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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, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment


Data series	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	895.0	896.6	(p)895.1	(p)899.5
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	563.1	568.4	(p)568.1	(p)570.8
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	2.9%	2.9%	2.3%	2.1%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	109,070
Chemical technicians	17,090
Chemists	24,910
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	31,700
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	57,160

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$38.18	$38.10	(p)$37.83	(p)$38.15
Average weekly hours	41.0	41.0	(p)40.7	(p)40.7
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$30.93	$30.76	(p)$30.13	(p)$30.20
Average weekly hours	41.0	40.6	(p)40.8	(p)41.5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	24.78	27.58	51,530	57,360
Chemical technicians	29.45	31.35	61,260	65,200
Chemists	38.87	43.62	80,840	90,730
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	22.28	23.42	46,340	48,720
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	18.52	20.09	38,510	41,790

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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	2019	2020	2021	2022
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	16	12	26	13
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Data series	2022
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.9
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.3
Cases involving days away from work	0.6
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.6
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(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	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Producer price index	(p)350.192	(p)348.366	(p)350.181	(p)349.811
Percent change from previous month	(p)-0.3%	(p)-0.5%	(p)0.5%	(p)-0.1%
Import index	149.4	152.1	(r)152.0	151.8
Percent change from previous month	0.2%	1.8%	(r)-0.1%	(r)-0.1%
Export index	131.6	(r)129.8	(r)130.7	131.4
Percent change from previous month	-0.2%	(r)-1.4%	(r)0.7%	(r)0.5%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary (r) Revised

(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	4th quarter 2022	1st quarter 2023	2nd quarter 2023	3rd quarter 2023
Number of establishments
Private industry	23,774	(p)24,093	(p)24,423	(p)24,804
Local government	4	(p)4	(p)4	(p)4
Federal government
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Labor productivity index, output per hour	93.249	96.362	90.956	88.899
Percent change from previous year	-0.2	3.3	-5.6	-2.3
Labor index, total labor hours	101.407	103.376	108.214	109.080
Percent change from previous year	-2.4	1.9	4.7	0.8
Output index	94.561	99.615	98.426	96.971
Percent change from previous year	-2.6	5.3	-1.2	-1.5
Unit labor costs index	112.584	111.881	121.669	126.238
Percent change from previous year	6.0	-0.6	8.7	3.8

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Data extracted on: April 30, 2024