Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 337

About the Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing subsector

The furniture and related product manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing subsector make furniture and related articles, such as mattresses, window blinds, cabinets, and fixtures. The processes used in the manufacture of furniture include the cutting, bending, molding, laminating, and assembly of such materials as wood, metal, glass, plastics, and rattan. However, the production process for furniture is not solely bending metal, cutting and shaping wood, or extruding and molding plastics. Design and fashion trends play an important part in the production of furniture. The integrated design of the article for both esthetic and functional qualities is also a major part of the process of manufacturing furniture. Design services may be performed by the furniture establishment's work force or may be purchased from industrial designers.

North American Industry Classification System

The furniture and related product manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Household and Institutional Furniture and Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturing: NAICS 3371
  • Office Furniture (including Fixtures) Manufacturing: NAICS 3372
  • Other Furniture Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3379

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in furniture and related 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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499.5 495.6 (P) 488.8 (P) 483.5

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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379.7 376.4 (P) 371.6 (P) 368.6

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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6.4% 5.6% 5.3% 8.7%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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12 18 20 13

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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1,076 2,397 2,566 1,153

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Extended Mass Layoffs

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

Extended mass layoff events

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14 19 (P) 20 (P) 17

Separations

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1,411 2,490 (P) 3,183 (P) 3,136

Initial claimants

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1,127 3,108 (P) 3,199 (P) 3,249

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

89,830

Carpenters

18,090

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

20,750

Furniture finishers

14,930

Team assemblers

45,630

Upholsterers

20,190

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

25,750

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for furniture and related 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 furniture and related product manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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

Average hourly earnings

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$14.58 $14.52 (P) $14.60 (P) $14.56

Average weekly hours

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39.0 38.3 (P) 38.0 (P) 37.5

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

$13.35 $14.15 $27,760 $29,420

Carpenters

$15.97 $17.91 $33,210 $37,250

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$21.25 $22.52 $44,200 $46,850

Furniture finishers

$12.17 $12.82 $25,310 $26,660

Team assemblers

$11.73 $12.35 $24,390 $25,680

Upholsterers

$13.59 $14.07 $28,260 $29,270

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

$11.95 $12.34 $24,870 $25,660

(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 furniture and related 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

10 7 7 (P) 6

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

 

Total recordable cases

8.3 7.3 7.5 6.7

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

4.7 4.0 4.2 3.6

Cases involving days away from work

2.3 1.7 1.8 1.6

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

2.5 2.3 2.4 2.0

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.

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

Producer price index

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(P) 171.7 (P) 172.1 (P) 172.7 (P) 173.6

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 0.9% (P) 0.2% (P) 0.3% (P) 0.5%

Import index

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(R) 109.8 (R) 111.3 (R) 111.4 111.6

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) 0.4% (R) 1.4% (R) 0.1% (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 furniture and related 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

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2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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23,619 23,541 23,426 (P) 23,395

Local government

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State government

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16 16 16 (P) 16

Federal government

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Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

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2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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117.013 118.407 124.957 127.813

Percent change from previous year

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3.9 1.2 5.5 2.3

Labor index, total labor hours

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92.719 94.152 92.517 90.141

Percent change from previous year

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-5.5 1.5 -1.7 -2.6

Output index

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108.493 111.482 115.606 115.212

Percent change from previous year

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-1.8 2.8 3.7 -0.3

Unit labor costs index

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103.755 102.540 101.106 102.958

Percent change from previous year

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-0.6 -1.2 -1.4 1.8

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: November 05, 2008