News & Insights

In October, job openings for manufacturing dropped by 13,000 to 465,000, decreasing in both durable and nondurable goods by 4,000 and 8,000 job openings, The manufacturing job openings rate fell 0.1% to 3.5% in October and declined from 4.3% the previous year. The rate for durable goods manufacturing stayed the same at 3.8%, while it decreased from 3.1% to 3.0% for nondurable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings rose to 7.7 million, an increase of 372,000 from the previous month but a decrease of 941,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate increased to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September, but declined from 5.2% last year. While this data reflects an overall labor market that remains solid despite cooling over the past year, it also exhibits continued weakness for the manufacturing industry.

The number of hires in the overall economy fell to 5.3 million from 5.6 million in September and dropped 501,000 from the previous year. The hires rate decreased 0.2% to 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing declined 0.2% to 2.6%. The hires rate for durable goods fell to 2.2%, while it stayed the same for nondurable goods at 3.3%.

Total separations, which includes quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, rose 65,000 from September to 5.3 million but dropped 369,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% but fell to 2.6% from 2.9% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges declined in October, while quits rose. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.