Hiring in the U.S. manufacturing sector continued to slow in December, according to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department issued January 6th.
In December, U.S. manufacturers added 8,000 jobs, roughly half the 14,000 jobs added in November, and a quarter of the 32,000 jobs gained in October.
Meanwhile, the economy added 223,000 jobs overall in December, and the unemployment rate eased to 3.5%.
Additionally, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey finds the number of job openings in manufacturing remained steady, with the Labor Department recording 769,000 unfilled positions for the sector in November (November JOLTS data is reported in January). This is compared to 729,000 open positions reported in October and 805,000 unfilled positions reported one year ago.
Notably, job openings in manufacturing remain at historic levels, with the Labor Department recording 406,000 open positionin November 2019—roughly half of what they are today.
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Today, we’re exploring the most recent manufacturing numbers from the Labor Department, providing the gains and losses by specific subsector, as well as the latest in manufacturing job openings.
In December, manufacturing jobs gains were led by the durable goods sector, which added 24,000 jobs. These gains were offset by the non-durable goods sector, which lost 16,000.
Gains in durable goods were overwhelmingly led by the transportation equipment sector, which added 15,200 jobs, followed by nonmetallic mineral products, which added 4,500 jobs. The machinery sector added 3,300 jobs, while the fabricated metals industry gained 2,900.
Marginal gains were also seen in computer & peripheral equipment (+1,000 jobs) and wood products (+700 jobs).
On the non-durable food side, food products manufacturing was the only sector to add jobs, up by 3,300 positions.
Non-durable manufacturing industries saw losses across the board in December, sharpest in chemicals (-5,700 jobs); petroleum and coal products (-3,300 jobs); miscellaneous non-durable goods (-2,900 jobs) and apparel (-2,300 jobs).
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