Manufacturing Job Openings Rise as Hiring Climbs
Manufacturing job openings rose by 54,000 to 584,000 in September. Meanwhile, the August job openings level was revised upward from 522,000 to 530,000. Nondurable goods job openings in September increased 24,000 to 180,000, while durable goods moved up 28,000 to 403,000. The manufacturing job openings rate climbed to 4.4%, up from 4.0% in August and 3.0% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing advanced 0.5 percentage points to 3.7%, while the rate for durable goods manufacturing rose 0.4 percentage points to 4.9%.
In the larger economy, job openings increased to 7.5 million, a gain of 333,000 from August and 354,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate inched up to 4.5% from 4.3% in August and the prior year. These data reflect an overall labor market that has recovered some from last year’s levels, particularly for manufacturing, and remains relatively tight from a historical perspective.
The number of hires in the overall economy rose 131,000 to 5.4 million in September and 158,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy ticked up 0.1 percentage point in September to 3.4%. The manufacturing hires rate declined from 2.7% in August to 2.5% in September but remained above its September 2025 level of 2.4%. The hires rate for durable goods edged down 0.2 percentage points to 2.2%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods fell 0.3 percentage points to 2.9%.
In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, increased 144,000 from August to 5.3 million and 158,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% for the overall economy but ticked down 0.1 percentage point for manufacturing to 2.5%, up slightly from 2.4% the year prior. In manufacturing, layoffs and discharges dipped by 2,000 in September, while quits declined by 6,000. Quit and layoff rates continued to remained lower in manufacturing than across the total nonfarm sector.
