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Job openings for manufacturing dropped by 11,000 from a revised 439,000 in November to 428,000 in December. Nondurable goods job openings decreased by 17,000, while durable goods job openings increased by 6,000. The manufacturing job openings rate fell 0.1% to 3.2% in December and declined from 4.3% the previous year. The rate for durable goods manufacturing stayed the same at 3.5%, while it dropped by 0.3% to 2.7% for nondurable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings fell to 7.6 million, a decrease of 556,000 from the previous month and 1.3 million from the previous year. The job openings rate decreased to 4.5%, down from 4.9% in November and from 5.3% last year. While this data reflects an overall labor market that has cooled significantly, steady hiring and low layoffs suggest the labor market remains solid.

The number of hires in the overall economy rose to 5.5 million from 5.4 million in November but dropped 325,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for both the overall economy and manufacturing stayed the same in December at 3.4% and 2.4%, respectively. Similarly, the hires rate for durable and nondurable goods stayed the same at 2.0% and 3.1%, respectively.

Total separations, which includes quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, rose 38,000 from November to 5.3 million but dropped 150,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same for the overall economy and manufacturing at 3.3% and 2.5%, respectively. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges fell by 14,000 in December for manufacturing, while quits rose by 12,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.