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There were more than 1 million job openings in manufacturing in October, a more than 6.4% increase from the 948,000 openings in September, according to Job Openings and Labor Turnover numbers from the Department of Labor.

Continuing to soar: The data point marked the seventh straight month with job postings above 800,000.

• October also saw record paces in job openings for both durable (584,000, from September’s 568,000) and nondurable (425,000, from September’s 380,000) goods firms.

In the larger economy: Nonfarm business jobs increased from 10.6 million in September to just more than 11 million in October, close to the record number in July.

Tight labor market: There were 7.4 million unemployed Americans in October, the equivalent of 0.67 unemployed people for every one job opening in the U.S. economy.

• “That number speaks to the extreme tightness of the labor market, with more job openings than people looking for work,” NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray said.
• The number of unemployed Americans fell even further in November, to approximately 6.8 million.

In manufacturing, more hiring, fewer losses: Manufacturers hired 495,000 people in October, an increase from September’s 483,000 and the most new hires since January 2001. 

• Total separations decreased, too, from 452,000 to 424,000, a five-month low.
• Said Moutray: “Therefore, net hiring was a very robust 71,000 in October, averaging 46,333 over the past six months.”

Creators (very much) wanted: This week’s “JOLTS number sends a clear message: #CreatorsWanted,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons posted to Twitter Wednesday. “With over 1 million open jobs in manufacturing today, @ShopfloorNAM and @TheMfgInstitute are working to inspire, educate and empower a new generation of creators in the U.S. www.creatorswanted.org.”