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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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

372.1 372.4 (p)372.3 (p)371.6

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

290.6 290.3 (p)287.4 (p)284.6

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

3.7% 1.9% 2.7% 1.9%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

13,700

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

18,310

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

12,270

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

15,530

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

15,920

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

12,230

(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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$33.22 $34.03 (p)$33.98 (p)$34.05

Average weekly hours

41.8 41.7 (p)41.6 (p)41.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$29.06 $29.17 (p)$28.80 (p)$29.06

Average weekly hours

42.8 41.9 (p)42.1 (p)42.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

19.38 20.30 40,310 42,220

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

32.25 34.24 67,070 71,220

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

22.51 23.00 46,820 47,850

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

24.77 26.45 51,520 55,020

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

19.49 20.83 40,540 43,330

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

23.15 24.42 48,140 50,800

(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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)277.290 (p)279.420 (p)288.455 (p)293.716

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-1.3% (p)0.8% (p)3.2% (p)1.8%

Import index

216.4 217.7 (r)219.4 215.8

Percent change from previous month

  1.8% 0.6% (r)0.8% (r)-1.6%

Export index

197.1 198.9 (r)197.9 196.0

Percent change from previous month

  3.1% 0.9% (r)-0.5% (r)-1.0%

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
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

5,823 (p)5,869 (p)5,924 (p)5,955

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Labor productivity index, output per hour

94.623 97.065 89.742 83.810

Percent change from previous year

-6.1 2.6 -7.5 -6.6

Labor index, total labor hours

95.326 83.934 84.387 88.416

Percent change from previous year

0.6 -12.0 0.5 4.8

Output index

90.200 81.470 75.730 74.102

Percent change from previous year

-5.6 -9.7 -7.0 -2.1

Unit labor costs index

114.696 114.368 126.260 148.833

Percent change from previous year

7.3 -0.3 10.4 17.9

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 22, 2024