Automotive Industry: Employment, Earnings, and Hours

The automotive industry includes industries associated with the production, wholesaling, retailing, and maintenance of motor vehicles. This industry is not formally defined in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), but the Bureau of Labor Statistics is referring to a group of detailed industries as the "automotive industry" for purposes of analysis. This list is not exhaustive, but includes industries that can be directly impacted by changes in U.S. production and sales of motor vehicles. Below are definitions of these industries

National Employment

Employment -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Jan. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	1-month change: Dec. 2011 - Jan. 2012	12-month change: Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2012
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		702.4	730.2	(P) 738.4	(P) 746.3	(P) 7.9	(P) 43.9
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		1,664.8	1,705.6	(P) 1,708.7	(P) 1,713.4	(P) 4.7	(P) 48.6
Automobile dealers		1,037.4	1,069.0	(P) 1,071.3	(P) 1,078.7	(P) 7.4	(P) 41.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	12-month changes:
						Dec. 2010 - Dec. 2012	Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2012
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		(P) 717.0	732.8	(P) 743.5	(P) 744.9	(P) 49.1	(P) 46.2
Motor vehicles manufacturing		(P) 159.6	165.5	(P) 168.7		(P) 13.8
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		(P) 114.0	113.4	(P) 115.2		(P) 9.1
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		(P) 443.3	453.9	(P) 459.6		(P) 26.2
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		(P) 312.2	315.2	(P) 316.0		(P) 7.0
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		(P) 1,687.9	1,704.1	(P) 1,698.3	(P) 1,682.1	(P) 48.6	(P) 48.3
Automobile dealers		(P) 1,055.3	1,068.3	(P) 1,067.4	(P) 1,065.6	(P) 36.0	(P) 41.1
Other motor vehicle dealers		(P) 126.3	121.5	(P) 118.0		(P) -3.8
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		(P) 506.3	514.3	(P) 512.9		(P) 16.4
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		(P) 813.0	809.1	(P) 807.1		(P) 7.2
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2010	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	12-month change: Dec. 2010 - Dec. 2011
Average hourly earnings (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		(P) $21.96	$21.94	$21.76	(P) $21.78	(P) $-0.56
Motor vehicles manufacturing		(P) 28.90	28.80	28.02	(P) 28.22	(P) -1.45
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		(P) 16.69	17.02	17.05	(P) 16.94	(P) 0.38
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		(P) 20.68	20.60	20.50	(P) 20.40	(P) -0.51
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		(P) 17.96	17.88	17.94	(P) 17.81	(P) -0.34
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		(P) 17.47	17.56	17.47	(P) 17.47	(P) 0.24
Automobile dealers		(P) 18.61	18.66	18.56	(P) 18.47	(P) 0.07
Other motor vehicle dealers		(P) 17.47	17.49	17.02	(P) 16.99	(P) -0.48
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		(P) 14.95	15.10	15.17	(P) 15.32	(P) 0.63
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		(P) 16.03	16.04	16.07	(P) 16.06	(P) 0.12
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Jan. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	1-month change: Dec. 2011 - Jan. 2012
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.6	43.4	(P) 43.9	(P) 44.3	(P) 0.4
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	12-month changes:
						Dec. 2010 - Dec. 2012	Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2012
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		(P) 43.4	43.6	(P) 45.2	(P) 43.9	(P) 0.8	(P) 1.9
Motor vehicles manufacturing		(P) 44.0	43.9	(P) 46.7		(P) 0.7
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		(P) 42.7	42.0	(P) 42.6		(P) -1.3
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		(P) 43.4	43.9	(P) 45.2		(P) 1.2
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		(P) 37.8	37.9	(P) 38.5		(P) 1.6
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		(P) 37.0	37.5	(P) 37.5		(P) 1.1
Automobile dealers		(P) 37.4	38.0	(P) 38.4		(P) 2.0
Other motor vehicle dealers		(P) 34.4	33.4	(P) 33.2		(P) -0.1
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		(P) 36.8	37.4	(P) 36.6		(P) -0.6
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		(P) 35.0	35.1	(P) 35.0		(P) 0.4
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2010	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	12-month change: Dec. 2010 - Dec. 2011
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing
Motor vehicles manufacturing
Alabama			10.3	10.4	(P) 10.5	(P) 0.4
California			3.0	3.1	(P) 3.1	(P) 0.0
Indiana			14.1	15.2	(P) 15.2	(P) 1.4
Kentucky			11.5	11.6	(P) 11.8	(P) -0.6
Michigan			37.3	36.8	(P) 37.8	(P) 4.0
Missouri			5.5	5.5	(P) 5.6	(P) 0.4
Ohio			17.3	18.0	(P) 18.4	(P) -0.6
Oklahoma			0.9	0.9	(P) 0.9	(P) -0.2
Texas			8.7	8.9	(P) 8.8	(P) 0.0
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Indiana			26.4	26.8	(P) 27.2	(P) 2.3
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Alabama			14.7	15.0	(P) 14.9	(P) 1.1
California
Indiana			45.8	45.6	(P) 46.1	(P) 0.7
Kentucky			26.3	26.7	(P) 27.1	(P) 3.3
Michigan			94.1	94.6	(P) 95.4	(P) 5.6
Mississippi			2.9	2.9	(P) 2.9	(P) -0.2
New York			11.7	11.7	(P) 11.6	(P) -0.4
Ohio			57.1	57.7	(P) 58.4	(P) 1.7
Wisconsin
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: State and Metro Area Employment, Hours, & Earnings )

 

About the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry includes industries associated with the production, wholesaling, retailing, and maintenance of motor vehicles. This industry is not formally defined in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), but the Bureau of Labor Statistics is referring to a group of detailed industries as the "automotive industry" for purposes of analysis. This list is not exhaustive, but includes industries that can be directly impacted by changes in U.S. production and sales of motor vehicles. Below are definitions of these industries. Current and historical data back to 1990 are available for these industries. Data provided are for establishments that are located in the United States; the data do not distinguish between domestic and foreign ownership. Employment data are for all employees; average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for production and nonsupervisory workers.

Links to Definitions of Detailed Industries within Automotive Industry

Manufacturing

• Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing (NAICS 3361,2,3)
• Motor vehicles manufacturing (NAICS 3361)
• Motor vehicle bodies and trailer (NAICS 3362)
• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing (NAICS 3363)

Wholesale trade

• Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers (NAICS 4231)

Retail trade

• Motor vehicle and parts dealers (NAICS 441)
• Automobile dealers  (NAICS 4411)
• Other motor vehicle dealers  (NAICS 4412)
• Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores  (NAICS 4413)

Other services

• Automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 8111)

 

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See Automobile industry and Industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Monthly Labor Review

See Auto industry in the Index of the Monthly Labor Review Online (Current Issue).

 

Data extracted on: February 07, 2012