Rail Transportation: NAICS 482

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About the Rail Transportation subsector

The rail transportation subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Rail Transportation subsector provide rail transportation of passengers and/or cargo using railroad rolling stock. The railroads in this subsector primarily either operate on networks, with physical facilities, labor force, and equipment spread over an extensive geographic area, or operate over a short distance on a local rail line.

North American Industry Classification System

The rail transportation subsector consists of a single industry group, Rail Transportation: NAICS 4821.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in rail transportation. 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)
Jump to page with historical data
 231.5 231.2 (P) 231.5 (P) 231.2

Layoffs

  

Mass layoff events

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 - - -  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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 - - -  

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
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Separations
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Initial claimants
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2010

Locomotive engineers

 39,300

Rail car repairers

 11,970

Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators

 10,740

Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators

 21,190

Railroad conductors and yardmasters

 38,270

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings

Recent hourly and annual earnings for occupations commonly found in rail transportation.

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2010
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Locomotive engineers

 $22.40 $24.48 $46,600 $50,930

Rail car repairers

 $24.47 $24.08 $50,900 $50,090

Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators

 $22.51 $22.76 $46,820 $47,350

Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators

 $23.06 $23.66 $47,960 $49,210

Railroad conductors and yardmasters

 $23.36 $25.10 $48,580 $52,200

(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 rail transportation. 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

 16 23 13 (P) 19

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

  

Total recordable cases

 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.0

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

 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.4

Cases involving days away from work

 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

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.

Data series Back
data		 Sep.
2011		 Oct.
2011		 Nov.
2011		 Dec.
2011

Producer price index
Jump to page with historical data
 (P) 172.3 (P) 172.1 (P) 171.8 (P) 171.7

Percent change from previous month

   (P) 0.0% (P) -0.1% (P) -0.2% (P) -0.1%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in rail transportation.

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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 96 101 (P) 91 (P) 91

Local government
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State government
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 2 2 (P) 2 (P) 2

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