Table 5. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by industry, selected years, 2000-10
Table 5. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by industry, selected
years, 2000-2010
Industry February January January January January January
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Total, 16 years and over............................... 3.5 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.4
Private sector........................................... 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.6 3.6 4.0
Agriculture and related industries..................... 3.7 4.2 3.7 3.8 4.3 4.8
Nonagricultural industries............................. 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.6 3.6 4.0
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction........ 4.8 4.5 5.2 3.8 4.1 4.8
Construction......................................... 2.7 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.5 4.2
Manufacturing........................................ 4.9 5.4 5.8 5.5 5.9 6.1
Durable goods manufacturing........................ 4.8 5.5 6.0 5.6 6.1 6.6
Nonmetallic mineral products..................... 5.5 5.3 4.8 5.0 4.8 7.7
Primary metals and fabricated metal products..... 5.0 6.3 6.4 6.2 5.2 7.2
Machinery manufacturing.......................... 5.3 6.8 6.4 6.6 6.0 8.3
Computers and electronic products................ 3.9 4.7 5.2 5.9 6.7 5.9
Electrical equipment and appliances.............. 5.0 5.5 9.8 6.2 6.2 5.0
Transportation equipment......................... 6.4 7.0 7.7 7.2 7.8 8.3
Wood products.................................... 3.7 4.3 5.0 4.7 6.2 4.7
Furniture and fixtures........................... 4.4 4.7 4.7 4.2 5.2 5.0
Miscellaneous manufacturing...................... 3.7 4.5 4.6 3.9 4.7 5.4
Nondurable goods manufacturing..................... 5.0 5.3 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.5
Food manufacturing............................... 4.6 5.0 4.9 5.2 4.3 4.7
Beverage and tobacco products.................... 5.5 4.6 8.0 5.4 6.9 8.1
Textiles, apparel, and leather................... 4.7 5.0 5.0 4.4 4.6 4.7
Paper and printing............................... 5.1 6.2 6.9 6.3 5.5 6.8
Petroleum and coal products...................... 9.5 9.8 11.4 5.0 4.3 5.1
Chemicals........................................ 6.0 5.7 5.3 6.1 7.6 7.3
Plastics and rubber products..................... 4.6 5.3 5.7 5.0 5.3 7.4
Wholesale and retail trade........................... 2.7 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.6
Wholesale trade.................................... 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.6 5.0 5.2
Retail trade....................................... 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.9 3.3
Transportation and utilities......................... 4.7 4.9 5.3 4.9 5.1 5.3
Transportation and warehousing..................... 4.0 4.3 4.7 4.3 4.6 5.0
Utilities.......................................... 11.5 13.4 13.3 10.4 10.1 9.1
Information (1)...................................... 3.4 3.3 4.3 4.8 4.7 5.0
Publishing, except Internet........................ 4.2 4.8 4.7 5.3 4.7 5.6
Motion pictures and sound recording industries..... 1.6 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.9 3.8
Radio and television broadcasting and cable
subscriptions programming (2).................. 3.6 3.1 4.0 4.6 3.4 4.3
Telecommunications (2)............................. 4.3 3.4 4.6 5.3 6.9 6.6
Financial activities................................. 3.5 3.6 3.9 4.0 4.5 4.6
Finance and insurance.............................. 3.6 3.9 4.1 4.1 4.7 4.8
Finance.......................................... 3.3 3.6 4.0 3.9 4.4 4.5
Insurance........................................ 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.7 5.2 5.5
Real estate and rental and leasing................. 3.1 3.0 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.9
Real estate...................................... 3.1 3.2 3.5 3.5 3.9 4.1
Rental and leasing services...................... 3.0 2.2 2.9 3.1 3.0 3.3
Professional and business services................... 2.4 2.7 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.4
Professional and technical services................ 2.6 3.1 3.6 3.8 3.3 4.0
Management, administrative, and waste services (1) 2.0 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.9
Administrative and support services.............. 1.8 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.8
Waste management and remediation services........ 3.6 4.3 3.4 4.1 4.1 2.9
Education and health services........................ 3.4 3.5 3.6 4.0 4.1 4.1
Educational services............................... 3.2 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.3 4.4
Health care and social assistance.................. 3.5 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.1 4.1
Hospitals........................................ 5.1 4.9 4.7 5.2 5.4 5.3
Health services, except hospitals................ 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.6 3.6 3.6
Social assistance................................ 2.4 2.5 2.8 3.1 3.0 3.1
Leisure and hospitality.............................. 1.7 1.8 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.5
Arts, entertainment, and recreation................ 2.6 2.3 2.8 3.1 2.8 3.3
Accommodation and food services.................... 1.5 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.9 2.3
Accommodation.................................... 2.8 2.7 3.1 2.5 3.1 3.3
Food services and drinking places................ 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.6 2.2
Other services....................................... 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.3 4.0
Other services, except private households.......... 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.4 4.1
Repair and maintenance........................... 3.0 3.0 3.2 2.9 3.0 4.0
Personal and laundry services.................... 2.7 2.8 3.4 2.8 3.2 3.5
Membership associations and organizations........ 4.0 4.1 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.5
Other services, private households................. 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.8 2.8 3.4
Public sector............................................ 7.1 6.7 6.9 6.9 7.2 7.2
Federal government..................................... 11.5 11.3 10.4 9.9 9.9 7.9
State government....................................... 5.5 5.4 6.4 6.3 6.5 6.4
Local government....................................... 6.7 6.2 6.4 6.6 7.1 7.5
1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2 Data for these industries are not directly comparable over time due to industry classification changes in 2003
and 2009.
NOTE: Beginning with data for January 2010, industries reflect the introduction of the 2007 census industry
classification system into the Current Population Survey. This industry classification system is derived from the
2007 North American Industry Classification System. No historical data have been revised.
Last Modified Date: October 29, 2020
United States Department of Labor
