Industries at a Glance

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Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 325

About the Chemical Manufacturing subsector

The chemical manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

The Chemical Manufacturing subsector is based on the transformation of organic and inorganic raw materials by a chemical process and the formulation of products. This subsector distinguishes the production of basic chemicals that comprise the first industry group from the production of intermediate and end products produced by further processing of basic chemicals that make up the remaining industry groups.

North American Industry Classification System

The chemical manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

Basic Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 3251
Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and Artificial Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing: NAICS 3252
Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 3253
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing: NAICS 3254
Paint, Coating, and Adhesive Manufacturing: NAICS 3255
Soap, Cleaning Compound, and Toilet Preparation Manufacturing: NAICS 3256
Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing: NAICS 3259

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in chemical manufacturing. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs


Data series	Oct. 2009	Nov. 2009	Dec. 2009	Jan. 2010
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	790.5	794.7	(P) 791.8	(P) 791.5
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	470.0	475.9	(P) 477.2	(P) 479.9
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	11.5%	11.5%	11.0%	9.3%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	8	13	10
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	533	1,239	768
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2008
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	39,790
Chemical technicians	25,860
Chemists	29,300
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	59,860
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	49,180

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for chemical manufacturing.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in chemical manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Oct. 2009	Nov. 2009	Dec. 2009	Jan. 2010
Average hourly earnings	$27.11	$27.33	(P) $27.34	(P) $27.33
Average weekly hours	40.3	40.7	(P) 40.8	(P) 40.8
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Oct. 2009	Nov. 2009	Dec. 2009	Jan. 2010
Average hourly earnings	$20.60	$20.61	(P) $20.67	(P) $20.61
Average weekly hours	41.7	42.1	(P) 42.8	(P) 42.9
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2008
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	$21.92	$21.76	$45,590	$45,270
Chemical technicians	$22.03	$22.38	$45,820	$46,560
Chemists	$31.68	$33.55	$65,890	$69,780
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	$15.59	$16.15	$32,420	$33,580
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	$12.95	$13.83	$26,940	$28,770

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in chemical manufacturing. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2005	2006	2007	2008
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	23	33	24	(P) 18
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	3.2	2.9	3.1	2.7
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.6
Cases involving days away from work	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.9
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction. The import price index reflects the percentage change in prices paid to foreign producers for their goods and services within the U.S., while the export price index measures the percentage change in prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services sold outside the U.S.


Data series	Sep. 2009	Oct. 2009	Nov. 2009	Dec. 2009
Producer price index	(P) 226.2	(P) 225.1	(P) 225.6	(P) 227.7
Percent change from previous month	(P) 1.0%	(P) -0.5%	(P) 0.2%	(P) 0.9%
Import index	(R) 119.2	(R) 120.2	(R) 120.8	121.2
Percent change from previous month	(R) 0.4%	(R) 0.8%	(R) 0.5%	(R) 0.3%
Export index	114.0	(R) 112.8	(R) 113.7	114.5
Percent change from previous month	0.2%	(R) -1.1%	(R) 0.8%	(R) 0.7%
Footnotes (R) Revised (P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in chemical manufacturing. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	3rd quarter 2008	4th quarter 2008	1st quarter 2009	2nd quarter 2009
Number of establishments
Private industry	16,278	16,269	(P) 16,104	(P) 16,152
Local government	3	3	(P) 3	(P) 3
Federal government	1	1	(P) 1	(P) 1
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2004	2005	2006	2007
Labor productivity index, output per hour	105.310	109.429	109.092	116.654
Percent change from previous year	4.0	3.9	-0.3	6.9
Labor index, total labor hours	97.043	94.088	94.093	92.497
Percent change from previous year	-1.2	-3.0	0.0	-1.7
Output index	102.196	102.960	102.648	107.902
Percent change from previous year	2.8	0.7	-0.3	5.1
Unit labor costs index	99.460	101.862	103.311	104.437
Percent change from previous year	-3.2	2.4	1.4	1.1

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See chemical manufacturing, except pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.