economy

Trade, Transportation and Utilities Overview Women in the Workforce

Trade, Transportation and Utilities Snapshot | Printable Trade, Transportation and Utilities Snapshot (PDF)

The trade, transportation and utilities industry sells merchandise at wholesale and retail, transports passengers and cargo and provides utility services. The industry, sometimes called a “super sector,” thus comprises four distinct sectors — retail trade, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing and utilities.

In 2016, trade, transportation and utilities contributed $317.3 billion to Texas’ GDP. Women account for 40 percent of the state’s 2.4 million jobs in this industry.

Average regional multipliers for trade, transportation and utilities were used to estimate how an initial introduction of economic input in the industry, in the form of sales, jobs or earnings, affect the greater Texas economy. These multipliers capture “indirect” effects on industries that supply goods and services to the industry as well as “induced” effects on industries that sell local goods and services — such as housing, food or entertainment — to workers in the trade, transportation and utilities industry and its suppliers (Exhibit 1).¹

Texas Women in Trade, Transportation and Utilities

In 2017, women held nearly 985,000 jobs in trade, transportation and utilities (Exhibit 2). Those 985,000 jobs generate additional business activities that ultimately support about 1.8 million jobs in all other industries of the Texas economy.²

Exhibit 2: Trade, Transportation and Utilities Jobs, 2017

Description	NAICS Code*	2017 Total Jobs	2010 to 2017 Change	Avg. Annual Earnings Per Job**	2017 Women’s Jobs	Women's Share of Jobs	Location Quotient (Women)***
Utilities	22	49,965	1,665	$147,695	13,312	27%	1.13
Wholesale Trade	42	581,902	84,503	$91,532	174,618	30%	0.97
Retail Trade	44-45	1,326,367	190,231	$36,603	662,735	50%	0.99
Transportation and Warehousing	48-49	474,961	103,423	$73,131	134,287	28%	1.02
Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Total	22, 42, 44-45, 48-49	2,433,195	379,822	$59,151	984,953	40%

*The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the federal system used to classify business establishments for statistical purposes.
**Based on total jobs in the industry including both genders. Earning include salaries, wages, benefits and other compensation.
***Location quotient (LQ) indicates the relative concentration of women in these jobs in Texas versus in the nation as a whole. The higher the LQ value, the more “concentrated” women’s employment is in Texas.

Sources: Emsi and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

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Subsectors

Retail Trade

The retail trade sector produces the most employment in this industry, accounting for 55 percent of the total (1,326,367 jobs). Note, however, that the sector has high numbers of part-time and seasonal jobs from year to year. The sector has changed rapidly within the last decade, with the rise of convenience shopping and e-commerce.

Of all Texas women working in trade, transportation and utilities, 67 percent (662,735) work in retail trade. Women hold half of all jobs in Texas’ retail trade sector.

Within retail trade, the general merchandise stores subsector has the highest number of jobs held by women — 179,188 or 39 percent. Women hold the highest share of total jobs (72 percent) in the clothing and clothing accessory stores subsector with 86,498 jobs.

Wholesale Trade

Wholesalers typically sell merchandise to other businesses, governments and institutions rather than the general public.

In 2017, women held 174,618 of Texas jobs in wholesale trade, accounting for 30 percent of the total. Women held the highest number of jobs within wholesalers of durable goods (90,786), accounting for 28 percent of total jobs. Women held the highest share of jobs (37 percent) within wholesale electronic markets and agents and brokers, 28,740 jobs.

Transportation and Warehousing

Transportation and warehousing sector transports passengers and cargo and provides warehousing and storage for goods.

Based on location quotient (LQ), a measure of employment concentration in a given area, the concentration of transportation and warehousing jobs held by Texas women was slightly higher (1.02) than the national concentration in 2017.

The warehousing and storage subsector had the highest number of jobs held by women — 32,358, 41 percent of all jobs. Air transportation had the highest share of jobs held by women, at 42 percent or 25,871 jobs. Women hold only 16 percent of jobs in truck transportation, the largest subsector within transportation and warehousing by employment.

Utilities

Utilities, the smallest sector within trade, transportation and utilities, provides electric power, natural gas, steam and water as well as sewage removal.

The concentration of utilities jobs held by Texas women was slightly higher than the national concentration, based on an LQ of 1.13. In 2017, the largest number of women were employed in the electric power generation, transmission and distribution subsector, with 9,828 jobs (27 percent of the total). Women held the highest share of jobs in water, sewage and other systems,at 29 percent (1,768 jobs).

Earnings Growth

From 2010 to 2016, average monthly earnings of women increased in all four sectors of trade, transportation and utilities. Women working in wholesale trade saw their earnings increase the most, by 20 percent over the period (Exhibit 3). Women working utilities had the highest average monthly earning in 2016 ($5,483). On average, Texas women in retail trade, wholesale trade and transportation and warehousing earned $2,294, $5,090 and $3,867 per month, respectively.

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Conclusion

Texas women working in trade, transportation and utilities generate additional business activities that ultimately support about 1.8 million jobs in other industries throughout the state economy. Texas has a higher concentration of women working in the transportation and warehousing and utilities sectors than in the nation. Retail trade, however, has the highest number of jobs held by women.

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