The largest private coal mining corporation in America, Murray Energy, has warned it may have to lay off as many as 4,400 employees — some 80 percent of the company's workforce — thanks to a long-term slump in the coal markets.
The Central Appalachian coal price benchmark has sunk to just $40 a ton, about half of its price in 2011, and many major coal producers are declaring bankruptcy. Murray Energy has already laid off about 3,000 workers in the past year, mostly in West Virginia, Illinois, and Ohio.
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