Manufacturing employment declined in July, marking the third decrease of 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, factory orders rose by a respectable 2.3% in June, the fourth straight month of expansion and close to the record high seen a year ago, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.
Manufacturing data
Jobs in manufacturing dipped by 2,000. Year-to-date, the sector added 11,000 employees, a significant slowdown from its pace of 385,000 in 2021 and 390,000 in 2022. However, the number of workers in the industry in July (12,985,000) is short of the number in February (12,988,000). The latter was the most since November 2008. Overall, the economy added 187,000 jobs in July, coming in under expectations.
The average hourly pay of production and nonsupervisory staff in manufacturing increased 0.3% in July to $26.46, with 5.3% growth in the past year.
In July, manufacturing’s largest employment gains were in transportation equipment (up 5,600), computers and electronic products (up 2,500), miscellaneous nondurable goods (up 1,800), primary metals (up 1,700), miscellaneous durable goods (up 1,300) and nonmetallic mineral products (up 1,000).
Factory orders
Durable goods increased 4.6% to a record high, mostly thanks to a huge leap in orders for nondefense aircraft and parts. Excluding transportation, factory orders only rose 0.2%, the first increase since January. Overall, orders have inched down 0.2% from their high point in June 2022, while orders excluding transportation are down 4.9% over the past year to date. Lastly, orders for core capital goods rose by a mere 0.1% in June, just barely hitting a record. This metric is used as a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy.
Manufacturing labor productivity has bounced back after three quarters of decline, rising 4.0% at the annual rate in Q2, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the best quarterly result in two years. Output is also back on the upswing, rising 1.9% after two quarters of decline. Lastly, unit labor costs rose 3.6%, the ninth straight quarter of increases.
