Trucking jobs experienced a second consecutive decrease in July, while the transportation sector as a whole also saw a drop in jobs.
According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2,900 trucking jobs were eliminated from the economy in July. Although most months this year have experienced an increase, jobs are still down compared to January after a sharp decrease in February.
Revised numbers show a decrease of 2,000 trucking jobs in June and an increase of 500 jobs in May.
David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, told Land Line that the decrease in trucking jobs was expected as rates continue to dwindle.
“The decline in trucking employment has been the expectation for months now as rates have come down substantially, squeezing carrier profit margins,” Spencer said. “While carriers seemed more patient earlier in the year, recent months point to a shift in sentiment. Now, I expect to see employment continue to fall until rate conditions improve in a sustained way. Owner operator capacity, which is not included in this data set, shifting to company jobs likely helped prop up employment numbers, but I now speculate with the declines in employment that the number of drivers leaving the industry is actually greater than the number of owner operators switching to company jobs.”
Year to date, trucking jobs are down by nearly 3,000, thanks to a relatively weak month in February.
Last year, trucking jobs went up by nearly 61,000.
Accounting for all transportation sector jobs, employment is down by more than 8,000 jobs. This year, transportation jobs have dropped four times. Since the pandemic, transportation sector jobs have only dropped twice before: in April 2021 (minus 12,900 jobs) and in November 2022 (minus 37,100).
Warehousing/storage experienced the largest monthly decrease (minus 5,600 jobs), followed by couriers/messengers (minus 3,400) and truck transport. Four subsectors experienced an increase in jobs: air transport (2,700 jobs), support activities for transportation (2,300), scenic/sightseeing transport (800) and rail transport (200).
Based on revised numbers, employment in the transportation sector dropped by nearly 9,000 in June. May’s revised numbers show an increase of nearly 19,000 jobs, up from the initially reported increase of nearly 17,000 jobs.
Year to date, transportation employment is up by nearly 17,000 jobs. For 2022 overall, transportation employment increased by nearly 261,000 jobs.
Month to month, wages increased in July. Average weekly earnings of all employees in the transportation and warehousing sector increased by $5.57 to $1,112.38. Compared to June 2022, hourly earnings are up to $29.12 from $27.77. Accounting for only production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings increased from $1,038.89 in June to $1,051.08. Weekly earnings are up $1.97 to $27.88 compared to last July.
Across all industries, nearly 190,000 jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate dropped slightly from 3.6% to 3.5%. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate for transportation and material moving occupations is unchanged at 5.7%.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index has jumped by 3% over the past 12 months. The 0.2% monthly increase in June was broad-based, with the indexes for shelter, gasoline, and food being the largest contributors. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2%, up 4.8% over the year. LL
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