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:
Dec. 2007
Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2008 1-month change:
Nov. 2008 -
Dec. 2008
12-month change:
Dec. 2007 -
Dec. 2008

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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962.6 838.3 (P) 822.5 (P) 801.1 (P) -21.4 (P) -161.5

Retail Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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1,909.3 1,809.8 (P) 1,779.7 (P) 1,754.7 (P) -25.0 (P) -154.6

Automobile dealers

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1,244.6 1,152.9 (P) 1,127.1 (P) 1,105.6 (P) -21.5 (P) -139.0

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2007
Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2008 12-month changes:
Nov. 2007 -
Nov. 2008
Dec. 2007 -
Dec. 2008

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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996.7 834.2 (P) 825.7 (P) 808.7 (P) -150.6 (P) -165.4

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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  223.0 184.2 (P) 186.9   (P) -39.2  

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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  164.9 124.5 (P) 121.8   (P) -34.1  

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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  608.9 525.5 (P) 517.0   (P) -77.3  

Wholesale Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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  350.0 336.5 (P) 332.8   (P) -15.6  

Retail Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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1,913.1 1,823.3 (P) 1,774.7 (P) 1,739.5 (P) -134.5 (P) -159.4

Automobile dealers

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1,245.3 1,162.0 (P) 1,126.0 (P) 1,100.2 (P) -120.0 (P) -140.6

Other motor vehicle dealers

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  170.4 158.1 (P) 150.2   (P) -13.3  

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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  497.4 503.2 (P) 498.5   (P) -1.2  

Other Services

 

Automotive repair and maintenance

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  888.0 857.5 (P) 839.6   (P) -43.1  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2007
Sep. 2008 Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 12-month change:
Nov. 2007 -
Nov. 2008

Average hourly earnings
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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$21.98 $22.38 $22.12 (P) $22.19 (P) $0.00

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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29.23 28.91 28.68 (P) 28.67 (P) -0.96

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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16.48 17.18 17.01 (P) 17.04 (P) 0.26

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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20.80 21.05 20.91 (P) 21.09 (P) 0.35

Wholesale Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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16.52 16.25 16.09 (P) 16.51 (P) 0.24

Retail Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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16.45 16.47 15.90 (P) 16.18 (P) 0.09

Automobile dealers

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17.61 17.64 16.78 (P) 17.19 (P) 0.14

Other motor vehicle dealers

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17.04 16.36 16.03 (P) 16.14 (P) -0.96

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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13.34 13.84 13.91 (P) 13.92 (P) 0.49

Other Services

 

Automotive repair and maintenance

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14.71 15.21 15.12 (P) 15.31 (P) 0.41

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
One year ago:
Dec. 2007
Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2008 1-month change:
Nov. 2008 -
Dec. 2008

Average weekly hours
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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41.6 40.6 (P) 40.2 (P) 39.9 (P) -0.3

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2007
Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2008 12-month changes:
Nov. 2007 -
Nov. 2008
Dec. 2007 -
Dec. 2008

Average weekly hours
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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42.3 40.7 (P) 40.0 (P) 40.5 (P) -2.1 (P) -1.8

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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  42.3 42.3 (P) 39.3   (P) -3.1  

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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  40.2 39.0 (P) 40.0   (P) 0.4  

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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  42.8 40.6 (P) 40.2   (P) -2.4  

Wholesale Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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  36.7 36.5 (P) 36.9   (P) -0.2  

Retail Trade

 

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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  35.9 35.4 (P) 35.8   (P) 0.2  

Automobile dealers

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  35.9 34.9 (P) 35.7   (P) 0.1  

Other motor vehicle dealers

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  34.6 35.2 (P) 35.3   (P) 1.9  

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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  36.4 36.5 (P) 36.3   (P) 0.0  

Other Services

 

Automotive repair and maintenance

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  35.3 35.0 (P) 35.1   (P) -0.2  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2007
Sep. 2008 Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 12-month change:
Nov. 2007 -
Nov. 2008

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

 

Manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

 

Motor vehicles manufacturing

 

Indiana

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13.4 13.9 11.9 (P) 14.0 (P) 0.4

Kentucky

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14.7 10.8 10.4 (P) 11.8 (P) -2.9

Michigan

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59.0 47.5 47.7 (P) 49.5 (P) -11.1

Ohio

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25.0 23.6 23.0 (P) 20.7 (P) -3.8

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

 

Indiana

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37.8 31.4 30.8 (P) 29.0 (P) -8.2

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

 

Indiana

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66.6 58.7 58.0 (P) 57.4 (P) -7.3

Kentucky

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34.0 31.8 31.3 (P) 31.1 (P) -2.6

Michigan

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130.8 105.0 105.9 (P) 106.3 (P) -21.0

Ohio

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82.2 74.2 73.9 (P) 72.6 (P) -8.0

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)

Wholesale trade

  • Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers (NAICS 4231)

Retail trade

Other services

 

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).

 

Last Modified Date: January 9, 2009