The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), which is the voice of the 7.4 trillion-dollar wholesale distribution industry, and employs more than 5 million U.S. workers, reacted to the newly released September jobs report Oct. 7, seeing job openings in wholesale distribution going up as job openings economy-wide are going down.

According to the September job's report, employment in wholesale trade continued its upward trend in September (+11,000). Wholesale trade has added an average of 18,000 jobs per month thus far in 2022. Job openings for wholesale trade have increased from 278,000 in July 2022 to 325,000 in August 2022. Economy-wide, job openings dropped from 11.1 million in July to 10 million in August.

"Distributors continue to hire as we're seeing the job market improve from last year when labor was scarce. Rising inflation and a global energy crisis continue to be a concern for the industry as we head into the winter months. NAW will be closely monitoring the full impact of the September rate hike in the coming weeks and months and key economic indicators such as the Consumer Pricing Index as we hope to steer clear of a U.S. recession," said NAW CEO Eric Hoplin.

"We continue to encourage the federal government to stay away from activity such as unnecessary spending and burdensome policies, legislation, and regulations that will fuel rising inflation and lead to economic challenges that will make life incredibly difficult for millions of Americans and those employed by wholesaler-distributors," concluded Hoplin.