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Utilities: NAICS 22

About the Utilities sector

The utilities sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.

The Utilities sector comprises establishments engaged in the provision of the following utility services: electric power, natural gas, steam supply, water supply, and sewage removal. Within this sector, the specific activities associated with the utility services provided vary by utility: electric power includes generation, transmission, and distribution; natural gas includes distribution; steam supply includes provision and/or distribution; water supply includes treatment and distribution; and sewage removal includes collection, treatment, and disposal of waste through sewer systems and sewage treatment facilities.

North American Industry Classification System

The utilities sector consists of a single subsector, Utilities: NAICS 221. Data published under either the sector or subsector classification are included in the tables below. The subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution: NAICS 2211
  • Natural Gas Distribution: NAICS 2212
  • Water, Sewage and Other Systems: NAICS 2213

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in utilities. 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, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

581.4 583.8 (p)585.7 (p)588.9

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

463.1 464.7 (p)466.9 (p)470.3

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

1.5% 1.4% 2.0% 0.9%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, and Current Population Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

20.6% 19.7% 19.6% 19.9%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

22.0% 20.9% 20.7% 20.8%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2022
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

Gross job gains

19 18 16 21

Gross job losses

12 14 11 15

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

22,480

Electrical engineers

19,270

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

59,310

First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers

22,440

Meter readers, utilities

7,320

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

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

(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, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in utilities. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$50.43 $50.43 (p)$50.77 (p)$50.75

Average weekly hours

41.9 41.7 (p)42.2 (p)42.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$44.88 $44.58 (p)$44.83 (p)$44.49

Average weekly hours

42.0 42.2 (p)42.3 (p)42.2

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

$39.31 $38.55 $81,760 $80,190

Electrical engineers

$50.94 $54.49 $105,950 $113,330

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

$45.89 $44.23 $95,450 $92,000

First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers

$51.96 $53.07 $108,070 $110,390

Meter readers, utilities

$28.29 $28.87 $58,840 $60,050

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Employee Benefits

This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).

Data series Access Participation
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Private industry

Retirement benefit plans

99 96

Defined benefit plans

82 76

Defined contribution plans

95 80

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series After 1 year of service After 20 years of service
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Mean number of vacation days for private industry workers without consolidated leave plans

11 22

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series Back
data
2023

Percent of private industry workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits

Health care

100

Paid vacation

100

Paid sick leave

98

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023

Private industry

12-month percent change

Total compensation

3.7% 4.5% 4.8% 4.7%

Wages and salaries

3.5% 4.2% 4.5% 5.1%

3-month percent change

Total compensation

1.6% 1.4% 1.0% 0.6%

Wages and salaries

1.6% 1.2% 1.0% 1.2%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series Private industry
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation
Back
data
4th quarter 2023 Back
data
4th quarter 2023

Total compensation

76.91 100.0

Wages and salaries

47.95 62.3

Total benefits

28.96 37.7

Insurance

7.36 9.6

Retirement

6.77 8.8

Paid leave

7.15 9.3

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$1,405 $1,390 $1,501 $1,571

Members of unions

$1,533 $1,482 $1,531 $1,686

Represented by unions

$1,535 $1,425 $1,530 $1,655

Nonunion

$1,343 $1,369 $1,492 $1,544

(Source: Current Population Survey)

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 utilities. 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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

39 28 45 50

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

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

Total recordable cases

1.7

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

1.1

Cases involving days away from work

0.7

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.4

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(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.

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)182.270 (p)178.800 (p)187.389 (p)180.240

Percent change from previous month

  (p)1.2% (p)-1.9% (p)4.8% (p)-3.8%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in utilities.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

22,689 (p)23,128 (p)23,401 (p)23,746

Local government

8,363 (p)8,359 (p)8,350 (p)8,343

State government

60 (p)60 (p)60 (p)60

Federal government

205 (p)209 (p)209 (p)209

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

6 6 5  

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

5 5 5  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024