US Manufacturing slowed a bit in May. But this could be a result of some significant weather related issues that have impacted the mid-west over the last month. At the same time, the government has reported that job growth for May was stronger than expected, with 175,000 new positions created. This brought the unemployment rate for the month to 7.6 percent for the month which is down from 8.1 percent last year. So far this year the national unemployment rate has hovered in the mid-seven percent. The stock market continues to reach historic levels and economists are projecting manufacturers to have a strong second half of 2013. The number of available positions continues to rise as the churn in the market continues to create open positions even with companies with longer employee tenures.