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

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

373.1 372.6 (p)372.5 (p)371.8

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

286.7 283.8 (p)282.6 (p)280.9

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

1.6% 2.4% 3.0% 3.5%

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

Average hourly earnings

$34.52 $34.59 (p)$33.90 (p)$34.91

Average weekly hours

41.9 42.5 (p)42.6 (p)42.7

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

$29.19 $29.16 (p)$28.73 (p)$29.18

Average weekly hours

42.8 43.2 (p)43.4 (p)43.4

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 2022

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

3.9

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

2.4

Cases involving days away from work

1.2

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.1

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)284.197 (p)280.146 (p)275.125 (p)273.138

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-0.5% (p)-1.4% (p)-1.8% (p)-0.7%

Import index

237.1 236.6 (r)234.8 239.4

Percent change from previous month

  1.4% -0.2% (r)-0.8% (r)2.0%

Export index

217.4 217.2 (r)218.4 222.8

Percent change from previous month

  1.7% -0.1% (r)0.6% (r)2.0%

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

Number of establishments

Private industry

5,898 5,923 5,939 (p)5,993

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

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: October 31, 2024