Retail Trade: NAICS 44-45

About the Retail Trade sector

The retail trade sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.

The Retail Trade sector comprises establishments engaged in retailing merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise.

The retailing process is the final step in the distribution of merchandise; retailers are, therefore, organized to sell merchandise in small quantities to the general public. This sector comprises two main types of retailers: store and nonstore retailers.

1. Store retailers operate fixed point-of-sale locations, located and designed to attract a high volume of walk-in customers. In general, retail stores have extensive displays of merchandise and use mass-media advertising to attract customers. They typically sell merchandise to the general public for personal or household consumption, but some also serve business and institutional clients. In addition to retailing merchandise, some types of store retailers are also engaged in the provision of after-sales services, such as repair and installation.

2. Nonstore retailers, like store retailers, are organized to serve the general public, but their retailing methods differ. The establishments of this subsector reach customers and market merchandise with methods, such as the broadcasting of "infomercials," the broadcasting and publishing of direct-response advertising, the publishing of paper and electronic catalogs, door-to-door solicitation, in-home demonstration, selling from portable stalls (street vendors, except food), and distribution through vending machines.

North American Industry Classification System

The retail trade sector consists of these subsectors:

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in retail trade. 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, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, Layoffs, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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14,690.9 14,724.7 (P) 14,730.9 (P) 14,741.4

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

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12,685.3 12,712.1 (P) 12,714.3 (P) 12,717.5

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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9.1% 8.7% 8.6% 9.7%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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99 69 135  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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9,240 6,001 14,295  

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

 

Job openings

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359 270 (P) 245  

Hires

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629 713 (P) 398  

Separations

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502 438 (P) 498  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
2008 2009 2010 2011

Union membership and representation

 

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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5.2% 5.3% 4.7% 4.9%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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5.9% 5.9% 5.3% 5.4%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

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data
3rd quarter
2010
4th quarter
2010
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

 

Gross job gains

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799 893 805 895

Gross job losses

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890 812 814 768

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

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data
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011
3rd quarter
2011
4th quarter
2011

Extended mass layoff events

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153 90 (P) 70 (P) 67

Separations

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29,382 15,747 (P) 18,136 (P) 12,188

Initial claimants

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(R) 35,430 18,767 (P) 15,050 (P) 10,528

Footnotes
(R) Revised
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2010

Cashiers

2,746,100

Customer service representatives

241,400

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

1,053,100

Retail salespersons

3,853,660

Stock clerks and order fillers

1,266,870

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for retail trade.

(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, 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 retail trade. 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.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

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data
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Average hourly earnings

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$15.89 $16.02 (P) $16.03 (P) $16.06

Average weekly hours

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31.7 31.7 (P) 31.9 (P) 31.8

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

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data
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011
Jan.
2012

Average hourly earnings

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$13.59 $13.69 (P) $13.67 (P) $13.70

Average weekly hours

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30.7 30.7 (P) 30.7 (P) 30.8

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
Median weekly earnings
2008 2009 2010 2011

Union membership and representation

 

Full-time workers

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$564 $577 $575 $578

Members of unions

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$598 $612 $613 $591

Represented by unions

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$596 $607 $608 $592

Nonunion

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$561 $575 $572 $577

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2010
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cashiers

$8.90 $9.51 $18,510 $19,780

Customer service representatives

$11.49 $12.67 $23,910 $26,350

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

$17.11 $19.03 $35,600 $39,580

Retail salespersons

$9.86 $11.92 $20,510 $24,800

Stock clerks and order fillers

$9.49 $10.42 $19,730 $21,670

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs

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data
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011
3rd quarter
2011
4th quarter
2011

12-month percent change

 

Total compensation

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1.4% 1.4% 1.8% 2.1%

Wages and salaries

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1.1% 1.0% 1.8% 2.1%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)



Data series Back
data
3rd quarter 2011
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation

Compensation costs

 

Total compensation

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17.51 100.0

Wages and salaries

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13.15 75.1

Total benefits

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4.35 24.9

Insurance

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1.30 7.4

Retirement

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0.36 2.0

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

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 retail trade. 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

 

Number of fatalities

348 302 307 (P) 302

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

4.8 4.4 4.2 4.1

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

2.5 2.3 2.2 2.2

Cases involving days away from work

1.4 1.2 1.2 1.2

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

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.

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data
Sep.
2011
Oct.
2011
Nov.
2011
Dec.
2011

Producer price index

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(P) 114.7 (P) 113.5 (P) 115.4 (P) 115.2

Percent change from previous month

  (P) 0.3% (P) -1.0% (P) 1.7% (P) -0.2%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in retail trade. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments

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data
3rd quarter
2010
4th quarter
2010
1st quarter
2011
2nd quarter
2011

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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1,027,157 1,029,648 (P) 1,022,676 (P) 1,024,843

Local government

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575 576 (P) 573 (P) 575

State government

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419 419 (P) 414 (P) 415

Federal government

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733 745 (P) 743 (P) 732

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

 

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

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249 266 252 263

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

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274 263 268 260

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

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data
2007 2008 2009 2010

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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119.926 117.162 118.020 122.624

Percent change from previous year

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2.7 -2.3 0.7 3.9

Labor index, total labor hours

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100.324 98.241 92.620 93.126

Percent change from previous year

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-0.5 -2.1 -5.7 0.5

Output index

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120.314 115.102 109.310 114.195

Percent change from previous year

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2.3 -4.3 -5.0 4.5

Unit labor costs index

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97.725 100.908 100.932 97.737

Percent change from previous year

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1.0 3.3 0.0 -3.2

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: February 10, 2012