Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: NAICS 324

About the Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing subsector

The petroleum and coal products manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

The Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing subsector is based on the transformation of crude petroleum and coal into usable products. The dominant process is petroleum refining that involves the separation of crude petroleum into component products through such techniques as cracking and distillation.

In addition, this subsector includes establishments that primarily further process refined petroleum and coal products and produce products, such as asphalt coatings and petroleum lubricating oils.

North American Industry Classification System

The petroleum and coal products manufacturing subsector consists of a single industry group, Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: NAICS 3241.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in petroleum and coal products 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
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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113.3 113.5 (P) 114.3 (P) 115.4

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

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70.3 71.8 (P) 73.5 (P) 74.2

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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6.8% 4.8% 11.4% 5.8%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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5 3 14  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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360 160 1,298  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011
3rd quarter
2011
4th quarter
2011

Extended mass layoff events

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(1) (R) - (1) - (P) - (P) 13

Separations

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(1) (R) - (1) - (P) - (P) 1,603

Initial claimants

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(1) (R) - (1) - (P) - (P) 1,844

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2010

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

4,840

Maintenance and repair workers, general

 

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

3,780

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

20,610

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

3,050

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for petroleum and coal products 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 are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in petroleum and coal products manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Average hourly earnings

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$33.03 $33.24 (P) $33.51 (P) $34.13

Average weekly hours

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42.7 44.3 (P) 45.2 (P) 46.2

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Average hourly earnings

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$31.60 $31.28 (P) $31.31 (P) $31.48

Average weekly hours

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43.9 44.7 (P) 46.0 (P) 47.4

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2010
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

$34.54 $35.71 $71,840 $74,270

Maintenance and repair workers, general

       

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

$16.80 $17.37 $34,950 $36,130

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

$30.47 $30.33 $63,370 $63,080

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

$17.65 $19.01 $36,710 $39,540

(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 petroleum and coal products 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 2007 2008 2009 2010

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

7 11 8 (P) 10

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

 

Total recordable cases

2.8 1.9 1.5 1.5

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

1.7 1.0 0.9 0.9

Cases involving days away from work

0.8 0.4 0.5 0.6

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.9 0.6 0.4 0.3

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
Sep.
2011
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011

Producer price index

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(P) 384.9 (P) 368.7 (P) 373.4 (P) 363.2

Percent change from previous month

  (P) 1.4% (P) -4.2% (P) 1.3% (P) -2.7%

Import index

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(R) 181.6 (R) 180.2 (R) 183.2 180.5

Percent change from previous month

  (R) -3.8% (R) -0.8% (R) 1.7% (R) -1.5%

Export index

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174.5 162.9 169.9 163.8

Percent change from previous month

  0.6% -6.6% 4.3% -3.6%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in petroleum and coal products 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
3rd quarter
2010
4th quarter
2010
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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2,344 2,360 (P) 2,344 (P) 2,362

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2006 2007 2008 2009

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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104.275 106.358 103.173 106.072

Percent change from previous year

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-1.8 2.0 -3.0 2.8

Labor index, total labor hours

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100.319 98.871 102.562 97.137

Percent change from previous year

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2.1 -1.4 3.7 -5.3

Output index

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104.608 105.158 105.816 103.036

Percent change from previous year

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0.3 0.5 0.6 -2.6

Unit labor costs index

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126.014 130.978 130.231 134.339

Percent change from previous year

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2.9 3.9 -0.6 3.2

(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: February 10, 2012