States with the Highest Layoff Rate
All states ranked by involuntary separation rate — where layoffs and discharges are most common.
What This Ranking Tells Us
The layoff and discharge rate measures involuntary separations — workers let go by employers through layoffs, reductions in force, discharges, and terminations. States with high layoff rates may be experiencing industry-specific downturns, seasonal workforce adjustments, or economic restructuring. Unlike quits (voluntary), layoffs reflect employer-side decisions and can signal economic stress in specific sectors or regions.
This ranking is computed from the latest available month of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), state-level series, harmonized against the BLS state employment denominator so the figures stand on the same statistical footing across all 51 jurisdictions. Rates are seasonally adjusted where BLS publishes adjusted series and reported as raw values where they are not, with no proprietary smoothing or extrapolation applied on top of the official numbers.
Methodology: rows are sorted by the metric named in the column header, ties broken by the most recent month value, then by alphabetical state name. Differences smaller than the JOLTS published relative standard error band of roughly ±0.3 percentage points at the state level should be treated as statistically indistinguishable; the ordering is informative for clusters of states, not for one-place gaps. See our methodology page for the full pipeline, and consult the BLS JOLTS state data issues notice for upstream caveats.
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a layoff in JOLTS data?
JOLTS defines layoffs and discharges as involuntary separations initiated by the employer. This includes layoffs (temporary or permanent reduction in force), discharges (termination for cause or performance), and any other involuntary separation. It excludes retirements, deaths, disability separations, and transfers within the same company.
Are high layoff rates always a bad sign?
Not necessarily in isolation. Some industries (construction, agriculture) have naturally high layoff rates due to seasonal patterns. A rising layoff rate in typically stable industries is more concerning. Context matters — compare the layoff rate trend over time rather than a single month's snapshot.
How do layoff rates compare to the Great Recession?
During the 2008-2009 recession, the national layoff rate peaked above 2.0%. Current levels are significantly below that threshold for most states. The COVID pandemic caused a brief spike in 2020 that exceeded Great Recession levels, but layoff rates normalized quickly by 2021.
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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.