But, also, this was the best month in quite a while for durable goods manufacturing employment. Manufacturing Is Booming—The Employment StoryThe July jobs report was officially disappointing. More importantly, it is now clear that the long stretch of declining employment in durable goods manufacturing has been decisively reversed. The Labor Department reported Thursday that manufacturing output rose at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter. Over the six quarters since the end of 2024, real durable manufacturing output has risen 6.2 percent.