The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the manufacturing industry lost 8,000 jobs in December 2025, according to a Jan. 9 news release.
It’s a slight improvement compared to December 2024, which had 10,000 job cuts, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.
Manufacturing sectors that added or lost jobs in December 2025
The chemical and plastics and rubber product sectors lost the most jobs, with approximately 3,100 and 4,900, respectively. Followed by machinery with 2,800, and furniture and related products with 1,200 job cuts.
Other manufacturing sectors added jobs, though, not by much. Miscellaneous manufacturing — which comprises medical equipment and supplies as well as other products such as golf balls or doll parts not classified in the other sectors — added about 1,800 jobs.
Beverage, tobacco, and leather and allied products added approximately 1,400 jobs. The transportation equipment sector — which accounts for the manufacturing of motor vehicle bodies, trailers and parts, as well as aerospace products and ship and boat building — added about 1,200 jobs.
Meanwhile, manufacturing unemployment fell to about 484,000 in December, down nearly 11% year over year.
Job added and lost in between Dec. 1, 2024 and Dec. 1, 2025
Preliminary numbers showed the manufacturing industry lost an estimated 68,000 jobs between Dec. 1, 2024, and Dec. 1, 2025, based on seasonally adjusted data.
The Economic Policy Institute said in a Jan. 9 blog post that the industry has lost jobs every month over the last eight months. April was when President Donald Trump’s tariff policies entered the financial markets.
November job openings, layoffs and separations
The manufacturing industry saw approximately 247,000 job separations in November, according to BLS’s openings and labor turnover survey results released Jan. 7.
That’s about a 5.7% decrease from the same time in 2024. Separations included 146,000 quits, and 87,000 layoffs and discharges, according to the BLS.
Duties led U.S. manufacturing activity to drop to its lowest level in 2025 in December, registering at 47.9% amid continued tariff uncertainty and weak demand, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index.
Surveyed panelists cited tariffs as the biggest issue for them last month. Separately, employment contracted at a slower rate, with a majority of panelists saying their companies are managing employee numbers rather than hiring.
A mix of staff reductions, a lack of backfilling and continued price increases signals “that we’re still in a struggling economy,” Susan Spence, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said on a Jan. 5 call.
Despite the job slump, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said in a Jan. 9 statement he continues to believe that the industry is “poised for a rebound” in 2026. The rebound could be due to a potential rise in factory jobs in response to lower interest rates, tariff uncertainty an improving macroeconomy.
“There is still an urgent need to upgrade training opportunities, with older workers in manufacturing retiring at a rapid clip,” Paul said.
The AAM also expects jobs to rise as companies near completion of new facility construction and upgrades, such as GE Appliances and Boeing.
