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Full-Year 2023 Jobs Report Shows Slow Year-Over-Year Manufacturing Growth

Feb. 5, 2024
The U.S. manufacturing sector added 23,000 jobs last month, mainly in chemical manufacturing and printing.

The first employment report of 2024 from the Department of Labor shows that employment in manufacturing is increasing to new post-Recession heights. Preliminary data released February 2 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows manufacturing employment increased by 23,000 — a slight gain that nevertheless put the number of manufacturing workers at 12,979,000, the most employed in the U.S. since November 2008.

In the rest of the economy, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7% as employment rose by 353,000 overall.

In monthly manufacturing jobs growth, the smaller nondurable goods sector gained substantially more workers than the durable goods sector. Nondurable goods companies increased their payroll by a net 19,000 workers in January, compared to just 4,000 net workers in durable goods. Chemical manufacturing saw a strong month for new blood as it picked up just under 7,000 new employees, while printing and related support companies collectively hired 5,000.

As usual, the largest durable-goods sector also saw the most dramatic change, as transportation-equipment manufacturing companies added 5,600 employees to their payrolls, about 3,000 of whom went to work in motor vehicles and parts production. Gains there were offset by losses of roughly 3,000 workers in furniture and 2,600 workers in electrical equipment manufacturing, respectively.

On an annual basis, the manufacturing economy added a net 23,000 jobs between January 2023 and January 2024, an increase of 0.2%. Durable goods employment rose by 0.8%, and nondurable goods employment fell by 0.6%. Over the same period, the number of people employed at nonfarm companies rose by 1.9%, and the number employed by private companies rose by 1.7%.

About the Author

Ryan Secard | Associate Editor

 

Focus: Workforce and labor issues; machining and foundry management
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-secard/

Associate Editor Ryan Secard covers topics relevant to the manufacturing workforce, including recruitment, safety, labor organizations, and the skills gap. Ryan has written IndustryWeek's Salary Survey annually since 2021 and has coordinated its Talent Advisory Board since September 2023.

Ryan got started at IndustryWeek in August 2019 as an editorial intern and was hired as a news editor in 2020 before his 2023 promotion to associate editor, talent. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of Wooster.

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