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The general merchandise stores subsector is part of the retail trade sector.
Industries in the General Merchandise Stores subsector retail new general merchandise from fixed point-of-sale locations. Establishments in this subsector are unique in that they have the equipment and staff capable of retailing a large variety of goods from a single location. This includes a variety of display equipment and staff trained to provide information on many lines of products.
North American Industry Classification System
The general merchandise stores subsector consists of these industry groups:
This section provides information relating to employment in general merchandise stores. 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.
Data series | Back data |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
3,282.1 | 3,289.8 | (p)3,288.9 | (p)3,293.1 | |
3,072.2 | 3,085.3 | (p)3,075.4 | |||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Employment, 2023 |
---|---|
(1)- | |
188,580 | |
173,240 | |
621,100 | |
889,180 | |
Footnotes |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for general merchandise stores.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
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 general merchandise stores.
Data series | Back data |
May 2024 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$21.95 | $22.02 | $21.90 | (p)$21.83 | ||
26.0 | 27.0 | 27.0 | (p)26.9 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Back data |
May 2024 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$17.77 | $17.80 | $17.62 | (p)$17.78 | ||
29.8 | 30.3 | 30.4 | (p)30.1 | ||
Footnotes |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Data series | Wages, 2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Hourly | Annual | |||
Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
14.03 | 14.58 | 29,180 | 30,320 | |
16.90 | 17.70 | 35,150 | 36,810 | |
22.56 | 23.36 | 46,920 | 48,590 | |
16.19 | 16.50 | 33,680 | 34,320 | |
16.96 | 17.50 | 35,290 | 36,390 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
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 general merchandise stores. 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 |
||||
21 | 14 | 19 | 32 | |
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 |
|
5.6 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
3.8 |
2.5 | |
1.3 | |
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
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 |
Jun. 2024 |
Jul. 2024 |
Aug. 2024 |
Sep. 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(p)160.550 | (p)158.311 | (p)156.954 | (p)157.506 | ||
Percent change from previous month |
(p)-0.2% | (p)-1.4% | (p)-0.9% | (p)0.4% | |
Footnotes |
(Source: Producer Price Indexes)
This section presents data on the number of establishments in general merchandise stores. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.
Data series | Back data |
1st quarter 2021 |
2nd quarter 2021 |
3rd quarter 2021 |
4th quarter 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
65,790 | 66,012 | 66,490 | 67,001 | ||
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
279 | 279 | 277 | 275 |
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3.5 | 3.5 | 5.9 | -5.9 | ||
-1.2 | 2.8 | -5.2 | 4.1 | ||
2.2 | 6.4 | 0.4 | -2.0 | ||
1.6 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 4.4 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: October 11, 2024