General

Job openings for manufacturing increased by 22,000, from 392,000 in April to 414,000 in May. Furthermore, the April job openings level of 392,000 was revised upward from 381,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in May declined by 10,000 to 125,000, while durable goods job openings rose by 32,000, from 257,000 in April to 289,000 in May. The manufacturing job openings rate inched up to 3.1% from 3.0% in April but fell from 4.3% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing slipped 0.2% to 2.5%, while it advanced 0.4% to 3.5% for durable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings rose to 7.8 million, an increase of 374,000 from the previous month but a decrease of 132,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate ticked up to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in April but down from 4.8% last year. This data reflects an overall labor market that has eased back to pre-pandemic levels, but remains strong and relatively tight from a historical perspective.

The number of hires in the overall economy decreased 112,000 to 5.5 million in May and 70,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy edged down 0.1% in May to 3.4%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing declined 0.4% in May to 2.2%. The hires rate for durable and nondurable goods similarly dropped 0.4% to 2.0% and 2.4%, respectively.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, edged down 71,000 from April to 5.2 million and 72,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% for the overall economy but declined 0.3% for manufacturing to 2.2%. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges decreased by 5,000 in May for manufacturing, while quits dropped by 27,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain significantly lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.