Weyerhaeuser's job cuts among the state's biggest in last 18 months

Weyerhaeuser's announcement today that it plans to lay off about 1,500 employees from its Federal Way headquarters is among the largest layoff announcement in Washington state since Jan. 1, 2007, according to figures compiled by the Washington State Employment Security Department, based on WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) layoff notices filed by companies.

This list does not includes the Starbucks announcement last week to lay off 1,000 workers nationwide, including 180 in Seattle, or Washington Mutual's decision in June to cut 1,200 jobs nationwide, including 260 at its Seattle headquarters. WaMu's latest cuts came on top of 3,500 job cuts announced earlier in the year.

Here are the 10 largest layoff announcements in the state currently posted at the state's WARN site.

933: Columbia Distributing, four sites, July 15, 2008

697: Macy's, Seattle, March 3, 2008

684: Associated Grocers*, Seattle-Renton, Oct. 1, 2007

260: Alltel, Issaquah, April 16, 2007

245: Aramark Healthcare, Spokane, June 29, 2007

210: Georgia Pacific*, Bellingham, Dec. 8, 2007

205: Bank of America, Spokane, March 15, 2007

196: Bessie Burton Sullivan Nursing Residence*, Seattle, Jan. 8, 2007

132: DAL Global Services, SeaTac, Dec. 12, 2007

130: Wilcox Farms*, Roy, March 31, 2008

Note: * indicates that the layoffs were due to the closure of the business at that site.