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Manufacturing Job Openings and Hiring Pick Up Steam
May 11, 2026Job openings for manufacturing rose by 19,000 to 462,000 in March. At the same time, the February job openings level of 443,000 was revised upward from 439,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in March increased 10,000 to 162,000, while durable goods job openings moved up 9,000 to 300,000. The manufacturing job openings…
Manufacturing Orders Post a Solid Gain as Shipments Stay Strong
May 11, 2026New orders for manufactured goods increased 1.5% in March after ticking up 0.3% in February. Meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods rose 3.7% over the year. When excluding transportation, new orders moved up 1.6% over the month and 3.4% year-over-year in March. Orders for durable goods advanced 0.8%, following a 1.2% decline in February. Year…
Payrolls Grow as Factory Hiring Levels Off
May 11, 2026Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 in April, coming in above expectations. Meanwhile, February’s job loss was revised upward by 23,000 to a loss of 156,000 jobs, while March’s job gain was revised upward by 7,000 to a gain of 185,000 jobs. The 12-month average stands at 21,000 job gains per month. Healthcare and social…
Manufacturer Spotlight
May 6, 2026NAM “Forge Your Path” Series: Meet Plantd Co-Founder and CEO Nathan Silvernail
Nathan Silvernail is no stranger to launching a bold idea. After seven years at SpaceX helping build the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon, he took that first-principles mindset and applied it to an entirely different challenge: reinventing how to make one of the world’s most fundamental materials. As co-founder and CEO of
Building Permits Slide Even as Housing Starts Post Strong Gains
May 4, 2026Building permits fell 10.8% in March and 7.4% over the year. Permits for single-family homes in March decreased 3.8% and 7.9% over the year. At the same time, permits for buildings with five or more units plummeted 23.5% from February and 5.3% over the year. In March, housing starts jumped 10.8% from February and the…
Case-Shiller Signals a Broader Housing Price Slowdown as Annual Gains Fade Further
May 4, 2026In February, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index recorded a 0.7% annual gain, down from the 0.8% rise in January. The 10-City Composite increased 1.5%, down from 1.7% the previous month, while the 20-City Composite rose 0.9% year-over-year, down from 1.2% in January. Among the 20 cities, Chicago posted the highest…
Consumer Confidence Improves as Outlook Brightens Despite a Softer Present View
May 4, 2026Consumer confidence inched up 0.6 points in April to 92.8. Among its components, the Present Situation Index contracted while the Expectations Index improved as customers’ concerns regarding the present situation worsened and concerns about the future eased. The Present Situation Index, reflecting current business and labor market conditions, edged down 0.3 points to 123.8. Meanwhile…
Texas Factory Output Rebounds as Production and Shipments Strengthen
May 4, 2026In April, Texas factory activity expanded at a faster pace after weakening the prior month. The production index increased from 6.8 to 19.0, climbing well above the series average of 9.6. The new orders index stepped up 3.8 points to 9.9, while the capacity utilization index jumped 12.6 points to 19.8, both above the series…
Fifth District Factory Activity Improves, but Confidence and Investment Plans Fade
May 4, 2026Manufacturing activity in the Fifth District rose in April after staying the same in March, with the composite manufacturing index increasing from 0 to 3. At the same time, the local business conditions index advanced from -5 to 10 in April. Despite an improvement in the headline index in April, manufacturers are less optimistic about…
