Labor Market by the Numbers
In February 2025, job openings for manufacturing decreased by 31,000 to 482,000 from January, which is roughly in line with the average level of job openings over the past 12 months. Durable goods job openings decreased by 21,000, while nondurable goods job openings declined by 11,000. The overall manufacturing job openings rate fell 0.3% to 3.6% in February and decreased from 4.2% the previous year. The rate for durable goods manufacturing similarly fell 0.3% to 4.2%, while it ticked down 0.2% to 2.7% for nondurable goods.
-
The Headline Number: The number of job openings also fell in the larger economy to 7.6 million, a decrease of 194,000 from the previous month and 877,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate declined to 4.5%, down from 4.7% in January and from 5.1% last year.
-
What it Means: This data reflects an overall labor market that has cooled from when the tightness of the labor market was at historically high levels and the average number of openings in the sector was 832,500 (2021– 2023). Although the labor market has eased back closer to pre-pandemic levels, when the average number of openings in the sector was 432,000 (2017–2019), it remains relatively tight from a historical perspective.
Lower Turnover: Although manufacturing job postings declined in February, so did total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, dropping by 13,000 to 324,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector. The total separations rate edged down 0.1% for manufacturing to 2.5%. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges declined by 12,000 in February for manufacturing, while quits decreased by 1,000.
-
Nonfarm Comparison: Meanwhile, the total separations rate stayed the same at 3.3% for the overall economy, remaining far higher than the manufacturing industry’s rate. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges increased by 116,000 in February, while quits decreased by 61,000.
-
Second Chance Hiring as a Retention Strategy: Careers in manufacturing offer exciting opportunities for development and growth. Second Chance hiring can be a great part of a retention and advancement strategy, since examples show that second chance hires may have higher retention rates than the general population.
-
Necessary Resources: Many companies and their community partners have made efforts to ensure employees with barriers to employment such as past convictions have the resources to be successful. In addition to the Manufacturing Insitute’s toolkit for second chance hiring, the Manufacturing Institue prepared a resource guide for retaining and advancing second chance hires. Read more in the resource guide here.
