Real Estate: NAICS 531

About the Real Estate subsector

The real estate subsector is part of the real estate and rental and leasing sector.

Industries in the Real Estate subsector group establishments that are primarily engaged in renting or leasing real estate to others; managing real estate for others; selling, buying, or renting real estate for others; and providing other real estate related services, such as appraisal services.

This subsector includes equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that are primarily engaged in leasing buildings, dwellings, or other real estate property to others.

North American Industry Classification System

The real estate subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Lessors of Real Estate: NAICS 5311
  • Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers: NAICS 5312
  • Activities Related to Real Estate: NAICS 5313

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 real estate. 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
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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1,458.2 1,444.9 (P) 1,435.1 (P) 1,423.4

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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1,150.9 1,114.9 (P) 1,106.8  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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6.4% 6.6% 6.7% 7.8%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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3 7 10 8

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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210 649 637 435

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Extended Mass Layoffs

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

Extended mass layoff events

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(1) - 3 (P) 7 (P) 13

Separations

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(1) - 302 (P) 1,171 (P) 1,370

Initial claimants

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(1) - 303 (P) 1,033 (P) 1,544

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

51,900

General and operations managers

24,970

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

36,300

Maintenance and repair workers, general

233,660

Office clerks, general

94,870

Property, real estate, and community association managers

120,220

Real estate brokers

45,740

Real estate sales agents

125,840

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(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 real estate.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2008
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$16.82 $16.99 $16.97 (P) $16.92

Average weekly hours

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33.5 32.8 32.9 (P) 33.5

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

$16.23 $16.75 $33,760 $34,840

General and operations managers

$48.25 $56.35 $100,360 $117,200

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

$10.88 $11.64 $22,640 $24,210

Maintenance and repair workers, general

$14.13 $14.94 $29,400 $31,070

Office clerks, general

$11.17 $11.88 $23,230 $24,710

Property, real estate, and community association managers

$20.23 $24.77 $42,080 $51,520

Real estate brokers

$27.62 $37.19 $57,450 $77,360

Real estate sales agents

$18.13 $25.08 $37,720 $52,160

(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 real estate. 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

48 39 58 50

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

 

Total recordable cases

3.3 3.3 2.9 2.7

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

1.7 1.8 1.5 1.4

Cases involving days away from work

1.2 1.3 1.0 1.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in real estate.

Establishments

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

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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311,803 (P) 308,119 (P) 307,587 (P) 307,861

Local government

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1,677 (P) 1,680 (P) 1,674 (P) 1,674

State government

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34 (P) 33 (P) 33 (P) 33

Federal government

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

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

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

 

Data extracted on: May 01, 2009