Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing: NAICS 326

About the Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing subsector

The plastics and rubber products manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

The plastics and rubber products manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

• Plastics Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3261
• Rubber Product Manufacturing: NAICS 3262

NOTE: There was a change in the definition of this subsector between NAICS 2002 and NAICS 2007. Some of the data below reflect the 2002 definition and some reflect the 2007 definition. See the BLS implementation schedule for NAICS 2007 to find out which BLS programs have already implemented NAICS 2007.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in plastics and rubber 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)		634.7	638.6	(P) 639.6	(P) 638.6
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)		480.9	483.6	(P) 484.0	(P) 481.9
Unemployment
Unemployment rate		9.7%	9.6%	13.3%	9.1%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events		9	13	44
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits		771	947	4,720
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

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

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2010
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	32,200
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	18,790
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	27,810
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	22,200
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	51,480
Packers and packagers, hand	25,610
Team assemblers	42,720

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for plastics and rubber 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 plastics and rubber products manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series	Back data	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012
Average hourly earnings		$19.89	$19.87	(P) $20.12	(P) $20.24
Average weekly hours		41.1	40.9	(P) 40.9	(P) 41.2
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		$16.01	$15.96	(P) $16.31	(P) $16.26
Average weekly hours		42.3	41.8	(P) 42.2	(P) 42.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series	Wages, 2010
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	$14.24	$15.05	$29,610	$31,310
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	$14.49	$15.32	$30,130	$31,860
First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers	$23.74	$24.90	$49,380	$51,800
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	$14.84	$15.87	$30,860	$33,010
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	$12.26	$13.13	$25,510	$27,300
Packers and packagers, hand	$10.65	$11.19	$22,140	$23,280
Team assemblers	$12.37	$13.19	$25,730	$27,430

(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 plastics and rubber 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	20	21	19	(P) 10
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	6.4	5.7	(1) 4.8	(1) 5.1
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	3.7	3.2	(1) 2.7	(1) 3.0
Cases involving days away from work	1.6	1.4	(1) 1.2	(1) 1.3
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	2.1	1.8	(1) 1.5	(1) 1.7
Footnotes (1) Industry scope changed in 2009 (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		(P) 178.6	(P) 178.5	(P) 178.0	(P) 178.2
Percent change from previous month		(P) 0.1%	(P) -0.1%	(P) -0.3%	(P) 0.1%
Import index		125.2	(R) 125.8	(R) 126.0	125.7
Percent change from previous month		0.2%	(R) 0.5%	(R) 0.2%	(R) -0.2%
Export index		115.2	(R) 116.2	(R) 116.1	116.0
Percent change from previous month		0.2%	(R) 0.9%	(R) -0.1%	(R) -0.1%
Footnotes (R) Revised (P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in plastics and rubber 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		13,402	13,412	(P) 13,238	(P) 13,222
Local government		1	1	(P) 1	(P) 1
State government
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		108.565	107.323	102.643	101.650
Percent change from previous year		-0.1	-1.1	-4.4	-1.0
Labor index, total labor hours		92.345	90.928	87.138	72.875
Percent change from previous year		-1.1	-1.5	-4.2	-16.4
Output index		100.254	97.587	89.440	74.077
Percent change from previous year		-1.2	-2.7	-8.3	-17.2
Unit labor costs index		102.432	106.300	110.106	115.298
Percent change from previous year		1.6	3.8	3.6	4.7

(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