The number of U.S. manufacturing job openings decreased by 100,000 in June compared to the previous month, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released on Tuesday reported 486,000 seasonally adjusted job openings in manufacturing in June, down from 586,000 in May. This represents a drop in the job opening rate in manufacturing from 4.3% in May to 3.6% in June, marking one of the most significant changes across industries.
Across all sectors, the total number of open jobs remained relatively stable at 8.2 million, with the job opening rate holding steady at 4.9% for both May and June. Job openings increased notably in accommodation and food services (+120,000) and state and local government excluding education (+94,000).
Conversely, significant decreases were observed in durable goods manufacturing (-88,000), private education and health services (-86,000), and federal government positions (-62,000).
The overall number of hires across all industries showed little change at 5.3 million for June but was down by 554,000 over the past year. The hiring rate across all industries was recorded at 3.4% for June compared to 3.6% in May. In manufacturing specifically, the hiring rate remained constant at 2.7% for both months.
Total separations—including quits, layoffs and discharges—slightly declined to a rate of 3.2% in June from 3.4% in May; this figure has decreased by 544,000 over the past year.
In terms of quits specifically, there was little change with a total of 3.3 million quits reported for June; however, this is down by 434,000 over the year with a consistent quits rate of 2.1%. Notable declines were seen within construction (-64,000) and state and local government education (-55,000).
Layoffs and discharges remained largely unchanged at approximately 1.5 million with a reduced rate to 0.9%. A decrease was noted particularly within finance and insurance sectors (-26,000). Other types of separations also showed little variation for June standing at around 314,000.
