Manufacturing Job Openings and Hiring Slip as Workforce Pressures Persist

Job openings for manufacturing decreased by 11,000 to 403,000 in On the other hand, the October job openings level of 414,000 was revised upward from 410,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in November declined by 11,000 to 129,000, while durable goods job openings stayed the same at 274,000. The manufacturing job openings rate fell to 3.1% from 3.2% in October and from 3.4% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing decreased 0.2 percentage points to 2.6%, while it stayed the same at 3.4% for durable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings dropped to 7.1 million, a decline of 303,000 from October and 885,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate fell to 4.3% from 4.5% in October and from 4.8% 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 253,000 to 5.1 million in November and 192,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy edged down 0.2 percentage points in November to 3.2%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing similarly ticked down 0.2 percentage points to 2.3%, down from 2.4% last year. The hires rate for durable goods stayed the same at 2.1%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods declined 0.5 percentage points to 2.6%.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, ticked up 11,000 from October to 5.1 million but fell 7,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.2% for the overall economy and at 2.5% for manufacturing, the same as the year prior. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges decreased by 20,000 in November for manufacturing, while quits rose by 11,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.