The manufacturing sector consists of establishments engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products.
Counts from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program show that the manufacturing sector employs many workers, but in a relatively small number of establishments.
Over 64 percent of workers in the goods-producing sectors (which includes natural resources and mining, and construction) are manufacturing employees, yet manufacturing accounts for less than 30 percent of goods-producing establishments.
In the economy as a whole, manufacturing represents almost 12 percent of all employment, yet less than 5 percent of all establishments.
Current Employment Statistics estimates show annual average employment in manufacturing above 17 million between 1994 and 2000, before declining sharply. During 2003, manufacturing employment averaged 14,525,000.
Employment of production workers in manufacturing followed a similar pattern over the same period, with numbers above 12 million until a decline beginning in 2001. In 2003, production workers in manufacturing averaged 10,200,000.
The average weekly hours of production workers in manufacturing were 40.4 in 2003, well above the private industry average of 33.7 for production and nonsupervisory workers.
Average hourly earnings of production workers in manufacturing were $15.74 in 2003, slightly higher than the average of $15.35 for production and nonsupervisory workers in all private industry.
In 2003, the unemployment rate of persons most recently employed in manufacturing industries was 6.6 percent, according to the Current Population Survey. The overall unemployment rate was 6.0 percent.
Data from the Mass Layoff Statistics program show that, in 2002, there were 2,378 extended mass layoff events in manufacturing, resulting in 454,034 separations of workers from their jobs and 469,774 initial claimants for unemployment insurance.
Employment Projections data indicate that manufacturing employment will decrease 1.0 percent over the 2002-12 period. Total employment for all industry sectors is projected to increase 14.8 percent.
Labor productivity - defined as output per hour - grew by 5.1 percent in manufacturing from 2002 to 2003, according to data from the Productivity and Costs program. Productivity and unit labor cost data are available for the manufacturing sector as a whole, both on a labor productivity basis and on a multifactor productivity basis. There are separate measures of productivity for many detailed manufacturing industries.
The Producer Price Index for the net output of total manufacturing industries increased 2.5 percent from 2002 to 2003.
In 2003, there were 416 fatal occupational injuries in manufacturing and 973,600 nonfatal injuries and illnesses, according to data from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. The nonfatal injuries and illnesses incidence rate was 6.8 per 100 full-time workers in manufacturing and 5.0 per 100 full-time workers in all private industry.
Some businesses in this industry are:
|
Aircraft Equipment Maker Aircraft Manufacturing Animal Food Manufacturing Apparel Manufacturing Arts and Crafts Banner-Making Breweries Canvas Work Cement Manufacturing Chemical Manufacturing Clay Product Manufacturing Commercial Bakeries Commercial Printing Computer Equipment Manufacturing Crocheting Cross Stitch Distilleries Electronic Manufacturing Embroidery Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing Food Manufacturing Foundries Furniture Manufacturing Glass Product Manufacturing Iron and Steel Mills Jewelry Manufacturing Knitting Lace Making Lucet |
Machine Shops Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Macrame Metal Manufacturing Metalworking Mineral Product Manufacturing Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Needlepoint Paper Product Manufacturing Patchwork Petroleum Refineries Plastics Product Manufacturing Pottery Quilting Retail Bakeries Rubber Product Manufacturing Rug Making Sawmills Sculpture Sewing Spinning Tapestry Textile Product Milling Tobacco Product Manufacturing Tradebinding Weaving Wineries Wood Preservation Wood Product Manufacturing |
Information courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
