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Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods: NAICS 424

About the Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods subsector

The merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods subsector is part of the wholesale trade sector.

Industries in the Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods subsector sell nondurable goods to other businesses. Nondurable goods are items generally with a normal life expectancy of less than three years. Nondurable goods merchant wholesale trade establishments are engaged in wholesaling products, such as paper and paper products, chemicals and chemical products, drugs, textiles and textile products, apparel, footwear, groceries, farm products, petroleum and petroleum products, alcoholic beverages, books, magazines, newspapers, flowers and nursery stock, and tobacco products.

North American Industry Classification System

The merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Paper and Paper Product Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4241
  • Drugs and Druggists' Sundries Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4242
  • Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4243
  • Grocery and Related Product Wholesalers: NAICS 4244
  • Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4245
  • Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4246
  • Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4247
  • Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4248
  • Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4249

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment

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

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

2,215.2 2,217.2 (p)2,219.3 (p)2,220.8

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

1,769.7 1,772.5 (p)1,766.7  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

166,210

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

268,160

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products

48,900

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks

48,040

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

170,400

(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 merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods.

(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 merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$34.82 $35.18 $35.11 (p)$35.24

Average weekly hours

38.7 38.9 38.4 (p)38.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$28.31 $28.61 $28.60 (p)$28.69

Average weekly hours

38.9 38.8 38.5 (p)38.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

18.63 19.63 38,750 40,830

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

30.62 37.95 63,690 78,930

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products

61.14 59.19 127,180 123,120

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks

19.46 21.00 40,480 43,680

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

26.54 27.54 55,200 57,270

(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 merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. 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

81 71   77

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

2.7

Cases involving days away from work

1.6

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.1

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
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Producer price index

(p)212.444 (p)214.989 (p)212.363 (p)210.557

Percent change from previous month

  (p)1.4% (p)1.2% (p)-1.2% (p)-0.9%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. 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

180,286 181,957 182,795 (p)184,026

Local government

17 18 20 (p)20

State government

       

Federal government

       

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

6.5 -0.9 -1.8 -0.6

Hours worked

-7.5 3.4 1.9 2.2

Output

-1.5 2.5 0.1 1.6

Unit labor costs

2.4 5.5 7.7 4.5

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: October 10, 2024