National Association of Manufacturers

Washington, D.C. – The Manufacturing Leadership Council, the digital transformation division of the National Association of Manufacturers, today announced the election of Kristen DellaVecchia, Corporate Sustainability Project Manager at Corning Incorporated, and Mike Trevorrow, Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing at General Motors, to the MLC’s Board of Governors.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by just 29,000 in September, coming in below expectations. Meanwhile, August’s job gain was revised downward by 29,000 to a gain of 133,000 jobs, while July’s job gain was revised downward by 31,000 to a loss of 10,000 jobs. The 12-month average stands at 41,000 job gains per month. Healthcare and social assistance continues to exhibit the most significant job gains, adding 23,000 jobs in September.

In September, Texas factory activity expanded at a faster pace after strengthening the prior month. The production index increased from 16.1 to 29.5, remaining well above the series average of 9.7. The new orders and capacity utilization indices both strengthened, rising from 22.0 to 30.7 and from 12.8 to 23.9, respectively.

Consumer confidence decreased 6.7 points in September to 81.9. Among its components, the Present Situation Index and Expectations Index both contracted as consumers’ views of current conditions and their outlook for the future both worsened.

The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI was 55.9 in September, up from 53.9 in August and the highest reading since May 2022. Amid increased domestic demand, production rose at a faster rate, while new orders grew at the quickest pace since April. At the same time, export orders declined, while input prices increased at a steeper rate due to tariffs, higher energy prices and supply shortages.

Job openings for manufacturing fell by 54,000 to 522,000 in August. At the same time, the July job openings level of 576,000 was revised downward from 580,000 in the previous report. Nondurable goods job openings in August decreased 11,000 to 142,000, while durable goods job openings moved down 43,000 to 380,000. The manufacturing job openings rate edged down to 4.0% from 4.4% in July but rose from 3.2% the previous year.

New orders for manufactured goods increased 0.1% in August after rising 0.8% in July. Meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods rose 6.8% over the year. Excluding transportation, new orders climbed 0.3% over the month and 7.3% year-over-year in August. Durable goods orders edged down 0.1% after increasing 0.9% in July. Year to date, durable goods orders advanced 7.7%. Meanwhile, nondurable goods orders grew 5.8% over the year.

In September, the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded for the ninth consecutive month and at roughly the same pace, with the ISM Manufacturing® PMI edging down to 54.5% from 54.6% in August. Demand indicators, such as the New Orders, Backlog of Orders and New Export Orders indices, stayed in expansion territory. Meanwhile, the Customers’ Inventories Index remained in “too low” territory and contracted at a faster pace, a positive sign for future production, falling 1.2 percentage points to 41.6%.

In July, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a 1.9% annual gain, up from a 1.6% rise in June. The 10-City Composite increased 3.4% year-over-year, up from a 3.0% gain the previous month, while the 20-City Composite moved up 2.5%, up from 2.2%. Chicago again posted the highest annual gain at 6.9%, followed by New York at 5.8% and Cleveland at 4.2%. Meanwhile, Seattle posted the lowest annual return, with prices falling 1.6%.

In September, growth in global manufacturing activity strengthened from August, rising from 52.3 to 53.0, a 55-month high. Output and new orders both improved at a faster pace than the prior month, with growth reaching 62-month and 55-month highs, respectively. Meanwhile, lead times lengthened as new export orders increased at the quickest rate in over five years. Employment expanded for the third consecutive month, and stocks of purchases grew.