News & Insights

Job openings for manufacturing decreased by 29,000 to 409,000 in Nondurable goods job openings in August declined by 26,000 to 150,000, while durable goods job openings edged down by 3,000 to 259,000. The manufacturing job openings rate fell to 3.1% from 3.3% in July and from 3.5% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing dropped from 3.5% to 3.0%, while it stayed the same at 3.2% for durable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings ticked up to 7.2 million, an increase of 19,000 from July but a decrease of 422,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate stayed the same at 4.3%, down from 4.6% last year. This data reflects an overall labor market that has eased back to pre-pandemic levels, but remains relatively tight from a historical perspective.

The number of hires in the overall economy decreased 114,000 to 5.1 million in August and 104,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy edged down 0.1% in August to 3.2%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing stayed the same at 2.4%. The hires rate for durable goods similarly stayed the same at 2.2%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods inched up 0.1% to 2.8%.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, declined 110,000 from July to 5.1 million and 59,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate edged down 0.1% to 3.2% for the overall economy but inched up 0.1% to 2.5% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges increased by 5,000 in August for manufacturing, while quits fell by 3,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.