Automotive Industry: Employment, Earnings, and Hours

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: Mar. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	1-month change: Feb. 2023 - Mar. 2023	12-month change: Mar. 2022 - Mar. 2023
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		995.2	1,043.5	(p)1,044.8	(p)1,048.5	(p)3.7	(p)53.3
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,000.6	2,025.1	(p)2,023.7	(p)2,023.2	(p)-0.5	(p)22.6
Automobile dealers		1,252.9	1,256.6	(p)1,255.4	(p)1,253.0	(p)-2.4	(p)0.1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	12-month changes:
						Feb. 2022 - Feb. 2023	Mar. 2022 - Mar. 2023
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		1,013.7	1,040.7	(p)1,047.1	(p)1,049.8	(p)75.2	(p)52.9
Motor vehicles manufacturing		291.2	314.5	(p)320.2		(p)50.9
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		169.6	160.6	(p)162.3		(p)-10.2
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		553.0	565.6	(p)564.6		(p)34.5
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		364.1	362.8	(p)364.5		(p)6.4
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		2,008.4	2,002.2	(p)2,007.7	(p)2,016.8	(p)31.3	(p)21.3
Automobile dealers		1,253.3	1,247.5	(p)1,251.3	(p)1,252.0	(p)6.7	(p)-1.3
Other motor vehicle dealers		175.9	168.9	(p)170.1	(p)173.8	(p)3.7	(p)2.5
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		579.2	585.8	(p)586.3	(p)591.0	(p)20.9	(p)20.1
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		978.6	987.2	(p)996.3		(p)40.2
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Hourly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	12-month change: Mar. 2022 - Mar. 2023
Average hourly earnings (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		$27.18	$27.69	(p)$27.49	(p)$27.49	(p)$0.48
Motor vehicles manufacturing		31.67	32.16	(p)32.05
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		23.99	23.32	(p)23.38
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		25.57	26.33	(p)25.94
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		26.13	27.65	(p)27.80
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		25.60	25.91	(p)26.03
Automobile dealers		27.61	28.04	(p)28.08
Other motor vehicle dealers		25.60	24.28	(p)24.67
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		20.95	21.39	(p)21.65
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		22.85	23.90	(p)23.94
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

National Average Weekly Hours

Average Weekly Hours -- Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	One year ago: Mar. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	1-month change: Feb. 2023 - Mar. 2023
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.6	41.9	(p)42.2	(p)41.7	(p)-0.5
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Average Weekly Hours -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	12-month changes:
						Feb. 2022 - Feb. 2023	Mar. 2022 - Mar. 2023
Average weekly hours (of production and nonsupervisory workers)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing		42.1	41.9	(p)42.5	(p)42.6	(p)1.4	(p)-0.9
Motor vehicles manufacturing		43.7	42.4	(p)42.8		(p)2.0
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers		38.6	37.4	(p)37.4		(p)-2.6
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing		42.4	42.9	(p)43.9		(p)2.2
Wholesale Trade
Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers		38.1	37.5	(p)37.1		(p)-1.2
Retail Trade
Motor vehicle and parts dealers		36.9	37.3	(p)36.4		(p)-0.6
Automobile dealers		37.2	37.7	(p)36.8		(p)-0.7
Other motor vehicle dealers		34.8	35.5	(p)35.9		(p)2.2
Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores		37.0	36.7	(p)35.9		(p)-1.1
Other Services
Automotive repair and maintenance		35.3	35.7	(p)35.7		(p)0.4
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

 

Employment in Selected States

Employment -- Not Seasonally Adjusted

Data series	Back data	Annual average: 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	12-month change: Dec. 2021 - Dec. 2022
Employment (all employees, in thousands)
Manufacturing
Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing
Motor vehicles manufacturing
Alabama			17.2	17.3	(p)17.5	(p)0.5
California			28.9	29.0	(p)29.3	(p)3.0
Kentucky			23.2	23.3	(p)23.7	(p)1.9
Michigan			47.1	46.7	(p)49.0	(p)0.3
Missouri			9.7	9.8	(p)9.9	(p)0.7
Ohio			23.5	23.5	(p)23.8	(p)0.8
Texas			13.6	13.7	(p)13.8	(p)0.6
Motor vehicle bodies and trailers
Indiana			48.7	48.5	(p)48.3	(p)-2.2
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Alabama			24.7	24.6	(p)24.9	(p)0.3
California
Indiana			59.1	59.1	(p)59.7	(p)1.7
Kentucky			32.2	32.5	(p)32.7	(p)1.1
Michigan			128.3	129.5	(p)132.0	(p)6.5
Mississippi			5.6	5.6	(p)5.7	(p)0.0
New York			8.9	9.1	(p)9.4	(p)0.3
Ohio			68.4	69.1	(p)69.6	(p)2.8
Wisconsin
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

• Motor vehicles and parts manufacturing (NAICS 3361,2,3)
  • Motor vehicles manufacturing (NAICS 3361)
  • Motor vehicle bodies and trailer (NAICS 3362)
  • Motor vehicle parts manufacturing (NAICS 3363)

Wholesale trade

• Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers (NAICS 4231)

Retail trade

• Motor vehicle and parts dealers (NAICS 441)
  • Automobile dealers  (NAICS 4411)
  • Other motor vehicle dealers  (NAICS 4412)
  • Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores  (NAICS 4413)

Other services

• Automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 8111)

 

Data extracted on: May 09, 2023