News & Insights

Job openings for manufacturing increased by 41,000 to 437,000 in July. On the other hand, the June job openings level of 396,000 was revised downward from 415,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in July rose by 23,000 to 176,000, while durable goods job openings advanced by 18,000 to 261,000. The manufacturing job openings rate increased to 3.3% from 3.0% in June but fell from 3.7% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing grew 0.4% to 3.5%, while it ticked up 0.2% to 3.2% for durable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings dropped to 7.2 million, a decrease of 176,000 from the previous month and 323,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate declined to 4.3%, down from 4.4% in June and 4.5% 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 increased 41,000 to 5.3 million in July but decreased 143,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy stayed the same in July at 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing ticked up 0.2% in July to 2.5%. The hires rate for nondurable goods similarly increased 0.2% to 2.7%, while the hires rate for durable goods inched up 0.1% to 2.3%.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, decreased 52,000 from June to 5.3 million and 145,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% for the overall economy and at 2.5% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges increased by 6,000 in July for manufacturing, while quits rose by 9,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.