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The plastics and rubber products manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.
Industries in the Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing subsector make goods by processing plastics materials and raw rubber. The core technology employed by establishments in this subsector is that of plastics or rubber product production. Plastics and rubber are combined in the same subsector because plastics are increasingly being used as a substitute for rubber; however the subsector is generally restricted to the production of products made of just one material, either solely plastics or rubber.
North American Industry Classification System
The plastics and rubber products manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in plastics and rubber 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.
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
724.9 | 723.3 | (p)722.4 | (p)720.7 | |
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted) |
555.8 | 555.1 | (p)550.7 | (p)547.1 | |
Unemployment |
|||||
5.2% | 3.0% | 4.2% | 5.9% | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey
Data series | Employment, 2023 |
---|---|
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
30,670 |
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders |
24,000 |
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
35,750 |
36,890 | |
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
81,280 |
20,100 | |
77,690 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for plastics and rubber products manufacturing.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
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 plastics and rubber products manufacturing.
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$29.29 | $29.42 | (p)$29.40 | (p)$29.62 | ||
40.3 | 40.2 | (p)40.4 | (p)40.2 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$24.46 | $24.76 | (p)$24.68 | (p)$24.87 | ||
40.6 | 41.2 | (p)41.1 | (p)41.4 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Wages, 2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Hourly | Annual | |||
Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
19.98 | 20.85 | 41,570 | 43,360 |
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders |
19.60 | 20.71 | 40,760 | 43,070 |
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
30.18 | 32.42 | 62,780 | 67,440 |
19.89 | 20.98 | 41,360 | 43,650 | |
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
18.40 | 19.73 | 38,280 | 41,030 |
17.38 | 17.71 | 36,140 | 36,840 | |
17.94 | 18.93 | 37,300 | 39,370 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
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 plastics and rubber 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 |
||||
10 | 16 | 25 | 18 | |
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 |
|
3.4 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
2.2 |
1.1 | |
1.1 | |
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(p)251.864 | (p)251.782 | (p)252.584 | (p)252.725 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
(p)0.0% | (p)0.0% | (p)0.3% | (p)0.1% | |
131.6 | 131.7 | (r)131.9 | 132.3 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
0.1% | 0.1% | (r)0.2% | (r)0.3% | |
134.7 | 134.7 | 135.1 | 135.3 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% | |
(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)
This section presents data on the number of establishments in plastics and rubber 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.
Data series | Back data |
2nd quarter 2023 |
3rd quarter 2023 |
4th quarter 2023 |
1st quarter 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
14,140 | 14,236 | 14,310 | (p)14,475 | ||
2 | 2 | 2 | (p)2 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
-0.7 | 1.6 | -3.5 | 0.2 | ||
-5.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 | -2.4 | ||
-6.0 | 5.7 | 0.2 | -2.2 | ||
7.1 | 0.5 | 7.9 | 4.5 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: October 31, 2024