Technical documentation 2-3: Employment in Transportation and Related Industries (NAICS Basis) (Thousands of employees)

Rail Employment Data Sources:

The rail industry employment data are obtained both from the Transport Canada's Rail Carrier Annual Report Database for federally regulated rail carriers and from Statistics Canada for rail carriers incorporated under provincial jurisdictions. Data are reported on similar schedules and include those numbers of employees associated with rail carriers' rail-related freight and passenger transport operations.

The Rail Carrier Annual Report Database is maintained by the Economic Analysis Directorate and contains both financial and operating data for federally regulated rail carriers that are required to report their information to Transport Canada pursuant to the Canada Transportation Act (1996).

Data sources (excluding rail industry):

The Statistics Canada Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is designed to provide monthly estimates to measure levels and month-to-month trends in employment by industry. The data are compiled for the payroll employment, payrolls and hours from which different variables such as employment, average weekly and hourly earnings and average weekly hours, for Canada, provinces and territories at detailed industrial levels, are derived. The target population is composed of all employers in Canada, except those primarily involved in agriculture, fishing and trapping, private household services, religious organizations and defense services.

The SEPH draws its sample from the Business Register (BR) and from a list of all payroll deduction accounts maintained by Revenue Canada. The Business Register is a list of all businesses in Canada and is updated each month using data from various surveys, business profiling and administrative data maintained by the Business Register Division of Statistics Canada. The payroll deduction source represents all employers with remittances for employee income taxes, Canada/Quebec Pension Plan and employment insurance contributions.

Starting in the mid-1990's, SEPH was engaged in an extensive multi-phases redesign process. The major objectives of the redesign were to improve the quality of the estimates and to reduce the response burden imposed on the business community.

Industry employment categories: Industries are defined according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Table 2-3: Employment in Transportation and Related Industries (NAICS Basis) (Thousands of employees), Canada

The data consist of a simple average of a 12 month period and are not a count of the number of employed persons in economic activities, but rather an estimate of the number of people employed by a firm. This excludes subcontracted personnel by another firm, unpaid personnel, commissioned agents, students, trainees and family members.

The data of this table mismatch with those of the 1-1 (labor force) since the sources used for both tables don't have the same objectives neither use the same methodology.Table 1-1 data come from the National Survey of Employment and Occupation, and represents the "economically active population" (this is, any person of 12 or more years old employed or that it is looking for employment). The data about the employed labor force of table 2-3 come from the Mexican National Account System and they refer to the total of positions remunerated depending of the corporate name.

The personnel employed in the transportation sector it is the aggregation of the subtotals of transport and storage, the production of vehicles and equipment transportation, and related industries.

Table 2-3: Employment in Transportation and Related Industries (NAICS Basis) (Thousands of employees), Mexico

Employment by industry groups provides employment information according to the primary nature of a business. U.S. and Canadian data are based on the number of employees. Mexican data are based on the number of fulltime employment positions.

The Census Bureau estimates are point estimates for the level of employment in a certain month, instead of the average over an entire year that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses in its nationwide employment estimates for a particular calendar year. The Census Bureau estimated government employment based on data collected in March.

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) is an establishment survey program, from which the employment by industry data are extracted for the National Employment, Hours, and Earnings series by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, is a monthly survey conducted by state employment security agencies in cooperation with the BLS. The survey provides employment, hours and earnings estimates based on payroll records of business establishments. Data represent annual employment averages, which are arithmetic averages of the 12 monthly estimates for a particular year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not publish data reliability information along with estimates. Instead, it provides estimation formulas and the necessary parameters so that users can estimate standard errors for estimates of their interest. For additional information, see the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error" in the BLS monthly publication "Employment and Earnings".

Industry categories: School bus employment data do not include drivers employed by school districts. Transportation services in this table largely include services industries involved in arranging passenger and freight transportation, such as travel agencies and freight forwarders. The category of Transportation vehicle and equipment manufacturing includes products for transportation of passengers and cargo by land, air, and water. The products classified in this establishment group are tires, asphalt paving and roofing materials and other; search, detection and navigation instruments; motor vehicles and equipment; aircraft and parts; ship and boat building and repairing; railroad equipment; guided missiles, space vehicles and parts, and travel trailers and campers of miscellaneous transportation equipment. Related industries consist of the following: highway, street and bridge construction; motor vehicles and parts (wholesale trade industry); other transportation goods (wholesale trade industry); motor vehicle and parts dealers (retail trade industry); gasoline stations (retail trade industry); automotive equipment rental and leasing (financial activities);travel arrangement and reservation services (professional and business services); other ambulatory and health care services (education and health services); automotive and repair maintenance (other services); and parking lots and garages (other services). Federal Department of Transportation employment represents full and part-time civilian employees. State and local government employment represents full time equivalent employment in transit, streets and highways, air transportation, and water transport/terminals.

Employed labor force: National labor force figures in this table represent the total employed civilian labor force. This figure differs from the data for U.S. labor force in table 1-1 because it includes only those that are currently employed among the civilian U.S. labor force. In contrast, the data in table 1-1 represent those individuals in the civilian labor force that are both employed and unemployed.

Table 2-3: Employment in Transportation and Related Industries (NAICS Basis) (Thousands of employees), Unites States