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Job openings for manufacturing increased by 25,000 to 410,000 in October. Nondurable goods job openings in October inched up by 1,000 to 130,000, while durable goods job openings grew by 24,000 to 280,000. The manufacturing job openings rate rose to 3.1% from 2.9% in September but declined from 3.4% the previous year. The rate for nondurable goods manufacturing stayed the same at 2.6%, while it increased 0.3 percentage points to 3.4% for durable goods.

In the larger economy, the number of job openings ticked up to 7.7 million, an increase of 12,000 from September and of 55,000 from the previous year. The job openings rate stayed the same from September at 4.6%, also the same rate as last year. This data reflects an overall labor market that has eased back to pre-pandemic levels, but remains relatively tight from a historical perspective.

The number of hires in the overall economy decreased 218,000 to 5.1 million in October and 201,000 from the previous year. The hires rate for the overall economy edged down 0.2 percentage points in October to 3.2%. Meanwhile, the hires rate for manufacturing ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 2.4%. The hires rate for durable goods stayed the same at 2.4%, while the hires rate for nondurable goods declined 0.2 percentage points to 2.5%.

In the larger economy, total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges and other separations, declined 214,000 from September to 5.1 million and 235,000 from the previous year. The total separations rate edged down 0.1 percentage point to 3.2% for the overall economy but stayed the same at 2.6% for manufacturing. Within that rate, layoffs and discharges increased by 10,000 in October for manufacturing, while quits fell by 2,000. The quit and layoff rates continue to remain lower for manufacturing than the total nonfarm sector.