Kearney manufacturer announces large layoff

One of Kearney’s largest employers announced significant layoffs Wednesday, one of a series of recent job cuts around the state.

A spokesperson for Eaton Corp. said it will end engine valve production at its Kearney plant because it is unable to be cost-competitive with the products made there and is losing business.

The spokesperson did not give an exact number of jobs to be cut, but he did say Eaton employs more than 300 people at the plant and “the majority” of employees work in the engine valve production division that is being discontinued.

Kearney-area media reported that about 200 people will lose jobs.

The job cuts by Eaton are the largest in what has become a growing wave of layoffs over the past couple of months in Nebraska.

In May, regional airline CommuteAir announced plans to close a maintenance facility at the Lincoln Airport, costing 100 people their jobs, while professional services company Accenture said it would lay off 85 workers in Omaha.

There have been a number of other layoffs as well.

BNSF Railway laid off around three dozen workers in Lincoln and Alliance in June, and Allo Fiber confirmed last week that it had laid off about 70 people in Nebraska and 150 overall, just a few days after offering voluntary buyouts.

Those layoffs are on top of ones made by the federal government and University of Nebraska-Lincoln due to budget cuts.

While Nebraska’s unemployment rate has stayed relatively steady over the past few months at 3%, the number of unemployed people has been on the rise.

In May, the Nebraska Department of Labor reported more than 32,400 residents were unemployed, an increase of nearly 3,700 over May 2024.

In an interview last month, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the economic picture in the state is not as rosy as some make it out to be.

“Contrary to the consensus, I think the negative economic indicators are outweighing the positive metrics,” Goss said. “Overall, the labor market has cooled as inflation has moved sideways to down.”