Job openings at U.S. factories surged to a three-year high in July, the latest sign that a manufacturing boom is reshaping the labor market. Available positions in manufacturing rose to 580,000, up from 501,000 in June and well above the 428,000 openings recorded a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday from the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
The jump was driven largely by durable goods manufacturers, which posted 429,000 vacancies in July, up sharply from 353,000 in June and 255,000 a year ago. The figures suggest that demand for American-made goods is climbing, with factories scrambling to find workers to fill orders.
Last week, the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders at U.S. factories rose 1.1 percent in July — more than double the increase economists had expected. Meanwhile, surveys from the Federal Reserve banks of Kansas City, Dallas, New York, and Philadelphia have all recently pointed to strong growth in the manufacturing sector.
Hiring Slips Despite Openings
Yet even as openings climb, actual hiring in manufacturing fell in July. Manufacturers added 288,000 workers, down from an extraordinarily high 330,000 in June. In durable goods, hiring dropped to 177,000 from June’s strong 208,000. Even with those declines, July marked a solid month for manufacturing hiring by historical standards.
The gap between openings and hires suggests employers are struggling to find qualified workers in a tight labor market. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has recently indicated that the economy is near full employment, with the unemployment rate historically low at 4.1 percent and jobless claims at their lowest level in more than four decades. Layoffs fell to 1.666 million in July, one of the lowest figures on record excluding the immediate post-pandemic period. The layoff rate ticked down to 1 percent, also among the lowest ever recorded outside of the pandemic rebound.
Labor Force Constraints
Labor force growth has slowed significantly over the past year and a half, a trend the source material attributes to the Trump administration’s crackdown on unauthorized immigration, as well as the ongoing retirement of baby boomers, who are exiting the workforce at a pace that matches or exceeds the entry of younger workers.
That shrinking pool of available workers may be weighing on hiring even as demand for factory output climbs. Businesses across the economy report difficulty filling positions, and the manufacturing sector is no exception.
Economy-Wide Picture
Across the entire U.S. economy, job openings rose to 7.3 million in July from 7.2 million in June, while hiring fell to 5.05 million from 5.33 million. Openings increased in healthcare and social assistance, financial activities, and information, though hires declined in each of those sectors. Retail openings were flat, and hiring fell.
The number of quits — a measure of workers leaving jobs voluntarily — was little changed at 3.1 million, with the quits rate ticking down to 1.9 percent for the month. The steady quits number could indicate that workers lack confidence they can find better opportunities elsewhere. Alternatively, it may reflect that employers are doing a better job retaining staff, given the difficulty of hiring in the current full-employment environment.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/09/01/manufacturing-boom-factory-job-openings-soar-to-three-year-high/