U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe transportation and warehousing sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.
The Transportation and Warehousing sector includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. Establishments in these industries use transportation equipment or transportation related facilities as a productive asset. The type of equipment depends on the mode of transportation. The modes of transportation are air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.
North American Industry Classification System
The transportation and warehousing sector consists of these subsectors:
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation and warehousing. 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, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.
| Data series | Back data |
Oct. 2011 |
Nov. 2011 |
Dec. 2011 |
Jan. 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
 |
4,306.8 | 4,316.7 | (P) 4,323.4 | (P) 4,336.5 |
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
3,712.1 | 3,724.4 | (P) 3,726.5 | (P) 3,735.6 |
Unemployment |
|||||
|
8.1% | 7.4% | 7.0% | 7.0% | |
Layoffs |
|||||
|
29 | 72 | 161 | ||
|
2,345 | 6,993 | 21,508 | ||
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)
| Data series | Back data |
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union membership and representation |
|||||
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
21.3% | 21.3% | 20.5% | 20.4% |
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
22.4% | 22.6% | 21.6% | 21.4% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
| Data series | Back data |
3rd quarter 2010 |
4th quarter 2010 |
1st quarter 2011 |
2nd quarter 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
216 | 253 | 204 | 220 | |
|
196 | 193 | 223 | 200 | |
(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)
| Data series | Back data |
4th quarter 2010 |
1st quarter 2011 |
2nd quarter 2011 |
3rd quarter 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
52 | 69 | (P) 160 | (P) 94 | |
|
9,352 | 15,530 | (P) 37,832 | (P) 12,044 | |
|
12,921 | 14,187 | (P) 41,037 | (P) 11,387 | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)
| Data series | Employment, 2010 |
|---|---|
| 64,650 | |
| 170,290 | |
| 39,070 | |
| 23,780 | |
| 832,440 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for transportation and warehousing.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in transportation and warehousing. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.
| Data series | Back data |
Oct. 2011 |
Nov. 2011 |
Dec. 2011 |
Jan. 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$21.87 | $21.89 | (P) $22.03 | (P) $21.96 | |
|
38.3 | 38.4 | (P) 38.4 | (P) 38.6 | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
| Data series | Back data |
Oct. 2011 |
Nov. 2011 |
Dec. 2011 |
Jan. 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$19.67 | $19.55 | (P) $19.62 | (P) $19.67 | |
|
37.8 | 37.8 | (P) 37.7 | (P) 37.8 | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
| Data series | Back data |
Median weekly earnings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | ||
Union membership and representation |
|||||
|
$744 | $749 | $765 | $763 | |
|
$897 | $923 | $934 | $941 | |
|
$895 | $911 | $928 | $939 | |
|
$710 | $707 | $725 | $726 | |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
| Data series | Wages, 2010 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Annual | |||
| Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
| (1) $- | (1) $- | $103,840 | $116,390 | |
| $13.75 | $14.24 | $28,590 | $29,620 | |
| $23.25 | $25.00 | $48,360 | $52,000 | |
| $16.82 | $17.99 | $34,990 | $37,420 | |
| $18.97 | $19.52 | $39,460 | $40,590 | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
| Data series | Back data |
1st quarter 2011 |
2nd quarter 2011 |
3rd quarter 2011 |
4th quarter 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12-month percent change |
|||||
|
3.2% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 2.1% | |
|
2.3% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 1.0% | |
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
| Data series | Back data |
3rd quarter 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation component ($ per hour worked) |
Percent of total compensation | ||
Compensation costs |
|||
|
33.58 | 100.0 | |
|
21.79 | 64.9 | |
|
11.80 | 35.1 | |
|
3.99 | 11.9 | |
|
1.58 | 4.7 | |
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
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 and warehousing. 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 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities |
||||
| 923 | 832 | 666 | (P) 657 | |
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers |
||||
| 6.4 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.2 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
4.3 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
| 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.3 | |
| 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
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 |
Sep. 2011 |
Oct. 2011 |
Nov. 2011 |
Dec. 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
(P) 119.9 | (P) 120.4 | (P) 120.1 | (P) 120.8 | |
Percent change from previous month |
(P) -0.7% | (P) 0.4% | (P) -0.2% | (P) 0.6% | |
|
Footnotes |
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(Source: Producer Price Indexes)
This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in transportation and warehousing.
| Data series | Back data |
3rd quarter 2010 |
4th quarter 2010 |
1st quarter 2011 |
2nd quarter 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
|
216,162 | 217,188 | (P) 217,440 | (P) 219,295 | |
|
2,656 | 2,655 | (P) 2,732 | (P) 2,736 | |
|
507 | 507 | (P) 505 | (P) 505 | |
|
30,586 | 30,579 | (P) 30,541 | (P) 30,276 | |
Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands) |
|||||
With job gains (seasonally adjusted) |
|
51 | 53 | 52 | 53 |
With job losses (seasonally adjusted) |
|
49 | 49 | 49 | 49 |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).
See transportation in the Index of the Monthly Labor Review Online (Current Issue).
To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.
Data extracted on: February 07, 2012