Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 325

About the Chemical Manufacturing subsector

The chemical manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

The Chemical Manufacturing subsector is based on the transformation of organic and inorganic raw materials by a chemical process and the formulation of products. This subsector distinguishes the production of basic chemicals that comprise the first industry group from the production of intermediate and end products produced by further processing of basic chemicals that make up the remaining industry groups.

North American Industry Classification System

The chemical manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Basic Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 3251
  • Resin, Synthetic Rubber, and Artificial Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing: NAICS 3252
  • Pesticide, Fertilizer, and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing: NAICS 3253
  • Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing: NAICS 3254
  • Paint, Coating, and Adhesive Manufacturing: NAICS 3255
  • Soap, Cleaning Compound, and Toilet Preparation Manufacturing: NAICS 3256
  • Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing: NAICS 3259

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in chemical 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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859.8 857.1 (P) 854.9 (P) 852.0

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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522.2 519.6 (P) 516.2 (P) 513.2

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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4.3% 2.4% 3.2% 3.2%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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4 13 5  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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228 999 268  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

37,720

Chemical technicians

25,380

Chemists

27,550

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

60,760

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

49,640

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for chemical 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 chemical 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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$19.33 $19.46 (P) $19.50 (P) $19.72

Average weekly hours

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41.8 41.9 (P) 41.6 (P) 41.6

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

$21.46 $21.23 $44,630 $44,150

Chemical technicians

$21.18 $21.63 $44,050 $44,990

Chemists

$30.26 $32.38 $62,930 $67,350

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

$15.24 $15.83 $31,700 $32,930

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

$12.59 $13.47 $26,190 $28,020

(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 chemical 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

31 23 33 (P) 24

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

 

Total recordable cases

3.5 3.2 2.9  

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

2.0 1.8 1.7  

Cases involving days away from work

0.9 0.8 0.8  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.0 1.0 1.0  

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) 224.1 (P) 227.8 (P) 233.7 (P) 240.0

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 1.4% (P) 1.7% (P) 2.6% (P) 2.7%

Import index

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124.0 (R) 125.2 (R) 126.3 127.1

Percent change from previous month

 

0.6% (R) 1.0% (R) 0.9% (R) 0.6%

Export index

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(R) 120.1 122.2 (R) 125.8 126.0

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) 0.9% (R) 1.7% (R) 2.9% (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 chemical 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) 15,798 (P) 15,850 (P) 15,927 (P) 15,956

Local government

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(P) 3 (P) 3 (P) 3 (P) 3

Federal 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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118.352 125.776 134.072 137.464

Percent change from previous year

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3.6 6.3 6.6 2.5

Labor index, total labor hours

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90.603 89.490 86.478 86.040

Percent change from previous year

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-2.1 -1.2 -3.4 -0.5

Output index

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107.230 112.558 115.942 118.273

Percent change from previous year

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1.5 5.0 3.0 2.0

Unit labor costs index

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106.804 101.281 101.455 100.980

Percent change from previous year

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0.6 -5.2 0.2 -0.5

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See chemical manufacturing, except pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008