Thousands of Workers Are Now Facing Painful Layoffs in Iowa

July 10, 2024

Thousands of workers are now facing painful layoffs in Iowa as more businesses file WARN notices advising of impending job cuts.

Iowa’s job market is facing another significant blow as Smithfield Foods announces the closure of its ham boning facility in Altoona, resulting in a total of 319 layoffs.

This is Iowa’s latest job cut announcement.

Another company who recently advised of upcoming layoffs in Iowa is Winnebago Industries.

The company filed a WARN notice with the Iowa Workforce Development Department, advising that a total of 36 employees in Charles City will lose their jobs on September 1 when a facility closes.

The trend is only growing as more businesses file WARN notices advising of upcoming layoffs in Iowa.

Below is a list of other businesses cutting jobs in the state:

Smithfield Foods announced plans to close its ham boning facility in Altoona and move it out of state. This closure will result in 319 layoffs.
Last month, John Deere, the world’s leading seller of tractors and crop harvesters, revealed plans to lay off around 610 production staff by the end of summer. This decision, driven by rising operational costs and declining market demand, will affect multiple plants in Illinois and Iowa. The Davenport, Iowa factory will see 230 employees laid off, while about 100 production workers at the Dubuque, Iowa plant will also lose their jobs. These layoffs follow earlier announcements this year, including 200 employees at the Waterloo Works plant in May and 308 workers at the same location in late April. In March, 150 employees at the Ankeny plant faced layoffs.
Bridgestone-Firestone laid off 118 employees at its Des Moines plant on July 5, affecting approximately 15% of the workforce.
Cygnus Home Services, West Liberty Foods, and Tyson Foods have all announced significant job cuts earlier this year.

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Other Economy News Today

Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.

First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.

Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.

That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.

US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.

Still, hiring remains strong. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% last month, it’s the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.

Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”

“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.

The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.

While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”

Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note Thursday: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”

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Also Read: A Giant Company Now Announces Unexpected Layoffs in Virginia

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