How many people are laid off in each month?

Refreshed monthly
About 35,000 in December 2025. This includes all terminations of employment by an employer — called layoffs and discharges — such as permanent layoffs, temporary layoffs, and terminations because of mergers, downsizing, closings, or employee performance.

35K

people were laid off or discharged in Washington state in December 2025

445K

layoffs and discharges in Washington state in 2025 so far
Layoffs are a constant in the labor market — from 2001 to 2019, there was an average of 498,684 layoffs and discharges a year in Washington state. Increases in layoffs often reflect recessions or other economic disruption. For example, record-setting layoffs and discharges occurred in March and April of 2020 because of COVID-19. So far in 2025, layoffs and discharges total 445,000 in Washington state, which is 1.6% higher than the same period in 2024.

In Washington state, layoffs were 1.6% higher by December 2025 than by December 2024.

Cumulative monthly layoffs and discharges in Washington state, seasonally adjusted

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What is the layoff rate in Washington state?

Another way to consider this data is to look at the layoff and discharge rate. This puts layoffs and discharges in the context of the total number of people working by showing layoffs and discharges as a percent of employed people who were laid off during the given time period. This rate allows for better comparisons across time, industries, and places by adjusting for differences in the size of the working population.

Washington state’s layoff rate increased between November and December 2025.

Seasonally adjusted US and Washington state monthly layoff and discharge rates, December 2000–December 2025

In December 2025, 1% of people employed in Washington state were laid off or discharged, a higher rate than November. Compared to the national numbers, the December 2025 rate in Washington was lower, meaning a lower share of the Washington working population was laid off or dismissed in December 2025 compared to the US overall.
Average layoff and discharge rates are also useful to consider because they smooth out short-term fluctuations and clarify long-term trends.

In December 2025, Washington state’s 12-month average layoff rate was lower than the US average.

12-month rolling average layoff and discharge rates in the US and Washington state, November 2001–December 2025

During the first 20 years of data, the 12-month average layoff and discharge rate in the US peaked at the end of the Great Recession in June 2009 at 1.8% and during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020 at 2.4%. Washington state's 12-month average layoff rate was 0.4 percentage points higher than the US rate in June 2009 and the same in May 2020.
As of December 2025, Washington state's 12-month average layoff rate was lower than the US overall. At 1%, Washington state's average layoff and discharge rate remained the same compared to one year prior (January 2023–December 2024 average). The rate remained the same compared to two years prior (January 2022–December 2023 average).

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.