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

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

88.6 87.6 (p)87.3 (p)86.3

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

62.8 62.4 (p)62.5 (p)61.5

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

2,900

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

2,660

Sewing machine operators

30,810

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

2,080

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,690

(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 Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$24.78 $25.10 (p)$24.73 (p)$24.57

Average weekly hours

35.2 35.3 (p)35.2 (p)36.3

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

$19.25 $19.70 (p)$19.46 (p)$19.52

Average weekly hours

37.4 37.0 (p)36.4 (p)36.6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

23.66 26.06 49,210 54,200

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

14.62 15.63 30,420 32,510

Sewing machine operators

14.92 15.14 31,040 31,480

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

15.48 16.03 32,200 33,340

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

14.35 15.07 29,850 31,350

(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 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.

Data series 2017 2018 2019 2020

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

1     3

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

2.0

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

1.3

Cases involving days away from work

0.7

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

Producer price index

(p)127.235 (p)127.830 (p)129.120 (p)129.400

Percent change from previous month

  (p)0.0% (p)0.5% (p)1.0% (p)0.2%

Import index

(r)118.7 (r)118.8 119.1 119.2

Percent change from previous month

  (r)0.0% (r)0.1% (r)0.3% 0.1%

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 Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

6,607 (p)6,567 (p)6,617 (p)6,628

Local government

       

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

115.268 119.502 133.484 113.148

Percent change from previous year

6.2 3.7 11.7 -15.2

Labor index, total labor hours

72.785 59.845 58.826 67.894

Percent change from previous year

-4.3 -17.8 -1.7 15.4

Output index

83.897 71.516 78.523 76.820

Percent change from previous year

1.6 -14.8 9.8 -2.2

Unit labor costs index

109.089 109.154 108.361 127.564

Percent change from previous year

-4.4 0.1 -0.7 17.7

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024