The segment of the nation’s economic engine fueled by franchised dealerships ran pretty smoothly last year.

In fact, employment and payroll at U.S. franchised dealerships continued to rise in 2018, according to the latest report released on Monday by the National Automobile Dealers Association.

In 2018, the nation’s 16,753 franchised dealerships employed 1,136,600 workers, up 0.5 percent from the previous year, according to NADA Data 2018.

“Direct employment at new-car dealerships once again topped 1.1 million employees at the end of 2018,” NADA senior economist Patrick Manzi said in a news release. “In addition to direct employment provided by new-car dealerships, hundreds of thousands of other jobs in local communities are dependent on dealerships.”

The report indicated payroll at franchised dealerships topped $66.5 billion in 2018, up 1.9 percent from the previous year. On average, dealership employees earned $1,134 per week, up 1.8 percent from 2017.

“For the past several years, dealership employees have seen steady increases in their incomes as well as their total compensation,” Manzi said. “Dealership jobs offer compensation that is significantly higher than other retail sectors, and dealers continue to boast one of the highest average salaries of all industries.”

Other highlights from NADA Data 2018 include:

— For the second consecutive year, total sales which includes new- and used-car sales, service, parts, F&I and more topped $1 trillion.

— At the end of 2018, the average selling price of a new and used vehicle sold at franchised dealerships was $35,608 and $20,586, respectively.

— Net pre-tax profit per dealership as a percentage of total sales (new and used vehicle sales, service, parts, F&I and body shop) continued to decline: 2016 (2.5 percent); 2017 (2.3 percent); and 2018 (2.2 percent)

—Since 2009, service and parts sales on average per dealership increased by 5.5 percent per year on an annualized basis.

NADA Data 2018 also includes a section focusing on the new- and used-vehicle financing with in-depth data from Experian. The stats include average monthly payment, average contract term, leasing and more.

To download the entire report, go to this website.