Fewer LI companies file plans to close plants

In another sign the Great Recession may be easing its grip on Long Island, fewer companies have filed notices with the state that they plan to close plants here or lay off employees.

The state Labor Department's Web site shows that nine companies have filed so-called WARN notices this year, compared with 47 in all of 2009, when the Island and much of the country was deep in the grips of the recession. In 2008, 22 Long Island companies filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices.

The state adopted its own, more stringent WARN requirements in 2009. The federal act requires employers of 100 or more workers to provide those affected by a plant closing or mass layoff with 60 days' notice. The state requires employers with 50 or more workers to provide 90 days' written notice.

"The pace is slowing," said Gary Huth, principal economist for the state Labor Department in Hicksville. That may be a sign the recession is getting weaker, Huth said. But he added, "What's not 100 percent clear is the degree of momentum" of the recovery.

Long Island's unemployment rate is 7.9 percent, an 18-year high. In February there were 10,000 fewer jobs on the Island, but that was an improvement from January's loss of 10,400 jobs. Long Island job figures for March are due out Thursday.

The nine companies that issued WARN notices this year let go, or plan to let go, a total of 938 workers. Five of the notices involved plant closings, and the remainder, layoffs.

"The real question is when the pace of job growth is going to pick up," Huth said. "The jury is out on that."

2010 WARN Act notices

Here are some of the largest Long Island companies to have filed notices this year under WARN, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act:

Printpack,  of  Farmingdale
Description: Manufacturer of shrink sleeve labels
Employees affected: 109
Rason: Plant closing

Ivy Asset Management Llc, of  Jericho
Description: Asset management
Employees affected: 72
Reason: Plant layoff

MT Transportation Logistics Services, of Bethpage
Description: Transportation
Employees affected: 199
Reason: Possible plant layoff

Sports Publications Production, of Port Washington
Location: Port Washington
Description: Publications production facility
Employees affected: 66
Reason: Plant closing