BLS Information

Automotive Industry: Employment, Earnings, and Hours

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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:
Jan. 2011
Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 Jan. 2012 1-month change:
Dec. 2011 -
Jan. 2012
12-month change:
Jan. 2011 -
Jan. 2012

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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702.4 730.2 (P) 738.4 (P) 746.3 (P) 7.9 (P) 43.9

Retail Trade

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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1,664.8 1,705.6 (P) 1,708.7 (P) 1,713.4 (P) 4.7 (P) 48.6

Automobile dealers

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1,037.4 1,069.0 (P) 1,071.3 (P) 1,078.7 (P) 7.4 (P) 41.3

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2011
Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 Jan. 2012 12-month changes:
Dec. 2010 -
Dec. 2012
Jan. 2011 -
Jan. 2012

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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(P) 717.0 732.8 (P) 743.5 (P) 744.9 (P) 49.1 (P) 46.2

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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(P) 159.6 165.5 (P) 168.7 (P) 13.8

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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(P) 114.0 113.4 (P) 115.2 (P) 9.1

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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(P) 443.3 453.9 (P) 459.6 (P) 26.2

Wholesale Trade

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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(P) 312.2 315.2 (P) 316.0 (P) 7.0

Retail Trade

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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(P) 1,687.9 1,704.1 (P) 1,698.3 (P) 1,682.1 (P) 48.6 (P) 48.3

Automobile dealers

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(P) 1,055.3 1,068.3 (P) 1,067.4 (P) 1,065.6 (P) 36.0 (P) 41.1

Other motor vehicle dealers

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(P) 126.3 121.5 (P) 118.0 (P) -3.8

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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(P) 506.3 514.3 (P) 512.9 (P) 16.4

Other Services

Automotive repair and maintenance

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(P) 813.0 809.1 (P) 807.1 (P) 7.2

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2010
Oct. 2011 Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 12-month change:
Dec. 2010 -
Dec. 2011

Average hourly earnings
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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(P) $21.96 $21.94 $21.76 (P) $21.78 (P) $-0.56

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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(P) 28.90 28.80 28.02 (P) 28.22 (P) -1.45

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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(P) 16.69 17.02 17.05 (P) 16.94 (P) 0.38

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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(P) 20.68 20.60 20.50 (P) 20.40 (P) -0.51

Wholesale Trade

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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(P) 17.96 17.88 17.94 (P) 17.81 (P) -0.34

Retail Trade

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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(P) 17.47 17.56 17.47 (P) 17.47 (P) 0.24

Automobile dealers

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(P) 18.61 18.66 18.56 (P) 18.47 (P) 0.07

Other motor vehicle dealers

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(P) 17.47 17.49 17.02 (P) 16.99 (P) -0.48

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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(P) 14.95 15.10 15.17 (P) 15.32 (P) 0.63

Other Services

Automotive repair and maintenance

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(P) 16.03 16.04 16.07 (P) 16.06 (P) 0.12

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
One year ago:
Jan. 2011
Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 Jan. 2012 1-month change:
Dec. 2011 -
Jan. 2012

Average weekly hours
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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42.6 43.4 (P) 43.9 (P) 44.3 (P) 0.4

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2011
Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 Jan. 2012 12-month changes:
Dec. 2010 -
Dec. 2012
Jan. 2011 -
Jan. 2012

Average weekly hours
(of production and nonsupervisory workers)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

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(P) 43.4 43.6 (P) 45.2 (P) 43.9 (P) 0.8 (P) 1.9

Motor vehicles manufacturing

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(P) 44.0 43.9 (P) 46.7 (P) 0.7

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

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(P) 42.7 42.0 (P) 42.6 (P) -1.3

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

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(P) 43.4 43.9 (P) 45.2 (P) 1.2

Wholesale Trade

Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers

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(P) 37.8 37.9 (P) 38.5 (P) 1.6

Retail Trade

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

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(P) 37.0 37.5 (P) 37.5 (P) 1.1

Automobile dealers

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(P) 37.4 38.0 (P) 38.4 (P) 2.0

Other motor vehicle dealers

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(P) 34.4 33.4 (P) 33.2 (P) -0.1

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

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(P) 36.8 37.4 (P) 36.6 (P) -0.6

Other Services

Automotive repair and maintenance

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(P) 35.0 35.1 (P) 35.0 (P) 0.4

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series Back
data
Annual average:
2010
Oct. 2011 Nov. 2011 Dec. 2011 12-month change:
Dec. 2010 -
Dec. 2011

Employment
(all employees, in thousands)

Manufacturing

Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing

Motor vehicles manufacturing

Alabama

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10.3 10.4 (P) 10.5 (P) 0.4

California

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3.0 3.1 (P) 3.1 (P) 0.0

Indiana

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14.1 15.2 (P) 15.2 (P) 1.4

Kentucky

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11.5 11.6 (P) 11.8 (P) -0.6

Michigan

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37.3 36.8 (P) 37.8 (P) 4.0

Missouri

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5.5 5.5 (P) 5.6 (P) 0.4

Ohio

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17.3 18.0 (P) 18.4 (P) -0.6

Oklahoma

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0.9 0.9 (P) 0.9 (P) -0.2

Texas

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8.7 8.9 (P) 8.8 (P) 0.0

Motor vehicle bodies and trailers

Indiana

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26.4 26.8 (P) 27.2 (P) 2.3

Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

Alabama

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14.7 15.0 (P) 14.9 (P) 1.1

California

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Indiana

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45.8 45.6 (P) 46.1 (P) 0.7

Kentucky

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26.3 26.7 (P) 27.1 (P) 3.3

Michigan

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94.1 94.6 (P) 95.4 (P) 5.6

Mississippi

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2.9 2.9 (P) 2.9 (P) -0.2

New York

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11.7 11.7 (P) 11.6 (P) -0.4

Ohio

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57.1 57.7 (P) 58.4 (P) 1.7

Wisconsin

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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

Wholesale trade

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).

Data extracted on: February 07, 2012