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Paper Manufacturing: NAICS 322

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
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

348.4 350.1 (p)349.5 (p)347.5

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

260.7 261.7 (p)261.6 (p)258.1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

12,020

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

16,070

Industrial production managers

5,740

Industrial truck and tractor operators

15,980

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

87,840

(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
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$31.17 $31.42 (p)$30.81 (p)$31.24

Average weekly hours

41.7 41.1 (p)41.1 (p)40.9

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

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

Average hourly earnings

$25.43 $25.98 (p)$25.91 (p)$26.02

Average weekly hours

41.4 41.3 (p)41.6 (p)41.6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

$23.42 $23.93 $48,710 $49,760

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$37.57 $38.71 $78,150 $80,510

Industrial production managers

$60.47 $62.74 $125,790 $130,490

Industrial truck and tractor operators

$22.34 $22.47 $46,470 $46,740

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

$22.89 $23.91 $47,620 $49,720

(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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

9 10 5 13

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

2.8

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

1.9

Cases involving days away from work

0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.9

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
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Producer price index

(p)183.398 (p)183.962 (p)185.158 (p)186.850

Percent change from previous month

  (p)0.0% (p)0.3% (p)0.7% (p)0.9%

Import index

123.1 (r)124.6 (r)124.3 121.9

Percent change from previous month

  0.6% (r)1.2% (r)-0.2% (r)-1.9%

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 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
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024

Number of establishments

Private industry

5,565 5,620 5,632 (p)5,673

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 Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Labor productivity, output per hour

-1.3 -0.3 -4.8 -2.1

Hours worked

-3.3 1.9 1.9 -5.2

Output

-4.5 1.6 -3.0 -7.1

Unit labor costs

4.6 1.3 9.9 10.0

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: October 31, 2024