Manufacturing Job Openings Fall as Hiring Climbs
Job openings for manufacturing fell by 54,000 to 522,000 in August. At the same time, the July job openings level of 576,000 was revised downward from 580,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in August decreased 11,000 to 142,000, while durable goods job openings moved down 43,000 to 380,000. The manufacturing job openings rate edged down to 4.0% from 4.4% in July but rose from 3.2% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing ticked down 0.2 percentage points to 2.9%, while the rate for durable goods manufacturing fell 0.5 percentage points to 4.6%.
In the larger economy, the number of job openings dropped to 7.1 million, a decline of 256,000 from July but an increase of 160,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate inched down to 4.3% from 4.4% in July but was up from 4.2% in August 2025. This data reflects an overall labor market that has rebounded some from last year’s levels, particularly for manufacturing, and remains relatively tight from a historical perspective.
The number of hires in the overall economy rose 46,000 to 5.2 million in August and 47,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy ticked up 0.1 percentage point in August to 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing climbed to 2.6% from 2.3% in July and 2.4% in August 2025. The hires rate for durable goods inched up 0.1 percentage point to 2.4%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods jumped 0.6 percentage points to 3.0%.
In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, declined 58,000 from July to 5.1 million and 137,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.2% for the overall economy but rose 0.2 percentage points for manufacturing to 2.5%, up slightly from 2.4% the year prior. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges ticked up by 2,000 in August for manufacturing, while quits rose by 23,000. The quit and layoff rates continued to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.
