Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers: NAICS 444

About the Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers subsector

The building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers subsector is part of the retail trade sector.

Industries in the Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers subsector retail new building material and garden equipment and supplies from fixed point-of-sale locations. Establishments in this subsector have display equipment designed to handle lumber and related products and garden equipment and supplies that may be kept either indoors or outdoors under covered areas. The staff is usually knowledgeable in the use of the specific products being retailed in the construction, repair, and maintenance of the home and associated grounds.

North American Industry Classification System

The building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Building Material and Supplies Dealers: NAICS 4441
  • Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Stores: NAICS 4442

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jul.
2009
Aug.
2009
Sep.
2009
Oct.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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1,175.3 1,169.7 (P) 1,166.3 (P) 1,160.5

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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1,005.7 981.6 (P) 961.8  

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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18 13 18 10

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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1,807 1,196 1,426 1,072

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Cashiers

127,020

Industrial truck and tractor operators

49,970

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

(1) -

Retail salespersons

466,820

Stock clerks and order fillers

48,800

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

41,780

Footnotes
(1) Estimate not released.

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.

(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 for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2009
Jul.
2009
Aug.
2009
Sep.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$13.76 $13.99 $14.07 (P) $14.09

Average weekly hours

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34.5 34.1 34.1 (P) 34.2

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Cashiers

$9.48 $9.77 $19,720 $20,320

Industrial truck and tractor operators

$11.88 $12.43 $24,710 $25,860

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

$10.78 $11.23 $22,420 $23,370

Retail salespersons

$11.87 $13.02 $24,690 $27,080

Stock clerks and order fillers

$11.28 $11.74 $23,470 $24,420

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

$12.62 $13.03 $26,240 $27,100

(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 building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. 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 2005 2006 2007 2008

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

47 41 35 (P) 36

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

 

Total recordable cases

7.5 7.4 6.6 5.8

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

3.9 4.3 4.0 3.5

Cases involving days away from work

2.1 2.0 1.7 1.5

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

1.8 2.3 2.2 2.1

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.

Data series Back
data
Jul.
2009
Aug.
2009
Sep.
2009
Oct.
2009

Producer price index

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(P) 117.5 (P) 120.5 (P) 119.4 (P) 118.0

Percent change from previous month

  (P) -3.5% (P) 2.6% (P) -0.9% (P) -1.2%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. 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

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008
1st quarter
2009

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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77,795 77,631 77,348 (P) 77,064

Local government

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5 5 5 (P) 5

Federal government

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1 1 1 (P) 1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2005 2006 2007 2008

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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134.510 137.597 141.087 142.215

Percent change from previous year

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0.1 2.3 2.5 0.8

Labor index, total labor hours

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125.631 127.439 121.252 115.297

Percent change from previous year

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6.5 1.4 -4.9 -4.9

Output index

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168.987 175.352 171.071 163.970

Percent change from previous year

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6.6 3.8 -2.4 -4.2

Unit labor costs index

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94.975 95.604 97.145 98.445

Percent change from previous year

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1.9 0.7 1.6 1.3

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

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

 

Data extracted on: November 20, 2009