HR Roundup: Manufacturing Wages up 4.9%

• U.S. manufacturers have added 10,000 workers year to date, a significant slowdown from the 385,000 and 390,000 employees in 2021 and 2022, respectively. (Here are the sub-sectors leading in year-over-year job growth.)
  • This chart shows manufacturing job openings since the start of the pandemic.
  • Average hourly wages for production and non-supervisory employees in U.S. manufacturing jumped to $26.19 in May. Year-over-year wages were up 4.9%.
• Last week, new unemployment claims in Ohio were 61.17% higher than the previous week — the second-highest increase in the nation.
• U.S. worker productivity has dropped significantly — and that could mean trillions of dollars to the economy, experts say.
• One Source Advisors, an OMA Connections Partner, has published this update on HSAs, high-deductible health plans, and flexible spending accounts.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled companies can file lawsuits against unions for strike-related destruction of company property.
• Expect NLRB regional offices to begin issuing complaints challenging non-compete provisions as being unlawful, writes OMA Connections Partner Thompson Hine.
  • OMA Connections Partner Shumaker published this list of actions employers should consider if using non-competes.
• A forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision will make it more difficult for employers to deny religious accommodations, OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips predicts.

Meanwhile, the EEOC has issued new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in hiring, according to this guidance from Bricker Graydon, the OMA’s general counsel. 6/8/2023