Labor Market by the Numbers
The big number: The average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers in manufacturing rose 0.7% to $26.87 in November, with 5.0% growth over the past 12 months.
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These data add to the overall picture of a solid labor market, though manufacturing hiring has slightly softened year to date.
Manufacturing job openings: There were 587,000 manufacturing job openings in October, still above pre-pandemic levels. For every 100 job openings in the U.S. economy, there were 74.5 unemployed workers.
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Meanwhile, the number of manufacturing quits decreased to 225,000 in October, the slowest since July 2020. This is a sign that churn, which has been a major issue for manufacturers amid a tight labor market, has eased significantly.
Manufacturing employment: Manufacturing employment rose by 28,000 in November, rebounding from the automotive strike-induced decline of 35,000 in October.
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Hiring has been quite sluggish this year among manufacturers, with the sector adding 11,000 workers year to date. However, manufacturers are still adding to the strong employment growth seen in 2021 and 2022.
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There were 12,985,000 manufacturing workers in November, just shy of September’s pace (12,992,000), which was the best reading since November 2008.
Nonfarm payrolls: Nonfarm employment rose by 199,000 in November, up from 150,000 in October. The U.S. economy has added 2,552,000 workers through the first 11 months of 2023, a solid pace.
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The labor force participation rate edged up from 62.7% to 62.8%, and the number of employed workers increased to a record 161,969,000 in November.
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Therefore, the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% in October to 3.7% in November, a 4-month low, with the number of unemployed Americans dipping from 6,506,000 to 6,291,000.
Key takeaway: The labor market remains robust, providing resilience to the U.S. economy despite a challenging and uncertain environment.
