The manufacturing sector lost 18,000 jobs in March as total nonfarm employment fell by 701,000, according to data released by the Department of Labor April 3. The unemployment rate moved to 4.4%, a 0.9-point rise from February.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, though, the surveys used to generate the employment report collected data for the week of March 8 through March 14. Later that month, for the week of March 20, initial unemployment insurance claims jumped by 3 million. The next week, containing the last days of March, they rose to 6 million claims.
The unemployment insurance claims reports included qualitative comments from states on what sectors were hit hardest and what was driving the layoffs. The nonfarm employment report released April 3, however, includes quantitative data on what jobs in what sectors were lost at the beginning of the layoff wave.
Of the 18,000 jobs in manufacturing lost, the single most-effected industry was the fabricated metal products sector, which lost 4,400 jobs. 11,000 jobs were lost in nondurable goods manufacturing. Chief losses in that category included printing and related support activities, which lost 3,500 jobs; chemicals, which lost 3,000; textile product mills; and food manufacturing.
The leisure and hospitality sector accounted for more than half of nonfarm U.S. jobs lost in March, reporting 459,000 fewer workers by the end of the surveyed period. The coronavirus outbreak has hammered demand for hotels and travel, and industry suppliers—including manufacturers of nonmetallic durable goods and aircraft—have reported a troubling amount of cancelled orders.
In a statement, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul urged the government to act—again. “The relief package passed by Congress may allow some businesses and families to tread water for a while,” he said, “but much more needs to be done.”
The $2.2 trillion stimulus bill signed into law in March provided expanded unemployment benefits, billions of dollars in grants for small businesses and billions more for loans to large corporations. That act was the third bill passed by Congress to address the COVID-19 outbreak. It is unlikely to be the last.
The one-two punch of COVID-19’s impact on factories and airlines has dealt a brutal blow to aviation manufacturers in the United States. Boeing Co. and GE Aviation both announced measures today to cut staff as factories close their doors and clients struggle to sell flights to a country under quarantine.
In an open letter to employees April 2, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced his company would offer voluntary buyouts to its employees as it attempts to navigate what Calhoun called the “uncharted waters” of the coronavirus outbreak. Calhoun said that more information on the “voluntary layoff” plan would be available in three or four weeks.
In Calhoun’s letter, he told his employees that, even after the coronavirus has passed, the re-emerging market for air travel might change, and that Boeing would have to adapt to that change.
“We will need to balance the supply and demand accordingly as the industry goes through the recovery process for years to come,” Calhoun wrote. “It’s important we start adjusting to our new reality now.”
In March, Boeing suspended production at their Seattle-area production plants after Washington Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency. According to Transport Topics, Boeing currently has tentative plans to reopen those factories for an overnight shift starting April 7 as the situation on the West Coast slowly stabilizes.
GE Aviation also announced cuts to its workforce. On April 2, the aviation supplier announced it would furlough 50% of its engine-making workers for four weeks. The move comes less than two weeks after GE announced it would cut all workers in the division by 10% on March 23. 50% of GE Aviation’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul employees are also currently going through a 90-day “lack of work period” since the earlier announcement.
In a recent letter to Congress, Boeing lobbied for aid in the form of government loans, arguing that failing to support them would spell worse conditions for their manufacturing suppliers elsewhere in the country. The Chicago-based plane manufacturer stands to benefit from the bill, which included $17 billion for “firms vital to maintaining national security,” a likely reference to Boeing.
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18000 Factory Workers—At Least—Lost Their Jobs in March - IndustryWeek
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