U.S. manufacturers continued to scale back hiring in December, shedding 12,000 jobs in the last month of the year, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Manufacturing employment in 2019 paled in comparison to the robust hiring of 2018. Overall, manufacturers added a net 27,000 jobs in 2019, roughly 10% of the 265,000 jobs added in 2018.
It should be noted, however, that despite lukewarm hiring in the U.S. industrial sector, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing positions remain unfilled. The most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also issued by the Department of Labor, found there were 477,000 open manufacturing positions in the U.S. as of October 2019.
These job opening levels have remained fairly steady in 2019, hitting a high of 515,000 in July of 2019.
U.S. manufacturers continue to grapple with a tight labor market and locating the workers with the right skills.
Some companies, like Caterpillar and Raytheon have come up various incentives to encourage potential workers to relocate.
Overall, the U.S. added 145,000 jobs overall in December, a more muted showing than the 266,000 jobs added in November. The employment rate was unchanged at 3.5%. Retail – helped by seasonal hiring--and healthcare were the top-gaining sectors in December’s report.
Manufacturing (-12,000); transportation & warehousing (-10,000) and mining (-8,000) were the three industries in December’s report to show a net loss.
The mining sector in 2019, like manufacturing, stands in sharp contrast to the robust hiring of 2018. Mining employment declined by 24,000 jobs in 2019, according to the Department of Labor, compared to 63,000 in 2018.
December’s labor report is in line with the Institute for Supply Management’s report on U.S. manufacturing, which found U.S. factory activity contracted for a fifth straight month in December. The ISM index now stands at 47.2%, its lowest level in ten years.
December Manufacturing Job Losses by Industry
The 12,000 jobs shed by U.S. manufacturing companies were mostly divided between the durable and non-durable goods categories. Durable goods manufacturing lost 7,000 jobs, while non-durable goods shed 5,000.
Within the durable goods category, fabricated metals employment overwhelmingly led losses, shedding 7,200 jobs. The primary metals industry lost 2,300 jobs and machinery shed 2,100.
These were somewhat offset by gains in transportation equipment (+1,900) and computer & electronic products (+1,500).
Employment losses in the non-durable goods category were led by the food manufacturing sector, which shed 3,700 jobs. Adding to this was a 1,600-job loss in the printing & related support activities industry.
Most other non-durable goods sectors posted little change in employment apart from a 1,100 bump in petroleum & coal products.
Taking a year-over-year look, electronics manufacturing led job gains in 2019, with employment in that sector up 2.75% compared to December 2018.
This agrees with data collected by MNI. According to IndustrySelect’s live database of U.S. manufacturers, U.S. computer and electronic products growth has outpaced gains made in other industrial sectors.
7.3% of U.S. electronics manufacturers reported an increase in sales and/or employment over the past year to IndustrySelect, compared to a 5% increase for manufacturers in the U.S. overall.
Despite declines in the past month, food products manufacturing was another growth sector, with hiring in the industry up 1.4% over December 2018.
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