Utilities: NAICS 22

About the Utilities sector

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

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	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		590.4	593.0	(p)592.0	(p)591.9
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)		469.1	470.9	(p)470.7	(p)470.4
Unemployment
Unemployment rate		1.4%	1.6%	1.7%	1.3%
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	2nd quarter 2023	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)
Gross job gains		21	19	19	15
Gross job losses		16	13	15	13

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2023
Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door	22,970
Electrical engineers	19,400
Electrical power-line installers and repairers	59,820
First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers	23,440
Meter readers, utilities	8,250

(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	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings		$51.58	$51.63	(p)$52.24	(p)$52.17
Average weekly hours		42.5	42.6	(p)43.1	(p)42.0
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series	Back data	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings		$45.37	$45.23	(p)$45.98	(p)$45.97
Average weekly hours		42.6	42.7	(p)43.3	(p)42.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door	$41.29	$40.64	$85,870	$84,520
Electrical engineers	$53.29	$56.07	$110,840	$116,630
Electrical power-line installers and repairers	$47.28	$45.67	$98,330	$94,990
First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers	$55.67	$55.35	$115,790	$115,130
Meter readers, utilities	$28.47	$29.88	$59,210	$62,140

(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	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024	3rd quarter 2024
Private industry
12-month percent change
Total compensation		4.7%	4.1%	3.5%	3.3%
Wages and salaries		5.1%	4.5%	4.0%	3.8%
3-month percent change
Total compensation		0.6%	1.0%	0.9%	0.8%
Wages and salaries		1.2%	1.0%	0.8%	0.9%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series	Private industry
	Compensation component ($ per hour worked)		Percent of total compensation
	Back data	2nd quarter 2024	Back data	2nd quarter 2024
Total compensation		78.33		100.0
Wages and salaries		48.75		62.2
Total benefits		29.58		37.8
Insurance		7.60		9.7
Retirement		6.90		8.8
Paid leave		7.26		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	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.8
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	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Producer price index		(p)189.101	(p)191.477	(p)183.364	(p)178.268
Percent change from previous month		(p)-0.9%	(p)1.3%	(p)-4.2%	(p)-2.8%
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	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry		23,736	23,976	(p)24,309	(p)24,586
Local government		8,335	8,335	(p)8,324	(p)8,347
State government		60	60	(p)61	(p)61
Federal government		209	208	(p)211	(p)213
Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)
With job gains (seasonally adjusted)		5	6	5
With job losses (seasonally adjusted)		5	5	5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

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

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.

Data series	Back data	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total factor productivity (TFP)		3.4	-2.8	-2.7	2.8
Output		-2.9	-0.4	1.4	2.3
Combined inputs		-6.1	2.5	4.2	-0.5
Capital input		3.0	3.0	3.0	2.3
Labor input		-0.6	0.8	2.3	0.7
Labor productivity, output per hour		-1.7	-1.1	-1.2	1.2

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: December 12, 2024