Labor Demand Strengthens and Hiring Holds Steady

Job openings for manufacturing rose by 33,000 to 529,000 in May. At the same time, the April job openings level of 496,000 was revised upward from 474,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods openings in May increased 13,000 to 175,000, while durable goods job openings moved up 20,000 to 354,000. The manufacturing job openings rate ticked up to 4.0% from 3.8% in April and increased from 3.1% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing stepped up 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%, and the durable goods manufacturing rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.3%.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings stayed the same at 7.6 million, a slight gain of 9,000 from April and 284,000 higher than the previous year. The job openings rate remained at 4.6% in May and is up from 4.4% in May 2025. This data reflects an overall labor market that has eased back to pre-pandemic levels but continues to remain relatively tight from a historical perspective.

The number of hires in the overall economy declined 45,000 to 5.2 million in May and 158,000 below the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy was unchanged in May at 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing stayed the same at 2.3% in May and was up from 2.2% in May 2025. The hires rate for durable goods ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 2.2%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods inched down 0.1 percentage point to 2.4%.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, increased 63,000 from April to 5.1 million in May and declined 187,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate remained at 3.2% for the overall economy but was down from 3.3% the year prior. The total separations rate for manufacturing stayed the same at 2.2% and remained unchanged from May 2025. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges fell 18,000 in May for manufacturing, while quits rose 12,000. The quit and layoff rates continued to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.