Workforce in Focus
Labor Market by the Numbers
The headline number: The unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 4.1% in September, with a seasonally adjusted 6,834,000 people unemployed, a decrease of 281,000 from August.
- While the unemployment rate is up 0.3% from last year (3.8% in September 2023), this is the second straight monthly drop in the unemployment rate.
- The September jobs report shows that the overall labor market still has some strength after months of cooling.
- On the other hand, manufacturing employment fell 7,000 in September after falling a revised 27,000 in August yet remains above pre-pandemic levels with 12,917,000 manufacturing employees.
Job postings: In August 2024, the total number of job openings in the manufacturing industry edged up slightly by 1,000 from July to 506,000.
- Manufacturing job openings have fluctuated slightly in recent months, reflecting the economic uncertainty of employers.
- Job openings have eased from pandemic highs (997,000 in April 2022) but remain above pre-pandemic levels (408,000 in January 2020).
- The rise in manufacturing job openings in August was entirely in nondurable goods manufacturing, which increased by 12,000. The increase in job openings in nondurable goods manufacturing more than made up for the decrease of 11,000 job openings in durable goods.
- After an uptick in July, the level of quits returned to the June level in August (222,000 to 202,000), with the churn continuing to ease from pandemic highs, which will relieve some of the pressure on manufacturers to replace talent.
- For every 100 job openings in the U.S. economy, there were 93.3 unemployed workers.
- There continued to be more job openings than people actively looking for work, although that ratio has narrowed notably. One year ago, there were only 66 unemployed workers for every 100 open jobs.
- Key takeaway: Job openings in manufacturing are still up, even though employment in the industry is down.
- As the economy has cooled over the past year, job openings are down, and nonfarm payroll hiring has slowed.
- Manufacturing employment has stayed level over the past two years, but the unemployment rate in manufacturing remains below the overall nonfarm rate.
While workforce challenges are still a top concern, manufacturers’ concern over a weaker domestic economy and sales has become heightened.
