U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Industries at a Glance

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	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	1,427.0	1,432.6	(P) 1,436.5	(P) 1,432.4
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	1,077.6	1,080.8	(P) 1,082.0
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	7.2%	6.6%	5.3%	5.5%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	3	(1) -	4
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	178	(1) -	448
Footnotes (1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. (P) Preliminary

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

Extended Mass Layoffs


Data series	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012	4th quarter 2012	1st quarter 2013
Extended mass layoff events	(1) -	(1) -	(P) 6	(P) 4
Separations	(1) -	(1) -	(P) 1,204	(P) 648
Initial claimants	(1) -	(1) -	(P) 1,220	(P) 645
Footnotes (1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2012
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	48,490
General and operations managers	24,790
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	37,510
Maintenance and repair workers, general
Office clerks, general	88,460
Property, real estate, and community association managers	117,950
Real estate brokers	32,780
Real estate sales agents	136,270

(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 are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in real estate.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Dec. 2012	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$23.30	$23.20	$23.24	(P) $23.23
Average weekly hours	35.2	34.3	34.7	(P) 34.6
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Dec. 2012	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$18.02	$18.17	$18.22	(P) $18.24
Average weekly hours	34.4	33.5	33.7	(P) 33.8
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2012
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	$17.32	$18.04	$36,020	$37,510
General and operations managers	$47.31	$58.36	$98,400	$121,390
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers	$11.22	$12.18	$23,330	$25,330
Maintenance and repair workers, general
Office clerks, general	$12.30	$13.30	$25,590	$27,670
Property, real estate, and community association managers	$24.05	$29.05	$50,030	$60,430
Real estate brokers	$27.77	$38.45	$57,760	$79,980
Real estate sales agents	$18.02	$24.25	$37,480	$50,450

(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	2008	2009	2010	2011
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	56	53	63	43
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	2.7	(1) 3.1	(1) 2.7	2.8
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.5	(1) 1.7	(1) 1.5	1.6
Cases involving days away from work	1.1	(1) 1.2	(1) 1.0	1.1
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.4	(1) 0.6	(1) 0.5	0.5
Footnotes (1) Industry scope changed in 2009
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

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

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012
Number of establishments
Private industry	287,841	(P) 285,988	(P) 286,757	(P) 287,882
Local government	1,681	(P) 1,679	(P) 1,673	(P) 1,670
State government	29	(P) 29	(P) 29	(P) 29
Federal government	2	(P) 2	(P) 2	(P) 2
Footnotes (P) Preliminary