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Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: NAICS 324

About the Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing subsector

The petroleum and coal products manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

The Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing subsector is based on the transformation of crude petroleum and coal into usable products. The dominant process is petroleum refining that involves the separation of crude petroleum into component products through such techniques as cracking and distillation.

In addition, this subsector includes establishments that primarily further process refined petroleum and coal products and produce products, such as asphalt coatings and petroleum lubricating oils.

North American Industry Classification System

The petroleum and coal products manufacturing subsector consists of a single industry group, Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: NAICS 3241.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in petroleum and coal products 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
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

109.0 108.1 (p)107.9 (p)107.9

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

2.0% 3.9% 3.9% 0.0%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

5,550

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

4,820

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

17,310

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

3,650

(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 petroleum and coal products manufacturing.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Wages

This section presents data on hourly and annual wages for occupations commonly found in petroleum and coal products manufacturing.

Wages by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$50.75 $53.06 $105,560 $110,360

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

$25.02 $26.36 $52,040 $54,830

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

$47.00 $44.35 $97,760 $92,240

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

$26.80 $26.95 $55,740 $56,060

(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 petroleum and coal products 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

5 3 8 9

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

1.5

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

0.9

Cases involving days away from work

0.6

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.3

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)326.755 (p)345.041 (p)334.828 (p)301.665

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-4.2% (p)5.6% (p)-3.0% (p)-9.9%

Import index

145.7 140.7 (r)143.0 130.3

Percent change from previous month

  -3.1% -3.4% (r)1.6% (r)-8.9%

Export index

135.5 147.5 138.4 126.7

Percent change from previous month

  -6.3% 8.9% -6.2% -8.5%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in petroleum and coal products 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

2,516 2,537 2,544 (p)2,564

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

-5.6 5.7 2.7 4.7

Hours worked

-9.9 2.8 1.2 -4.0

Output

-14.9 8.6 3.9 0.4

Unit labor costs

19.2 -10.9 4.3 6.4

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: October 31, 2024