News

In November, job openings for manufacturing dropped by 56,000 to 412,000, with the decrease entirely concentrated in durable goods. The manufacturing job openings rate fell 0.4% to 3.1% in November and declined from 4.1% the previous year. The rate for durable goods manufacturing decreased from 3.8% to 3.1%, while it stayed the same at 3.0% for nondurable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings rose to 8.1 million, an increase of 259,000 from the previous month but a decrease of 833,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate increased to 4.8%, up from 4.7% in October, but declined from 5.4% 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 5.4 million in October and dropped 300,000 from the previous year. The hires rate decreased 0.1% to 3.3%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing declined 0.3% to 2.2%. The hires rate for durable goods fell to 1.8%, while it fell to 2.9% for nondurable goods.

Total separations, which includes quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, fell 180,000 from October to 5.1 million and dropped 287,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate slipped 0.1% to 3.2% and declined to 2.4% from 2.7% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges edged down by 2,000 in November for manufacturing, while quits decreased by 24,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.