Manufacturers added 17,000 jobs in December, ending a mostly down year on an upswing.
Durable goods manufacturers generated the bulk of the monthly gain. Such companies increased employment by 15,000 jobs last month, according to a breakdown by industry issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. Non-durable goods added another 2000 jobs.
Within durable goods, the biggest gainer was fabricated metal products, up 5800 jobs. Other sectors posting job increases included motorized vehicles and parts (up 2900), primary metals (up 2200) and furniture (up 2300).
Computers and electronic parts lost 900 jobs. The transportation equipment category, which includes vehicles and parts, only gained 100 jobs. That means other transportation manufacturers were cutting jobs.
Manufacturing jobs totaled 12.275 million on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, up from a revised 12.258 million for November. Over all of 2016, however, manufacturing lost jobs. In December 2015, manufacturing accounted for 12.32 million jobs.
The monthly manufacturing jobs data was in sync with another economic report issued this week. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI, which measures economic activity in manufacturing, reached a two-year high of 54.7%. A PMI above 50% indicates economic expansion while below that mark shows contraction. The December report was bolstered by the year’s best levels for new orders, production and employment.
Unemployment Rate Rises
Total non-farm employment rose in December by 156,000 jobs, the bureau said in a statement. That was less than the median forecast of 175,000 of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The US unemployment rate rose to 4.7% from 4.6% in November.
Manufacturing jobs peaked in June 1979 (19.6 million on a seasonally adjusted basis, 19.7 million unadjusted). That sank to a low of 11.45 million adjusted and 11.34 million unadjusted in February 2010 following a severe recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.
Since that low, new manufacturing jobs have been created requiring increased skills because of more automation and technology in factories.
Source: Advanced Manufacturing