Week Ahead: November 26 Brings 5,819 Scheduled Layoffs, the Third-Heaviest Upcoming Week
The week grouped under November 26 carries 5,819 scheduled layoffs in current WARN data, making it the third-heaviest fully upcoming week on the calendar. It sits behind only the weeks of November 19 (8,412 workers) and November 12 (7,521 workers) among the weeks still entirely ahead, and it is the week that includes Thanksgiving Day.
That position matters because the coming weeks are uneven. Some weeks are quiet; others are crowded. The November 26 week is firmly in the crowded group, with more than three times the layoffs scheduled for the lightest upcoming week.
The six-week picture
Across the six weeks shown in Layoff Atlas's upcoming-by-week view, 35,417 workers are scheduled for layoffs:
- October 29: 8,693 workers (the week now under way)
- November 5: 3,302 workers
- November 12: 7,521 workers
- November 19: 8,412 workers
- November 26: 5,819 workers
- December 3: 1,670 workers
The November 26 week accounts for about 16 percent of that six-week total. It is roughly 1.8 times the November 5 week (3,302 workers) and about 3.5 times the December 3 week (1,670 workers), the lightest week on the calendar. At the same time, it runs about 31 percent below the heaviest fully upcoming week, November 19.
In other words, November 26 is not an outlier week, but it is not a breather either. It is a solidly heavy week inside a heavy stretch: four of the five fully upcoming weeks carry more than 5,800 scheduled layoffs each, and only December 3 drops sharply.
Why the week stands out
Two things make the November 26 week worth watching. First, its size: 5,819 scheduled layoffs is a large number for a single week by any recent standard, and it comes right after the two heaviest weeks of the stretch. Workers and employers facing effective dates in this window are part of a concentrated wave, not isolated announcements.
Second, its timing: the week includes Thanksgiving Day, November 26. Effective dates that land in a holiday week can feel different for affected workers, since support services, hiring activity, and administrative offices often run on reduced holiday schedules. Anyone with an effective date in this week should check in advance which offices and services will be open, and what deadlines fall on or around the holiday.
The national backdrop
The figures above come from the national WARN registry tracked by Layoff Atlas. In the current 90-day notice window, the registry holds 694 notices covering 67,083 reported workers, with 30 counts unavailable. The data was last updated on October 29, 2026.
The largest state totals in that window are California (18,309 workers), Washington (17,050), Illinois (4,626), Texas (3,652), and Georgia (2,492). California and Washington together account for just over half of all reported workers in the window, so national week totals are heavily shaped by what happens in those two states.
It is worth remembering what these numbers are. WARN notices are reported plans, not confirmed job losses. A filing means an employer has announced a qualifying layoff or closure and given advance notice; it does not guarantee that every listed worker will ultimately lose their job, since plans can change, workers can be reassigned, and some notices are later revised. Coverage also varies by state, because reporting rules and publication practices differ, so the registry is not a census of all layoffs.
What to watch next
The key question for the November 26 week is whether its total holds or moves as effective dates approach. Weekly totals shift as new notices are filed and older ones roll out of the window, so a week that looks third-heaviest today could climb or fall by the time it arrives.
For workers, the practical steps are the same regardless of the ranking: confirm the effective date in the notice, check unemployment filing rules in your state, and ask whether severance, benefits continuation, or retraining support applies. For everyone else tracking the labor market, the November 26 week is a reminder that the heavy autumn stretch does not end with the November 19 peak — it continues through Thanksgiving week before easing sharply in early December.
Data source: Layoff Atlas
