland, and Washington, with 123 notices in the latest 30-day window, down from 154 in the prior 30 days. An earlier version of the summary read: “PostNewz's count of California WARN layoff notices in the latest 30-day window rose to 123 notices covering 15,376 employees, from 104 notices in the reading taken a day earlier.” Corrected Oct. 24, 2026, 2:28 a.m. HST.