Furniture production spans workshops, factories and global trade networks. The statistics below define each population and period, covering U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing, 2022 shipments, Sweden’s 2023 industry estimates and China’s above-designated-size manufacturers.
Key Furniture Production Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- 330.6 thousand people worked in U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing in August 2026, seasonally adjusted, across NAICS 337.
- 233.5 thousand U.S. furniture-manufacturing jobs were held by production and nonsupervisory employees in August 2026, seasonally adjusted.
- 56,210 cabinetmakers and bench carpenters worked in U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing in 2025, according to an occupational estimate.
- The median hourly wage for U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing occupations was $21.16 in May 2023, across 365,030 workers.
- U.S. furniture-industry labor productivity fell 4.1% in 2025, measured as output per hour.
- U.S. furniture-industry output fell 4.4% in 2025, following a 6.9% decline in 2024.
- U.S. furniture-industry unit labor costs increased 5.7% in 2025, after rising 9.2% in 2024.
- U.S. shipments of dual-purpose sleep furniture totaled $2.570 billion in 2022, excluding custom-made products.
- U.S. shipments of custom-made nonupholstered wood household furniture totaled $716.797 million in 2022, excluding kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related cabinetwork.
- Sweden’s estimated furniture production was SEK 27.4 billion in 2023, with the year marked as preliminary in the industry report.
- Sweden’s estimated furniture consumption was SEK 27.5 billion in 2023, calculated as production minus exports plus imports.
- An estimated 72%-82% of Swedish furniture production was exported in 2023, according to the industry report.
- China’s above-designated-size furniture manufacturers reported 655.57 billion yuan in revenue in 2023, a population that is not the whole Chinese furniture industry.
- China’s above-designated-size furniture manufacturers reported 36.46 billion yuan in total profit in 2023, with profit down year over year.
- The U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing industry had 18,021 private establishments in the first quarter of 2026, a preliminary QCEW count.
- The U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing total recordable case rate was 3.5 per 100 full-time workers in 2024.
Contents
- U.S. furniture production employment and workforce statistics
- Furniture manufacturing wages and production occupations
- Furniture production productivity, output and labor-cost trends
- U.S. furniture shipments and product categories
- Sweden furniture production, trade and consumption data
- Furniture manufacturing export and import markets
- Furniture industry scale, safety and business performance
U.S. Furniture Production Employment and Workforce Statistics
The BLS NAICS 337 series covers furniture and related articles, including mattresses, window blinds, cabinets and fixtures. It is therefore broader than furniture-only production, and the monthly observations marked preliminary should not be treated as final counts.
According to Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 337, the U.S. industry employed 330.6 thousand people in August 2026, seasonally adjusted. Production and nonsupervisory employees accounted for 233.5 thousand of those jobs.
The same BLS series reported an industry unemployment rate of 0.0% in August 2026 for people previously employed in furniture and related product manufacturing. This household Current Population Survey measure can be volatile from month to month.
The 2025 occupational estimates show how the workforce is distributed across factory roles:
- Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters: 56,210 workers.
- Team assemblers: 38,870 workers.
- First-line production supervisors and managers: 15,350 workers.
- Woodworking machine setters, operators and tenders except sawing: 14,590 workers.
- Upholsterers: 10,410 workers.
- Furniture finishers: 10,110 workers.
These are occupational estimates within the furniture and related product manufacturing industry, not counts of every person performing the same work across all manufacturing sectors.
Furniture Manufacturing Wages and Production Occupations
The May 2023 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates reported 365,030 workers across all occupations in U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing, with a median hourly wage of $21.16. The employer-based OEWS figures provide a broad industry wage benchmark, while the 2025 occupation estimates below use a different measurement period.
| Occupation | 2025 employment | Median hourly wage | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters | 56,210 | $22.34 | $46,470 |
| Team assemblers | 38,870 | $19.25 | $40,040 |
| Upholsterers | 10,410 | $22.08 | $45,930 |
| Furniture finishers | 10,110 | $20.78 | $43,220 |
| Woodworking machine setters, operators and tenders except sawing | 14,590 | $21.85 | $45,440 |
The table’s 2025 wages and employment figures come from the BLS Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 337. They are occupation-level estimates and should not be read as a payroll total or as a measure of individual earnings distribution beyond the reported medians.
Furniture Production Productivity, Output and Labor-Cost Trends
BLS productivity data show a mixed four-year pattern. Labor productivity, defined here as output per hour, rose 1.5% in 2022, fell 3.0% in 2023, rose 0.8% in 2024 and fell 4.1% in 2025.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor productivity | +1.5% | -3.0% | +0.8% | -4.1% |
| Industry output | +3.3% | -9.2% | -6.9% | -4.4% |
| Unit labor costs | +10.6% | +9.6% | +9.2% | +5.7% |
| Hours worked | +1.7% | -6.4% | -7.6% | -0.2% |
These annual changes are from the BLS Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 337. They describe index movements from one year to the next, not dollar-valued production or a direct profit margin.
The relationship between the measures is important for interpreting production trends. Output declined in each year from 2023 through 2025, while unit labor costs rose in all four years shown; productivity did not rise consistently enough to offset those cost increases.
