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. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	1-month change: Jan. 2026 - Feb. 2026	12-month change: Feb. 2025 - Feb. 2026
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		979.5	951.0	(p)951.2	(p)949.6	(p)-1.6	(p)-29.9
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,055.0	2,051.8	(p)2,057.2	(p)2,057.6	(p)0.4	(p)2.6
Automobile dealers		1,292.2	1,292.7	(p)1,297.3	(p)1,296.2	(p)-1.1	(p)4.0
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	12-month changes:
						Jan. 2025 - Jan. 2026	Feb. 2025 - Feb. 2026
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		967.1	961.3	(p)944.0	(p)946.5	(p)-21.7	(p)-29.8
Motor vehicles manufacturing		285.8	289.4	(p)280.0		(p)3.4
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		156.6	152.7	(p)151.7		(p)-6.2
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		524.7	519.2	(p)512.3		(p)-18.9
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		371.2	374.3	(p)370.1		(p)-0.1
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,049.3	2,049.8	(p)2,036.3	(p)2,041.3	(p)7.8	(p)4.4
Automobile dealers		1,291.6	1,295.0	(p)1,288.3	(p)1,291.1	(p)7.6	(p)4.7
Other motor vehicle dealers		160.8	157.0	(p)153.6	(p)154.4	(p)-2.6	(p)-3.1
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		596.8	597.8	(p)594.4	(p)595.8	(p)2.8	(p)2.8
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		1,038.1	1,031.2	(p)1,026.3		(p)1.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	12-month change: Feb. 2025 - Feb. 2026
Average hourly earnings (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		$32.80	$33.74	(p)$33.02	(p)$33.40	(p)$1.53
Motor vehicles manufacturing		39.49	40.37	(p)39.75
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		30.53	31.42	(p)30.69
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		31.48	31.98	(p)32.01
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		27.60	27.94	(p)28.06
Automobile dealers		29.89	30.22	(p)30.29
Other motor vehicle dealers		27.08	26.49	(p)26.82
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		22.54	23.24	(p)23.29
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		26.81	27.29	(p)27.48
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Feb. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	1-month change: Jan. 2026 - Feb. 2026
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		43.5	43.0	(p)43.6	(p)43.9	(p)0.3
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	12-month changes:
						Jan. 2025 - Jan. 2026	Feb. 2025 - Feb. 2026
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.8	43.6	(p)42.2	(p)43.4	(p)1.6	(p)0.8
Motor vehicles manufacturing		44.0	45.8	(p)43.1		(p)2.4
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		43.1	43.7	(p)42.2		(p)1.1
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		38.0	38.0	(p)38.0		(p)0.9
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		36.8	36.6	(p)36.7		(p)0.6
Automobile dealers		37.0	36.7	(p)37.1		(p)0.7
Other motor vehicle dealers		36.7	35.8	(p)35.5		(p)0.1
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		36.2	36.5	(p)36.1		(p)0.4
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		35.9	36.4	(p)36.2		(p)1.1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2024	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	12-month change: Dec. 2024 - Dec. 2025
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing
Motor vehicles manufacturing
Alabama			23.2	23.2	(p)23.1	(p)0.1
California			22.9	22.9	(p)22.9	(p)-2.1
Kentucky			23.0	23.1	(p)23.3	(p)-0.5
Michigan			47.1	46.2	(p)48.3	(p)-1.3
Missouri			10.0	10.0	(p)10.3	(p)-3.8
Ohio			18.9	18.9	(p)19.1	(p)-1.2
Texas			15.7	15.8	(p)15.9	(p)-0.1
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Indiana			38.1	37.9	(p)37.8	(p)-0.9
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Alabama			30.2	30.0	(p)29.8	(p)-0.4
Indiana			51.9	52.0	(p)51.6	(p)-1.5
Kentucky			33.6	33.6	(p)33.6	(p)-0.6
Michigan			113.9	112.9	(p)113.4	(p)-3.9
Mississippi			5.9	5.9	(p)6.0	(p)0.2
New York			8.4	8.4	(p)8.5	(p)0.0
Ohio			64.9	64.7	(p)64.9	(p)-0.5
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 06, 2026