Trade, Transportation, and Utilities

About the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities supersector

The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector is part of the service-providing industries supersector group.

The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector consists of these sectors:

• Wholesale Trade: NAICS 42
• Retail Trade: NAICS 44-45
• Transportation and Warehousing: NAICS 48-49
• Utilities: NAICS 22

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in trade, transportation, and utilities. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, job openings and labor turnover, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series	Back data	May 2012	Jun. 2012	Jul. 2012	Aug. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		25,314	25,310	(P) 25,321	(P) 25,350
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)		21,493	21,484	(P) 21,481	(P) 21,521
Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)
Job openings		574	576	(P) 687
Hires		919	846	(P) 861
Separations		775	803	(P) 845
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates in trade, transportation, and utilities, see the Employment and projected employment by major industry sector table.

(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. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series	Back data	May 2012	Jun. 2012	Jul. 2012	Aug. 2012
Average hourly earnings		$20.40	$20.49	(P) $20.51	(P) $20.53
Average weekly hours		34.5	34.5	(P) 34.5	(P) 34.6
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series	Back data	May 2012	Jun. 2012	Jul. 2012	Aug. 2012
Average hourly earnings		$17.41	$17.47	(P) $17.44	(P) $17.40
Average weekly hours		33.7	33.7	(P) 33.7	(P) 33.8
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series	Back data	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012
12-month percent change
Total compensation		2.4%	2.4%	2.9%	2.5%
Wages and salaries		1.7%	1.7%	2.7%	2.5%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series	Back data	2nd quarter 2012
		Compensation component ($ per hour worked)	Percent of total compensation
Compensation costs
Total compensation		24.21	100.0
Wages and salaries		17.12	70.7
Total benefits		7.09	29.3
Insurance		2.09	8.6
Retirement		0.83	3.4

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

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 trade, transportation, and utilities. 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	2008	2009	2010	2011
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	1,367	1,188	1,234	(P) 1,278
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	4.4	4.1	4.1
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	2.6	2.4	2.4
Cases involving days away from work	1.4	1.4	1.4
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.1	1.0	1.1
Footnotes (P) Preliminary
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in trade, transportation, and utilities.

Establishments

Data series	Back data	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012
Number of establishments
Private industry		1,871,083	1,877,609	1,878,546	(P) 1,881,934
Local government		11,722	11,730	11,722	(P) 11,763
State government		963	959	961	(P) 958
Federal government		31,167	31,074	31,084	(P) 31,058
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: September 27, 2012