Trucking jobs experience modest increase in March

Trucking jobs experienced a modest increase in March, while the transportation sector as a whole also saw an increase in jobs.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 6,000 trucking jobs were added to the economy in March.

Revised numbers show a decrease of more than 5,000 trucking jobs in February and an increase of more than 4,000 jobs in January.

Year to date, trucking jobs are up by nearly 5,000.

Last year, trucking jobs went up by nearly 61,000.

Accounting for all transportation sector jobs, employment is up by more than 10,000 jobs. Since the pandemic, transportation sector jobs have only dropped three times: once in April 2021 (minus 12,900 jobs), in November 2022 (minus 37,100) and again in February (minus 20,500).

Couriers/messengers experienced the largest monthly increase (6,700 jobs), followed by air and trucking transport (5,700 jobs each) and transit/ground passenger transportation (3,200). Only three subsectors experienced a decrease: warehousing/storage (minus 11,800), pipeline transportation (minus 300) and rail transportation (minus 200).

Based on revised numbers, employment in the transportation sector fell by nearly 21,000 in February and increased by nearly 32,000 in January.

Year to date, transportation employment is up by nearly 22,000 jobs. For 2022 overall, transportation employment increased by nearly 261,000 jobs.

Wages increased in slightly in March. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees in the transportation and warehousing sector increased by 2 cents to $28.47. Accounting for only production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings increased from $1,020.98 to $1,028.61.

Across all industries, nearly 240,000 jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5%. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate for transportation and material moving occupations dropped from 6.4% to 5.8%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index has jumped by 6% over the past 12 months. The 0.4% monthly increase in March 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 0.5%, up 5.5% over the year. LL