Why Layoff Totals Can Fall Even as New WARN Notices Arrive

Layoff Atlas currently shows 704 WARN notices covering 66,156 reported workers. That total is lower than it was a week ago, even though new layoff notices kept arriving in the meantime. That apparent contradiction is not an error. It is how a rolling 90-day window works, and understanding it matters for anyone reading layoff numbers in the news.

The headline figures describe a notice window, not all layoffs ever recorded. Only notices with a published notice date inside the last 90 days enter the window; records without a usable notice date appear separately, under Recently imported. Every day the window moves forward: new notices enter, and notices older than 90 days drop out. The total can therefore fall even on a day with several new filings, if more old notices aged out than new ones came in.

The last week shows this clearly. On October 19, the window held 721 notices covering 66,487 reported workers.…