Manufacturing and the March Jobs Report
Posted April 4, 2014 & filed under Hiring Resources
Slow and steady seems to be the model of job growth this year.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March jobs report Friday morning, revealing that the economy continues to move in the right direction, albeit at a glacial pace. While the results are positive for the economy overall, the Manufacturing sector saw little movement in its sectors last month.
The numbers
According to the BLS report, 192,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added in March, a bit under the 200,000 predicted by some economists, but a positive number overall. The February number was revised from 175,000 to 195,000 jobs added, providing a bit of nitrous into the economic race out of the recession.
While the unemployment rate remained at a static 6.7 percent, the labor participation rate saw an increase of .2 percentage points, rising from 63.0 to 63.2 last month. Average weekly hours also bumped up from 34.3 to 34.5, but the average hourly earnings saw no increase.
Manufacturing down, but definitely not out
Depending on where you are in the Manufacturing industry, the numbers are either good or not so good. While the Durable goods sector raced forward with the speed of a hare, adding 8,000 jobs, the Non-durable goods sector opted for the pace of a tortoise, dropping 1,000 jobs in March.
The top performing sectors, Machinery and Nonmetallic Mineral Products saw increases of 2,500 and 2,100 jobs respectively. The lowest performing sectors, Food Manufacturing and Plastics and Rubber Parts dropped 4,600 and 3,700 jobs respectively.
Where we go from here
While a net -1,000 jobs is nothing to celebrate, the Manufacturing industry’s shell seems to be made of steel. According to an annual Group CFO study conducted by Prime Advantage, 65 percent of CFOs said that they were more optimistic about the financial prospects of their companies in 2014. The same amount of CFOs also said that they were actively seeking to fill open positions with skilled workers.
It looks like there’s some fuel left in the tank of this tortoise after all.
By Kevin Withers
