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Food Manufacturing: NAICS 311

About the Food Manufacturing subsector

The food manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Food Manufacturing subsector transform livestock and agricultural products into products for intermediate or final consumption. The industry groups are distinguished by the raw materials (generally of animal or vegetable origin) processed into food products.

The food products manufactured in these establishments are typically sold to wholesalers or retailers for distribution to consumers, but establishments primarily engaged in retailing bakery and candy products made on the premises not for immediate consumption are included.

North American Industry Classification System

The food manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Animal Food Manufacturing: NAICS 3111
  • Grain and Oilseed Milling: NAICS 3112
  • Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3113
  • Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing: NAICS 3114
  • Dairy Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3115
  • Animal Slaughtering and Processing: NAICS 3116
  • Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging: NAICS 3117
  • Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing: NAICS 3118
  • Other Food Manufacturing: NAICS 3119

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in food 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 Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

1,729.3 1,729.0 (p)1,730.8 (p)1,729.1

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

1,351.8 1,351.7 (p)1,354.7 (p)1,354.1

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

4.1% 5.3% 4.5% 5.3%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Bakers

69,830

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

65,210

Food batchmakers

134,640

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

154,750

Slaughterers and meat packers

71,760

(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 food 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 are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in food manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$26.23 $26.31 (p)$26.56 (p)$26.37

Average weekly hours

39.1 38.9 (p)39.3 (p)39.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$22.71 $22.80 (p)$23.04 (p)$23.14

Average weekly hours

39.9 39.5 (p)39.8 (p)39.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Bakers

16.18 16.59 33,650 34,520

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

29.51 30.03 61,380 62,450

Food batchmakers

17.87 18.92 37,180 39,350

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

17.98 18.87 37,400 39,250

Slaughterers and meat packers

17.04 16.90 35,440 35,150

(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 food 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

49 54 57 75

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

4.6

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

3.4

Cases involving days away from work

2.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.4

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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)252.926 (p)253.806 (p)252.063 (p)253.907

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-0.9% (p)0.3% (p)-0.7% (p)0.7%

Import index

(r)184.2 (r)184.0 (r)184.2 187.3

Percent change from previous month

  (r)-0.2% (r)-0.1% (r)0.1% (r)1.7%

Export index

(r)202.9 (r)202.4 (r)202.4 202.9

Percent change from previous month

  (r)-0.5% (r)-0.2% (r)0.0% (r)0.2%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in food 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 Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

39,499 (p)40,111 (p)40,578 (p)41,083

Local government

6 (p)6 (p)7 (p)7

State government

1 (p)1 (p)1 (p)1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Labor productivity index, output per hour

95.953 97.920 96.795 94.658

Percent change from previous year

-0.1 2.0 -1.1 -2.2

Labor index, total labor hours

112.304 111.118 113.902 115.395

Percent change from previous year

0.5 -1.1 2.5 1.3

Output index

107.760 108.806 110.251 109.230

Percent change from previous year

0.4 1.0 1.3 -0.9

Unit labor costs index

119.093 124.898 130.195 145.937

Percent change from previous year

2.0 4.9 4.2 12.1

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024