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Manufacturing: NAICS 31-33

About the Manufacturing sector

The manufacturing sector is part of the goods-producing industries supersector group.

The Manufacturing sector comprises establishments engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products.

Establishments in the Manufacturing sector are often described as plants, factories, or mills and characteristically use power-driven machines and materials-handling equipment. However, establishments that transform materials or substances into new products by hand or in the worker's home and those engaged in selling to the general public products made on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries, candy stores, and custom tailors, may also be included in this sector. Manufacturing establishments may process materials or may contract with other establishments to process their materials for them. Both types of establishments are included in manufacturing.

North American Industry Classification System

The manufacturing sector consists of these subsectors:

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in 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, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

12,961 12,945 (p)12,951 (p)12,927

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

9,037 9,044 (p)9,042 (p)9,032

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

2.7% 3.1% 3.6% 3.5%

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

Job openings

570 471 (p)521  

Hires

399 413 (p)402  

Separations

360 357 (p)384  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

8.5% 7.7% 7.8% 7.9%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

9.3% 8.5% 8.6% 9.1%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

Gross job gains

419 437 386 410

Gross job losses

402 451 450 435

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

Helpers--production workers

128,450

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

379,520

Machinists

241,000

Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products

113,280

Team assemblers

1,112,710

(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 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, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in manufacturing. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$33.83 $34.04 (p)$34.12 (p)$34.24

Average weekly hours

40.1 40.2 (p)39.9 (p)40.0

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$27.65 $27.79 (p)$27.94 (p)$27.96

Average weekly hours

40.8 40.8 (p)40.6 (p)40.7

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Helpers--production workers

$18.05 $18.79 $37,540 $39,080

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

$22.30 $23.66 $46,390 $49,220

Machinists

$24.17 $25.88 $50,270 $53,820

Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products

$35.58 $37.30 $74,000 $77,590

Team assemblers

$19.76 $21.21 $41,090 $44,120

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Employee Benefits

This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).

Data series Access Participation
Back
data
2024 Back
data
2024

Private industry

Retirement benefit plans

85 70

Defined benefit plans

17 12

Defined contribution plans

83 68

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series After 1 year of service After 20 years of service
Back
data
2024 Back
data
2024

Mean number of vacation days for private industry workers without consolidated leave plans

8 18

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series Back
data
2024

Percent of private industry workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits

Health care

91

Paid vacation

96

Paid sick leave

80

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024
2nd quarter
2024

Private industry

12-month percent change

Total compensation

3.7% 3.7% 3.8% 3.8%

Wages and salaries

3.9% 3.8% 4.0% 3.9%

3-month percent change

Total compensation

0.6% 0.8% 1.5% 0.9%

Wages and salaries

0.6% 0.8% 1.6% 0.9%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series Private industry
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation
Back
data
2nd quarter 2024 Back
data
2nd quarter 2024

Total compensation

44.17 100.0

Wages and salaries

29.29 66.3

Total benefits

14.87 33.7

Insurance

4.28 9.7

Retirement

1.50 3.4

Paid leave

3.26 7.4

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$1,008 $1,033 $1,102 $1,148

Members of unions

$1,016 $1,016 $1,116 $1,135

Represented by unions

$1,012 $1,015 $1,126 $1,107

Nonunion

$1,008 $1,036 $1,098 $1,153

(Source: Current Population Survey)

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 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

336 341 384 405

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

3.2

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

2.0

Cases involving days away from work

1.1

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.0

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 Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Producer price index

(p)248.979 (p)247.856 (p)249.952 (p)249.364

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-1.0% (p)-0.5% (p)0.8% (p)-0.2%

Import index

(r)123.0 123.0 (r)122.9 122.7

Percent change from previous month

  (r)0.2% (r)0.0% (r)-0.1% (r)-0.2%

Export index

134.8 134.4 (r)135.4 134.7

Percent change from previous month

  -0.4% -0.3% (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 and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in manufacturing. Also included in this section is information on productivity and costs, presented as indexes and changes in output per hour and unit labor costs.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024

Number of establishments

Private industry

390,373 394,009 396,002 (p)400,475

Local government

45 44 65 (p)64

State government

24 24 24 (p)24

Federal government

73 77 76 (p)80

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

96 90 95  

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

99 102 98  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the manufacturing sector, presented as the percent change from the previous quarter. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked. Growth in unit labor costs represent the quarterly change in the labor cost of producing one unit of output.

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024
2nd quarter
2024

Labor productivtiy, output per hour

-1.0 2.0 (r)-0.7 (r)1.3

Hours worked

0.6 -3.3 -0.2 (r)1.1

Output

-0.4 -1.3 (r)-0.9 (r)2.4

Unit labor costs

8.6 1.0 (r)3.9 (r)3.6

Footnotes
(r) Revised

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: September 19, 2024