The U.S. lost 2,000 manufacturing jobs in September, according to a report released October 4th by the Labor Department, adding to a number of recent reports that point to a slowdown in the sector.
Overall, the U.S. added 130,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% -- a fifty-year low. Jobs were mostly added in the health care and business services sectors.
Employment in transportation edged up, while construction and mining held steady. Manufacturing was one of the few sectors to lose jobs, along with retail trade.
Manufacturing hiring, which expanded steadily for the past several years, slowed significantly in 2019, with the sector adding 25,000 jobs overall this year, compared to 265,000 jobs gained in 2018.
September represents the first time the U.S. manufacturing sector shed jobs since February of this year, when factories lost 3,000 jobs.
This article will take a look at job changes in the U.S. manufacturing by sector.
Manufacturing Signals Point to Slowdown
September’s labor report follows this week’s announcement by the Institute for Supply Management, which found U.S. manufacturing contracted for a second straight month in September.
U.S. manufacturing activity now stands at 49.1%, down 2.1% from July’s reading of 51.2%.
This represents the lowest level the ISM gauge has hit since the end of the Great Recession in 2009. New orders, production and employment have all contracted.
Related: U.S. Manufacturing Activity Hits Ten-Year Low
On the other hand, the Federal Reserve reported in mid-September that its gauge of manufacturing output edged up in August, adding to the grab-bag of mixed signals on U.S. manufacturing health.
Durable Goods
The 2,000 jobs lost in the U.S. manufacturing sector were entirely limited to the durable goods category. Durable goods lost 4,000 jobs, offset by a 2,000-job gain in non-durable goods, according to the report.
This is a reversal of a trend seen in past years in which durable goods led gains, mostly due to major strides in the transportation equipment industry.
The durable goods manufacturing category accounts for 12 million of the nation’s 17.5 million manufacturing jobs.
However, slowing auto sales are now hitting hit the transportation equipment sector, with motor vehicles and parts shedding 4.1% of its workforce and the overall industry down 1.7%.
Losses were also seen in machinery, which fell 3% and fabricated metals, down 2.7%.
Computer and electronic products helped recoup some of these losses, with employment in that sector up 3.8%. This follows a 2.3% gain in August and a 2.5% gain over the past twelve months.
This generally agrees with recent data collected by MNI. According to IndustrySelect’s live database of U.S. manufacturers, growth in the U.S. computer and electronic products industry has led gains in U.S. manufacturing, generally outpacing those made in other industrial sectors.
7.3% of U.S. electronics manufacturers reported an increase in sales and/or employment over the past twelve months to IndustrySelect, compared to a 5% increase for the manufacturing sector overall.
Non-Durable Goods
In the non-durable goods category, food processing overwhelmingly led gains, with that sector up 4.2%. Chemical processing also helped, with the sector up 2% in terms of employment.
Most other sectors in the non-durable goods category saw employment edge down slightly, with textile mills; apparel, printing & related support activities; and plastics/rubber down around one percent.
The non-durable goods sector accounts for 4.7 million of the nation’s manufacturing jobs.
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