• Compensation costs (wages, salaries, and benefits) for U.S. private employees were up 4.8% from March 2022 to March 2023, according to federal data. For manufacturers, the increase was 4.2%, down from 4.9% during the previous 12 months.
• According to federal data, U.S. manufacturers saw more separations in March than new hires.
  • U.S. manufacturing job openings fell to 693,000, the lowest since April 2021, while layoffs hit their highest level since July 2020.
• Data also show labor productivity declines were widespread among U.S. manufacturers in 2022, with decreases in 66 of the 86 manufacturing-related NAICS codes.
• OMA Connections Partner CliftonLarsonAllen has published this guidance for HR leaders to re-evaluate their workplace policies and processes three years after the start of COVID-19.
• OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips has published this article on the top 10 ways employers can avoid regular rate wage mistakes.
• In this analysis, OMA Connections Partner Calfee reports Columbus has become Ohio’s third major city to enact a salary history ban.

Meanwhile, OMA Connections Partner Dinsmore reports that companies doing business with the federal government scored a major COVID-19-related victory after a federal court rejected a claim by former employees who claimed their rights were violated when they were terminated for failing to comply with the company’s vaccination policy. 5/4/2023