Furniture-Rental Consultant -- An Update Through JBP 1.7

It has been almost three years since we addressed furniture-rental consultant. But it is time in light of Job Browser Pro 1.7 to put the numbers of jobs to rest.

To recap, JBP uses an occupation-industry matrix to narrow the range of jobs available within an occupational group and then uses an equal distribution methodology to distribute the jobs between the DOT codes at each intersection. JBP is the methodology most frequently used by vocational experts. If you don't have it, buy it.

Furniture-rental consultant, DOT 295.357-018, is an unskilled, light occupation, that requires occasional reaching, handling, and fingering. It is the go to occupation for vocational experts when the question assumes occasional use of the hands/arms.

JBP properly lists furniture-rental consultant in the occupational group of counter and rental clerks (SOC 41-2021). The occupational group is huge, 426,700 jobs on the 2018 Occupational Employment Statistics.  The Occupational Outlook Handbook states that counter and rental clerks represent 436,100 jobs.  But the DOT designates occupational titles as belonging to specific industries in which that occupation occurs.  The DOT designates "retail trade."  The narrative description states that furniture-rental consultants "[r]ents furniture and accessories to customers."

JBP puts furniture-rental consultant in two industries: rental and leasing services (NAICS 532000) and rental and leasing services (NAICS 5320A1 (5322,3,4)). NAICS 532000 is the industry sub-sector. NAICS 532200, 532300, and 532400 are industry groups. NAICS 532000 includes 532100, 532200, 532300, and 532400. JBP has double counted three industry groups. Counter clerks represent 57,310 jobs in NAICS 532000; counter clerks represent 24,572 jobs in NAICS 5320A1, according to JBP. One of those two sets of numbers does not apply.

JBP lists furniture-rental consultant as the sole DOT occupation of the intersections of SOC 41-2021 and NAICS 532000 but as one of eight occupations at the intersection of the SOC and NAICS 5320A1. If seven other DOT codes make up some part of the jobs in NAICS 5320A1, then those seven DOT codes make up part of the jobs in NAICS 532000. JBP attributes to furniture-rental consultant 57,310 jobs within NAICS 532000; and 3,071 jobs within NAICS 5320A1. Using JBP’s documented methodology, we either divide 57,310 by 8 and exclude 3,071, or we exclude 57,310 jobs completely.

Now we can dig down into the NAICS structure. NAICS 532000 includes four industry groups. We covered this previously, but it bears repeating: NAICS 532000 includes 532100, 532200, 532300, and 532400. Here is the NAICS structure for rental and leasing services:

532 Rental and Leasing Services

5321 Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing

53211 Passenger Car Rental and Leasing

532111 Passenger Car Rental

532112 Passenger Car Leasing

53212 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing

532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing

5322 Consumer Goods Rental

53221 Consumer Electronics and Appliances Rental

532210 Consumer Electronics and Appliances Rental

53228 Other Consumer Goods Rental

532281 Formal Wear and Costume Rental

532282 Video Tape and Disc Rental

532283 Home Health Equipment Rental

532284 Recreational Goods Rental

532289 All Other Consumer Goods Rental

5323 General Rental Centers

53231 General Rental Centers

532310 General Rental Centers

5324 Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

53241 Construction, Transportation, Mining, and Forestry Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

532411 Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing

532412 Construction, Mining, and Forestry Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

53242 Office Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

532420 Office Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

53249 Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

532490 Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

What we learn from the NAICS structure for the rental and leasing services sub-sector is that the entire sub-sector does not apply to the occupation of furniture-rental consultant. Automobile equipment and rental and leasing (NAICS 532100) does not employ furniture-rental consultants. That means that the industry designation of NAICS 532000 is overbroad and that NAICS 5320A1, excluding NAICS 532100, is the better designation of the two provided.

Consumer good rental (NAICS 532200) consists of consumer electronics and appliance rental; formal wear and costume rental; video tape and disc rental; home health equipment rental; recreational goods rental; and all other consumer goods rental. Only that last designation includes furniture rental centers and also includes party rental supply centers (NAICS 532289).

General rental centers (NAICS 532300) rent consumer, commercial, and industrial equipment such as audio visual equipment, contractors' and builders' tools and equipment, home repair tools, lawn and garden equipment, moving equipment and supplies, and party and banquet equipment and supplies. None of the examples hint at the scope of furniture-rental consultant job functions.

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing (NAICS 532400) focus on leasing commercial-type and industrial-type machinery and equipment. This industry does not rent consumer and commercial furniture.

This study of JBP ver. 1.7 discloses that the estimate of 50,382 jobs as a furniture-rental consultant is not reliable. It double counts industry groups and includes another industry group that is clearly not applicable. The use of NAICS 2320A1 is defensible only insofar as it groups DOT codes that cover those three groups together. But NAICS 532100 for automobile rental, that industry is covered by other DOT codes. The number of jobs as a furniture-rental consultant is less than 3,071.