Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing: NAICS 334

About the Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing subsector

The computer and electronic product manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing subsector group establishments that manufacture computers, computer peripherals, communications equipment, and similar electronic products, and establishments that manufacture components for such products. The Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing industries have been combined in the hierarchy of NAICS because of the economic significance they have attained. Their rapid growth suggests that they will become even more important to the economies of all three North American countries in the future, and in addition their manufacturing processes are fundamentally different from the manufacturing processes of other machinery and equipment. The design and use of integrated circuits and the application of highly specialized miniaturization technologies are common elements in the production technologies of the computer and electronic subsector.

North American Industry Classification System

The computer and electronic product manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3341
  • Communications Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3342
  • Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3343
  • Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing: NAICS 3344
  • Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing: NAICS 3345
  • Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media: NAICS 3346

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in computer and electronic product 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, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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1,247.1 1,246.1 (P) 1,249.0 (P) 1,249.0

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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733.3 730.1 (P) 730.7 (P) 721.1

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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3.6% 3.8% 4.8% 5.7%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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13 30 26  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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1,091 2,498 2,446  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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27 12 (P) 23 (P) 16

Separations

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5,957 1,857 (P) 3,614 (P) 2,136

Initial claimants

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4,974 1,738 (P) 3,098 (P) 1,674

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Computer hardware engineers

35,760

Computer software engineers, applications

37,050

Computer software engineers, systems software

49,270

Electrical and electronic engineering technicians

40,010

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

112,250

Semiconductor processors

35,340

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for computer and electronic product 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 for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in computer and electronic product manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$21.06 $21.15 (P) $21.24 (P) $21.30

Average weekly hours

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41.2 41.1 (P) 41.1 (P) 40.9

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Computer hardware engineers

$44.71 $46.42 $92,990 $96,560

Computer software engineers, applications

$44.21 $44.96 $91,970 $93,520

Computer software engineers, systems software

$44.73 $45.60 $93,030 $94,850

Electrical and electronic engineering technicians

$22.60 $23.39 $47,010 $48,650

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

$12.89 $13.92 $26,810 $28,960

Semiconductor processors

$15.28 $16.72 $31,790 $34,770

(Source: Occupational Employment 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 computer and electronic product 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 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

9 13 7 (P) 7

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

 

Total recordable cases

2.3 2.0 2.0  

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

1.2 1.0 1.0  

Cases involving days away from work

0.6 0.5 0.5  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.6 0.6 0.6  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(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
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Producer price index

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(P) 92.8 (P) 92.8 (P) 93.0 (P) 93.0

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 0.1% (P) 0.0% (P) 0.2% (P) 0.0%

Import index

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93.6 93.1 (R) 92.5 92.1

Percent change from previous month

 

0.0% -0.5% (R) -0.6% (R) -0.4%

Export index

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(R) 95.4 (R) 95.8 (R) 95.0 94.8

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) -0.2% (R) 0.4% (R) -0.8% (R) -0.2%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in computer and electronic product 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
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 18,989 (P) 18,966 (P) 18,997 (P) 19,006

Local government

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(P) 4 (P) 4 (P) 4 (P) 4

State government

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(P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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217.164 244.339 259.574 282.173

Percent change from previous year

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15.5 12.5 6.2 8.7

Labor index, total labor hours

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70.420 68.038 68.293 68.127

Percent change from previous year

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-8.6 -3.4 0.4 -0.2

Output index

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152.926 166.243 177.272 192.235

Percent change from previous year

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5.6 8.7 6.6 8.4

Unit labor costs index

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57.440 50.511 47.320 44.955

Percent change from previous year

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-6.5 -12.1 -6.3 -5.0

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See computer and electronic product manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008