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, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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419.6 409.3 (P) 395.5 (P) 387.0

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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323.8 314.0 (P) 302.3 (P) 293.3

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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8.2% 11.5% 12.7% 11.9%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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83 98 59 71

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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8,558 9,660 6,523 8,681

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Extended Mass Layoffs

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

Extended mass layoff events

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14 8 (P) 14 (P) 68

Separations

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2,659 728 (P) 1,647 (P) 11,123

Initial claimants

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2,489 1,360 (P) 2,206 (P) 11,377

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

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

14,780

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

20,600

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

15,830

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

16,500

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

15,320

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

14,960

(Source: Occupational Employment 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 for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in primary metal manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$20.05 $19.80 (P) $19.68 (P) $19.62

Average weekly hours

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40.5 40.4 (P) 39.9 (P) 40.1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

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

$14.27 $14.81 $29,670 $30,810

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$25.43 $26.43 $52,890 $54,980

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

$16.46 $17.07 $34,240 $35,500

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

$17.63 $17.95 $36,670 $37,330

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

$14.27 $15.35 $29,680 $31,920

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

$18.95 $19.36 $39,410 $40,270

(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 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 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

29 23 36 20

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

 

Total recordable cases

10.0 9.1 8.6 8.1

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

5.2 4.7 4.7 4.3

Cases involving days away from work

2.2 2.2 2.1 2.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

3.0 2.6 2.6 2.3

(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
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Producer price index

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(P) 184.7 (P) 176.4 (P) 170.5 (P) 169.1

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) -7.6% (P) -4.5% (P) -3.3% (P) -0.8%

Import index

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(R) 130.2 (R) 124.7 (R) 123.8 121.9

Percent change from previous month

 

(R) -10.8% (R) -4.2% (R) -0.7% (R) -1.5%

Export index

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119.6 119.7 (R) 119.3 121.7

Percent change from previous month

 

-5.3% 0.1% (R) -0.3% (R) 2.0%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(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
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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6,033 (P) 5,997 (P) 6,016 (P) 6,065

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

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data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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118.201 131.970 135.490 134.307

Percent change from previous year

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2.6 11.6 2.7 -0.9

Labor index, total labor hours

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71.980 71.659 71.640 71.910

Percent change from previous year

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-5.9 -0.4 0.0 0.4

Output index

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85.081 94.568 97.066 96.580

Percent change from previous year

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-3.4 11.2 2.6 -0.5

Unit labor costs index

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101.818 94.621 93.472 95.082

Percent change from previous year

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-0.9 -7.1 -1.2 1.7

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See steel manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: May 01, 2009