Input Stories

While manufacturing employment increased slightly in March, February’s job openings in the industry were revised sharply downward (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

• Job openings in the overall economy were little changed from February, at 7.2 million.

What’s going on: Manufacturing job openings in March came in at a seasonally adjusted 449,000 in the latest data, out today. That’s up marginally from February’s downwardly revised seasonally adjusted 445,000; earlier readings had put February manufacturing position openings at a seasonally adjusted 482,000.

• Year over year, the number of available jobs in the sector declined more than 12% in March, from a seasonally adjusted 513,000 in March 2024. 

The details: There were 313,000 seasonally adjusted job openings in durable goods manufacturing in March, the same as February and down from a year ago (326,000).

• In nondurable goods, the numbers inched up in March, to 136,000 seasonally adjusted job openings from 131,000 in February. They were down, however, from March 2024 (188,000).

Hiring and separations: Hiring in manufacturing was a seasonally adjusted 319,000 in March, about the same as February (318,000) and March 2024 (315,000).