U.S. Furniture Shipments and Product Categories
The 2022 Manufacturing and International Trade Report reports Census NAPCS values of product shipments in thousands of U.S. dollars. The categories differ in their treatment of custom-made products, kitchen cabinets and other exclusions.
| 2022 U.S. product category | Shipments |
|---|---|
| Dual-purpose sleep furniture | $2.570 billion |
| Upholstered indoor home furniture other than stock-line dual-purpose sleep furniture | $1.915 billion |
| Nonupholstered wood outdoor household furniture | $815.822 million |
| Custom-made nonupholstered wood household furniture | $716.797 million |
| Nonupholstered wood bedroom furniture | $627.073 million |
| Nonupholstered metal indoor household furniture other than beds | $605.716 million |
| Nonupholstered wood dining-room and kitchen furniture, excluding kitchen cabinets | $593.656 million |
| Nonupholstered wood den, library, family and living-room furniture | $468.538 million |
| Nonupholstered metal indoor beds and bed frames | $424.009 million |
Dual-purpose sleep furniture includes convertible sofas, chair beds, studio couches and futons shipped with frames, but excludes custom-made products. The upholstered indoor category includes custom-made products, while most of the listed nonupholstered wood categories exclude them.
For rattan, reed, wicker, willow and similar nonupholstered indoor furniture, domestic shipments were reported with an S suppression marker rather than a numeric value in 2022; imports for consumption were $84.368 million. Census suppression markers are not numeric zeroes.
Sweden Furniture Production, Trade and Consumption Data
Furniture facts Sweden – 2023 combines SCB, Svandata and TMF information. Several 2023 figures are estimated or preliminary, and production, consumption, retail sales and broader value-chain employment describe different populations.
Sweden’s estimated furniture production was SEK 27.4 billion in 2023, compared with SEK 20.7 billion in 2013. Estimated furniture consumption was SEK 27.5 billion in 2023, up from SEK 19.1 billion in 2013, using the report’s production-minus-exports-plus-imports measure.
Estimated Swedish furniture retail sales were SEK 39 billion in 2023. Retail sales are broader than domestic furniture production and should not be substituted for the production estimate.
The 2023 production mix was reported as follows:
- Other furniture and parts of furniture represented 45% of production.
- Office furniture represented 17% of production.
- Kitchen furniture represented 17% of production.
Sweden had 2,411 furniture companies in 2023, including 1,604 one-person businesses and 807 companies employing staff. Those employer companies had 12,676 employees; the report gives an average of 16 employees per company for 2022, so the periods should not be conflated.
Furniture Manufacturing Export and Import Markets
Swedish furniture exports increased from SEK 14.6 billion in 2013 to SEK 22.0 billion in 2023, while imports increased from SEK 13.1 billion to SEK 22.1 billion. The 2023 import figure is preliminary, and the report estimates that 72%-82% of Swedish furniture production was exported.
| Swedish trade measure | 2013 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Furniture exports | SEK 14.6 billion | SEK 22.0 billion |
| Furniture imports | SEK 13.1 billion | SEK 22.1 billion |
| Furniture consumption | SEK 19.1 billion | SEK 27.5 billion |
Europe, including the European Union and the rest of Europe under the report’s grouping, received 90% of Swedish furniture exports in 2023. Norway accounted for 30% of exports, Germany 12%, Denmark 11% and Finland 7%; the four rounded country shares together represented 60%.
On the import side, EU and Europe supplied 71% of Sweden’s furniture imports in 2023, while Asia supplied 29%. Poland supplied 19% of imports, China 17%, Lithuania 14% and Denmark 10%; these country shares are rounded.
China’s official 2023 furniture industry report covers above-designated-size furniture manufacturing enterprises. Their revenue was 655.57 billion yuan in 2023, down 4.4% year over year, so the figure is not a census of all Chinese furniture businesses.
Furniture Industry Scale, Safety and Business Performance
The U.S. furniture and related product manufacturing industry had 17,992 private establishments in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 18,021 in the first quarter of 2026. The latter is a preliminary QCEW count, and establishments are not necessarily unique firms.
China’s above-designated-size furniture manufacturers reported 36.46 billion yuan in total profit in 2023, down 6.6% year over year. Both the revenue and profit measures use the report’s defined enterprise population rather than all furniture producers.
Workplace safety provides another outcome measure for U.S. production. The industry recorded 7 workplace fatalities in 2023 and 5 in 2024, while BLS notes a series break beginning in 2023 because of NAICS 2022.
In 2024, the U.S. total recordable case rate was 3.5 per 100 full-time workers, and the rate for cases involving days away, job restriction or transfer was 2.1 per 100 full-time workers. These are occupational safety rates, not counts of all injuries.
Finally, the U.S. furniture-industry producer price index was 297.190 in August 2026 and rose 0.2% from July to August. The index is preliminary, and its base is defined by BLS rather than representing a dollar price.
Sweden’s broader furniture industry, retail and B2B furniture trade together employed approximately 31,500 people in 2022. That value-chain estimate is not interchangeable with Sweden’s 2023 manufacturing employment total of 12,676 employees.