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Paper Manufacturing: NAICS 322

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About the Paper Manufacturing subsector

The paper manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Paper Manufacturing subsector make pulp, paper, or converted paper products. The manufacturing of these products is grouped together because they constitute a series of vertically connected processes. More than one is often carried out in a single establishment. There are essentially three activities. The manufacturing of pulp involves separating the cellulose fibers from other impurities in wood or used paper. The manufacturing of paper involves matting these fibers into a sheet. Converted paper products are made from paper and other materials by various cutting and shaping techniques and include coating and laminating activities.

North American Industry Classification System

The paper manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills: NAICS 3221
  • Converted Paper Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3222

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in paper 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.
2022		 Dec.
2022		 Jan.
2023		 Feb.
2023

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

 360.9 358.7 (p)357.3 (p)356.2

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

 275.4 274.2 (p)274.0 (p)271.9

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2021

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

 11,600

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

 15,150

Industrial production managers

 4,530

Industrial truck and tractor operators

 15,190

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

 76,450

(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 paper 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 paper manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data		 Nov.
2022		 Dec.
2022		 Jan.
2023		 Feb.
2023

Average hourly earnings

 $28.56 $29.20 (p)$29.41 (p)$28.82

Average weekly hours

 41.2 41.0 (p)41.4 (p)41.0

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data		 Nov.
2022		 Dec.
2022		 Jan.
2023		 Feb.
2023

Average hourly earnings

 $23.90 $24.34 (p)$24.73 (p)$24.57

Average weekly hours

 41.2 41.0 (p)41.1 (p)40.7

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2021
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

 $22.07 $21.23 $45,910 $44,150

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

 $36.76 $36.08 $76,450 $75,050

Industrial production managers

 $57.51 $57.68 $119,620 $119,980

Industrial truck and tractor operators

 $21.19 $20.57 $44,080 $42,780

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

 $22.14 $21.84 $46,050 $45,430

(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 paper 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 2018 2019 2020 2021

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

 10 9 10 5

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.
Data series 2021

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

 2.5

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

 1.7

Cases involving days away from work

 0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

 0.8

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.
2022		 Dec.
2022		 Jan.
2023		 Feb.
2023

Producer price index

 (p)188.073 (p)188.472 (p)188.659 (p)188.728

Percent change from previous month

   (p)0.7% (p)0.2% (p)0.1% (p)0.0%

Import index

 127.7 127.9 127.1 125.9

Percent change from previous month

   -1.7% 0.2% -0.6% -0.9%

Export index

 158.5 157.4 (r)160.2 160.1

Percent change from previous month

   1.7% -0.7% (r)1.8% (r)-0.1%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in paper 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
2021		 1st quarter
2022		 2nd quarter
2022		 3rd quarter
2022

Number of establishments

Private industry

 5,361 (p)5,445 (p)5,464 (p)5,489

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data		 2018 2019 2020 2021

Labor productivity index, output per hour

 92.769 95.679 93.187 94.816

Percent change from previous year

 -2.7 3.1 -2.6 1.7

Labor index, total labor hours

 97.993 94.955 93.119 93.003

Percent change from previous year

 1.6 -3.1 -1.9 -0.1

Output index

 90.907 90.852 86.776 88.182

Percent change from previous year

 -1.2 -0.1 -4.5 1.6

Unit labor costs index

 118.649 121.426 127.006 128.713

Percent change from previous year

 2.8 2.3 4.6 1.3

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 17, 2023