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Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 336

About the Transportation Equipment Manufacturing subsector

The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Transportation Equipment Manufacturing subsector produce equipment for transporting people and goods. Transportation equipment is a type of machinery. An entire subsector is devoted to this activity because of the significance of its economic size in all three North American countries. ^~Establishments in this subsector utilize production processes similar to those of other machinery manufacturing establishments - bending, forming, welding, machining, and assembling metal or plastic parts into components and finished products. However, the assembly of components and subassemblies and their further assembly into finished vehicles tends to be a more common production process in this subsector than in the Machinery Manufacturing subsector.

North American Industry Classification System

The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

Motor Vehicle Manufacturing: NAICS 3361
Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing: NAICS 3362
Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3363
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3364
Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing: NAICS 3365
Ship and Boat Building: NAICS 3366
Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3369

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation equipment manufacturing. 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, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	1,842.6	1,838.1	(p)1,796.6	(p)1,828.6
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	1,293.3	1,287.9	(p)1,238.9	(p)1,263.1
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	3.6%	2.2%	5.3%	3.7%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Aerospace engineers	26,420
Machinists	35,740
Mechanical engineers	28,530
Team assemblers	386,270
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	66,930

(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 transportation equipment manufacturing.

(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 transportation equipment manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$39.46	$40.01	(p)$39.98	(p)$40.22
Average weekly hours	42.0	41.8	(p)41.5	(p)41.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$34.12	$34.58	(p)$34.63	(p)$35.25
Average weekly hours	42.2	42.2	(p)41.8	(p)42.2
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Aerospace engineers	62.85	64.73	130,720	134,640
Machinists	27.53	27.78	57,260	57,780
Mechanical engineers	48.04	51.14	99,930	106,370
Team assemblers	22.20	23.47	46,180	48,820
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	23.16	24.27	48,180	50,480

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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 transportation equipment manufacturing. 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	30	26	28	41
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	3.4
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	2.2
Cases involving days away from work	1.0
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.2
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. The import price index reflects the percentage change in prices paid to foreign producers for their goods and services within the U.S., while the export price index measures the percentage change in prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services sold outside the U.S.


Data series	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024
Producer price index	(p)142.321	(p)142.444	(p)142.505	(p)143.013
Percent change from previous month	(p)0.2%	(p)0.1%	(p)0.0%	(p)0.4%
Import index	120.5	120.6	(r)120.7	121.0
Percent change from previous month	0.4%	0.1%	(r)0.1%	(r)0.2%
Export index	(r)150.3	(r)150.5	(r)150.5	151.1
Percent change from previous month	(r)0.3%	(r)0.1%	(r)0.0%	(r)0.4%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary (r) Revised

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in transportation equipment manufacturing. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	18,217	18,353	(p)18,815	(p)18,960
Local government	3	3	(p)3	(p)3
State government
Federal government	14	14	(p)14	(p)14
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: 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 labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked. Growth in unit labor costs represent the annual change in the labor cost of producing one unit of output.


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Labor productivity, output per hour	-2.9	-0.3	-1.9	-1.1
Hours worked	-11.3	5.3	6.4	4.5
Output	-13.9	5.0	4.4	3.3
Unit labor costs	10.7	-2.0	5.9	4.0

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: December 11, 2024