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ECONOMY WATCH: COUNTY JOBS Manufacturers Turn to Smaller Urban Counties for Job Growth Wall Street Journal (10/08/24) Tita, Bob Smaller urban counties in the U.S. accounted for 42,060 jobs, or 61% of the manufacturing jobs added from 2019 to 2023, according to an analysis by the Economic Innovation Group, a policy research group. In the four years prior to 2019, these counties attracted 20% of the manufacturing job growth, the group said, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Companies are being drawn to smaller urban counties because those areas have available land and a sufficient labor pool to staff facilities, the group said. Manufacturing employment has regained job losses from the Covid-induced recession in 2020. It’s the first time since the 1970s the nation’s manufacturing sector recovered all the jobs lost during a recession. The recovery has been uneven as manufacturing jobs lag behind prepandemic levels in nearly half the states. Manufacturing employment in Texas, Florida, and elsewhere in the Sun Belt has exceeded 2019 levels

ECONOMY WATCH: EMPLOYMENT Employment Trends Index Decreased in September PRNewswire (10/07/24) The Conference Board Employment Trends Index decreased in September, to 108.48, from an upwardly revised 109.54 in August. “The ETI has been on an extended downtrend that mirrored the decline in job vacancies over the past two years, yet the overall employment picture has remained strong through much of that time,” said Mitchell Barnes, economist at the Conference Board. “And while hiring has slowed in recent months from its former rapid pace, last week’s Employment Report showing outsized gains in September should alleviate some concerns—right at the time the Fed has started its rate-cutting cycle. Despite falling steadily from its peak, the ETI remains around 2018-19 levels.” While topline payrolls gained 253,000 and the unemployment rate fell, the ETI components from the September jobs report—employment in temporary help services and share of involuntary part-time workers—were both largely flat. Job openings showed an unexpected jump in August JOLTS data, but their downward trend has contributed to ETI’s decline since openings peaked in 2022.