Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction: NAICS 237

About the Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction subsector

The heavy and civil engineering construction subsector is part of the construction sector.

The heavy and civil engineering construction subsector consists of these industry groups:

• Utility System Construction: NAICS 2371
• Land Subdivision: NAICS 2372
• Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction: NAICS 2373
• Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction: NAICS 2379

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in heavy and civil engineering construction. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series	Back data	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		832.3	834.2	(P) 841.5	(P) 840.1
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees		726.4	697.3	(P) 628.0
Layoffs
Mass layoff events		29	156	252
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits		2,204	13,320	21,638
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series	Back data	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011
Extended mass layoff events		385	136	(P) 66	(P) 44
Separations		55,061	17,764	(P) 10,444	(P) 6,503
Initial claimants		63,781	20,362	(P) 12,423	(P) 5,425
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2010
Carpenters	26,530
Construction laborers	175,980
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers	57,870
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	97,940
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	35,680

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(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 heavy and civil engineering construction.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series	Back data	Sep. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
Average hourly earnings		$26.37	$26.37	$26.27	(P) $26.31
Average weekly hours		44.0	43.0	42.8	(P) 41.6
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series	Back data	Sep. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
Average hourly earnings		$24.97	$25.08	$24.78	(P) $24.24
Average weekly hours		45.5	44.1	43.8	(P) 42.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series	Wages, 2010
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Carpenters	$20.64	$23.15	$42,920	$48,150
Construction laborers	$14.68	$17.42	$30,540	$36,240
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers	$28.41	$29.90	$59,080	$62,200
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	$21.15	$23.32	$43,990	$48,510
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	$16.89	$18.33	$35,130	$38,130

(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 heavy and civil engineering construction. 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	254	226	214	(P) 171
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	4.9	4.2	3.8	3.8
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	2.6	2.2	2.2	2.2
Cases involving days away from work	1.6	1.4	1.4	1.3
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.0	0.8	0.7	0.9
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in heavy and civil engineering construction.

Establishments

Data series	Back data	3rd quarter 2010	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011
Number of establishments
Private industry		52,845	52,617	(P) 51,605	(P) 51,864
Local government		4,422	4,421	(P) 4,417	(P) 4,416
State government		1,690	1,689	(P) 1,686	(P) 1,648
Federal government		1	1	(P) 1	(P) 1
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

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 07, 2012