Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 336

About the Transportation Equipment Manufacturing subsector

The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector is part of the manufacturing sector.

Industries in the Transportation Equipment Manufacturing subsector produce equipment for transporting people and goods. Transportation equipment is a type of machinery. An entire subsector is devoted to this activity because of the significance of its economic size in all three North American countries. ^~Establishments in this subsector utilize production processes similar to those of other machinery manufacturing establishments - bending, forming, welding, machining, and assembling metal or plastic parts into components and finished products. However, the assembly of components and subassemblies and their further assembly into finished vehicles tends to be a more common production process in this subsector than in the Machinery Manufacturing subsector.

North American Industry Classification System

The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Motor Vehicle Manufacturing: NAICS 3361
  • Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing: NAICS 3362
  • Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3363
  • Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3364
  • Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing: NAICS 3365
  • Ship and Boat Building: NAICS 3366
  • Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3369

NOTE: There was a change in the definition of this subsector between NAICS 2002 and NAICS 2007. Some of the data below reflect the 2002 definition and some reflect the 2007 definition. See the BLS implementation schedule for NAICS 2007 to find out which BLS programs have already implemented NAICS 2007.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation equipment manufacturing. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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1,631.9 1,624.8 (P) 1,588.5 (P) 1,575.6

Employment, production workers (seasonally adjusted)

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1,202.4 1,189.4 (P) 1,156.8 (P) 1,146.5

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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6.2% 7.1% 6.3% 5.6%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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74 269 112  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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17,597 57,761 19,787  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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54 55 (P) 78 (P) 74

Separations

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8,700 12,858 (P) 30,245 (P) 16,073

Initial claimants

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14,641 35,573 (P) 41,582 (P) 14,528

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Aerospace engineers

41,080

Machinists

57,120

Mechanical engineers

30,180

Team assemblers

203,640

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

56,170

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for transportation equipment manufacturing.

(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. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in transportation equipment manufacturing.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$23.79 $23.68 (P) $23.86 (P) $23.94

Average weekly hours

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42.2 42.6 (P) 41.8 (P) 41.8

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Aerospace engineers

$41.33 $41.73 $85,970 $86,800

Machinists

$18.45 $19.41 $38,380 $40,380

Mechanical engineers

$34.43 $35.20 $71,610 $73,220

Team assemblers

$13.94 $15.09 $28,990 $31,390

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

$15.66 $16.55 $32,560 $34,430

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

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 transportation equipment manufacturing. 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

32 39 50 (P) 34

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

8.5 8.3 8.0  

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

4.6 4.6 4.3  

Cases involving days away from work

1.6 1.7 1.6  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

3.0 2.9 2.7  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

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. The import price index reflects the percentage change in prices paid to foreign producers for their goods and services within the U.S., while the export price index measures the percentage change in prices received by U.S. producers for goods and services sold outside the U.S.

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Producer price index

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(P) 106.3 (P) 105.9 (P) 106.5 (P) 106.3

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) -0.4% (P) -0.4% (P) 0.6% (P) -0.2%

Import index

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104.6 104.8 105.0 105.0

Percent change from previous month

 

-0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0%

Export index

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106.7 106.9 (R) 107.1 107.1

Percent change from previous month

 

0.2% 0.2% (R) 0.2% (R) 0.0%

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes, International Price Program)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in transportation equipment manufacturing. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments

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data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 15,420 (P) 15,455 (P) 15,469 (P) 15,451

Local government

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(P) 3 (P) 3 (P) 2 (P) 2

State government

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Federal government

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(P) 17 (P) 17 (P) 17 (P) 17

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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137.520 134.882 140.915 142.421

Percent change from previous year

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8.0 -1.9 4.5 1.1

Labor index, total labor hours

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83.284 83.945 84.195 84.500

Percent change from previous year

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-4.6 0.8 0.3 0.4

Output index

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114.532 113.227 118.644 120.345

Percent change from previous year

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3.0 -1.1 4.8 1.4

Unit labor costs index

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93.031 96.599 92.299 90.022

Percent change from previous year

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-1.3 3.8 -4.5 -2.5

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

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

Monthly Labor Review

See auto_industry in the Index of the Monthly Labor Review Online (Current Issue).

Career Guide to Industries

See aerospace product and parts manufacturing and motor vehicle and parts manufacturing in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008