U.S. Manufacturing Jobs Continue to Decline Despite At-Large Job Growth

Yahoo

7 days ago

The U.S. added 147,000 jobs for June, marking higher-than-expected growth amidst question marks over tariffs and the economy. Economists had projected that number would grow by about 110,000 for June.
Still, the U.S. manufacturing sector lost 7,000 jobs last month, which follows a similar contraction in May, According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said he hopes the trade deals Trump has heralded ultimately shepherd in positive growth for domestic manufacturing jobs.
'Manufacturing jobs have been treading water for more than two years now, losing 7,000 in June. Factories have shed 150,000 employees since February 2023. While it's evident there's still a lot of factory construction activity that could bear fruit in the future, we're not there yet,' Paul said in a statement.
BLS data shows that in June, 544,000 people in the manufacturing sector remained unemployed. That brings the sector's unemployment rate of 3.6 percent half a point lower than the industry agnostic average of 4.1 percent. Nonetheless, unemployment in manufacturing has still come up half a point from June 2024, when it stood at 3.1 percent. June unemployment in the non-durable goods sector, which typically is inclusive of apparel, stood at 4 percent, up from 3.6 percent in June 2024. In June 2024, the sector shed 10,000 jobs.
According to the Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) June report, textile mills reported negative employment growth for June. The mills simultaneously reported paying higher prices for raw materials, alongside all their industry counterparts. The mills also reported lower backlogs, decreased production and a contraction in new export orders in June. The PMI often counts textile mills separately from apparel, leather and allied products.
While industry agnostic work weeks declined by 0.1 hour to an average of 34.2 hours per week, manufacturing's weekly average held strong at 40.1 hours. That may be indicative that the industry is working to preserve the longevity of the jobs it can maintain.
That all comes against the backdrop of Trump's erratic trade strategy, which the administration has said will create domestic jobs and create a resurgence in domestic manufacturing. The president has, in recent months, put forth so-called retaliatory tariffs on goods inbound from a variety of countries, then placed pauses—which expire July 9—on many of those tariffs in the name of finding more viable trade solutions with some nations. Trump's approach to implementing tariffs next week remains to be seen, but it could steer future labor trends.
Paul said the trade group hopes Trump's actions catalyzes growth for the industry, rather than causing further job retraction.
'My hope is that the successful resolution of bilateral trade deals and tariff rates after months of shifts will help boost the fortunes of factories,' he said in a statement.
Trump has already made it clear that his focus remains on durable goods, rather than non-durable goods, where unemployment rates are higher.
'We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things,' he told reporters in May. 'I'm not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I'm not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations.'
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, took to X on Thursday to celebrate the June jobs report and to encourage final passage of Republicans' megabill.
'The economy is BOOMING again and it will only get better when the One, Big Beautiful Bill is passed and implemented!' Leavitt wrote.
According to the University of Michigan's monthly Survey of Consumers, sentiment has started to rebound, increasing by 16 percent between May and June. It still remains 11 percent lower than June 2024 and 18 percent lower than December 2024.
Joanne Hsu, Survey of Consumers director, said consumers' improving, but still reserved, sentiment is likely attributable to fears about inflation and uncertainty about the next chapter of Trump's economic strategy.
'Consumers continue to be concerned about the potential impact of tariffs, but at this time they do not appear to be connecting developments in the Middle East with the economy,' she wrote in the monthly report.
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