TYSONS, Va. -

Contained in the same report that highlighted used-vehicle retail sales, the midyear version of NADA Data 2019 released by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) highlighting the average earnings of employees at franchised dealerships.

This year’s report shows that, as of the end of June, the country’s 16,741 franchised light-vehicle dealerships in the United States directly employed more than 1.1 million Americans with an annual payroll of $66.6 billion — up nearly 2% from 2017 — according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“In addition to strong direct dealership employment, dealerships are responsible for hundreds of thousands of supporting jobs in local communities across the country,” NADA senior economist Patrick Manzi said in a news release.

“Dealerships spend billions of dollars in their communities on contracting and other services, further enhancing the economic footprint of the retail automotive industry,” Manzi continued.

The average annual earnings for employees at franchised dealerships is $72,800 in 2018, up from $71,916 in 2017, a 1.3% increase.

“Dealers are committed to their employees and strengthening the U.S. and local economies. Hence, for the past several years, dealership employees have seen steady increases in their incomes as well as in their total compensation,” Manzi said.

“In fact, jobs at dealerships offer higher salaries relative to other retail sectors, and dealers continue to boast one of the highest average salaries of all industries,” Manzi went on to say.

But NADA acknowledged franchised dealerships are struggling to keep their workforces strong, especially in the service department. It’s why the association rolled out the next phase of its Workforce Initiative back in February.