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 2008	Jun. 2008	Jul. 2008	Aug. 2008
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		26,451	26,431	(P) 26,392	(P) 26,357
Employment, nonsupervisory workers (seasonally adjusted)		22,483	22,460	(P) 22,428	(P) 22,387
Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)
Job openings		598	519	(P) 614
Hires		896	1,009	(P) 865
Separations		869	1,024	(P) 1,016
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 for production or nonsupervisory employees 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 Production Workers

Data series	Back data	May 2008	Jun. 2008	Jul. 2008	Aug. 2008
Average hourly earnings		$16.16	$16.19	(P) $16.19	(P) $16.24
Average weekly hours		33.3	33.3	(P) 33.2	(P) 33.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series	Back data	3rd quarter 2007	4th quarter 2007	1st quarter 2008	2nd quarter 2008
12-month percent change
Total compensation		2.2%	2.4%	2.9%	3.0%
Wages and salaries		2.4%	2.7%	2.6%	2.8%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series	Back data	2nd quarter 2008
		Compensation component ($ per hour worked)	Percent of total compensation
Compensation costs
Total compensation		22.88	100.0
Wages and salaries		16.22	70.9
Total benefits		6.66	29.1
Insurance		1.84	8.1
Retirement		0.82	3.6

(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	2004	2005	2006	2007
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	1,525	1,582	1,548	(P) 1,446
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	5.5	5.2	5.0
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	3.1	3.0	2.9
Cases involving days away from work	1.8	1.7	1.6
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.3	1.3	1.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(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	1st quarter 2007	2nd quarter 2007	3rd quarter 2007	4th quarter 2007
Number of establishments
Private industry		(P) 1,905,980	(P) 1,913,217	(P) 1,921,578	(P) 1,918,983
Local government		(P) 11,422	(P) 11,433	(P) 11,452	(P) 11,447
State government		(P) 981	(P) 977	(P) 976	(P) 973
Federal government		(P) 31,497	(P) 31,507	(P) 31,500	(P) 31,505
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 16, 2008