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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	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	107.8	107.7	(p)107.3	(p)107.0
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	3.9%	0.0%	0.0%	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	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.3
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.8
Cases involving days away from work	0.5
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.4
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	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Producer price index	(p)334.558	(p)302.815	(p)310.477	(p)300.511
Percent change from previous month	(p)-3.1%	(p)-9.5%	(p)2.5%	(p)-3.2%
Import index	142.7	(r)130.1	(r)124.0	132.6
Percent change from previous month	1.6%	(r)-8.8%	(r)-4.7%	(r)6.9%
Export index	138.4	126.7	131.7	129.8
Percent change from previous month	-6.2%	-8.5%	3.9%	-1.4%
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	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	2,537	2,544	(p)2,577	(p)2,605
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	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: December 13, 2024