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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 Back
data
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024
Oct.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

1,860.8 1,842.6 (p)1,839.2 (p)1,794.8

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

1,305.9 1,293.3 (p)1,290.6 (p)1,242.7

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

3.2% 3.6% 2.2% 5.3%

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 Back
data
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024
Oct.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$39.91 $39.46 (p)$40.08 (p)$39.77

Average weekly hours

41.9 42.0 (p)41.8 (p)41.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024
Oct.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$34.55 $34.12 (p)$34.61 (p)$34.28

Average weekly hours

41.6 42.2 (p)42.4 (p)42.5

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 2022

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

Total recordable cases

3.6

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

2.4

Cases involving days away from work

1.1

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.3

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 Back
data
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Producer price index

(p)141.971 (p)142.196 (p)142.345 (p)142.451

Percent change from previous month

  (p)0.0% (p)0.2% (p)0.1% (p)0.1%

Import index

(r)120.0 (r)120.5 (r)120.6 120.8

Percent change from previous month

  (r)0.1% (r)0.4% (r)0.1% (r)0.2%

Export index

(r)149.9 (r)150.2 (r)150.4 150.4

Percent change from previous month

  (r)0.1% (r)0.2% (r)0.1% (r)0.0%

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 Back
data
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024

Number of establishments

Private industry

17,868 18,217 18,353 (p)18,801

Local government

3 3 3 (p)3

State government

       

Federal government

14 14 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 Back
data
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: November 07, 2024