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Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 315

About the Apparel Manufacturing subsector

The apparel manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Apparel Manufacturing subsector group establishments with two distinct manufacturing processes: (1) cut and sew (i.e., purchasing fabric and cutting and sewing to make a garment), and (2) the manufacture of garments in establishments that first knit fabric and then cut and sew the fabric into a garment. The Apparel Manufacturing subsector includes a diverse range of establishments manufacturing full lines of ready-to-wear apparel and custom apparel: apparel contractors, performing cutting or sewing operations on materials owned by others; jobbers performing entrepreneurial functions involved in apparel manufacture; and tailors, manufacturing custom garments for individual clients are all included. Knitting, when done alone, is classified in the Textile Mills subsector, but when knitting is combined with the production of complete garments, the activity is classified in Apparel Manufacturing.

North American Industry Classification System

The apparel manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

Apparel Knitting Mills: NAICS 3151
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 3152
Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 3159

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in apparel manufacturing. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment


Data series	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	83.3	84.8	(p)84.0	(p)84.1
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2024
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	2,750
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,290
Sewing machine operators	26,230
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,460
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,360

(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 apparel 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 apparel manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
Average hourly earnings	$24.47	$24.87	(p)$24.31	(p)$24.15
Average weekly hours	36.4	36.8	(p)37.1	(p)37.5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2024
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	24.69	28.65	51,360	59,590
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	16.88	17.30	35,100	35,980
Sewing machine operators	16.97	16.72	35,300	34,770
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	17.62	18.43	36,640	38,340
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	16.10	16.21	33,490	33,710

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Injuries and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in apparel 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. Information on fatal work-related injuries can be found at www.bls.gov/iif.


Data series	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.6
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.1
Cases involving days away from work	0.5
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.7
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. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
Producer price index	(p)136.069	(p)136.637	(p)136.559	(p)136.660
Percent change from previous month	(p)0.0%	(p)0.4%	(p)-0.1%	(p)0.1%
Import index	118.8	118.2	(r)117.9	117.7
Percent change from previous month	0.0%	-0.5%	(r)-0.3%	(r)-0.2%
Export index
Percent change from previous month
Footnotes (p) Preliminary (r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in apparel 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 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	6,540	(p)6,552	(p)6,584	(p)6,619
Local government	(p)3
State government	1	(p)1	(p)1	(p)1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. 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 annual change in the labor cost of producing one unit of output.


Data series	2021	2022	2023	2024
Labor productivity, output per hour	10.0	-9.3	5.8	-3.4
Hours worked	-0.5	12.8	-9.3	-6.6
Output	9.5	2.3	-4.1	-9.8
Unit labor costs	-0.8	9.0	3.4	7.1

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: April 29, 2025