Rental and Leasing Services: NAICS 532

About the Rental and Leasing Services subsector

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

Industries in the Rental and Leasing Services subsector include establishments that provide a wide array of tangible goods, such as automobiles, computers, consumer goods, and industrial machinery and equipment, to customers in return for a periodic rental or lease payment.

The subsector includes two main types of establishments: (1) those that are engaged in renting consumer goods and equipment and (2) those that are engaged in leasing machinery and equipment often used for business operations.

North American Industry Classification System

The rental and leasing services subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing: NAICS 5321
  • Consumer Goods Rental: NAICS 5322
  • General Rental Centers: NAICS 5323
  • Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing: NAICS 5324

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in rental and leasing services. 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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599.3 589.9 (P) 583.6 (P) 577.1

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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485.7 473.7 (P) 467.0  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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13.1% 9.7% 18.9% 15.6%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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13 19 7 8

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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1,172 1,221 446 545

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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3 5 (P) 4 (P) 12

Separations

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412 421 (P) 287 (P) 1,471

Initial claimants

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400 580 (P) 335 (P) 1,136

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment

24,720

Counter and rental clerks

156,220

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

31,790

Retail salespersons

19,180

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

24,380

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(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 rental and leasing services.

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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$15.65 $15.75 $15.85 (P) $15.72

Average weekly hours

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33.0 32.3 32.6 (P) 32.6

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment

$9.30 $10.06 $19,350 $20,920

Counter and rental clerks

$9.75 $11.13 $20,280 $23,160

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

$17.11 $18.91 $35,600 $39,340

Retail salespersons

$10.62 $12.63 $22,090 $26,270

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

$12.49 $13.00 $25,970 $27,030

(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 rental and leasing services. 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

24 19 25 23

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

 

Total recordable cases

4.7 4.6 4.2 3.5

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

2.5 2.7 2.6 1.9

Cases involving days away from work

1.5 1.5 1.5 1.1

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.0 1.2 1.1 0.8

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in rental and leasing services.

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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63,099 (P) 62,554 (P) 62,427 (P) 62,374

Local government

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13 (P) 13 (P) 13 (P) 13

Federal government

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4 (P) 4 (P) 4 (P) 4

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