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The number of job openings in manufacturing decreased somewhat from July to August, but remained high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The numbers: With manufacturing job openings coming in at 897,000, down from 906,000 in July, August was the fifth straight month with job postings that exceeded 800,000. Other key data points include the following:

• August saw an all-time high for job openings at nondurable goods firms, up from 388,000 to 393,000.
• All nonfarm job openings decreased from a record of more than 11 million in July to about 10.4 million in August.

The labor market: There were more than 8 million unemployed Americans in August, translating to .8 unemployed workers for every U.S. job opening. The number of unemployed decreased again in September, down to approximately 7.67 million.

The NAM says: “With manufacturing demand continuing to expand strongly, companies must hire more workers to increase capacity, pushing job postings to unprecedented levels,” said NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray. “These data are consistent with confidence seen in the business outlook, as business leaders who are uncertain about future activity are less likely to want to add to their workforce.”