Rail transportation
Industry profile, February 2020
Sections: Description | Pricing | Costs | Demand | Appendix
This page is an industry profile for the Rail transportation industry. It provides a general economic overview of recent developments in the industry. This includes information on industry pricing, costs, and demand. Below you will find a description of what type of business establishments are included in this industry. For information on how to best utilize this industry profile please visit our Business Solutions.
Industry Description
Industries in the Rail Transportation subsector provide rail transportation of passengers and/or cargo using railroad rolling stock. The railroads in this subsector primarily either operate on networks, with physical facilities, labor force, and equipment spread over an extensive geographic area, or operate over a short distance on a local rail line.
This industry description was sourced from the North American Industry Classification System.
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- As of January 2020, prices in this industry had increased 0.1 percent since the previous quarter.
- From January 2019 to January 2020 prices in this industry increased 1.4 percent.
- Prices increased 12.4 percent in the five year period starting in January 2015 and ending in January 2020.
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- As of January 2020, costs in this industry had increased 0.1 percent since the previous quarter.
- From January 2019 to January 2020 costs in this industry increased 0.8 percent.
- Costs increased 10.7 percent in the five year period starting in January 2015 and ending in January 2020.
For details on which industries are included in each sector, click here
- The largest cost for this industry is purchases made to the Labor sector. This sector accounts for 38.3% of the industry's overall costs.
- From January 2019 to January 2020, the largest change in costs for this industry were costs associated with purchases to the Finance and Insurance sector. Costs associated with this sector decreased -3.7%.
| Sector Name | Percentage of Costs | Annual Percent Change 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 38.3% | +3% |
| Manufacturing | 27.3% | -1.8% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 7.4% | +1.2% |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 7.3% | +1.1% |
| Finance and Insurance | 7.1% | -3.7% |
To download this data, or to learn more about how demand for this industry is measured, please contact us.
- As of July 2019, demand for this industry had increased 2.5 percent since the previous quarter.
- From July 2018 to January 2020 costs in this industry increased 2.5 percent.
- Costs decreased 0.6 percent in the five year period starting in July 2014 and ending in July 2019.
For details on which industries are included in each sector, click here
- The sector that contributes the most to this industry's demand is the Transportation and Warehousing sector. This sector accounts for 43% of the industry's overall demand.
- From January 2019 to January 2020, the largest change in demand for this industry was from the Exports sector, where demand increased 41.5%.
| Sector Name | Percentage of Demand | Annual Percent Change 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation and Warehousing | 43% | -6.2% |
| Exports | 19.8% | +41.5% |
| Personal consumption | 15.1% | -0.3% |
| Public Administration | 9.6% | -2.8% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 4.5% | +0.3% |
- Pricing measured from January 2020.
- The BLS PPI used for this industry is PCU482---482---.
- Costs measured from January 2020
- Demand measured from July 2019
