April 2025 Market Trends Report

Sector-by-Sector News: March 2025

Manufacturing Jobs Report

March Manufacturing PMI: 49%* 

*A PMI reading below 50% suggests economic activity is contracting. 

Manufacturing Monthly Employment Change: +1,000 jobs

Tariff applications brought demand confusion for manufacturers as the quarter came to a close. After two months of expansion that were preceded by 26 months of contraction, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) PMI contracted again, from 50% to 49%. 

Both demand and production output deflated, while inputs (e.g., inventories and prices) expanded.

“Panelists’ companies are revising production plans downward in the face of economic headwinds,” ISM Chair Timothy Fiore noted. “Inventories growth is a temporary move to avoid tariffs and will decline when such trade issues are resolved.”

Manufacturing employers added 1,000 jobs in March, and the Employment Index downshifted again. Bearish market sentiment and tariff implementations will continue to dominate manufacturing planning and hiring decisions.

According to ISM, the only manufacturing industry to report growth is primary metals, while nine industries reported no month-over-month employment changes.

Manufacturing industries that reported a decrease in employment include:

• Wood products
• Textile mills
• Chemical products
• Fabricated metal products
• Food, beverage and tobacco products
• Transportation equipment
• Computer and electronic products 

Construction Jobs Report

Construction Monthly Employment Change: +13,000 jobs

Construction employers added 13,000 jobs in March, continuing a month-over-month trend of Q1 job growth. However, the BLS’ downward revisions to its January and February reports brought the growth average to +8,000 jobs per month.

The industry’s buoyant outlook last month seems to have shaken as contractors navigate the impact of tariff announcements and implementations.

“The sweeping tariffs … will reduce construction activity due to rising input costs, shaken business confidence and potentially higher-for-longer interest rates,” Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu stated. “Industry expectations are likely to worsen in the coming months.”

Regardless, this month’s jobs report appears positive. Construction employment expanded across most of its primary subcategories (with the exception of nonresidential building).

Additionally, construction unemployment significantly dropped month over month — from 7.2% to 5.4% — after a continuous and steep climb from its low of 3.2% in August 2024.

Month-over-month job growth by construction subcategory:

• Specialty trade: 6,400
• Heavy and civil engineering, 3,400
• Nonresidential building: -400

Warehousing & Storage Jobs Report

March Logistics Manager’s Index (LMI): 57.1 

*A LMI above 50 indicates that logistics metrics are expanding.

Warehousing & Storage Monthly Employment Change: -94,000 jobs​

Following two months of unprecedented growth in the Logistics Manager’s Index (LMI) since June 2022, the LMI grew at a slowing rate, reading down 5.6 points from February.

Inventory costs, warehousing prices and transportation prices are primarily responsible for the decline. All three were up significantly in January with an upward trajectory into February, which edged down last month.

“This suggests that supply chains revved up in February and early March to bring goods in, but have slowed in more recent weeks as more trade controls have been implemented,” LMI reported.

While March’s LMI reading is positive, the momentum shift signals market hesitancy that could indicate a pattern of diminishing growth, with the warehousing and storage industry shedding 9,400 jobs month over month.

According to LMI:

Growth is increasing at an increasing rate for:

• Inventory levels
• Inventory costs
• Warehousing utilization
• Warehousing prices
• Transportation capacity

Growth is increasing at a decreasing rate for:

• Warehousing capacity
• Warehousing utilization
• Transportation utilization
• Transportation prices