Automotive Industry: Employment, Earnings, and Hours

The automotive industry includes industries associated with the production, wholesaling, retailing, and maintenance of motor vehicles. This industry is not formally defined in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), but the Bureau of Labor Statistics is referring to a group of detailed industries as the "automotive industry" for purposes of analysis. This list is not exhaustive, but includes industries that can be directly impacted by changes in U.S. production and sales of motor vehicles. Below are definitions of these industries

National Employment

Employment -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Feb. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	1-month change: Jan. 2025 - Feb. 2025	12-month change: Feb. 2024 - Feb. 2025
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		1,018.1	1,007.5	(p)997.1	(p)1,006.0	(p)8.9	(p)-12.1
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,051.6	2,051.3	(p)2,055.7	(p)2,061.2	(p)5.5	(p)9.6
Automobile dealers		1,279.1	1,294.0	(p)1,293.5	(p)1,295.3	(p)1.8	(p)16.2
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	12-month changes:
						Jan. 2024 - Jan. 2025	Feb. 2024 - Feb. 2025
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		1,018.8	1,019.7	(p)988.3	(p)1,002.4	(p)-30.5	(p)-13.5
Motor vehicles manufacturing		302.0	309.6	(p)287.3		(p)-4.5
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		163.5	163.4	(p)162.7		(p)-2.2
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		553.3	546.7	(p)538.3		(p)-23.8
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		381.1	384.6	(p)380.0		(p)1.7
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,050.4	2,049.4	(p)2,036.6	(p)2,045.0	(p)6.6	(p)9.1
Automobile dealers		1,287.3	1,297.0	(p)1,286.4	(p)1,291.5	(p)11.7	(p)15.7
Other motor vehicle dealers		169.0	157.9	(p)157.2	(p)158.6	(p)-7.1	(p)-7.4
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		594.1	594.5	(p)593.0	(p)594.9	(p)2.0	(p)0.8
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		1,036.0	1,035.8	(p)1,033.5		(p)12.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	12-month change: Feb. 2024 - Feb. 2025
Average hourly earnings (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		$30.86	$32.04	(p)$31.84	(p)$32.13	(p)$1.87
Motor vehicles manufacturing		37.80	38.48	(p)37.82
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		28.47	30.00	(p)30.18
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		30.17	30.99	(p)31.30
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		26.44	26.80	(p)26.57
Automobile dealers		28.19	28.63	(p)28.59
Other motor vehicle dealers		26.83	27.00	(p)24.84
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		22.26	22.40	(p)22.39
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		25.66	26.22	(p)26.21
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Feb. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	1-month change: Jan. 2025 - Feb. 2025
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.6	42.8	(p)42.3	(p)43.4	(p)1.1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	12-month changes:
						Jan. 2024 - Jan. 2025	Feb. 2024 - Feb. 2025
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.8	43.6	(p)40.6	(p)42.3	(p)0.1	(p)-0.1
Motor vehicles manufacturing		43.8	44.7	(p)40.7		(p)0.6
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		43.1	44.1	(p)41.1		(p)-0.3
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		38.2	37.9	(p)37.1		(p)-1.0
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		36.5	37.3	(p)36.1		(p)0.2
Automobile dealers		36.9	37.9	(p)36.4		(p)0.0
Other motor vehicle dealers		35.7	36.5	(p)35.3		(p)1.1
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		35.9	36.0	(p)35.7		(p)0.5
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		36.2	35.8	(p)35.2		(p)-0.2
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2024	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	12-month change: Jan. 2024 - Jan. 2025
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing
Motor vehicles manufacturing
Alabama		22.7	23.0	23.0	(p)22.8	(p)0.7
California		28.7	25.0	25.0	(p)24.8	(p)-6.8
Kentucky		24.0	23.7	23.8	(p)22.8	(p)-1.2
Michigan		48.6	48.9	49.6	(p)40.6	(p)-8.4
Missouri		13.2	14.0	14.1	(p)7.4	(p)-5.4
Ohio		20.3	20.2	20.3	(p)19.2	(p)-2.1
Texas		16.2	16.0	16.0	(p)15.9	(p)-0.3
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Indiana		39.5	38.8	38.7	(p)38.7	(p)-1.4
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Alabama		30.3	30.2	30.2	(p)29.9	(p)-0.5
Indiana		54.2	53.4	53.1	(p)52.9	(p)-2.6
Kentucky		34.6	34.0	34.2	(p)33.9	(p)-1.2
Michigan		118.3	116.6	117.3	(p)116.1	(p)-4.7
Mississippi		5.9	5.8	5.8	(p)5.8	(p)-0.1
New York		8.6	8.6	8.5	(p)8.5	(p)-0.3
Ohio		65.7	65.1	65.4	(p)64.9	(p)-1.6
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: State and Metro Area Employment, Hours, & Earnings )

 

About the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry includes industries associated with the production, wholesaling, retailing, and maintenance of motor vehicles. This industry is not formally defined in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), but the Bureau of Labor Statistics is referring to a group of detailed industries as the "automotive industry" for purposes of analysis. This list is not exhaustive, but includes industries that can be directly impacted by changes in U.S. production and sales of motor vehicles. Below are definitions of these industries. Current and historical data back to 1990 are available for these industries. Data provided are for establishments that are located in the United States; the data do not distinguish between domestic and foreign ownership. Employment data are for all employees; average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for production and nonsupervisory workers.

Links to Definitions of Detailed Industries within Automotive Industry

Manufacturing

• Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing (NAICS 3361,2,3)
  • Motor vehicles manufacturing (NAICS 3361)
  • Motor vehicle bodies and trailer (NAICS 3362)
  • Motor vehicle parts manufacturing (NAICS 3363)

Wholesale trade

• Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers (NAICS 4231)

Retail trade

• Motor vehicle and parts dealers (NAICS 441)
  • Automobile dealers  (NAICS 4411)
  • Other motor vehicle dealers  (NAICS 4412)
  • Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores  (NAICS 4413)

Other services

• Automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 8111)

 

Data extracted on: March 21, 2025