Workforce in Focus
Labor Market by the Numbers
The headline number: The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in October, with a meager 12,000 jobs gained from September.
- The unemployment rate was unchanged despite the uptick in unemployed individuals, since the labor force level also fell, which is reflected in the labor force participation rate dropping to 62.6%.
- While the unemployment rate is up 0.3% from last year (3.8% in October 2023), the rate has edged down slightly from 4.3% in July 2024.
- Muddied data: The October jobs report was significantly influenced by the impact of two hurricanes and a labor strike, hence the meager nonfarm job gain.
- The strike of 33,000 Boeing workers had an outsized impact on manufacturing employment, which fell 46,000 in October. This drop in employment comes after falling a revised 6,000 in September and 26,000 in August.
Manufacturing job postings: In September 2024, the total number of job openings in the manufacturing industry fell by 10,000 from August to 481,000.
- Manufacturing job openings have fallen in recent months, reflecting the economic uncertainty of employers and tightening of the labor market.
- Job openings have eased significantly from pandemic highs (997,000 in April 2022) but remain above pre-pandemic levels (408,000 in January 2020).
- The drop in manufacturing job openings in September was entirely in nondurable goods manufacturing, which decreased by 15,000. The decrease in job openings in nondurable goods manufacturing more than offset the increase of 6,000 job openings in durable goods.
- The level of quits inched down in September (208,000 to 203,000), 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 91.8 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 takeaways
- As the labor market has cooled over the past year, job openings are down, and nonfarm payroll hiring has slowed.
- Job openings in manufacturing are still elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels, even though employment in the industry is down.
- Although manufacturing employment has fallen over the past few months, 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.
What’s your top workforce challenge?
The Manufacturing Institute is running a brief survey to gauge what the manufacturing industry’s top workforce challenges are.
- From recruitment to retention, flexibility, compensation, upskilling etc. there are numerous workforce challenges facing manufacturers today.
- If you haven’t already taken the survey, please provide us with your feedback by taking this short, one question survey HERE. We look forward to hearing your responses and developing new initiatives based on the needs of the industry.
We look forward to hearing your responses and developing new initiatives based on the needs of the industry.
