Predictions of a strong peak season this year are keeping truck drivers in seats, with trucking jobs mostly unchanged in October during a time of overcapacity.
According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 100 trucking jobs were eliminated from the economy in October. This marked the sixth monthly loss in 2024.
Virtually unchanged, the trucking employment situation had been mostly stable since August despite many in the industry warning about a driver glut. David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, told Land Line that a promising peak season was keeping trucking jobs afloat, but bouncing back from the long freight recession may be further out.
“Some volatility in the month of October as well as a promising outlook for peak season, at least compared to last year, is helping limit further job losses until the typical slowdowns we see in the mid-to-late first quarter,” Spencer said. “A larger sustained recovery still seems a ways away given the capacity trends in the market today, and I expect any near-term rate hikes to fade as the relief efforts die down in urgency.”
Revised numbers revealed a much stronger truck job situation than initially reported, with a decrease of 100 jobs in September (compared to the previously reported decrease of 700) and an increase of 1,400 jobs in August (compared to the previously reported decrease of 700).
With just a couple months left in 2024, trucking jobs were down by nearly 6,000 for the year but down only 2,000 compared to the previous October.
Accounting for all transportation sector jobs, employment dropped by nearly 4,000 jobs.
The transportation sector’s net decrease was largely the result of warehousing and storage employment tumbling by 7,000 jobs. Other losses were felt in air transportation (down 900), pipeline transport (down 300) and scenic/sightseeing transportation (down 200). Job growth was seen in transit/ground passenger transportation and couriers/messengers (up 1,700 each), support activities for transportation (up 600) and rail transport (up 400).
Updated data revealed a significantly more positive situation for the transportation sector in the previous few months. Employment rose by 2,700 jobs in September, a complete turnaround from the initially reported loss of nearly 9,000 jobs. In August, there were nearly 11,000 more jobs, much higher than the previously reported gain of more than 3,000 jobs.
In October, transportation jobs were up by more than 98,000 for the year, with an increase of nearly 70,000 compared to October 2023.
Month to month, wages were up overall but down for lower earners. Average weekly earnings of all employees in the transportation and warehousing sector went down by nearly $3 to $1,171.11. Compared to October 2023, hourly earnings increased to $30.90 from $29.81. Accounting for only production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings decreased from $1,104.14 in September to $1,103.18. However, hourly earnings increased by about $1 from October 2023 to $29.34.
Across all industries, employment increased by a scant 12,000 jobs, falling way short of the 117,500 jobs projected by economists, according to financial data company FactSet. According to the Associated Press, October’s job numbers were weighed down by the impacts of strikes and hurricanes.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate for transportation and material-moving occupations rose from 5.3% to 5.5%. LL
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