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Primary Metal Manufacturing: NAICS 331

About the Primary Metal Manufacturing subsector

The primary metal manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Primary Metal Manufacturing subsector smelt and/or refine ferrous and nonferrous metals from ore, pig or scrap, using electrometallurgical and other process metallurgical techniques. Establishments in this subsector also manufacture metal alloys and superalloys by introducing other chemical elements to pure metals. The output of smelting and refining, usually in ingot form, is used in rolling, drawing, and extruding operations to make sheet, strip, bar, rod, or wire, and in molten form to make castings and other basic metal products.

North American Industry Classification System

The primary metal manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing: NAICS 3311
Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel: NAICS 3312
Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing: NAICS 3313
Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production and Processing: NAICS 3314
Foundries: NAICS 3315

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in primary metal 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)	372.3	371.4	(p)371.0	(p)371.3
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	282.8	281.2	(p)281.9	(p)281.6
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	3.0%	3.5%	5.0%	1.9%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	13,040
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	18,060
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	12,790
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	16,430
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	16,430
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12,520

(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 primary metal 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 primary metal manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$33.91	$34.76	(p)$34.95	(p)$34.92
Average weekly hours	42.6	42.6	(p)41.9	(p)42.2
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$28.73	$29.21	(p)$29.18	(p)$29.84
Average weekly hours	43.3	43.2	(p)42.4	(p)42.5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	21.13	21.25	43,950	44,200
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	35.58	35.86	74,000	74,590
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	23.39	24.58	48,640	51,130
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	25.43	27.07	52,890	56,300
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	22.29	22.54	46,350	46,880
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	23.32	24.59	48,510	51,150

(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 primary metal 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	17	15	24	23
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	3.4
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.9
Cases involving days away from work	1.0
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.0
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)273.867	(p)271.461	(p)275.069	(p)277.065
Percent change from previous month	(p)-1.9%	(p)-0.9%	(p)1.3%	(p)0.7%
Import index	234.9	(r)238.7	(r)246.7	246.5
Percent change from previous month	-0.7%	(r)1.6%	(r)3.4%	(r)-0.1%
Export index	218.5	223.1	(r)233.4	236.2
Percent change from previous month	0.6%	2.1%	(r)4.6%	(r)1.2%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary (r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in primary metal 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	5,923	5,939	(p)5,997	(p)6,043
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	2.5	-7.3	-7.3	-3.0
Hours worked	-11.9	0.3	5.3	2.3
Output	-9.7	-7.0	-2.4	-0.8
Unit labor costs	-0.2	10.3	14.8	7.1

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: December 13, 2024