Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 315

About the Apparel Manufacturing subsector

The apparel manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Apparel Manufacturing subsector group establishments with two distinct manufacturing processes: (1) cut and sew (i.e., purchasing fabric and cutting and sewing to make a garment), and (2) the manufacture of garments in establishments that first knit fabric and then cut and sew the fabric into a garment. The Apparel Manufacturing subsector includes a diverse range of establishments manufacturing full lines of ready-to-wear apparel and custom apparel: apparel contractors, performing cutting or sewing operations on materials owned by others; jobbers performing entrepreneurial functions involved in apparel manufacture; and tailors, manufacturing custom garments for individual clients are all included. Knitting, when done alone, is classified in the Textile Mills subsector, but when knitting is combined with the production of complete garments, the activity is classified in Apparel Manufacturing.

North American Industry Classification System

The apparel manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Apparel Knitting Mills: NAICS 3151
  • Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 3152
  • Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 3159

NOTE: There was a change in the definition of this subsector between NAICS 2002 and NAICS 2007. Some of the data below reflect the 2002 definition and some reflect the 2007 definition. See the BLS implementation schedule for NAICS 2007 to find out which BLS programs have already implemented NAICS 2007.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in apparel manufacturing. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment 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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196.4 195.9 (P) 197.2 (P) 194.8

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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160.9 161.3 (P) 163.0 (P) 160.7

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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7 24 10  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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534 2,048 981  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, 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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16 10 (P) 10 (P) 9

Separations

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1,706 1,524 (P) 952 (P) 1,164

Initial claimants

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1,836 1,379 (P) 1,270 (P) 1,088

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

7,640

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

7,010

Sewing machine operators

93,210

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

6,590

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

7,300

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for apparel 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 apparel 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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$11.36 $11.35 (P) $11.31 (P) $11.45

Average weekly hours

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36.4 37.0 (P) 36.5 (P) 36.4

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$17.64 $19.23 $36,700 $40,000

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

$9.46 $10.91 $19,670 $22,700

Sewing machine operators

$8.72 $9.51 $18,140 $19,770

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

$9.30 $10.35 $19,330 $21,530

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

$10.41 $11.30 $21,660 $23,500

(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 apparel 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 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

       

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

 

Total recordable cases

3.6 3.5 3.3 2.9

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

1.9 1.8 1.5 1.4

Cases involving days away from work

0.9 1.0 0.8 0.7

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.0 0.8 0.7 0.8

(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) 102.2 (P) 102.2 (P) 102.4 (P) 102.8

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 0.0% (P) 0.0% (P) 0.2% (P) 0.4%

Import index

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(R) 102.1 102.3 102.4 102.4

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) -0.3% (R) 0.2% 0.1% 0.0%

Export index

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101.0 101.1 100.9 101.3

Percent change from previous month

 

0.0% 0.1% -0.2% 0.4%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in apparel 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

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data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 9,495 (P) 9,521 (P) 9,523 (P) 9,443

Local government

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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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112.376 103.430 110.909 113.961

Percent change from previous year

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9.2 -8.0 7.2 2.8

Labor index, total labor hours

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45.257 41.489 37.252 35.147

Percent change from previous year

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-14.7 -8.3 -10.2 -5.7

Output index

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50.858 42.912 41.316 40.054

Percent change from previous year

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-6.9 -15.6 -3.7 -3.1

Unit labor costs index

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102.063 107.743 99.714 98.779

Percent change from previous year

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-3.1 5.6 -7.5 -0.9

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See textile, textile product, and apparel manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008