According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Monday Economic Report for this week, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 216,000 in December, up from 173,000 in November. The U.S. economy added 2,697,000 workers in 2023, slowing from 4,793,000 in 2022. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, with the number of unemployed Americans remaining flat (6,268,000). 

The labor force participation rate dropped from 62.8% to 62.5%, its weakest reading since February, with the number of employed Americans decreasing from a record 161,866,000 to 161,183,000.  

Manufacturing employment rose by 6,000 in December, slowing from the gain of 26,000 in November mostly due to the end of the auto strikes. Overall, manufacturing hiring was sluggish in 2023, with the sector adding only 12,000 workers on net.  

In December, the largest increases in manufacturing employment came from miscellaneous durable goods (+3,200), fabricated metal products (+2,900), miscellaneous nondurable goods (+1,900), computer and electronic products (+1,600), food manufacturing (+1,600), machinery (+1,600), petroleum and coal products (+1,500) and transportation equipment (+1,400). In contrast, employment declined for plastics and rubber products (-2,600), printing and related support activities (-2,200), wood products (-2,100) and chemicals (-1,300), among others.