Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods: NAICS 424

About the Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods subsector

The merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods subsector is part of the wholesale trade sector.

Industries in the Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods subsector sell nondurable goods to other businesses. Nondurable goods are items generally with a normal life expectancy of less than three years. Nondurable goods merchant wholesale trade establishments are engaged in wholesaling products, such as paper and paper products, chemicals and chemical products, drugs, textiles and textile products, apparel, footwear, groceries, farm products, petroleum and petroleum products, alcoholic beverages, books, magazines, newspapers, flowers and nursery stock, and tobacco products.

North American Industry Classification System

The merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Paper and Paper Product Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4241
  • Drugs and Druggists' Sundries Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4242
  • Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4243
  • Grocery and Related Product Wholesalers: NAICS 4244
  • Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4245
  • Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4246
  • Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4247
  • Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4248
  • Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers: NAICS 4249

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

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

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

Jump to page with historical data
2,088.4 2,078.4 (P) 2,074.3 (P) 2,068.7

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

Jump to page with historical data
1,720.6 1,710.8 (P) 1,700.7  

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

Jump to page with historical data
10 4 10  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

Jump to page with historical data
627 436 822  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, 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

Jump to page with historical data
11 15 (P) 12 (P) 14

Separations

Jump to page with historical data
1,456 1,562 (P) 1,432 (P) 1,902

Initial claimants

Jump to page with historical data
1,008 1,398 (P) 1,254 (P) 1,602

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

182,370

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

287,430

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products

68,110

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks

61,000

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

134,680

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods.

(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 merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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

Average hourly earnings

Jump to page with historical data
$17.99 $18.12 $18.30 (P) $18.34

Average weekly hours

Jump to page with historical data
38.3 38.8 38.2 (P) 38.1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

$10.83 $11.54 $22,530 $24,000

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

$22.90 $27.35 $47,620 $56,880

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products

$32.88 $36.08 $68,400 $75,040

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks

$13.18 $13.76 $27,400 $28,610

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

$17.59 $18.25 $36,580 $37,960

(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 merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. 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

96 94 103 (P) 89

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

 

Total recordable cases

5.6 5.7 5.4  

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

3.9 3.8 3.7  

Cases involving days away from work

2.0 1.9 1.9  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.9 1.9 1.8  

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.

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

Producer price index

Jump to page with historical data
(P) 124.0 (P) 119.1 (P) 119.3 (P) 128.7

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 8.1% (P) -4.0% (P) 0.2% (P) 7.9%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods. 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

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

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

Jump to page with historical data
(P) 141,120 (P) 141,334 (P) 141,786 (P) 141,339

Local government

Jump to page with historical data
(P) 9 (P) 9 (P) 9 (P) 10

State government

Jump to page with historical data
       

Federal government

Jump to page with historical data
       

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2004 2005 2006 2007

Labor productivity index, output per hour

Jump to page with historical data
113.603 114.330 113.116 114.997

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
2.8 0.6 -1.1 1.7

Labor index, total labor hours

Jump to page with historical data
96.197 96.448 98.008 99.858

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
-1.4 0.3 1.6 1.9

Output index

Jump to page with historical data
109.283 110.268 110.862 114.833

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
1.3 0.9 0.5 3.6

Unit labor costs index

Jump to page with historical data
128.614 132.918 139.319 140.670

Percent change from previous year

Jump to page with historical data
1.4 3.3 4.8 1.0

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

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

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008