US manufacturers added 9,000 jobs in September, a 40% drop from August's revised gain of 15,000, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Oct. 2.

The year-over-year comparison looks stronger. September 2025 saw 3,000 manufacturing job cuts, making this year's 9,000-person gain a 400% swing. July's adjusted figures now stand at 20,000 jobs added, well above the 5,000 initially reported by the BLS. August was revised down slightly from 16,000 to 15,000.

For shippers and carriers serving industrial customers, the sector-level split matters more than the headline. Plastics and rubber products led hiring with 4,600 jobs added, and machinery followed close behind at 4,500 — segments that feed packaging supply chains and industrial equipment demand alike.

Paper products posted the sharpest loss, shedding roughly 2,600 workers. Furniture and related segments each cut at least 2,000. Six manufacturing industries reported falling employment in September: textile mills; printing and related support activities; petroleum and coal products; paper products; food, beverage and tobacco products; and chemical products.

Only two of the six major industry groups tracked by the Institute for Supply Management — computer and electronic products, and transportation equipment — reported higher employment levels.

"The panelist comment ratio of hiring to managing/reducing head counts was 1.5-to-1," said Susan Spence, chair of ISM's Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

The ISM employment index expanded to 52.7% in September, up 1.5 percentage points from August's 51.2%. Per the ISM, an employment index sustained above 50.3% generally aligns with rising BLS manufacturing employment data.

Manufacturing unemployment fell nearly 26% year over year, to 423,000 workers in September from 571,000 a year earlier. Across all US industries, the economy added 29,000 jobs in the month.

Openings and turnover climb

August job openings in manufacturing climbed almost 26% year over year to 522,000, according to BLS job openings and labor turnover survey data released Sept. 29. That demand for labor signals continued capacity pressure on producers even as monthly hiring cools.

Separations rose nearly 3% to 311,000, comprising 197,000 quits, 95,000 layoffs and discharges, and 18,000 other separations — the latter flat, capturing retirements, deaths, disabilities and internal transfers.

Policy backdrop

"Manufacturing's slow but steady job growth since the beginning of the year has been a real bright spot," Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said in a statement. "Even though factory construction has cooled a bit since its peak, that investment is converting into job opportunities, and it should continue to do so for years to come."

Paul pointed to trade pressure as the dominant risk. "The biggest threat to manufacturing is China's massive industrial overcapacity, which is already shocking the European Union," he said. "Steel, autos, microelectronics — you name it — China is coming for these jobs; it's up to Congress and the Administration to defend our industries."

AAM is pressing Congress to pass the Connected Vehicle Security Act, a Senate bill that would prohibit the importation, manufacture, sale and introduction of vehicles containing software and hardware components connected to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Spence flagged inflation and global turmoil as continuing headwinds for US manufacturers even as the sector expands.

With the employment index above the 50.3% threshold and 522,000 open positions on the books, the BLS October release will show whether the July-August hiring momentum — 35,000 combined jobs — carries into the final quarter.